WPLUGBoard/Meeting-20120207

Venue Info

Meeting to be held at The Coffee Tree Roasters at 5524 Walnut Street in Shadyside, Pittsburgh, PA 15232. 6:00pm, Tuesday, January 3, 2012.

Agenda

• Approve minutes of January 3 board meeting
• Discuss special committee for Software Freedom Day
• Discuss the newsletter
• List your item here

Minutes

The regular meeting of the Board of Directors of the Western Pennsylvania Linux Users Group was held on Tuesday, February 7, 2012, at 6:13 PM, at Coffee Tree Roasters in Shadyside. The regular presiding officer was in the Chair and the Secretary was present. The minutes of the January 3, 2011 meeting were approved as read.

The Chair reported that he has an initial lineup for speakers. Vance Kochenderfer will give a talk on the basics of SSH, and if it is well received, can give another talk on advanced SSH topics. Vance will likely give this first talk in March, although a speaker is still needed for May. Nick Schembri should be able to give another talk this year as well.

The Vice Chair had nothing to report, although said he won't be around the first half of March, so won't be able to make the next board meeting.

The Secretary reported that there are 16 members after the most recent update. The secretary also reported that he would like to work on some sort of member benefit, like getting an O'Reilly discount for all members. The secretary will also contact all former members and see if they want to renew. He will also ask for feedback about things they want to have as potential benefits.

The Treasurer reported current finances as of end of January are $835.67. Recent deposits of 40 dollars, plus there are some dues that are being held. With those, the total funds available are $925.67. The process of getting the signature cards done has not been completed yet, as still have to work with Beth Lynn Eicher to make this happen. Also, as of 2/2 there is a bill for the PO box. It costs $94.00 for year, and is due by 2/29.

MOTION: Let treasurer pay the bill and get reimbursed if Stanley can't sign the check in time. The motion was seconded and passed.

Other than that, the treasurer had dinner with Doug Phillips of Hack Pittsburgh. It was discussed to have a joint event such as Installfest in their space.

The Director-at-Large reported about having a representative from E-Safe consulting perhaps giving a future talk, depending if the goals of the talk are congruent with WPLUG's goals and that if it isn't a hard sales pitch. She also mentioned that Scitech is looking for mentors of sorts for grads six through twelve. At this point in time, however, it probably isn't possible for WPLUG to aid with this directly due to the current limited resources. She also got in touch with Johnny Q. at Goodwill about offering classes there. He has to talk to superior about it, and basically everything is in Goodwill's hands to make the decision and if they want WPLUG's involvement. She is also keeping in touch with her contact at the Homeless Children's Education Fund to see how WPLUG can help, although it is unclear at the moment if WPLUG can assist in any way. Also, due to her involvement with the American Library Association, she mentioned she might be able to get free books to help start a WPLUG library. That said, after discussion, it was decided that WPLUG pursuing an electronic library of sorts may be a better use of resources.

The Internet Committee has nothing to report.

The Program Committee reports that Vance Kochenderfer has agreed to present on basics of secure shell, and in future can also give another more advanced talk on the subject. Also, WPLUG is hosting an Installfest and General User Meeting this weekend. Pat will ask around about getting more speakers for future meetings through his workplace and social connections. Perhaps it should be explored to get somebody from Google or Seagate to give a talk as well.

The Newsletter Committee has nothing to report.

The Public Relations Committee reports that there needs to be a better way (or additional ways) to get the word out about WPLUG and our activities. It should be explored if WPLUG can get put back on the Pittsburgh Tech Events calendar. WPLUG should get its own Google calendar going and make sure it is always current.

There are no Special Orders in this meeting that need to be addressed.

With respect to Unfinished Business, there was some discussion about branching Installfests into other counties other than Allegheny. Also, it was decided that there should be no special committee formed for Software Freedom Day, but that the Vice Chair could use assistance, and perhaps WPLUG can collaborate with the Kittanning computer group. There was also discussion about a syllabus for classes offered by WPLUG. It was decided to look at currently existing syllabuses such as those at classes offered by CCAC to use for inspiration. With respect to a mentoring program offered by WPLUG, that is currently shelved, although could potentially explored again in the future. There was also discussion about having a WPLUG USB stick that could perhaps be given away as a door prize at General Meetings and/or Installfests. There still needs to be a decision made about what Linux distribution or distributions to put on it, as well as explore things such as media pricing or a possible donation of the USB sticks themselves.

There is no New Business that needs to be discussed at this time.

The meeting adjourned at 8:02 PM.

Joseph Prostko
Secretary, Western Pennsylvania Linux Users Group

(Approved on March 6, 2012 - JP)