WPLUGBoard/Meeting-20120501

Venue Info

Meeting to be held at The Coffee Tree Roasters at 5524 Walnut Street in Shadyside, Pittsburgh, PA 15232. 6:00pm, Tuesday, May 1, 2012.

Agenda

• Approve minutes of April 3 board meeting
• Proposal for Special Rule of Order relating to meeting by of the board via conference call
• Proposal to dissolve the ErieLUG Revival Committee, and rescind the existing Special Rule of Order related to it.
• List your item here

Minutes

The regular meeting of the Board of Directors of the Western Pennsylvania Linux Users Group was held on Tuesday, May 1, 2012, at 6:07 PM, at Coffee Tree Roasters in Shadyside. The regular presiding officer was in the Chair and the Secretary was present. The minutes of the April 3, 2012 meeting were approved as read.

The Chair reported that he secured the Brookline Carnegie Library for an Installfest on June 9th. The Installfest will run from 12:30 to 4:30 since the library closes at 5:00. The Chair said he would try to secure a PXE server for the event.

The Vice Chair reported that he'd like some input about advertising. He discussed that he wants to submit an ad to the Post Gazette. The Chair suggested to look into having the local LOPSA chapter, SNAPGH, promote it for WPLUG, as it would be great to have cross-promotion between the groups. It would also be good to check with Hack Pittsburgh to see if they would promote the upcoming WPLUG general meeting.

The Secretary reported that there's currently 17 members and that he managed to get the O'Reilly User Group Program for WPLUG re-established..

The Treasurer reported that there is no updated bank statement currently, and no transactions happened since the last meeting. He also reached out about getting assistance with the acoustics at the Wilkins School, even if they are just suggestions. The Chair suggested maybe Hack Pittsburgh can help with that as well. The Treasurer also reached out to Ed Engler from Pittsburgh Equity Partners for suggestions about how to get sponsor money. Ed gave some feedback and suggestions. Ed has lots of experience in this area, as he started his own venture capital group, and is involved with AlphaLab and Innovation Works. The Treasurer also reported that he had visited AlphaLab and mentioned that WPLUG may be able to do outreach there, and perhaps another start-up incubator like StartUptown.

The Director-at-Large had nothing to report, as she was not present.

The Internet Committee has nothing to report. That said, the Treasurer mentioned that he is trying to get access to the WPLUG CafePress account.

The Program Committee reported that John lewis is speaking on May 12th on iproute2. The Chair mentioned to perhaps put something in the City Paper to get the word out. It was also mentioned that a room at the Brookline Library is reserved for the Installfest on June 9th. Preparations will have to be done for the Installfest.

The Investigating Committee has nothing to report.

The Newsletter Committee has nothing to report.

The Public Relations Committee reported that he covered most relevant topics earlier during his Vice Chair report. The Vice Chair did mention though that currently he is the only person on the Public Relations Committee. The Treasurer suggested that the Vice Chair try to get a hold of Nick Pinkston to help get WPLUG re-established on the Pittsburgh Tech Events Calendar, as this will help on the promotional front.

The Wilkins School Networking Committee reports that currently it is not possible to get a hold of the Committee Chair. Due to this fact, Ted Rodgers wants to look at the networking situation.

Special Orders include proposals to dissolve the ErieLUG Revival Committee, and rescind the existing Special Rule of Order related to it. The ErieLUG Revival Committee has not been a functioning group for a couple of years. The Chair commented that it makes sense to dissolve the committee, and that it could be recreated later if necessary.

MOTION to rescind the Special Order related to the ErieLUG Revival Committee; seconded and passed. MOTION to dissolve the ErieLug Revival Committee; seconded and passed.

There was also a proposal to be able to have board meetings via conference call if needed. There are at least three providers that will do it for free, although there may be a charge for video conferencing. That said, the Treasurer presented suggested alterations to the bylaws to allow for conference calls. Adding this possibility could be a great alternative to meeting up on IRC or in person for board meetings. It could also be good for emergency situations, so the bylaws would have to be further modified to allow for this, as the current window for pre-announcing a meeting is too short. Likely another addition would be that at the discretion of the Chair, a board member can be allowed to take part in a physical meeting via Google Voice. Regardless, the language will need to be finalized, and then the bylaws amended with the approval of the membership.

MOTION to alter bylaws allowing for conference call capability for board meetings; seconded and passed.

With respect to Unfinished Business, first the use of the WPLUG Google Voice phone number was discussed. It was decided that the Vice Chair will monitor it at his own discretion. The Treasurer also mentioned that WPLUG should look into hitting up places like CMU to recruit new interest/membership for WPLUG. To further help with membership benefits, the group should explore more discounts for LUG members from places like ThinkGeek. The group has also discussed previously getting banners made to help with promotion, however at this time, it doesn't seem to be a good investment for WPLUG to make itself. For example, something like an SSL certificate would be a much more worthwhile investment for the group, as compared to a banner. That said, if a sponsor would provide a banner for the group at no cost, that would make sense and be appreciated. With respect to other funding, the Director-at-Large still has to report back progress on the Sprout Fund application.

There was no New Business to discuss.

The meeting adjourned at 7:28 PM.

Joseph Prostko
Secretary, Western Pennsylvania Linux Users Group

(Approved on June 5, 2012 - JP)