Meeting-20130112

WPLUG will have a General User Meeting and presentation on Saturday, January 12, 2013, starting at 2pm at IBM Pittsburgh on the 9th floor. If possible, please RSVP for this event here:

http://www.eventbrite.com/event/4028657824

Registering for a (free) ticket, or submitting an RSVP, is absolutely NOT required to attend this meeting - but the meeting host will be providing food, and this will help us determine how much to bring. However, if you will require wireless Internet access at the venue, you MUST RSVP so that the meeting host can register you for access to the guest wireless system; registration on-site for wireless Internet access will NOT be available!

Schedule for the Day

1:30pm - Doors open, set up
2:00pm - Business Meeting starts
2:30pm - Lightning Talks (brief, informal, "off the cuff" presentations by attendees)
3:30pm - Food will be ordered from Mandarin Gourment, and possibly Domino's if there is a demand for pizza. The movie Revolution OS will be viewed by those staying to eat. This documentary, while somewhat dated at this point, offers interesting insights into the early history of Linux, and the Open Source and Free Software movements.
5:00pm - Meeting ends; clean up, and leave...

Business Meeting

• Review of minutes of November 10, 2012 GUM (5 minutes)
• Reports of officers (10 minutes)
• New Business
  • The WPLUG Board has been advised that a proposal will be introduced at this GUM to amend Section 8.4 of WPLUG's ByLaws. The proposal is to replace the first paragraph of this section with the following text: "By default, all Board and committee meetings are held in person, unless the chair of the meeting chooses to schedule a virtual meeting as described herein." The proposal will be discussed, and a vote will be conducted to determine if there is sufficient support for the proposal to submit it to the full membership via absentee ballot. (10 minutes)

Speaker/Presentation

In the presentation portion of the program, we will open to the floor to any attendee who wishes to do an off-the-cuff "Lightning Talk" presentation about a Linux or Open Source related topic of interest to themselves. These informal presentations should be limited to 10 minutes or less. No presentation slides, or anything of the sort, are required or expected (though we will have a projector and screen on hand for anyone who could make use of it). You do not need to be a dues-paying member to present - just show up! We want you to share your experiences with what YOU are enthusiastic about! If there's an interesting problem you're working on and you'd like to get a fresh perspective, tell us about it! One of the ways WPLUG can benefit us all, is by enabling us to teach each other, and learn from each other!

One of the presentations in this segment of the program will be from the Commission to Reform WPLUG, also known as the "CRW", an unofficial group of individuals who have been meeting with the goal of making WPLUG better for everyone involved in it (members and non-members alike). The presentation will describe how the CRW came to be, what it's goals are, and what it has accomplished so far. (As a quick preview - the proposed amendment to WPLUG's bylaws that is planned to be offered at this meeting is one of the results of the work the CRW has done so far.)

In any time remaining, we will brainstorm about possible future activities and future directions for WPLUG - what goals do YOU want to see YOUR organization pursue?

Meeting Minutes

MEETING START

The meeting was called to order at 2:17 pm. Four WPLUG members and three guests were in attendance. Director-at-large John Lewis was absent.

The reading of the November GUM minutes was dispensed.

REPORT OF OFFICERS

1. Chair Pat Barron reports that the WPLUG Twitter account is now under the board's control. It will be used for general communication purposes until the board decides otherwise.

(It originally belonged to a WPLUG member, but nobody could remember who, so an ownership dispute was filed with Twitter.)

We have space reserved at WSCC for the February meeting so we won't have to move the location again.

2. Vice chair Justin Smith asked the members of the Investigating Committee if they'd like to continue serving in 2013. Michael Hansell, the current chair, offered to resign because he lives too far away to conduct in-person investigations and recommended Bill Moran as his replacement. Bill has yet to respond; Mark Dalrymple and Dave Ostroske want to remain on the committee.

Justin created an invitation-only Google+ account for WPLUG that will serve as a placeholder in case we decide to incorporate Google+ into WPLUG's communication strategy.

Justin asked Hack Pittsburgh if they'd be willing to let WPLUG hold its meeting in their facility. Hack Pittsburgh would allow us to do so as long as a Hack Pittsburgh member is present at all times. Since this is a cumbersome restriction, it's doubtful that WPLUG will pursue this lead any farther.

-> Begin off-topic

Treasurer Terry Golightly reminded Justin that WPLUG has a formal agreement with the Wilkins School Community Center (where WPLUG currently holds its meetings) whereby we're responsible for connecting their campus computers to the Internet. The board turned the project over to Brian Seklecki. He, in turn, turned it over to a friend named “Tom,” and nobody knows what's happened since then.

Ted (non-member) offered to contact Brian to see whether Wilkins is satisfied with what we've done so far. The original plan was to create a wireless network for them, but because they prefer wired connections, our plans were thrown off. There are still gaps in the Wilkins network that need filled.

Dave Sevick (guest) offered to donate routers to the Wilkins project and pointed out that Mac Outfitters in Cranberry Township offers free meeting space to any technology-related organization.

-> End off-topic

Former WPLUG member David C. Brown wants to sponsor WPLUG. He's still waiting to hear from the board.

3. Secretary Justin Smith has nothing to report.

4. Treasurer Terry Golightly reports that WPLUG has approximately $781 in reserve.

5. Director-at-large John Lewis is absent.

6. Director-at-large Joe Prostko has nothing to report.

NEW BUSINESS

1. Chair Pat Barron proposed a bylaw amendment that would eliminate the distinction between physical meetings and virtual meetings for the board, and Terry seconded the motion. Joe read the amendment's text.

4 out of 4 members present voted in favor. The amendment will be presented to the WPLUG membership for final approval via absentee ballot.

2. Dave Sevick talked about a new opportunity for recycling computers and formatting them with Linux at ITT Technical Institute.

MEETING END

The meeting was adjourned at 2:39 pm.

Meeting Staff

If you would like to volunteer to assist with this meeting, please add your name to one or more of the categories below.

• Host: Pat Barron
• Co-Host: Terry Golightly
• Snacks/Refreshments: Pat Barron (cake or cookies); Add Your Name Here...
• Setup: Terry Golightly, Your name here
• Clean Up: Your name here, Your name here

Carpooling

• Your name/location here