Notes/minutes from
2009 October Board Meeting.
Location
- Time: Saturday, 3 October, 2009
- Space: Small Meeting Room, West Branch of the Manchester Public Library, 76 North Main Street, Manchester, NH
Attendees
Board Members
Absent Board Members
Others
Notes
Meta
- Meeting formally started at 1:40 PM
- All expected Board Members are in attendance
- Ben Scott acting as Secretary in absence of Bill Sconce
- Meeting formally ended at 2:41 PM
Regular meetings
Heather Brodeur reports on her experience as Nashua meeting coordinator
- Heather had work obligations for six months
- She asked for someone to take over during that period
- Nobody stepped forward
- Thus, meetings did not happen
- Nobody appeared to care
- After six of none months, she did not see point in trying to restart if no one cared
- Heather remarked some people may have fallen into the habit of expecting to be "catered to"
Ted Roche reports on Peterborough meeting status
- Charlie quits effective EOY 2009
Ted Roche reports on Concord meeting status
- Ted is trying to find help from attendees, but volunteers are not forthcoming
- Ted would like to retire from coordinator role
- Has remarked on this to attendees, but hasn't pushed hard
Ben Scott reports on discussion of possible new Manchester meeting
- Several people have inquired about such
- Ben asked Cole Tuininga if he would be interested in coordinating
- Cole said no, but did say he would ask an associate
- Ben was then contacted by one Chip Marshall (said associate)
- Chip asked what to do
- Ben responded with various suggestions, haven't heard back since
- This was a little over a week ago
- Ben Scott will contact Chip Marshall, ask status
- Ted okay with folding Concord into a Manchester group
Brief discussion of how to hold meetings, how to secure speakers, etc.
Ted, in regards to timid coordinators (poss. paraphrase): "people hate having to ask speakers to drive a long way to meet that might only have a few people"
Arc Riley reports PySIG has backlog of potential speakers due to coordinator overload
NH registration
GNHLUG must file to renew before EOY 2010
- Arc will submit proposed new articles to gnhlug-org discussion list before EOM Oct 2009
- To submit, we need 5 signatures; 6 is recommended
- We will submit come 2010
Board meeting frequency
- Formal proposal: Amend articles/bylaws, board only required to meet once per year
- Accepted without objection
- Additional meetings are still allowed
501(c)(3)
Ted reports:
- The IRS application has an "essay question" for justification
- It needs to be comprehensive and copious
- Believes GNHLUG mission should qualify as educational organization
- Previous plan to handle no money was a problem
- Tried to put together budget plan based on regular meetings
- Time spent by coordinators organizing
- Time spent by presenters preparing and speaking
- However, this proved difficult to quantify, and nobody was interested
Discussion of budget and finance followed
- Ben asks if there is a minimum dollar amount
- Ben then proposes
- Don't worry about meetings or stuff like that
- Legal entity should be concerned with legal entity stuff
- Server hardware ownership
- Server hosting
- Domain name ownership and renewal
- This is sufficient for a small and straight-forward budget
- Arc remarks that books are property donations
Maddog reports:
- He knows of other similar LUGs which have successfully obtained 501(c)(3) status
- He will see if he can get a copy of their paperwork
- Will have a status report before EOM Oct 2009
Brief discussion of why are we bothering again?
- In short, many things want an official 501(c)(3)
- The difference between non-profit and tax-exempt is not well understood, even when it should be
- Arc gave example: Manchester city assembly permit, for Software Freedom Day
- Non-profit org: Free
- Commercial: $3000 insurance bond
- Lack of 501(c)(3) confused process quite a bit
Arc volunteers to coordinate 501(c)(3)
Board membership
Current board membership has served 3 years
Bill Sconce has had trouble making meetings
- Formal Proposal: Offer to release him from his obligations
- Emphasize no prejudice against him; we all understand about the demands of real life
- Agreed without objection
Arc Riley volunteers as board member
- But he will only be in NH part-time for next year or three
- All others agree he can serve anyway
- Most business can be done online
- Only one meeting per year is plan
Seeking new blood
- Heather will ask Kenta
- Ben will ask Rob Anderson, Cole Tuininga
- Ted suggests Bill McGonigle
Some people would like to retire from Board
Officers
- Arc volunteers to be next Secretary
- Kazin volunteers to be next Treasurer
- Ben volunteers to be next Chair
- No formal appointments at this time
Misc
Ted remarked that books can be got for free from publisher if you promise to submit a review