2012.09.27 HYH Results

[Paul Hickey]

Here are the results from tonight's HYH:

http://wiki.heatsynclabs.org/wiki/2012_September_27_Hack_Your_Hackerspace 

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Paul Hickey

[Ryan Rix]

Paul, ilu for putting this on the wiki.

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Ryan Rix
http://rix.si

[Jacob Rosenthal]

HUGE thanks for all the energetic help hacking on the space tonight,especially after a rather grueling discussion on proposals.

A note on proposals, if you want it to pass, please show up for your vote or send someone with good info. 

We all wanted to see CNC for instance pass, but had NO information about it

[Ben Humpherys]

Sorry I coudn't be there to awnswer questions about the CNC machine, but I had to leave today for a family funeral in Utah. I'll re-propose it, and include all the info I have along with it, just to be sure.

Eventually I will get the hang of getting proposals right lol

[Ryan Rix]

And please

*PLEASE*

Discuss proposals on the mailing list before the meeting. If there's a
question about a given proposal, ask on the mailing list. :) We don't need to
have an hour's of mostly-informed bikeshedding every other week if we can have
two weeks of informed bikeshedding on the mailing list. The former costs a lot
of energy :\

<3

r

[Nate Plamondon]

Sorry to hear about the funeral.

To clarify about the proposal, it would have had a much better chance
of success with the backing of solid numbers. The primary concern was
that we weren't quite sure what the financial status around the CNC
mill is.
1) How much has been donated/pledged?
2) How much would HSL be chipping in?
3) Does HSL have the funds available to contribute?

I think the general consensus was that we really want this to happen,
but weren't comfortable passing it with the limited information
available.
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Nate Plamondon

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[Ben Humpherys]

I would only be able to tell how much was pledged. No idea what was actually donated.

Is Jose the only one with access to the finances to check on things like this?

[Will Bradley]

Yes; I've sent an email asking him for the info, but feel free to follow up with him if you don't hear anything within ~1week.

On Fri, Sep 28, 2012 at 12:37 AM, Ben Humpherys <moog...@gmail.com> wrote:

I would only be able to tell how much was pledged. No idea what was actually donated.

Is Jose the only one with access to the finances to check on things like this?

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[Paul Hickey]

That is where it belongs! We should make it SOP

Paul Hickey
Sent from my mobile device

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[JR]

2 months worth of discussion and details is no information?

https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups=&pli=1#!topic/heatsynclabs/OaJTjtVM0_o

https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups=&pli=1#!topic/heatsynclabs/BEFUyKm1d90

On Thursday, September 27, 2012 10:41:59 PM UTC-7, Jacob Rosenthal wrote:

[Will Bradley]

I think specifically our financial status which is now being requested from Jose.

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[Jacob Rosenthal]

No information there as to how much has been collected or how much we have. Also show up for your proposals. No one can fight for them or gather the necessary data as passionately as you can. 

Sent from my iPhones

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[Will Bradley]

*or try to send someone prepared to fight for it if you've got a funeral to attend :)

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[JR]

"Okay, so we have, as of now, got $610 in pledges in the other thread" -Ben, Aug 23

"Jose, based on what is written above, is HSL going to pitch in the additional funds required for this purchase?" -Brian Aday, Aug 26 (no reply in thread)

"I asked Jose and this hasn't been set aside but it is available in general (non-reserve) funds." -Will, Aug 26

Barking at Ben for a lack of information barking up the wrong tree.

[Paul Hickey]

What we didn't have was some solid numbers as to how much money has ACTUALLY been sent through paypal as opposed to just pledged.  What we don't have is an income and expense statement and current bank account balance so members can make an informed decision.  Just because some numbers were stated in a previous thread with stated donation amounts wasn't enough for those who were there to vote, so they voted accordingly.

I understand that a few of you are upset that it didn't pass but at the meeting it was also stated that the seller would be willing to wait for us to get the money together.  So next time, come and vote.

Paul

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Paul Hickey

[Jasper Nance]

Seems weird to pledge if we don't buy it. What happens to our money?

>>>> https://groups.google.com/**forum/?fromgroups=&pli=1#!**
>>>> topic/heatsynclabs/OaJTjtVM0_o<https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups=&pli=1#!topic/heatsynclabs/OaJTjtVM0_o>
>>>>
>>>> https://groups.google.com/**forum/?fromgroups=&pli=1#!**
>>>> topic/heatsynclabs/BEFUyKm1d90<https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups=&pli=1#!topic/heatsynclabs/BEFUyKm1d90>

>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On Thursday, September 27, 2012 10:41:59 PM UTC-7, Jacob Rosenthal
>>>> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>> HUGE thanks for all the energetic help hacking on the space
>>>>> tonight,especially after a rather grueling discussion on proposals.
>>>>>
>>>>> A note on proposals, if you want it to pass, please show up for your
>>>>> vote or send someone with good info.
>>>>>
>>>>> We all wanted to see CNC for instance pass, but had NO information
>>>>> about it
>>>>>
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> Paul Hickey
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Jasper Nance - KE7PHI
Creative and Scientific Imagery
http://www.nebarnix.com/

[Will Bradley]

Nothing, to my understanding. If we really never buy it then I suppose you could get a refund. I'm not sure what the accounting procedure is for these earmarks.

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[Ben Humpherys]

I totally understand people being hesitant to commit so much money without double-checking that the money is actually available.

So how can we make the future process of double-checking our bank account before purchases or various other inquiries smoother? For one thing, someone (me, lol) should have checked with Jose ahead of time to make sure it was financially viable. What surprises me is that i guess none of the other board members have a way of figuring that out without Jose? Maybe there is a way to improve the book-keeping so it isn't as reliant upon a single person? I'm sure Jose has things to do besides be pestered every HYH whether we can afford shiney new things :)

[Will Bradley]

+1

Our current accounting method is a Quickbooks file on the Treasurer's computer; improving transparency or reducing the Treasurer's workload somehow to improve turnaround time without overloading the Treasurer with requests, might be a great thing for candidates for Treasurer to mention in their nominations due next Thursday *cough*

On Fri, Sep 28, 2012 at 3:24 PM, Ben Humpherys <moog...@gmail.com> wrote:

I totally understand people being hesitant to commit so much money without double-checking that the money is actually available.

So how can we make the future process of double-checking our bank account before purchases or various other inquiries smoother? For one thing, someone (me, lol) should have checked with Jose ahead of time to make sure it was financially viable. What surprises me is that i guess none of the other board members have a way of figuring that out without Jose? Maybe there is a way to improve the book-keeping so it isn't as reliant upon a single person? I'm sure Jose has things to do besides be pestered every HYH whether we can afford shiney new things :)

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[JR]

The solution to this is rather trivial- only approve spending the difference between what's been pledged and what's been collected, and until enough pledges actually become donations the purchase doesn't happen.   This can also help address the problem of what happens to donated money if the deal doesn't happen- pledge for the proposal, then actually donate after the project is approved.  That way the only way money would need to be returned is if pledged funds don't get donated.

Ben's been doing a good job shepherding this, and his being at the meeting probably wouldn't have changed anything.    We should be apologizing to him for not raising these questions 2 weeks ago when the formal proposal was made, not him apologizing for not being there.