Connected Community HackerSpace: Committee newsletter 2011-02-15

[Andy Gelme]

Welcome to the Melbourne HackerSpace.

This is the second official communication from the CCHS committee to
it's members (financial or otherwise).

Regular Tuesday evening meetings have commenced for 2011, starting last
Tuesday.  There will also be the regular last weekend of the month
meetings.  Please see the http://hackmelbourne.org web-site for the
event calendar.

The most recent committee meeting occurred last Tuesday, 2011-02-08. 
Discussion notes, decisions made and actions are detailed below.  The
current committee is Ross, Mitch (secretary), MichaelJ (treasurer),
Luke, Grant (vice-president) and Andy (president) ... please ask them
about anything concerning the running of the CCHS.  Contributions of
ideas and effort are greatly appreciated.

Here is a link to the first newsletter from 2010-10-25 ...

http://groups.google.com/group/connected-community-hackerspace/browse_thread/thread/5cb0aeeba936faa7

New attendees
~~~~~~~~~~~~
We like to welcome all new attendees to our group and meetings.  It's
very important that it is easy for newcomers to join in and engage in
some happy hacking, regardless of skill level and experience.  Everyone
is pretty friendly and happy to discuss their project or help you with
yours.  The key thing to remember is that you "get out, what you put in".

For those members who have been attending for a long-time and are pretty
comfortable knowing how it works (or not !) ... please keep an eye out
for anyone new, and remember that what is now obvious to us, isn't
necessarily the case for others.  Please walk over and say "hi" !

Incorporation
~~~~~~~~~~~
Last week, the CCHS committee decided to not pursue the Linux Australia
sub-committee option (votes: 4 for, 1 abstained, 1 absent).  It was
hoped that becoming an LA sub-committee would lead to a good result,
promptly.  Unfortunately, it did not.  It is important to note that LA
was very helpful and encouraging ... and that any lack of progress was
our problem, not theirs.  We've sent a letter to LA thanking them and
notifying them of our decision.

Instead, the CCHS committee decided to self-incorporate as a
not-for-profit organization, utilizing all of the existing paperwork and
effort (performed last year).  The papers were lodged a day or so later,
and we expect to be a legal entity within 10 business days.  This effort
has been primarily led by our secretary Mitch, with assistance from the
rest of the committee.  Thanks Mitch.

This will allow us to proceed with setting up a bank account, acquiring
insurance, dealing with property leases, handling membership fees and
funding properly.

An outstanding issue is the matter of becoming a "deductible gift
recipient", so that we can receive donations, providing the donor a
tax-exemption.

A ramification of self-incorporating, rather than becoming an LA
sub-committee, is that we'll have to deal with all the paperwork,
accounting and tax matters ourselves.

Rules of Association web-page ...

   http://www.hackmelbourne.org/cchs/rules-of-association

Location
~~~~~~~
Moving out of the garage and into a more permanent location is our #1
priority.  Whilst the garage has allowed us to meet and hack regularly,
we've clearly out-grown it ... and the limited size and access hours are
too restrictive.

Paul Szymkowiak, in particular, has been very active in searching for
spaces and organizing times to inspect them.  Thanks Paul.

Others, including Ross McKenzie have been calling / visiting councils
and reviewing what other communities groups have done.

Rather than summarize all that activity here ... we'd encourage all
members to follow and participate in the "location discussions" on the
email list.  Please actively search, email your findings, or attend
inspections if you can.  At some stage, a decision will be made ... and
it's best if all members are part of that process.

Fees
~~~~
Currently, we just have a modest annual membership fee of AUS$50, which
provides voting rights and the option to become a committee member. 
This is the minimal that allows us to function as a semi-formal and
soon-to-be incorporated group (a real legal entity).  Funds raised so
far will pay for incorporation and other set-up costs.

Once we solve the location problem, there will be a significant cost
increase for operating our group, e.g. rent, utilities, insurance, etc. 
Initially, this cost will be met by the addition of facility (access)
fees.  Basically, the equation is "facility fee = out-goings / financial
members".  We are very sensitive to the varying circumstances of all the
members, and so, determining an equitable approach is foremost in our
minds.  There have been discussions on this topic last year, and we'll
continue to discuss.  Please feel welcome to let the committee know your
thoughts.

In time, we will pursue government grants and industry sponsorship. 
Our aim is to be both financially self-sustaining and have as inclusive
a membership as possible.  Typically, this means having a low-barrier to
entry in regards to fees.  In practice, if we want minimal facility fees
for members, then we'll all have to find other sources of funding for
the group.

This web-page will be updated as more details emerge ...

   http://www.hackmelbourne.org/cchs/fees

Insurance: risk and safety
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The most important goal concerning safety is that we have an educated
membership and no accidents.  This means some rules and guidelines
around dangerous activities and tools, and of course, looking out for
each other.

Regardless, we must have a insurance policy in place.  Ross McKenzie,
Paul Zee and others have been acquiring practical information on
appropriate insurance companies and policies.  In particular, we are
likely to base our risk profile and consider options similar to those
successfully undertaken by Men's Shed.

The current efforts are to document our risks, produce safety policy and
guidelines.  Then, follow-up insurance company inquiries, as we become
incorporated.

Web-site: http://hackmelbourne.org
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Stuart Young and George Patterson have successfully migrated our pages
from the (rather ugly) Google Groups to a more stream-lined combination
of WordPress and MediaWiki ... kindly hosted on an OSDN machine.

The most recent activity has been the creation of CCHS administration
pages via the "About CCHS" tab on the front-page ...

   http://www.hackmelbourne.org/cchs
   http://www.hackmelbourne.org/cchs/administration
   http://www.hackmelbourne.org/cchs/statement-of-purpose
   http://www.hackmelbourne.org/cchs/rules-of-association
   http://www.hackmelbourne.org/cchs/fees

Thanks Stuart and George.

It would be excellent if members can start updating content on the Wiki
portion of the web-site, detailing either group or your individual
projects ...
   http://www.hackmelbourne.org/wiki/index.php/Main_Page

There are also general information pages, which we encourage everyone to
read and update.  It's easier to use organized information on a wiki,
compared to searching back through old email forums.

   http://www.hackmelbourne.org/wiki/index.php/Category:Info

Australian HackerSpace email list
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As a result of discussions between various HackerSpaces at the recent Linux Conference in Brisbane, an email list was set-up ... specifically to discuss and share ideas and progress on the organisation and running of HackerSpaces in Australia.

   https://groups.google.com/forum/?hl=en#!forum/ozhs-net

Upcoming group activities and/or events
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Paul Zee is organsing a visit to ENESS soon (next week ?) ...

   http://www.electronicmiracles.com

There is a CCHS weekend meeting on Saturday 26th February and Sunday
27th February, between 12:30 pm and 6 pm each day.

   http://hackmelbourne.org

There will be a series of social-change talks as part of the Z-Day event on 12th March at Ceres, The organisers are keen to have some CCHS folks present on topics related to the group and various projects we are involved in. For more info, contact Paul Zee (nee Szymkowiak).

   http://groups.google.com/group/connected-community-hackerspace/browse_thread/thread/33d02374ffea64d9

The next Trampoline unconference is on April 16th, with tickets
available on March 16th at 10 am ...

   http://trampolineday.com

There is also the Australian Innovation Festival, running 26th April to 31st May ...

   http://www.ausinnovation.org/festivals/australian-innovation-festival.html

Comments, feedback and suggestions
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If we've missed anything or there are corrections, please just reply to this email on the list.

In particular, I'd encourage those who are part of a CCHS group project to reply with a brief update.

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