Standing for Trustee

[Ian Shatwell]

In order to help support the group and reduce the load on the existing few active trustees I am looking to stand as a new trustee at the forthcoming EGM.

Ian

[Ed Chaney]

Hi Ian,

That is great news. 

Please can you introduce yourself to those of us that might not have met you, or maybe don't know you that well. For example, a little about your background and experience, how long you have been a member and what So Make It means to you.

Thanks,

Ed

On Wed, Jul 12, 2023 at 10:38 AM Ian Shatwell <ian.sh...@gmail.com> wrote:

In order to help support the group and reduce the load on the existing few active trustees I am looking to stand as a new trustee at the forthcoming EGM.

Ian

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[Dr John C Bullas]

Good Evening

I would like to stand as a Trustee of SoMakeIt

I'm a fifty- something  certification manager and lapsed geologist, I'm properly called Dr John C Bullas but JB DrB or John works well.

SoMakeIt is currently hosting Dalek AARK my main project as he approaches completion ( electronics, woodwork, welding, fibreglassing, 3dp, laser cutting and CNC), I've got a 1978 1275GT mini to get back on the road too, via the refurb of a couple of old Mission 737r speakers.

I can build a mini engine, install a kitchen (incl first fix plumbing), build a pitched garage roof, rebuild a laptop/pc and generally Sus out a lot of engineering problems, sometimes based on no previous knowledge whatsoever ( these last ones take longer)

I would like to think my range of skills,  eye for detail, eye for safety and general lookout for my fellow SoMakerIt'ers might result in a half decent Trustee.

I attach a photo if the penny hasn't dropped yet.

Thanks for reading my potted SoMakeIt history!

Cheers

Dr B

________________________________

Please excuse the brevity,
email was sent on the go.

email johnb...@gmail.com
________________________________

[Dr John C Bullas]

As an aside, I have been a member for a good year and a bit and an intensive user during that time, hopefully helping a few people on the way 

John Dodge machined a gear shift linkage for my mini maybe 3 years ago, how I found out about SoMakeIt! Thanks John!

Pip pip

DrB
________________________________

[Holly N]

Hi, thanks for the introduction.

What's your understanding of the trustee role?

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[Dr John C Bullas]

https://somakeit.org.uk/trustees/

 this

Cheers

Dr B

________________________________

Please excuse the brevity,
email was sent on the go.

email johnb...@gmail.com

tel +447946317467

Check out Plum: https://friends.withplum.com/r/DfVMHL
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[Holly N]

I asked for your understanding, your interpretation, please 

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[Dr John C Bullas]

______________________________

On Thu, 13 Jul 2023, 18:26 Holly N, <ho...@mongooseholly.co.uk> wrote:

I asked for your understanding, your interpretation, please 

This is my understanding/ interpretation ( no cribbing, Ian, you are up next)

N.b. I reserve my right to demonstrate my interpretation via the medium of dance.

Trustees of So Make It Ltd must ensure compliance with Health and Safety Law by updating and using risk assessments, checking and maintaining new equipment, regularly reviewing fire safety assessments, maintaining first aid materials, and arranging necessary premises maintenance. 

They must also adhere to Company Law by filing accounts on time, ensuring accurate trustee details, and maintaining a list of members. Financial oversight includes monitoring bank accounts, collecting subscriptions, maintaining financial records, paying rent and outgoing payments, and communicating planned spending to meet legal requirements and improve SoMakeIt. 

Trustees are responsible for holding members accountable for tool usage, setting an example, mediating disputes, and taking action against rule violations. Additional duties include managing account credentials, overseeing sub-committees and projects, promoting events and transparency, and promptly responding to member inquiries. 

While most tasks can be delegated to members, trustees must check and oversee them.

Trustees of So Make It Ltd must ensure compliance with Health and Safety Law by updating and using risk assessments, checking and maintaining new equipment, regularly reviewing fire safety assessments, maintaining first aid materials, and arranging necessary premises maintenance. They must also adhere to Company Law by filing accounts on time, ensuring accurate trustee details, and maintaining a list of members. Financial oversight includes monitoring bank accounts, collecting subscriptions, maintaining financial records, paying rent and outgoing payments, and communicating planned spending to meet legal requirements and improve SoMakeIt. Trustees are responsible for holding members accountable for tool usage, setting an example, mediating disputes, and taking action against rule violations. Additional duties include managing account credentials, overseeing sub-committees and projects, promoting events and transparency, and promptly responding to member inquiries. While most tasks can be delegated to members, trustees must check and oversee them.

[Holly N]

What do you think you'll bring to the role? What do you think the focus of so make it should be going forward?

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[Dr John C Bullas]

On Thu, 13 Jul 2023, 21:31 Holly N, <ho...@mongooseholly.co.uk> wrote:

What do you think you'll bring to the role?

Experience and skills, an innate ability to explain and guide and quite a lot of patience.

Decision making skills gained from a job where I am an auditor being audited by external bodies for conformance, a job with responsibilities that can stop quarries operating, stop asphalt production plant operating and pull companies off multi million pound contracts, I feel happy saying "stop doing that" to anyone, big or small.

A wonderful sense of humour, poor dress sense and a mission statement that includes the phrase ".... and try to be everything that SoMakeIt strives to be, and little if any of what it shouldn't be"

What do you think the focus of so make it should be going forward?

What we are doing now but possibly with some shared experiences in the form of short sessions (presentations) to get the ideas mill rolling (Maybe using the medium of dance)

What do YOU think as there are more members' opinions that could be synthesised to establish this?

I am assuming you are asking Ian to provide similar input as I would not wish to in any way grab the limelight**. He can borrow my leotard as well but the arms and legs will need taking in (we have a sewing machine)

Next question? 

More me:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/drjohnbullas/

MiniMe:

Resource Investigator (RI)*/ Plant (PL)*/ Turbulent Campaigner (ENFP-T)

**Limelight? Victorian fire risk in theatres, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limelight don't try this at home, please.

Night Night!

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[Holly N]

I'm waiting for Ian to post his introduction and then, yes, I'll be asking him as well. 

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[Dr John C Bullas]

He might choose to take the fifth

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Take_the_fifth

________________________________

[Dr John C Bullas]

• 
  
• I synthesised the key things down a bit further, not quite a TLDR**.
• To hold members to account regarding safe and appropriate use of tools. To set an example for how the space should be used and maintained. To mediate any disagreements between members. To take action against members if rules are broken or ignored.
• Other duties including but not limited to: Maintain a list of all usernames and passwords for SoMakeIt. Social, financial and paid service accounts: making sure these are up to date.
• Oversee all sub-committees and team projects.
• Ensure all events and opening times are communicated and promoted.
• Most tasks can be completed by members, however, these must be checked and overseen by a trustee.

**TLDR or tl;dr, short for too long; didn't read, is internet slang to say that some text being referred to has been ignored because of its length. It is often used to refer to excessively wordy Terms and Conditions statements. It is also used to introduce a summary of an online post or news article

[Ian Shatwell]

Some further background about me:

I have a PhD in laser physics and my job is IT security consultancy , but the nearest that comes to my makerspace activities is occasional use of a laser cutter. Family-wise, I am married with one son, who is about to move up to secondary school.

My background in making things started from a long held interest in woodworking. I have my own woodworking biased workshop, where I have made everything from children's toys to jewelery boxes to furniture. One major project in the last few years has been the design and build of my own CNC machine, which has added the capability to do intricately carved wood and light metal projects as well. Adding in some basic electronics knowledge and some out-of-date programming skills has let me work on a few fun robots - some designs and photos can be found on my flickr albums at https://www.flickr.com/photos/194062454@N08/albums.

I joined SoMakeIt late last year, and I am there most Tuesday evenings - probably three out of four - happy to boost my skills talking to those skilled where I am still learning, and also helping guide those where the reverse holds.

Kind regards,

Ian

[Ian Shatwell]

And to preempt the upcoming queries about what I see a trustee should be doing:

The primary goal is to fulfil the legal requirements that allow the makerspace to continue to exist. As well as just being a name on a piece of paper in Company House, this also involves ensuring the facilities are a safe a secure place to work in, and financially able to pay bills and occasionally gain new capabilities.

I do not see the trustee's role as saying 'We should be doing X.' Any member, whether a trustee or not, can propose 'X', and it is the trustees role to debate and agree or disagree X (for small values of X) or organise a committee to consider larger changes.

Two recent boosts to our current membership came from a short run of Facebook adverts and attendance at the Science and Engineering Day hosted at the university. These were pretty simultaneous, so it is hard to tell which was the most successful, but from talking to new members, I know they both brought people in. I would like to take up any future opportunities to attend events which we can use for publicity, but this relies on member support - it takes several people to prepare and keep running a stall or display for a day.

There is also the membership maintenance - tracking membership and subscriptions, introductory tours for visitors (which are not trustee restricted - I already do these frequently), fortunately rare dispute resolution or disciplinary action, managing general and specific inductions to the workshop facilities, and committee oversight for any big proposals. I was on the last committee, which looked at whether and how to get the new laser cutter in.