[wplug-board] WPLUG Board Meeting June 5

Joseph Prostko joe.prostko at gmail.com
Mon Jun 4 15:18:17 EDT 2012


The regular meeting of the Board of Directors of the Western
Pennsylvania Linux Users Group will be held tomorrow, Tuesday, June 5,
2012 at 6:00 PM at The Coffee Tree Roasters at 5524 Walnut Street in
Shadyside.

For more details or to add your own topics for discussion, see the
wiki page at <http://www.wplug.org/wiki/WPLUGBoard/Meeting-20120605>.

A draft of last month's minutes to be read and approved at this
meeting is provided below for your reference.

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DRAFT Minutes for May 1, 2012

The regular meeting of the Board of Directors of the Western
Pennsylvania Linux Users Group was held on Tuesday, May 1, 2012, at
6:07 PM, at Coffee Tree Roasters in Shadyside. The regular presiding
officer was in the Chair and the Secretary was present. The minutes of
the April 3, 2012 meeting were approved as read.

The Chair reported that he secured the Brookline Carnegie Library for
an Installfest on June 9th.  The Installfest will run from 12:30 to
4:30 since the library closes at 5:00.  The Chair said he would try to
secure a PXE server for the event.

The Vice Chair reported that he'd like some input about advertising.
He discussed that he wants to submit an ad to the Post Gazette.  The
Chair suggested to look into having the local LOPSA chapter, SNAPGH,
promote it for WPLUG, as it would be great to have cross-promotion
between the groups.  It would also be good to check with Hack
Pittsburgh to see if they would promote the upcoming WPLUG general
meeting.

The Secretary reported that there's currently 17 members and that he
managed to get the O'Reilly User Group Program for WPLUG
re-established..

The Treasurer reported that there is no updated bank statement
currently, and no transactions happened since the last meeting.  He
also reached out about getting assistance with the acoustics at the
Wilkins School, even if they are just suggestions. The Chair suggested
maybe Hack Pittsburgh can help with that as well.  The Treasurer also
reached out to Ed Engler from Pittsburgh Equity Partners for
suggestions about how to get sponsor money. Ed gave some feedback and
suggestions.  Ed has lots of experience in this area, as he started
his own venture capital group, and is involved with AlphaLab and
Innovation Works.  The Treasurer also reported that he had visited
AlphaLab and mentioned that WPLUG may be able to do outreach there,
and perhaps another start-up incubator like StartUptown.

The Director-at-Large had nothing to report, as she was not present.

The Internet Committee has nothing to report.  That said, the
Treasurer mentioned that he is trying to get access to the WPLUG
CafePress account.

The Program Committee reported that John lewis is speaking on May 12th
on iproute2.  The Chair mentioned to perhaps put something in the City
Paper to get the word out.  It was also mentioned that a room at the
Brookline Library is reserved for the Installfest on June 9th.
Preparations will have to be done for the Installfest.

The Investigating Committee has nothing to report.

The Newsletter Committee has nothing to report.

The Public Relations Committee reported that he covered most relevant
topics earlier during his Vice Chair report.  The Vice Chair did
mention though that currently he is the only person on the Public
Relations Committee.  The Treasurer suggested that the Vice Chair try
to get a hold of Nick Pinkston to help get WPLUG re-established on the
Pittsburgh Tech Events Calendar, as this will help on the promotional
front.

The Wilkins School Networking Committee reports that currently it is
not possible to get a hold of the Committee Chair.  Due to this fact,
Ted Rodgers wants to look at the networking situation.

Special Orders include proposals to dissolve the ErieLUG Revival
Committee, and rescind the existing Special Rule of Order related to
it.  The ErieLUG Revival Committee has not been a functioning group
for a couple of years.  The Chair commented that it makes sense to
dissolve the committee, and that it could be recreated later if
necessary.

MOTION to rescind the Special Order related to the ErieLUG Revival
Committee; seconded and passed.
MOTION to dissolve the ErieLug Revival Committee; seconded and passed.

There was also a proposal to be able to have board meetings via
conference call if needed.  There are at least three providers that
will do it for free, although there may be a charge for video
conferencing.  That said, the Treasurer presented suggested
alterations to the bylaws to allow for conference calls. Adding this
possibility could be a great alternative to meeting up on IRC or in
person for board meetings.  It could also be good for emergency
situations, so the bylaws would have to be further modified to allow
for this, as the current window for pre-announcing a meeting is too
short.  Likely another addition would be that at the discretion of the
Chair, a board member can be allowed to take part in a physical
meeting via Google Voice.  Regardless, the language will need to be
finalized, and then the bylaws amended with the approval of the
membership.

MOTION to alter bylaws allowing for conference call capability for
board meetings; seconded and passed.

With respect to Unfinished Business, first the use of the WPLUG Google
Voice phone number was discussed.  It was decided that the Vice Chair
will monitor it at his own discretion.  The Treasurer also mentioned
that WPLUG should look into hitting up places like CMU to recruit new
interest/membership for WPLUG.  To further help with membership
benefits, the group should explore more discounts for LUG members from
places like ThinkGeek.  The group has also discussed previously
getting banners made to help with promotion, however at this time, it
doesn't seem to be a good investment for WPLUG to make itself.  For
example, something like an SSL certificate would be a much more
worthwhile investment for the group, as compared to a banner.  That
said, if a sponsor would provide a banner for the group at no cost,
that would make sense and be appreciated.  With respect to other
funding, the Director-at-Large still has to report back progress on
the Sprout Fund application.

There was no New Business to discuss.

The meeting adjourned at 7:28 PM.

Joseph Prostko
Secretary, Western Pennsylvania Linux Users Group

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