[wplug-board] WPLUG Board Meeting March 6

[Joseph Prostko]

The regular meeting of the Board of Directors of the Western
Pennsylvania Linux Users Group will be held tonight, Tuesday, March 6,
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-20120306>.

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 February 7, 2012

The regular meeting of the Board of Directors of the Western
Pennsylvania Linux Users Group was held on Tuesday, February 7, 2012,
at 6:13 PM, at Coffee Tree Roasters in Shadyside. The regular
presiding officer was in the Chair and the Secretary was present. The
minutes of the January 3, 2011 meeting were approved as read.

The Chair reported that he has an initial lineup for speakers.  Vance
Kochenderfer will give a talk on the basics of SSH, and if it is well
received, can give another talk on advanced SSH topics.  Vance will
likely give this first talk in March, although a speaker is still
needed for May.  Nick Schembri should be able to give another talk
this year as well.

The Vice Chair had nothing to report, although said he won't be around
the first half of March, so won't be able to make the next board
meeting.

The Secretary reported that there are 16 members after the most recent
update.  The secretary also reported that he would like to work on
some sort of member benefit, like getting an O'Reilly discount for all
members.  The secretary will also contact all former members and see
if they want to renew.  He will also ask for feedback about things
they want to have as potential benefits.

The Treasurer reported current finances as of end of January are
$835.67.  Recent deposits of 40 dollars, plus there are some dues that
are being held.  With those, the total funds available are $925.67.
The process of getting the signature cards done has not been completed
yet, as still have to work with Beth Lynn Eicher to make this happen.
Also, as of 2/2 there is a bill for the PO box.  It costs $94.00 for
year, and is due by 2/29.

MOTION: Let treasurer pay the bill and get reimbursed if Stanley can't
sign the check in time.  The motion was seconded and passed.

Other than that, the treasurer had dinner with Doug Phillips of Hack
Pittsburgh.  It was discussed to have a joint event such as
Installfest in their space.

The Director-at-Large reported about having a representative from
E-Safe consulting perhaps giving a future talk, depending if the goals
of the talk are congruent with WPLUG's goals and that if it isn't a
hard sales pitch.  She also mentioned that Scitech is looking for
mentors of sorts for grads six through twelve.  At this point in time,
however, it probably isn't possible for WPLUG to aid with this
directly due to the current limited resources.  She also got in touch
with Johnny Q. at Goodwill about offering classes there.  He has to
talk to superior about it, and basically everything is in Goodwill's
hands to make the decision and if they want WPLUG's involvement.  She
is also keeping in touch with her contact at the Homeless Children's
Education Fund to see how WPLUG can help, although it is unclear at
the moment if WPLUG can assist in any way.  Also, due to her
involvement with the American Library Association, she mentioned she
might be able to get free books to help start a WPLUG library.  That
said, after discussion, it was decided that WPLUG pursuing an
electronic library of sorts may be a better use of resources.

The Internet Committee has nothing to report.

The Program Committee reports that Vance Kochenderfer has agreed to
present on basics of secure shell, and in future can also give another
more advanced talk on the subject.  Also, WPLUG is hosting an
Installfest and General User Meeting this weekend.  Pat will ask
around about getting more speakers for future meetings through his
workplace and social connections.  Perhaps it should be explored to
get somebody from Google or Seagate to give a talk as well.

The Newsletter Committee has nothing to report.

The Public Relations Committee reports that there needs to be a better
way (or additional ways) to get the word out about WPLUG and our
activities.  It should be explored if WPLUG can get put back on the
Pittsburgh Tech Events calendar.  WPLUG should get its own Google
calendar going and make sure it is always current.

There are no Special Orders in this meeting that need to be addressed.

With respect to Unfinished Business, there was some discussion about
branching Installfests into other counties other than Allegheny.
Also, it was decided that there should be no special committee formed
for Software Freedom Day, but that the Vice Chair could use
assistance, and perhaps WPLUG can collaborate with the Kittanning
computer group.  There was also discussion about a syllabus for
classes offered by WPLUG.  It was decided to look at currently
existing syllabuses such as those at classes offered by CCAC to use
for inspiration.  With respect to a mentoring program offered by
WPLUG, that is currently shelved, although could potentially explored
again in the future.  There was also discussion about having a WPLUG
USB stick that could perhaps be given away as a door prize at General
Meetings and/or Installfests.  There still needs to be a decision made
about what Linux distribution or distributions to put on it, as well
as explore things such as media pricing or a possible donation of the
USB sticks themselves.

There is no New Business that needs to be discussed at this time.

The meeting adjourned at 8:02 PM.

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Joseph Prostko
Secretary, Western Pennsylvania Linux Users Group