The meeting was called to order at 7:07pm by the DACS President, David Green.
In attendance were Board members Richard Corzo, Dick Gingras, Bert Goff (by phone), David Green (President), and Andy Woodruff. Also present was Charlie Bovaird. The minutes were taken by Richard Teasdale.
(Names in italics denote responsibilities for actions.)
- Acceptance of the Minutes of the 12/6/2017 Board Meeting was deferred, pending distribution of a minor correction.
Reports
- The December Treasurer’s report was unavailable at the time of the meeting.
- The Membership report was received by e-mail from Jim Scheef.
- 87 paid-up members (including 3 new), and 10 in-grace, for a total of 97.
- 41 people attended the 1/2/2018 General Meeting, including 15 visitors.
- The Board discussed follow-up efforts with General Meeting visitors, during and after meetings. Various potential measures were mentioned, including in-person contact during the meeting, plus follow-up by e-mail and Meetup, after it. The Board agreed that the role of the Membership Committee has changed, and the function that consists of reaching out to potential new members has been lost. It would be good to continue the practice of quickly surveying and welcoming visitors immediately before each General Meeting presentation.
- Press Releases:
- David reported that the Press Release was distributed to the CiviCRM recipients, as usual.
- Dick reported that he is working on a list of additional recipients for Press Releases.
- Andy asked about the success of the Press Releases in bringing in attendees to the General Meetings. Richard pointed out that information about which channels of communication are most successful is now being captured in a Google form.
- Webmaster’s report:
- Richard reported no significant problems on the DACS website.
Old Business
- Programs:
- Richard has contacted Brian Jackson, one of the cofounders of Danbury.io, who indicated a willingness to speak on the subject of Net Neutrality. Richard will confirm with him for the February General Meeting.
- Preview: Richard.
- Review: David will contact Jim Scheef about writing the Review.
- Andy will contact John Patrick, who may know a potential speaker about Bitcoin.
- Andy will contact Best Buy for a possible speaker about Wearable technology.
- John Patrick will speak at the May General Meeting about Home Automation.
- Dick will contact the Apple Store to ascertain their interest in presenting to a General Meeting. (Their policy has always been to insist that events be held in the store but there appears to be a possibility that the policy will change.)
- Richard has contacted Brian Jackson, one of the cofounders of Danbury.io, who indicated a willingness to speak on the subject of Net Neutrality. Richard will confirm with him for the February General Meeting.
- Renovation of the Resource Center (RC):
- Dick is still awaiting an answer from Bruce Tuomala as to whether a donation of used carpet may be available from the Matrix Center.
- Other discussion about Renovation of the Resource Center was deferred.
New Business
- Snacks for General Meetings:
- Bert will provide snacks for February, and David will bring beverages.
- Options for the future of DACS were discussed at length.
- David’s term as President will end in March. He has expressed the intention not to continue as President beyond that month.
- No other candidates for President have come forward.
- The legal structure of DACS as a corporation requires there to be a President.
- One option is to simply disband DACS, shutting down its operations entirely.
- Another possibility for DACS might be to become a Meetup, under the umbrella of the Hackerspace. Andy reported that he has discussed this idea with Mike Kaltschnee. It was agreed to invite Mike to the next Board Meeting, to allow for further discussion of the idea. (Andy will contact him.)
- The next meeting was provisionally set for Wednesday, January 31, instead of February 7, to allow it to take place before the February General Meeting.
- The Board also discussed the possibility of transferring to another organization the DACS name and status as a 501(c)(3), given that that status has considerable value.
- David proposed wording for an amendment to the by-laws, to provide methods for dissolution of DACS. The Board decided that it is not necessary yet to move forward with the amendment.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:52 pm.