Board meeting Minutes/17 October 2005

This website is not affiliated with SAGE or the USENIX Association. The use of the term "SAGE" below is historical, and refers either to the SAGE subgroup of USENIX, or to a precursor of the organization now called LOPSA.

Prior: 10 October 2005

Board meeting Minutes

Next: 24 October 2005

Minutes approved: 24 October 2005

Present

Stephen Potter, Chris Palmer, Geoff Halprin, Doug Hughes, Pat Wilson (chair), Trey Harris, David Parter, Sam Albrecht

Apologies

Tom Perrine, Andrew Hume

Opened

20:09 Eastern Time

Closed

not recorded

Consent Agenda

• Approve minutes of 10 October 2005
• Approve minutes of 3 October 2005
• Approve redactions of 26 September 2005 minutes

Harris holds minutes of 10 October 2005 for redaction.

Action Items

• Harris:
  • Draft communiqu� to SAGE Advisory Council briefing them on current negotiation situation, and seeking advice on options -- DONE, see wiki. Moved to #3 on the agenda

• Palmer:
  • Members to be notified through October Memo-to-Members that negotiations are proceeding with some difficulty. Waiting for USENIX approval.
  • Finalize potential sponsor letter. DONE.

• Albrecht:
  • Chart of Accounts and Monthly Financial Reports - both done - but I am currently in transit. Will submit to Board for next weeks agenda. Expenses for July and August have been sent out. Chart of Accounts to be sent on Tuesday.
  • Look into merchant account issue, and a possible back up plan. Status - not complete. Movement at AH, but still not complete. Albrecht reported that Propay (www.propay.com) may be an option, as well as the company that Parter had previously provided. Albrecht to check again on Tuesday.

• Potter
  • Code of Ethics review committee has been formed with five volunteers.

SAGECom status update & Memo to Members

• Hume reported that progress was being made. A new budget is due by 10/25/05. USENIX is planning a formal go/no-go vote on 10/28/05. Signs are that the USENIX Board may be more positive. Hume will be working closely with individuals to improve the budget before 10/25/05.

• Harris reported that the draft was ready, but with the latest information, it might need to be edited. Hume and Harris will work on the language immediately after the meeting.

Travel and reimbursement policy

• Finish discussion and approval of travel and reimbursement policy
  • This item was tabled until the next meeting.

Membership policy

• Briefly discuss policy on membership classes and policy on Termination of membership with an eye towards approving at next week's meeting (Harris)
• Harris covered the Termination of Membership Policy first. After discussion, motion by Harris, second by Palmer. None oppossed, motion passes.

Approved text: Termination of membership policy Membership in the Assocation will be terminated under any of the following circumstances. Termination of membership shall not entitle the Member to a refund of any monies paid by the Member to the Association (in whole or pro rata). Resignation. A Member may voluntarily withdraw membership by providing written notification to the Association. Failure to meet obligations of membership. Should a Member fail to meet their obligations as set out in the Rules (including the payment of dues) then their membership shall be terminated. Death. A membership shall be automatically terminated upon death of the member (or insolvency event in the case of an organizational member). Termination by the Board for cause. A Member may lose their membership at the discretion of the Board, as set forth in Policies.

• Discussion and modification of the Membership Classes and Policies. To be studied, and brought back to next weeks meeting.

SAGE acronym

• Name of Association - System Administrators Guild, or System Administrator's Guild. What do we want to put on brochures, letters, etc?
  • Consensus after discussion that use of the "name" will be dependent upon context and needs to be reviewed each time.

LISA'05 progress report

• Discussion on budget, schwag, Bof scheduling and other items relating to LISA. Everyone needs to look at current design by JD at his website.

Board vacancy

Discuss what to do about Board vacancy.

• Tabled until next meeting.

Talk about the renewal letter

Talk about strategy and timing on the letter that's sent to members when they renew.