Board meeting Minutes/9 March 2010

Prior: 23 February 2010

Board meeting Minutes

Next: 16 March 2010

Minutes approved: 16 March 2010

Present

Trey Harris (chair), Derek Balling, Lois Bennett, Ski Kacoroski, Philip Kizer, Dan Rich, MaryBeth Kurland, Jesse Trucks (Joined Meeting at 9:00 PM ET)

Apologies

Travis Campbell

Absent

David Parter

Opened

8:43 pm Eastern Time

Closed

10:10 pm Eastern Time

Consent Agenda

• A motion was made and seconded and the minutes from February 23, February 16 and February 9 were unanimously approved.
  • Approve minutes of 23 February 2010
  • Approve minutes of 16 February 2010
  • Approve minutes of 9 February 2010
• Record results of email vote: To spend $250 to become a bronze sponsor of LinuxFest Northwest (http://linuxfestnorthwest.org/ -- April 24 - 25) and $275 to ship booth materials from SCALE to Seattle then Seattle to AH. Moved 24 February 2010 by Kacoroski by email, second by Rich. Approved 28 February 2010.

Standing Reports

• Executive Director's report
  • The Executive Director gave a brief update on the ststus of the NJ PICC conference.
    • There were five people registered at the time of this meeting and about $13,000 in sponsorships had been secured.
    • All speaker contracts have been sent out.
  • The Eexcutive Director discussed next steps regarding the Strategic Planning Session held during last week's call.
    • The focus moving forward needs to be on the 2010 budget so that we can see how LOPSA can best implement the plan.

• Treasurer's report (second meeting of the month only)
  • The treasurer noted the importance of looking at December 2009 numbers to get a clear and accurate picture of the finances while preparing the 2010 budget.
  • A motion was made and seconded and the December 2009 and January 2010 financials were unanimously approved.

• Membership report
  • It was noted that LOPSA is currently losing about one member per week.
  • The group was asked to think about ways to re-energize the base

• Technical services report
  • The group discussed the current security settings on the Wiki and the possibility of updating to a newer version of the software.

• Conference/events activities report
  • Lois gave an update on the Crossbow meeting held earlier in the day.
    • The group discussed LinuxFest NW.
      • Ski is going to have a table at the meeting and will have some help from three local attendees to man the table.
        • Ski mentioned that they will need to bring in ten new members to make the event revenue neutral.
        • Ski also mentioned trying to offer classes at this event next year.
      • The group also heard a good report form the NJ Chapter on the success of the conference to date.
      • The group discussed how to look at events liek Scale and LISA as revenue neutral

• Jesse joined the conference call at 9:00 PM ET

• Development report (Meeting focus at first meeting of the month)

• Upcoming MtM (last meeting of the month only)

2010 Budget Review (Kurland)

• • The group was asked to look at draft budget for ways to reduce expenses and increase revenue and create a balanced budget for 2010 while relating the budget to the strategic plan.
  • The Group discussed events and services and how to make them revenue neutral or revenue generators for 2010.
  • The board also discussed the proposed AH management contract and actual hours used by the group in 2009 and considered what services are necessary for 2010.
  • The board asked AH to look at other potential management structures that included only minimal services and other potential management options.
  • The board agreed that the following actions were most important when considering the 2010 budget:
    • Preserving back office functions
    • Supporting and promoting the success of the NJ PICC Conference
    • The long term viability and success of LOPSA
• Action Items:
  • Kurland to setup meeting with Harris & Bennett to discuss with AH options for reducing management expenses with Sam Albrecht.
  • Bennett to re-work budget with board suggestions and a reduced management fee.
  • Board to reach out to friends and family to promote a positive message and ask for support.
  • Board to come prepared at next meeting to discuss ways to increase revenue through sponsorship and membership.
    • Think about what can be accomplished as a volunteer effort
    • Re-think operations
    • Work backwards and think about how we could function without management to determine how many staff hours are needed.

Notes & Announcements

• Special meeting to be held next week, 16 March, at usual time

Adjournment

Motion to adjourned by Balling, seconded by Rich. Board adjourns at 22:10 EST.