Item 72. Minutes of the Jan. 11, 1994 Board of Directors Meeting John H. Remmers (remmers) Sun, Jan 16, 1994 (07:03). 126 lines, 8 responses. Board members attending: Steve Weiss (srw) [chair], Dan Romanchik (danr) [treasurer], John Remmers (remmers) [secretary], STeve Andre (steve), Rane Curl (rcurl), Mike Smerza (morel). Absent: Meg Geddes (meg). Others attending: Glenda Andre (glenda), Misti Anslin (mta), Jamie Coleman (atlantis), Dave Martinelli (dam), Valerie Mates (popcorn), Mary Remmers (chelsea), Marcus Watts (mdw). [Because of late arrivals, the order of some agenda topics was changed. The secretary has taken the liberty of reporting them in the order listed in the published agenda.] 1. Initializing gavel (srw) Chairperson Steve Weiss called the meeting to order at 7:10 p.m. via the usual gavel-banging. 2. Round of applause for efforts to bring us up on new hardware (all) Staffers STeve Andre, Greg Cronau, and Marc Unangst were duly applauded: CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP !!!! 3. Treasurer's report (danr) We took in $277 in donations last month. Current bank balance is $1382.08. 4. Publicity committee (mta) Due to the clogged phone lines, Misti is concentrating on retaining current users rather than recruiting new ones. 300 new brochures have been produced. They are being be sent to newusers who leave a mailing address, and appear to be having a significant positive impact on retention. A new brochure is in the works. An anonymous donor has contributed two display easels for use at the JCC sale. Motion (morel, remmers): To authorize $87 in stamps for brochure mailing. - passed unanimously. 5. Rescuer's report (rcurl) Rane reported on his efforts in speaking with charitable organizations regarding our rescue program of machines from U of M Property Disposition. The most promising approach at this time may be to publicize the service by posting notices in organization newsletters which reach other organizations, e.g. those of the Accounting Aid Society and Non-profit Enterprises at Work (NEW), both of which Rane has contacted. There was some discussion of prices to charge. Rane suggests cost plus 15%, with a two-week buy-back period. Rane will draft a notice and post it on-line for discussion. 6. Technical committee report (steve) We are up and running on the Sun-3 [see applause item, above]. 660 mb. of SCSI disk are on line. A tape controller and SMD disk controller still need to be installed, but these are probably not biggies. Once the Sun-2 has been shut down, its boot disk (Eagle) will be installed on the Sun-3 and used as the news disk. The Sun-3 will consume about $45 per month in electricity. The technical committee was very favorably impressed with the borrowed Hayes Optima 28.8bps modems in their trial run. There is currently a sale on: $750 for two. Because of the popularity of these modems, there may be a delivery lag. 7. Moving, Centrex phone service, etc. (all) Once Bell has been given the numbers, they will produce a contract. Price is $42 per line plus $105 to set up the account. STeve will give Dan Romanchik the necessary information, and Dan will talk to Bell. The floor in our new quarters needs to be treated; other than that, it's ready to move into. Steve Weiss expressed a sense of urgency in deciding on a move-in date and would like to see momentum maintained. 8. Expansion plans (more lines) discussion (all) Steve Weiss distributed a "ttyuse" printout displaying dial-in phone line usage over a period of several days. It shows all lines in use essentially all the time except for the wee hours of the morning and a very short dip in the early evening. Steve expressed the view that we need more phone lines. There was some discussion of how many more would be desirable and how expansion should be co-ordinated with the move. 9. Discussion of backup arrangements (all) Backups need to be done more frequently and systematically. This awaits installation of the tape controller on the Sun-3. Current volunteers are morel and remmers. 10. Discussion of Grex's relation to other systems (all) There was discussion of the mix of conferencing systems in the area (m-net, umcc, etc.) and where Grex fits in, and of the possible impact of Huron Valley Freenet when it comes on-line. The general feeling was that there is room for all of these. There was speculation whether Grex would need to change its nature somewhat and adapt to the needs of the less computer-experienced users as their presence becomes larger. As this is not a matter for Board action at this time, it was agreed that further discussion should take place on-line. 11. New business (??) A memo from Greg Cronau was circulated and discussed regarding money owed ICNet, Greg's recommendation regarding installation of a phone line, and that we abandon our previous plan to purchase XYZel modems. It was agreed that our contact person with ICNet (mju?) should communicate with Ivars regarding any outstanding issues. Respectfully submitted, John Remmers, secretary