Monthly Meeting 26-11-15

Details

Date: Thursday 26/11/2015 20:00
Location: Classroom
Duration: 1 Hour

Present

Chair	Russss
Deputy Chair	Samb1
Minutes	Yetifiasco

Agenda

(Please add items to discuss. If you item is removed by the Chair, please do not re-add it.)

How do we get people to empty the bins instead of playing jenga? (mentar)
Volunteers for maintaining tooling of the set areas, electronics/downstairs etc. (mentar)
CCTV (area coverage, monitoring of uptime) etc (tolland)
Set of bullet points to cover in the Tuesday tour (possibly including a demo of taking the rubbish out ;-) (tolland)
Projects seeking contributors (biohackers have several hardware projects that might interest hackers of electronics, CNC, optics etc)
Item
Any other business
Date and time of next meeting

Minutes

Minutes for Thursday 26th November Monthly Meeting

How to get people to empty the bins

Tom Greer raised the point that the bins are currently too small and should be replaced with larger bins to general agreement, Temo added that new members should also be instructed that they can and should empty the bins if full. The addition of extra signs and labelling was brought up to show exactly what can and cannot go in each bin, this was added to with the request of building fixed areas for bins and bin supplies, to be housed with appropriate signs and equipment at each one.

Jonty expressed that currently incorrect items are put in the recycling bin, the general consensus was that it was very hard to find an accessible list of what is and what is not recyclable, which could either be fixed by additional signs or removing recycling entirely and increasing non-recycling capacity to match.

Volunteers for maintaining tooling of the set areas, electronics/downstairs etc.

More maintainers for general areas are needed such as the electronics and crafts area, with greater visibility on who is volunteering and who is involved in maintenance, along with incentivization for volunteers. Jonty mentioned it was awkward to pay for consumables or equipment with the current system, alternatives where discussed including applying for trade accounts, Russ mentioned it would be difficult due to having no trade history and that it would be best to consult with Andy for advice, having a communal Amazon Prime account was offered as an alternative.

David raised the point of the lack of information available to members in regards to maintenance of workshop areas and getting involved, with questions usually being directed to a single member who is either hard to contact or unavailable, this was agreed with in general and suggested that the adopt a spanner program should be cleaned out and refurbished to make it more up to date and useful.

Russ brought up that just keeping general workshop areas tidy was a huge problem, various options such as additional signs and colour coding different areas and tools where proposed to general agreement, Jonty and Henry volunteering to make a start on a colour coding system after the new year. Jonty also proposed going through the entire hackspace and having a big throw out of unused items and junk which he has volunteered to do, along with getting members to try and commit one evening a week to help, this was met with agreement.

CCTV

Tom Hodder stated that cctv is necessary as a security measure for having expensive items in the hackspace due to the threat of theft, Russ disagreed, stating that their primary purpose was for visibility and they had not been effective in the past in stopping theft, taking a lot of effort to recover information over long time periods due to how Zoneminder functions. Tom Greer asked to put CCTV installation on top priority to make it harder for thieves to operate, stating that anyone can currently walk into the hackspace as the majority of members aren't happy confronting non-members at the door, Russ mentioned that more cameras where on order, with coverage needed for each workshop and the members storage area.

Tuesday Tour

Tom Hodder raised the point of misinformation being spread during introductory tours and that tours needed to be standardized, Jonty built on this and explained a system where tours are standardized and follow a scripted process, with tours not being used as a catch-all induction on available tools. He added that people shouldn't be able to register their cards unless they have been inducted into the space, which would consist of a detailed explanation of what is expected of a member, how the space operates and where the equipment is located, which would be completely separate from the Tuesday introductory tour. Russ raised concerns that this could turn into a very frustrating new member experience if not handled correctly and that more discussion was needed at a later date.

Projects seeking contributors

Tom Hodder asked if there was a good way of increasing skill cross collaboration on projects, the mailing list and wiki where given as the best place to ask for this. Points where raised about the LHS project blog and that it should be used more, Russ said he would look into this. Unconference and other skill sharing events where mentioned, but it was agreed that these where hard to organise if not run by an outside entity.

Current Cleaning status

Henry brought up that the currently cleanliness of the hackspace was awful and had been awful for some time, it was agreed that the cleaner should be given more hours and an inventory of jobs to do while on site, to be discussed with Paddy. It was also emphasised that members should hold other members more accountable for their mess and call them out on it.

Pedestrian gate in the yard

Tom Greer raised the point of the progress on the pedestrian gate to be installed in the yard, Russ mentioned that he was happy to spend the money on buying the gate and having it professionally fitted if hackspace members weren’t willing or able to install it in a single day, though the first step was to provide technical drawings to the landlord. Tom Greer explained an alternate plan that required the gate post to be dug out and reinforced, which material was available for. Russ restated that he was happy to fund any work and that there was a budget of roughly £750 for the entire project.

Front Shutter

Tom Sands asked if we should be using the front shutter less than we currently are, the problem being raised that the shutter being left open overnight or when the hackspace was empty was a security issue. It was agreed that the shutter sensor needed repairing and a way to report back so the shutter status could be remotely viewable, with Jonty adding that shutter control should be part of the new induction process. David Sullivan said it should be made more clear when members should be closing the shutter.

Russ proposed that the next meeting should be January 28th at 8pm, everyone agreed.