Board meeting on August 30, 2023 in person

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Here’s the agenda for our next board meeting, which is on Wednesday, August 30 at 7 pm.

You are welcome to join us and if you have questions or ideas you’d like to share with the board, the member-led discourse portion of the meeting is a fantastic time to do so! If you’re unable to attend and want me to bring something up for you, please comment below. :grin:

Agenda

  • Approval of agenda
  • Treasurer’s report
  • Secretary’s report
  • Executive report
  • Membership status
  • Committee updates
  • Member-led discourse
  • Schedule the next board meeting
  • Public board meeting adjourns
  • Executive session

Location Details

Topic: LMN Board Meeting
Time: August 30, 2023 at 7:00 PM Eastern
Location: 2730 Alpha Access St. Lansing, MI 48910

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Hi everyone, apologies for the late notice but a number of our board members are not available this evening so we are rescheduling the board meeting to next week, Wednesday, August 30, at 7:00 pm in person. I hope to see some of you next week!

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Reminder that this is tonight at 7:00! If you wanna stop by, feel free and if you can’t make it, leave comments below and I’ll bring them up for you! :grin:

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Lansing Makers Network

Board of Directors
Regular Meeting Minutes

August 30, 2023, 7:00 pm at 2730 Alpha Access

Present: Erik Gillespie (Secretary), Brian Adams (President), Carl Raymond, Jerry Jodloski, Joe Zimmerman, Charlie Finkel

Absent: Jody Applegate (Treasurer)

Spectators: Heather Williams, Laura Rogers, Evelyn Down, Maria Alcaraz, Christopher Greene-Szmadzinski

Minutes: Erik Gillespie

Meeting called to order: 7:05 pm

1. Approval of agenda

MOTION: Approval of Agenda as Submitted. [Charlie, Erik]

RESULT: Approved by unanimous consent

2. Treasurer’s report

Link to 2023-07 Treasurer’s Report

Link to 2023-08 (Partial) Treasurer’s Report

  • The Square numbers are low and resulting in a larger net drop than usual.
  • Memberships are down and Brian will look into whether there is a renewal issue happening that we’re unaware of.
  • Charlie proposes renting a portion of our space to improve revenue.
  • We need a reliable approach to grow paid membership.
  • No progress on following up on stale checks.
  • Jerry recommends we also check Michigan Unclaimed Property.

3. Secretary’s report

  • Erik will start posting new Talk site topics when meetings need to be rescheduled.

  • No status update about the MI Relief Grant.

  • Patronicity report is complete except for the budget - Erik and Brian will start tagging these transactions over lunch.

  • I think we should reopen the Call for Board Members.

4. Executive report

  • Proposal to allow IBEW to rent space for $4,500 for the Silver Bells float and this will go towards our FD Hays electric bill.
    MOTION: Approval of Proposal as Submitted. [Brian, Charlie]
    RESULT: Approved by unanimous consent
  • Proposal to become the fiscal sponsor for the Krampus Festival (December 9). Income and expenses would go through us and they would invoice us for expenses. We would provide a record of expenses and any excess funds would be ours to keep, which would be approximately $500-$1,000.
    MOTION: Approval of Proposal as Submitted. [Brian, Erik]
    RESULT: Approved by unanimous consent
  • Maker Mayhem is the name of our brain games event. Should this event be rolled into the Fundraising Committee responsibilities?

5. Membership status

  • Charlie requested an overview of our current membership status as well as trends and a comparison of paid vs. unpaid memberships.
  • There 52 current members, 29 of them are paying members.

6. Committee updates

  • Strategic Planning Committee (Brian, Carl, Charlie)
    • Did not meet.
  • Fundraising Committee (Carl, Erik, Joe, Maria, Evelyn, Mike)
    • Link to Fundraising Committee Meeting Minutes
    • We need a number of updates to our website before we are eligible for the Google Ad Grant.
    • Erik and Carl are looking for fresh photos to include on the website and direct mail campaign
    • Mid-Michigan Art Guild will be hosting their next meeting on September 21 at 6:30 pm.
    • Evelyn is working on an Amazon wish list and Tony is making a lockbox to receive packages.
    • Erik updated the Donate link on our website to point at our Giving Fund donation page.
    • Erik will apply for the Desk Drawer Fund and plans to schedule it with others interested in applying for grants as a learning opportunity.
    • March 14, 2024 is our target date for our anniversary fundraiser event.
    • Getting monthly one-time liquor licenses would allow us to host Astronomy on Tap and other mixer kinds of events.
    • Brian proposes the committee focus on traditional methods of fundraising such as a a donation drive to existing members.

7. Member-led discourse

  • Laura asked when the Talk site post about applying for grants will go out. Erik can do it this week.
  • Jerry shared that How-to Halloweeen is on October 7, 11-6 pm and we have a spot.
  • Charlie and Evelyn propose that we have a checklist of places to promote events including around the space, Mail Chimp and Eventbrite emails, social media, etc.
  • Laura would like us to find someone who can populate and send a newsletter.
  • Maria recommends that we import our Eventbrite emails into Mail Chimp.
  • Jerry offered that we do a free membership raffle for email addresses collected at How-to Halloween.
  • Evelyn shared that the Kalamazoo Makerspace gets a tax refund at the end of the year for their utility expenses. Brian shared that we do this too.

8. Schedule the next board meeting

Next board meeting: Wednesday, September 27, 2023, at 7:00 pm

9. Public board meeting adjourns

MOTION: Adjourn board meeting and move into the executive session. [Erik, Carl]
RESULT: Approved by unanimous consent.