Hello hello! Our first board meeting of the year will be at Lansing Makers Network tomorrow, January 24, at 7:00 pm. You’re welcome to stop by and watch or even share comments and questions during the member discourse portion of the meeting. If you’re unable to attend and would like to bring something up, leave a comment here or email me (erik.gillespie@lansingmakersnetwork.org) and I’ll bring it up for you. 
Agenda
- Approval of agenda
- Treasurer’s report
- Secretary’s report
- Erik’s transition out of the board
- Executive report
- Committee updates
- Member-led discourse
- Schedule the next board meeting
- Public board meeting adjourns
- Executive session
Location Details
Topic: LMN Board Meeting
Time: January 24, 2023 at 7:00 PM Eastern
Location: 2730 Alpha Access St. Lansing, MI 48910
Lansing Makers Network
Board of Directors
Regular Meeting Minutes
January 24, 2024, 7:00 pm at 2730 Alpha Access
Present: Erik Gillespie (Secretary), Jody Applegate (Treasurer), Brian Adams (President), Carl Raymond, Jerry Jodloski, Joe Zimmerman, Charlie Finkel
Absent:
Spectators: Adam, Jerry
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 2023-11 through 2024-01-partial Treasurer’s Report
- We are staying on track with loan repayments to Charlie.
- We have received the surplus amount from acting as fiduciary for the Old Town Krampusnacht event totaling $6,969.16 with $3,500 still pending.
- Our booth sales at Krampusnacht were $952.13 and the laser-cut ornaments were a frequent sale item and giving out hot chocolate seemed to be a helpful draw.
- The fire marshall will be reimbursing us $125 for the inspection that we paid but was not needed.
- Maria created a draft budget for 2024 that Brian and Jody will review and refine before proposing it to the board.
- Brian is still working on finalizing the proposal to ALG Group for accounting.
3. Secretary’s report
- Erik will compare the Michigan Nonprofit Association Call for Board Members to our own before putting our call out.
- The lunch with LEAP is still being coordinated.
- Brian and Erik got the annotated signatures for the liquor license.
- Make sure whoever does our 990s has the correct numbers for 2021 & 2022 in Part II.
4. Erik’s transition out of the board
Link to Erik Gillespie’s resignation letter
MOTION: Approval of Agenda as Submitted. [Carl, Jerry]
RESULT: Approved by unanimous consent
5. Executive report
- Brian asks that we ramp up our board recruitment efforts, particularly for people with fundraising, marketing, advertising, education, or event-planning experience, and have it reflect the demographics of our volunteers and members.
- We need an in-service retreat day where we can put our heads together to work on vision, grow membership, and do other brainstorming and planning. It would need to be worth people’s time for such a long event, perhaps worth paying someone to facilitate.
- Charlie recommends we do this around an activity such as putting together the dust collection system.
- Having a worksheet or some way to encourage people to do a little brainstorming in advance would help hit the ground running.
- Looking at a Saturday day-long retreat including volunteers.
- Ultimately the goal will be to develop a strategy and see it through.
- Brian is setting up a self-hosted solution for email management to get past MailChimp’s contact limits and costs.
- Creating a photo, video, or virtual tour of the space (or checkouts) so people can preview our space could lower the barrier to entry. So could allowing people to join online.
- When we say “Now that you’ve taken this class, the next step to develop your skills is to become a member,” what is the answer to the question “Why?”
- Ask the instructor (or perhaps another volunteer) to thank attendees for supporting us and say that becoming a member would be the best way to continue supporting us.
- Can we offer a free month of membership to anyone who takes a class? Would it help grow membership? Would coupons or half-off or only-if-you-sign-up-now be most effective?
- We need to collect data, use it, and follow through on what we learn.
- Active involvement with our members could allow us to make more informed decisions, help the space feel more like a community, and know what members need both individually and generally.
- Adam offered the idea of a whiteboard where members could write their ideas about how they found the space, what they make, and what keeps them here.
- Brian is looking for a few board members to walk the space and ask members questions like how they found us, what they’re making, why they signed up, and so on.
- Adam thinks helping to establish clubs at MSU and LCC would help serve people who don’t have the money or space to buy tools while we can help them with space to meet, learn, and put experience on their resumes.
6. Committee updates
- Strategic Planning Committee (Brian, Carl, Charlie)
- Fundraising Committee (Carl, Erik, Joe, Maria, Mike)
7. Member-led discourse
- Adam is a new member and shared his experience with a makerspace and how he used that experience to find us through Internet searching.
- Jerry recommended that we restock our print handouts.
- Jerry thinks Nancy may be interested in facilitating a retreat for us. He’ll talk to her about it.
- Jerry thinks we do need to try more different things to grow membership as our current ideas seem to have plateaued.
- Adam thinks a “How to get started” page on our website would help people overcome barriers and discover what their next move to join would be. His example is that he signed up but he’s not sure how to get a checkout.
- Charlie added that changing our checkout strategy from asking on the Talk site to asking the front desk or scheduled checkouts would decrease the time between asking and getting a checkout.
- Adam thinks a group checkout offered after a class related to the tools used would help build membership and camaraderie.
- Adam described how it’s been three weeks between discovering we exist and coming in because what to do next hasn’t felt straightforward or obvious. A welcome message on the Talk site would be a big help.
- Joe thinks that a ticketing system in which anyone can give us bug reports and ideas could help improve the website, streamline processes, and improve turnaround times on repetitive tasks.
- Adam thinks recorded interviews and testimonials of members shown on our homepage would help potential members see the answers to some things they may be wondering.
- Adam thinks a “level 2” sample to show at the end of a class could excite attendees to join and it adds the fun of gamification. Joe offered the example of making a cutting board and then “level 2” would be to laser engrave it.
- Jerry offered the use of his van to move giant items to the Women’s Expo.
8. Schedule the next board meeting
Next board meeting: Wednesday, February 28, 2024, at 7:00 pm
9. Public board meeting adjourns
MOTION: Adjourn the board meeting and move into the executive session. [Erik, Charlie]
RESULT: Approved by unanimous consent.
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