Archive for category Membership
General Meeting Minutes
Posted by Eric Warnke in General, Meetings, Membership, News on November 29th, 2009
Meeting called to order at 1:13pm on November 29th, 2009.
Michael Kulpa leading. 17 members attending.
We apologize to any members that did not receive notice of this meeting. We are aware of some communication errors on our end and we’re working to fix them!
Keycard Access:
- We need something like 12 readers, might be financed by landlord.
- Servers are up and we can start getting fingerprints and handing out cards to members.
- More discussion needed by directors.
Book library:
- We have a book sponsorship with O’Reily.
- We can order any book from O’Reily for free including free shipping.
- Only catch is we must write a review of the book within 90 days of receiving it.
- Books must remain in our library, not for you to keep.
- Kulpa is creating the FreeLibrary system to manage our catalogue which will be tied to your card.
Presentation Centre/Room/Theatre:
- The back room is now ready for meetups and presentations and is bookable.
- We had our first paid conference, the iPhone Dev School there last week
- The room is open for any members to meet there for free as long as they aren’t making money on their event. If someone wants to host a big event or conference there that they charge for we need to take a cut.
- This is on a case by case, first-come-first-serve basis to book the room.
- We need to arrange some sort of booking system.
- The space still needs to have some electrical work done.
Dirty Room (workshop):
- We created a workshop for grinding, welding, etc.
- The space is at the back of the building with a venting hood.
- There is some old machinery to take out that we need volunteers for.
Member Social Network stuff:
- We’re thinking of having a membership book or poster or website with photos and contact info.
- We’ll look into Facebook connect to create something neat.
Network Infrastructure:
- We have 4 blades running and a VM running.
- XP box is running to control the door locks.
- Members need to give suggestions for what network infrastructure they want to see.
- Enterprise wifi is still under development.
- Going to develop a “burning centre” with a bunch of distros that any member can burn.
- Scheduling software for booking stuff is in the works.
Admin Stuff:
- Graham Batty resigned as a director last week, he nominated Michael Kulpa to replace him and the directors decided to streamline it and just make him a director.
- There were no objections to Michael’s appointment.
- Money:
- We are getting by on the skin our teeth.
- We have two offices rented and are looking to rent another one.
- Several directors have lent ENTS a lot of money (to the tune of around $5000) and that can’t get any bigger.
- We have a bit of residual income and we only need a few members to pay.
- Member haven’t been paying, and that is the directors fault, not theirs because we have not provided the proper means or encouragement to pay.
- Payments can be made via PayPal on ents.ca, or via cash or cheques to directors… or Canadian Tire money.
- We might not make it to the new year if we don’t get some stuff together soon.
- We will work on getting a better information management system because members aren’t getting emails.
- Google Wave might be used… might.
- We have tons of invites available for anyone who wants one.
Event Stuff (More detailed followup will happen):
- Anyone who signs up to teach a course or something please teach it at least twice! The more times you teach the better it will be and the better the turnout. So teach something one week and then do it the next month too!
- We are going to record all talks and host them for people to see.
- We have some Defcon videos we are going to give out as well.
- Events to come (stay tuned for dates):
- December 3rd is the “Arts Loft Christmas Party” at the space. It’s for all the tenants including ENTS.
- December 9th 6:00. Stuart Collum, director of NOVA Nait will be visiting the space. Please show up.
- Recurring: Wednesday IPTV nights. Michael Kulpa hosting.
- Recurring: Tuesdays. This week in Technology ENTS (TENTS) will be a regular meeting that we are going to have. Will have some sort of story propagating system so everyone is on the same page.
- Recurring: Saturday/Sunday afternoons. Linux study group either Tuesday or Wednesday afternoons. If you need help with Linux come by. Guided installs.
- Recurring: Some weekend. Lightning talks. 12 people, 5 minutes each.
- Recurring: Mondays. Linda Mahony Introduction to SQL Server and databases.
- Recurring: Mondays. Linda Mahony Database design and optimization.
- Recurring: Thursdays in the new year. Grant Bowering. Intro to .NET.
- Recurring: Date TBD. Craig Macarowski: Rocket talks, WX Widgets, Midi Digital Interface stuff, Astronomy.
- Recurring: Tentative dates. Web designer meetup. Potential $5 charge. More presentation based. Less sucky.
- Course instructors should be on time, some members have expressed concern with people not showing up when they said they would.
- Ben Zittlau is going to be our Programming Coordinator to work with software projects.
- Mike Brown is going to be our Make Coordinator for physical projects.
Photo “Booth”:
- Several members have expressed an interest in a photo space.
- The back of the middle space has been proposed to hang some backdrops and such for photographing.
Meeting adjourned at 2:16pm.
General Membership Meeting Minutes for Oct. 18th, 2009
Posted by Eric Warnke in General, Membership, News on October 21st, 2009
Thank you to all the members who came to the meeting yesterday! It was a great discussion and below we’ve supplied the meeting minutes that were taken.
However, first we need to address something very serious. ENTS is a member supported organization and as such we need members to pay their dues. We have had a slow take-off as the place was under renovations for a while but now we’re ready to rock. The space is fully useable and we have keys available for members to get 24/7 access. If you have not paid your November dues please do so, we need them in order to pay rent or else we risk seeing ENTS close down before it can become everything we dream it to be. We accept cash, cheques, and PayPal (see http://ents.ca).
Something really cool that you should check out is the various tutourials and talks we’re having at the space in the near future. Check out http://ev.ents.ca for a list of the upcoming nights. They are also mentioned below in the minutes.
Remember, ENTS is what you make it!
Thanks for reading, see you around!
October 18, 2009
Called to order at 2:09pm. Minutes taker was Eric Warnke.
20 people attending: Rob Davy (vice president), Stephen Olesen (president, aka slepp), Matt Mercer (director), Eric Warnke (director), Graham Batty (director), Chris Simmons (secretary/treasurer), Grant Bowering (director, events committee head), Craig MacRoski, Brent Coglin, Jenn Rain, Doran Douglas, Toby Weingardener, Ben Zitlow, Eugene Chen, Michael Brown, Linda Mahony, Devin Serink, Nathan Baxter, Matt Freisen, Brad Hanes (aka renderman).
Rob Davy leading the meeting
- Elections
- There was one nomination for the vacant director spot.
- No further nominations
- Grant Bowering was elected, all-in-favour
- Fees and dues
- We NEED to have all members pay their November dues!
- Keys are available for any members in good standing. If you pay, you have 24/7 access to the space.
- ENTS will not survive if we do not have members supporting it. You can pay by cash, cheque, or online via PayPal. Please see http://ents.ca and click Pay Dues to pay online.
- You can do a recurring subscription through PayPal so you don’t have to worry about paying each month.
- Keys, status of keycard access project
- We have 30 keys available for members in good standing.
- Keycard swipe program is a future project that will be tasked to certain people who are interested. Talk to Stephen Olesen about volunteering for this.
- Status of space renovations
- We have a metal bin coming on Tuesday. Feel free to bring scrap from home to throw out.
- We need HELP on Tuesday/Wednesday evening to move the metal from the back space in the bin.
- Once the back space has been cleared out we start using it for events and things.
- The utility room will become to “dirty room”. We need to confirm it’s suitable for air flow first.
- The back room will be used for presentations and group gatherings once the metal is out.
- Equipment policy discussion
- Grant Bowering to send out an email about how to treat other people’s stuff and policies involved.
- In short, feel free to bring your stuff to the space, we expect everyone to respect it.
- We do not want to space to become a “dump”.
- A “garage sale” on a semi-regular basis was suggested. The idea needs exploration and a dedicated organizer.
- Consumables are a big issue.
- Michael Kulpa volunteered oversee collecting money for consumable items like solder, vinyl, Coke, etc.
- If anyone wants something to be done, just do it, unless you expect to be paid back by ENTS or it fundamentally changes something (removing a wall for example). You don’t need permission to move a table or set up equipment, but the membership can’t expect the directors to do it for them.
- If you donate something to ENTS and it becomes ENTS’ property we need to insure it, and to do that we need to know it’s value (and serial numbers if it’s new).
- Planning events
- Grant spoke about various events we can host here.
- Potentially host an iPhone app development seminar that is coming to town, and many other conferences here.
- It was agreed that we should charge for space rental on a case-by-case basis. If someone is making money on their conference, then we should as well if we facilitate it.
- User groups should be encouraged to use the space.
- User groups and meetups should be free as long as what they do is in line with ENTS core values.
- A user group is encouraged to donate money or make their users members if they have funding or can afford it.
- A very big tech conference at the SHAW called the ICE Conference. We will have a table there on Nov 2-4th.
- Brad Hanes (renderman) has more info for anyone interested.
- We need volunteers for the table, but we are unsure if we get free passes.
- Events by ENTS:
- We need to have our own events hosted! Bring us your events!
- Upcoming events
- October:
- Rock Band tournament – Thursday Oct. 22nd @ 7:00pm hosted by Grant Bowering
- Introduction to Linux – Friday Oct. 23rd @ 6:30pm by Chris Simmons
- Tutourial on vinyl cutting and sign making – Monday Oct. 26th @ 6:30pm by Eric Warnke and Rob Davy
- Into VoIP – Wednesday Oct. 28th @ 6:30pm by Stephen Olesen
- Introduction to Linux – Wednesday Oct. 28rd @ 6:30pm by Chris Simmons
- Rocketry – Thursday Oct. 29th @ 6:30pm by Craig MacRocket
- November:
- General discussion on security (wireless, etc.) – Friday, Nov. 6th @ 6:30pm by Brad Hanes (Renderman).
- Basic web design and development – Saturday Nov. 7th @ 6:30pm by Chris Simmons
- Intro to .Net and the Microsoft Surface – Tuesday, Nov 2nd @ 7:00pm by Grant Bowering
- Intro to electronic microcontrollers – Friday, Nov. 20th @ 6:30pm by Michael Brown
- Bylaws
- Grant Bowering has updated the bylaws. He will finish his drafts and we will mail them to the members in the future.
- Other business
- Donations by companies should be recognized with a letter.
- Eugene (from Firenest, one of our tenants) is here everyday. He says they see a few people come in and ask general questions or are looking for services.
- Director Chris Simmons is working on a job board for the ENTS website.
- We will put a big white board in the front entrance for people to leave messages on.
- Alcohol in the space: ENTS can’t provide alcohol for members but members can bring their own alcohol. Be responsible and don’t go overboard, but drinking beer and playing Xbox is fine
Meeting closed at 3:57pm.
Latest meeting notes and news on ENTS committees
Posted by whisk in Events, General, Membership, News on September 3rd, 2009
Hello folks!
Notes from the last meeting are up (apologies for the lack of timestamps; that’s my fault):
http://wiki.ents.ca/wiki/Meeting_Notes/September_3_2009
Some highlights from this evening’s meeting:
- Chris Simmons (cshaiku@ents.ca) has been elected a director (taking Don Eglinski’s spot), and will assume Secretary/Treasurer duties as well (from Jeff O’Toole). Jeff’s director spot will be up for grabs in the near future, as he has moved out to Spruce Grove.
- Keys will be distributed to paying members very soon!
- Drywalling/mudding/painting/termination of CAT5 cabling remains to be done in the space. If you can volunteer an hour of your time, you will be rewarded with ample warm fuzzies.
- A number of committees are being formed; more on this below.
- Office space is still available at the ENTS property. $600/month, suitable for a team of three or 4 people. Utilities/Internet access included, and excellent deals on phone services available.
- ENTS GRAND OPENING: Thursday, September 17th. All members: bring yourselves and your tech toys! Expect local media presence.
- Graham and Rob have been discussing the potential for properties around the ENTS space to act as incubators for high-tech firms. This is extremely preliminary, but to join the conversation, get in touch (rob / graham at ents dot ca)
- There is discussion over arranging the back space to provide space for *both* a conference area and “dirty work” shop environment. Significant advantages exist for having in-house convertible conference space; as Rob mentioned, it would help ENTS become the focal point for the local tech community by providing a venue for tech events.
A number of committees are being established. Here’s what’s in the works:
- Events – headed by Grant Bowering (events at ents dot ca)
- Communications/Marketing – headed by Chris Simmons (communications at ents dot ca)
- Safety – headed by Mike Brown (safety at ents dot ca)
- Website – headed by Matt Mercer (web at ents dot ca)
If you have hands and a keyboard, get in touch with the folks above. We need your help!
Wall Construction and General Meeting
Posted by Slepp in Events, Membership, News, Space on July 23rd, 2009
We’re starting on the construction of the walls for the new space on Friday evening at 6pm. We already have all the timber and we’ve started rearranging the overhead power and lights to accommodate the walls. Now, we just need some help to physically build the walls. Friday will mostly be framing and cutting, Saturday at 9am we’ll start the drywalling and finishing. If you can make it Friday at 6pm and/or Saturday on or after 9am, that would be great.
Also, we’ll be having July’s monthly membership general meeting on Thursday, July 30th at 6pm at the space (hopefully we’ll have some walls up by then). We’ll be covering membership dues, the budget, space planning and projects already on the go or in planning. We should have lots of space so hopefully we can see most of the 63 members out next Thursday to join in the meeting.
With that, have a good afternoon and hope to see everyone over the weekend! (Bring some tools if you like, we don’t have enough for everyone)
The space is ours! Open House Friday
Yes, you’ve probably mostly heard by now, but we have signed the lease for the proposed space. On Tuesday morning, Rob, Eric, Graham and Stephen went to the landlord and signed the lease for the ENTS space. We now are the proud lessees of 3700 square feet of space to use as we see fit and to grow the community even further. We’d like to say the landlord has been extremely accomodating to our rapid growth and how we operate. They have been strong supporters of our group and helped us in many ways to get this space at a price that works for us. The landlord has also agreed to let us keep a large number of items, such as desks, tables, and various pieces of equipment to quickly furnish the space. If you run into Bruce at the space, be sure to say thanks!
We’re already picking up the Microsoft Surface from the City of Edmonton Thursday morning, we’re deciding the final layout plans for the primary walls, and have begun the cleaning of the space. There’s a lot to do, but so far, we have already made a lot of progress on preparing the space for general consumption. If you’re interested in helping with construction or planning, let us know. We’d be glad to have the help, member or not.
ThinkTel Communications has agreed to donate 4 phones lines for the space to work with for operations and learning of phone system operation, two parties have agreed to donate Internet connections on their way within the next week, we’re investigating leads on building materials for the space development, and we’ve raised some money from the members in the form of donations to help with all these things. We’ve also had offers of furniture, equipment and gadgets to fill the space already. To those which we’ve replied ‘not just yet’, well, now you can bring it by and we can put it somewhere.
If you’re a member, now is a great time to join in the building and development of the physical space, to shape it into ways you want to see it used. If you’re not a member, there’s no better time than now to sign up and get your ideas placed into the space development.
To introduce everyone to the space, members or the general public, we’re holding two general events. The main event will be Friday evening at 6pm at suite 201, 10575 114 Street NW. It is just north of the Safeway in Oliver Square. There are so far no set plans for what we’ll be doing Friday, but if you can make it out and take a gander at the space and talk with the members and directors, we’d be glad to have you out. On Thursday, you can come out and see the space, and again talk to directors and other members. Hopefully everyone will have a chance in the next two days to take a look. If you really want to take a look, but the evenings don’t work, let us know and we may be able to arrange a time during the day to take people through.
So, to finish off, thanks to everyone for all of their assistance, time, energy and thoughts on making ENTS grow from a small discussion into a 59 member strong group of Edmonton’s technical community. We’re glad to see everyone that has joined and like to hear all your ideas. Now that we have our physical space, we can make all those ideas become realities.
As always, you can call us at 780-701-9400 (ENTS main line), message us on Twitter @ENTS, or email us.
See you Friday or Thursday night! The public and members are all welcome.
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