Chebucto Community Net
Board Minutes
Tuesday 21 September 1999

 

Start 6:30 P.M., Adjourned 8:30 P.M.

    Present:
  • Michael Colborne
  • Leo J. Deveau
  • Joyline Makani
  • Doug McCann
  • David Murdoch
  • Susan Newhook
  • Andrew D. Wright

          Regrets: Bernie Hart, Krista Olmstead, Sharon Parker.

 

Minutes

          Minutes of last meeting approved with Doug McCann and Michael Colborne's emailed changes. Moved David Murdoch, seconded Joyline Makani. Motion passed.

Resignation

          Sue Newhook advised that she would be resigning from the Board effective after the Word on the Street fair September 26.

Purchases

          David Murdoch advised that CCN-Tech had purchased a new computer at a cost of just under $2000. He said that this was partly funded by a TSS Pilot Project and was purchased in consultation with Leo. Michael said to email the Board list with details of the machine and the project. David also mentioned that CCN needs to buy five UPS backup power supplies to help with short power outages. He said that these would cost about $200 each.

Executive Director's Report

          Leo outlined the progress in organizing the Word on the Street (WOTS) fair in coordination with CCN-Tech and that five Information Providers had signed up to participate. He mentioned that a band was available - Joe Murphy - but that this would cost money. David suggested a smaller group that he knew of might be approached and Sue suggested an acoustic members' jam. She added that there were members with talent on CCN, one in particular with a website promoting a CD and that this would be better from a PR point of view to have musicians with a real CCN connection. Leo said that we'll put up a notice inviting participation.

          Sue said that Gordon Earle, MP for Halifax West, would be attending and that all local media had been invited. David suggested that we have a microphone and amp on hand.

          Andrew passed out printed copies of the CCN bank statement information covering July and August. Doug asked if our software was capable of producing consolidated balance sheets. Andrew replied that he was unfamiliar with this but would look into it.

IP Fees

          Doug said that he had consulted with the IP Committee to produce a proposed list of IP fees and that these fees should synchronize with regular membership fees or vice versa. He said that feedback had been along the lines of asking what CCN was here for - to provide services to the community or to make money? Sue mentioned that IPs traditionally aren't active within the organization and should be invited to participate more as the services currently provided to them are not priced at current market values. David warned that we must be wary of becoming perceived as a commercial ISP and that CCN is involved in many different community projects. He said that we were here to provide a basic service with a few extras for those who might want them. Leo said that we must have the IP process streamlined in time for the VolNet rollout. David said that organizations could help promote CCN more and gave the example of distributing CCN brochures from the IPs' office, saying that we should be pushing this more. Sue said that CCN could benefit from becoming a community group portal site that people would automatically head to.

          David said that the VDN fees should take into account that CCN-Tech volunteer time to hand-configure any additional email addresses other than the default info@domain.name and webmaster@domain.name was necessary and that this should cost something. He said that it might perhaps be possible to automate this at some point.

          Sue said that a link back to CCN from an IP site should be mandatory. Doug said that more contact with the IP organizations was necessary and elaborated on this. Andrew said that there was currently no office/admin support for managing these fees in place. Leo said that this would have to be looked at.

          Motion: That Doug McCann's fee schedule for IPs be approved. Moved: Sue Newhook, seconded: David Murdoch. Motion passed with one abstention.

          Sue suggested that IP Agreement be modified to include mandatory site updates to prevent sites becoming stale and a link to or acknowledgement of CCN. It was agreed that the IP Agreement will be examined with an eye to such revisions.

Word On The Street (WOTS)

          Michael said that we should keep an eye out at the event for potential Board members as well as volunteers. There was some talk about when Board members should be present. Andrew suggested that CCN itself have a presentation in one of the available time slots. There was a discussion about the event and the followup birthday party at 4 pm and it was recommended that all available Board members should attend this.

Executive Director's Report, Part II

          Doug said that budget planning process should be expedited and asked about a deadline for a pro forma financial statement. Leo suggested that this could be done by the end of October. Doug said that we should have it for the next Board meeting and that it could be called for on short notice in the right circumstances.

          Michael suggested that the Board should have a more hands-on approach to Urban CAP and that the Urban CAP sub-committee be revived.

          Leo said that he would be attending the weekend NovaKnowledge conference and that it was important for CCN to be represented at such events. David said that he would be attending as well, as an individual member.

Board Member Recruiting

          With Sue Newhook's resignation, the need to recruit more people for the Board becomes more urgent. Several names were discussed. Andrew suggested a notice in the Beacon and Michael agreed. The Nominating Committee is David and Michael. Michael advised that we are looking for quality not quantity. Leo suggested some organizations that may have people who might be interested.

Other Business

          Andrew reminded the Board members to send along the final drafts of minutes for inclusion in the Board archive and that he would email the list again with the missing dates.

Next Meeting

          Thursday 14 October 1999 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm at Alderney Gate Library, room to be booked by Michael and announced.

Back to the Board minutes page