Board of Directors Meeting Minutes
September 9, 2004

Attending:

• Mark Alberstat
• Ed Dyer
• Bernie Hart
• Marilyn MacDonald
• Bill Matheson
• John McKay
• Jeff Warnica
• Andrew D. Wright

Absent:

• Tom Daly
• Tanya Moxley
• Chris Watt

Marilyn reported that Reg Hody has resigned from the Board and asked the interim Nominating Committee to seek a replacement. The committee consists of John McKay and Bill Matheson. It was agreed a newsletter for members would solicit new Board members.

Minutes of Previous Meeting (August)

Not available for discussion.

WOTS 2004 Update

The third meeting of the Planning Committee is tomorrow. The plan to share a booth with HRC@P is proceeding. John reported Mayor Kelly is still scheduled to participate. Bernie has sent invitations to Geoff Regan, Michael Savage, Peter Christie, Alexa McDonough, Danny Graham and Marilyn More. At this point Danny Graham is scheduled to participate and Michael Savage plans to visit in the morning. Andrew indicated he has the Treasure Hunt in place and is working with Lisa MacDougall (HRC@P) on this.

It was agreed two ads would be placed in the Chronicle Herald. HRC@P will be invited to participate but if necessary CCN will do these on its own.

Following a discussion of CCN's public relations /marketing program Marilyn reminded the Board that NSCC has a marketing program which we could call on for support.

It was moved by John / Mark that we purchase two ads. Passed with one abstention.

WiFi Report

Andrew reported the WiFi project in International House is now in operation and appears to be meeting expectations. John reported he had received information on a new service which offers opportunities for CCN. The approximate cost would be $5,000. John indicated the next step is to determine whether the equipment we are considering has been Industry Canada approved. He agreed to obtain more information for the next meeting.

John agreed to report to the Board online. Ed pointed out that we need a business plan for this service. Marilyn asked if Ed, Andrew and Bernie would agree to work on this.

Retreat

Tom, Tanya and Bernie have a meeting planned to develop the interview questions and procedures and they will report at the next meeting.

Committee Reports

Finance Committee

Bernie distributed the financial statement for the month of August. There was a discussion about the level of expenditures. It was agreed that apart from the anniversary expenditures, which are a one-time-only item, the additional salaries accounted for the remaining over-expenditure.

Jeff asked on what authority was Johnathan's position continued. Marilyn responded that because Johnathan was able to continue and because we require his assistance it was decided to extend his position. Jeff pointed there was no authority for this extension and further we had not budgeted for it. He expressed concern over a "lack of financial accountability".

Following a further discussion it was moved by Ed / John that Johnathan's position be extended at the same rate of pay from the end of August to the end of December. Motion carried with one opposed.

Technical Committee

Ed reported the WOTS (Word on the Street) preparatory work has been done. A dial-up connection will be available at the booth.

He indicated the use of our service during the Parade of Sail was not as high as before but did reach 50,000 users. It was suggested we should make a presentation to the city outlining the services we provide and particularly the publicity derived from such projects as Tall Ships.

The volume of spam and viruses continues at approximately 5,000 - 10,000 per day.

Ed and Johnathan are investigating "V.92" services. The cost is not yet known but will depend on whether there is a requirement for additional hardware and software. V.92 provides:

• Call waiting.
• A 25% increase in upload speeds.
• A capability for faster dial-up on repeat connections.

John asked about the number of users and the access capacity of our present service. Ed and Andrew both indicated we are not yet at capacity. Following a discussion of the loss of text users it was suggested we determine an approach to encourage them to remain with CCN if they decide to go to a full Internet service.

Policy Committee

The contest for WOTS has been prepared. Andrew indicated the Policy Committee is able to consider the implications of the WiFi Service but ultimately it will be the responsibility of the Board to make all decisions.

External Committee

No report.

Internal Committee

Following a discussion regarding the need for a Chair it was moved by Ed / Mark that Bill Matheson become the Chair of the Internal Committee. Motion carried.

Other Business

Marilyn thanked Mark for the very valuable contribution he has made through his work on the Mouse Pad newspaper column. This was universally and enthusiastically endorsed by all members of the Board.

Adjournment

The meeting adjourned.

Next Meeting: October 7, 2004. 6:30 PM, Colloquium Room