Minutes

[Carl Parrish]

Trent has my vote for Rec Sec. <g>

Carl P.


Trent Shipley wrote:

> <minutes committee='PLUG'>
> 
> <title>
> Minutes of the _ad hoc_ PLUG meeting at Bandersnatch
> </title>
> 
> of <meeting_date>2001-April-17</meeting_date>
> 
> <agenda type='this'>
> The meeting proceeded without agenda.
> </agenda>
> 
> 
> <section topic='PLUG Presents'>
> 
> We began by discussing the logistics of sponsoring a  PLUG Presents Event to
> commemorate the tenth anniversary of Linux.  There was consensus that a date
> in September or October of 2001 would be difficult to satisfy.  Furthermore,
> the proposed event was sufficiently ambitious that we would need to form a
> legal corporation to take responsibility for the event.  We agreed that the
> first exposition should be locally motivated.  Also, a planning for separate
> vendor and technical tracks was though too ambitious for the first event.
> However, the possibility of allowing free admission, but asking for a
> donation was somewhat interesting.  We also thought
> 
> Because of the long time deemed necessary to organize the event itself, and
> the dependency on forming an organization, the participants thought it best
> to abandon the idea of a major event to commemorate the tenth anniversary.
> There was consensus that it would be best to postpone the proposed
> exposition until sometime during the weekdays of the last full week in
> April.
> 
> </section>
> 
> Because a major event would require an organization or individual to sponsor
> it, we decided to address the problem of forming an NPO.  Furthermore, Hans
> convinced the participants that planning for the PLUG Presents Exposition
> should wait until after PLUG participated in the Fall Phoenix ITech.  Except
> for securing the rights to PLUGPresents domain names, planning for the
> exposition was tabled.   Having dismissed the Exposition for the time being,
> the meeting turned to three topics, <topic>Forming an NPO</topic>
> <topic>ITech</topic> and <topic>Birthday for Linux</topic>.
> 
> <section topic='NPO'>
> 
> It was decided that if PLUG was to conduct events or undertake certain kinds
> of major projects then it needed to have access to a legally chartered
> organization.
> 
> The emerging mission concept for the proposed NPO would be promoting free
> and open source software in Arizona.  To that end, the NPO would organize
> the first PLUG Presents Exposition.
> 
> Hans was concerned about the possible liability and trust obligations that
> would attach to board members, and officers in particular.  He believed that
> it was critical to get competent legal advice at all stages of forming the
> NPO.  Many individuals expressed concerns about the difficulties of
> chartering the NPO and writing its bylaws.  There were also concerns about
> how the first set of officers would be chosen.
> 
> Jim observed that hiring legal counsel would be expensive, but not
> prohibitively expensive.
> 
> Jay was concerned about the effect that forming a non-profit organization to
> sponsor PLUG would have on the informal user group.  It was agreed that
> making the un-PLUG NPO distinct from the Phoenix Linux User Group was
> promising and deserved further consideration.  We were interested in an NPO
> to generally promote free software in Arizona.  This would mean that un-PLUG
> would have a wider population of constituents than just PLUG and its
> members.
> 
> Because of un-PLUG's mission that would include acting as an umbrella
> organization supporting free-ware U.G.s in Arizona, members of PLUG are
> encouraged to redistribute this section to other U.G.s where they
> participate.
> 
> Scheduling the next meeting of the un-PLUG exploratory group will occur on
> the main PLUG list.  The next meeting of the NPO group should occur within
> two weeks.
> 
> <resolutions>
> 
> <task>Hans will contact the Non-Profit institute at ASU</task>
> <task>Hans will look for appropriate legal counsel</task>
> <task>Walter will look for financial advisors</task>
> <task>Trent volunteered for any position on the board except for
> treasurer</task>
> <task>Various individuals promised to work on the committee</task>
> 
> </resolutions>
> 
> Also, everyone is encouraged to look for _pro-bono_ legal, financial, and
> business advisors for un-PLUG.
> 
> <agenda type='proposed'>
> 
> <section id='OldBusiness'>
> <title>
> Old business:
> </title>
> 
> <item>Non-Profit institute</item>
> <item id='LegalAdvisors'>Legal advisors</item>
> <item>Business advisors</item>
> 
> </section>
> 
> <section>
> <title>
> New business:
> </title>
> 
> <item>Mission</item>
> <item>Membership</item>
> <item depends_on'OldBusiness.LegalAdviors' id='Charter'>Charter</item>
> <item depends_on='Charter'>Bylaws</item>
> 
> </section>
> </agenda>
> 
> </section>
> 
> <section topic='ITech'>
> 
> Hans will get in touch with his contacts at ITech.  We will want to draw
> visitors to the ITech event, but not so many that we annoy ITech.  After
> all, ITech needs to turn a profit.
> 
> We will try to keep one theatre or seminar room busy.  We will also try to
> bring in a speaker who can headline the PLUG marquee.  However, the speaker
> will give his or her presentation after the main ITech event (unless the
> ITech promoters request otherwise.  We fear that a major speaker could swamp
> the commercial effectiveness of the promoter's event.)  Note that this makes
> the problem of getting a room for PLUG's main presenter a major logistical
> hurdle.
> 
> Also, in keeping with ITech's for-profit focus, there was some interest in
> getting presenters from companies involved in producing 'blended' systems.
> The most notable company working on blended products is IBM.  Another
> possibility is myLinux.
> 
> Contact <contact>Hans</contact> if you are interested in planning PLUG's
> presence at the Phoenix ITech.
> 
> </section>
> 
> <section topic='Linux Birthday>
> 
> Hans will look into the feasibility of holding a members-only Linux birthday
> party at the Bash on the Ash in the second or third week in September 2001.
> 
> It was generally agreed that it would be too hot for a picnic in September
> in Phoenix.  However, there might be some other occasion that could be
> celebrated with a picnic when the weather would probably be more suitable.
> A picnic could be organized on pretty short notice.
> 
> </section>
> 
> 
> Also, Bandersnatch is a very good location for an informal gathering.
> Unfortunately, it is completely unsuitable for a working meeting.  Future
> working meetings with more than four people should use other locations.
> 
> 
> <secretary>
> <name>Trent Shipley</name>
> <date>2001-April-18</date>
> </secretary>
> 
> 
> 
> </minutes>
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Trent Shipley
> 
> Work:
> (602) 522-7502
> mailto:tshipley@symbio-tech.com
> http://www.symbio-tech.com
> 
> ________________________________________________
> See http://PLUG.phoenix.az.us/navigator-mail.shtml if your mail doesn't post to the list quickly and you use Netscape to write mail.
> 
> PLUG-discuss mailing list  -  PLUG-discuss@lists.PLUG.phoenix.az.us
> http://lists.PLUG.phoenix.az.us/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss
> 
>