June Operations Report ====================== Thursday, 14 June 1996 by Lisa K. Donnelly, NCF Executive Director 1. Bylaws and Board Members List Filed with Industry Canada ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Our modified By-laws and Board members list was submitted to Industry Canada's Corporate Directorate office after our Annual General Meeting, along with the required $30 filing fee. The forms were approved and a confirmation received. Changes in Board members do not have to be updated throughout the year. Industry Canada requires annual updates only. 2. NCF Spring Funding Drive Closes at $30,000 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The funding drive started on 1 April and closed on 31 May. The target was to raise $50,000. Part of this drive was the long awaited offering of the personalized freenet addresses (PFAs). The campaign stalled at $30,000 and we decided to close it and prepare for another campaign this summer. Here are the exact figures: Funds raised = $30,553 54% or $16,458 in donations above $100 (PFAs) 3. Administrative Database Assessment in Progress ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In order to complete our database effectively and spend the allocated money wisely, we have been re-examining our beta-version of the Oracle database. Two employees of Oracle Corporation came to Dunton Tower to test the current design. They recommended we hire a consultant to finish the work but could not estimate the time required. Technical volunteer, David Jones, met with NCF Administrative Coordinator, Sheila, to test the database and has generously made recommendations about designing new functions for the existing forms. During last month's maintenance downtime Oracle was rendered temporarily inoperable. We are looking at David's recommendation and also exploring more standardized options while waiting for Oracle to be activated again. Ideally, this should happen next week. 4. Installation of New Lines and Modems ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ At the beginning of the month a meeting was held to plan the installation of the 32 new lines pending installation. NCF volunteers (who are also Carleton staff) John Stewart and Colin McFadyen, joined Board President, David Sutherland and NCF staff (Ian, Roy and Lisa) to work out the details. With approval from the Board to purchase the equipment we can proceed. Next Steps: -Research and purchase a terminal server and a new server (or upgrades) -Request racks to be completed by Carleton -Order 32 new lines from Bell -Install new modems in racks ( 64 modems received and tested) -Upgrade lines from our 2,400 bps pool into our 14.4 bps pool -Add 6 lines to our express pool 5. NCF Checking in to MasterCard ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Members should be given every possible method to donate! We would like to carry MasterCard as well as Visa. This month we are checking into the possibility of doing this. We had tried before but were unable to obtain a reasonable fee structure. 6. Trial of Auto Debit ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Development committee and the NCF Administrative Coordinator have been checking into the possibility of offering members a new way to donate: auto debiting of credit cards and/or bank accounts. The cost is $50 a month and we are talking to the bank about trying this on a trial basis. If the cancellation fee and paperwork are reasonable we should be able to start this summer. 7. NCF's New Fundraising Events Community Calendar ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ On 4 June we kicked off a new NCF service. This service, sponsored by a grant from the Community Foundation of Ottawa-Carleton (CFOC), is a planning and publicity tool for the region's non-profit and charitable organizations. We are getting information about the calendar out to the entire community via talking to Ottawa's Mayor Holtzman, the Regional Clerk's Office of RMOC and the CFOC. All three groups will be contacting non-profits and charities regarding getting their group on NCF. 8. HTML Course Held for NCF Volunteers ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In April, NCF and Virtual Ventures were able to bring a free HTML training course to 20 NCF volunteers. The event was organized by the Administrative Coordinator and was held at Carleton University. We will be holding a second course this summer for volunteers, Board and staff. 9. NCF Represented at Schools' Employer Appreciation Events ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ NCF was present at two employer appreciation events recently held to honour the employers and the students participating in the cooperative education program. We were fortunate this year to have two coop students: Anthony DeMarco, from St. Matthew's High School, during the first semester, and during the second, Michael Mcwhinnie, from Sir Wilfred Laurier High School. Michael was presented with an award as his school's best student in the computer field - a real credit to NCF and our Administrative Coordinator, Sheila C.-Alder. NCF was mentioned in both the printed programs, and the verbal presentations, along with other employers taking part in the programs. The other employers included high tech firms, radio and television stations, community organizations, hospitals, emergency services, retailers, museums, and several government offices. -- ** Lisa K. Donnelly, Executive Director ** * National Capital FreeNet/Libertel de la Capitale nationale * Telecommunities Canada, Board of Directors (613) 241-9554 voice & fax (613) 241-2477