Minutes of the National Capital Freenet Board Meeting March 17, 1998 - 7:30pm Held at the RMOC Headquarters - 111 Lisgar Street Ottawa, Ontario PRESENT: Jim Elder, aa456 JE Michael Mason, Secretary, an956 MM Miranda Gray, ak717 MG Natalie Munro, aa966 NM Jean Wilmot, aa145 JW Chris Hawley, ah654 CH Jeff Bossert, Treasurer, au025 JB Jessica Cohen, aa724 JC Dave Sutherland, President/Chairman, aa001 DS Andrew Nellis, bs904 AN Regrets: Andre Vellino, Vice President, an386 AV NCF Staff Present: Christopher Cope, Executive Director, bz787 Sheila Alder, Administrative Coordinator, xx001 Yannick Gravel, System Administrator, xx136 NCF Members Present: E. O'Driscoll, Minute Taker, af995 Guest: Lil Lawrence, Development Team Coordinator, ar610 1. INTRODUCTIONS Dave Sutherland took the chair and Michael Mason acted as secretary of the meeting. Directors being present and notice of the meeting having been duly given, the meeting was declared to be properly constituted for the conduct of business. 2. MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING The Chairman tabled the amended draft minutes of the last meeting of the Board held in February 1998, which, upon motion made by Jessica Cohen, seconded by Jean Wilmot, and carried, were approved. 3. REVIEW OF THE AGENDA FOR THIS MEETING Andrew Nellis wished to make a presentation regarding the Acceptable Use Policy and Chris Cope requested an item regarding the Development Team. 4. OLD BUSINESS a) 1998 Annual General Meeting - Final Report Michael Mason invited questions from the floor in the absence of a formal written report. It was noted that here were over 3200 members who voted during the 1998 AGM. Some discussion on the delay about which some members expressed concerns. Chris Cope noted that NCF needs a more effective way to communicate with novice members. Various options regarding the format of the All-Candidates' meeting due to attendance over the past couple years. One suggestion was that it be turned into an event which could be televised on community television. Another suggestion was that the all-candidates' meeting be cancelled altogether in future years. Dave Sutherland thanked Michael Mason for chairing the 1998 Annual General Meeting. 5. REPORTS a) Treasurer's Report Jeff Bossert presented the highlights of the report. Key indicators: Revenue is approximately $15,000 under predicted levels in the budget. New members are donating more than expected. Unfortunately, there are less new members than expected according to the 1998 budget. Sheila noted that the increase in donation level from new members may be due to the $50 suggested donation. Expenses are tracking close to budget. It was noted that the ONET fees, traditionally paid annually at the end of the year are now required to be paid in advance. Current revenues being below budgeted amounts is not where NCF would like to be. NCF has to be more proactive in this area. The finance committee will meet in near future to explore potential options for increasing revenue. Jim Elder asked about the percentage of people renewing and why the amount is lower than predicted. Some discussion on the average donation upon renewal and that it was falling short from expectations. It was reiterated that we need to communicate to all members the value of belonging to FreeNet. b) Executive Director's Report Chris Cope summarised the report: Essentially, the membership level is the main challenge for NCF. System resources are quite adequate and an increased membership will not degrade service at all. Miranda Gray asked about the membership usage numbers - she noted that the usage (unique members weekly logins) seems to be decreasing. Chris Cope replied that the trend is downward but not by a lot and at the moment the reason for this is not apparent. Some discussion about tracking usage trends. Jim Elder offered to re-do the stats he did a year earlier. Top Five Priorities - Membership development - Revenue development - System stability and FreeNet Next Generation project - Orientation of new board and development of board manual - Pursue Industry Canada funding proposal Finally, Jeff Bossert spoke about the Extended Access Project, explaining the handout: 1. Extended Access II - negotiations are being held with another potential Extended Access partner. 2. Cool Deals Program - discussions regarding NCF members being able to benefit from potential discounts on Cool Deals partners. It was asked that the web page that would contain this program include a button which prospective members could push in order to register themselves. 3. Citrix Thin Client Server - Jeff will have more information regarding this item by the April meeting. Chris briefly went over several projects he is currently working on, including obtaining donations for the Membership Drive as well as the Industry Canada CAIP site program. 6. NEW BUSINESS a) Sponsor Assisted NCF Membership Drive Chris Cope noted that there are two major sponsorship areas that he is working on: one is an automobile dealership and the other is grocery store chain. Negotiations are being held with a local car dealer and if there is no advancement by May, another may be approached. It was suggested that NCF set a timeframe and then proceed. Chris Cope remarked that the best approach is to fit into the potential sponsor's advertising schedule. However, it is possible to run the drive initially without a large sponsor and repeat the whole thing later once a major sponsor is confirmed. It was noted that major food chains usually do their advertising nationally or regionally and thus it may be difficult to get visual spots in weekly advertising features. b) Events Coordination Team & WebSite Team Setup Sheets Andre Ouellete is heading a new team which will organise upcoming NCF events such as the annual NCF Picnic, Hallowe'en Party and a possible Christmas party. The Web Site Team is pulling the site together and a test site will be available shortly. There was discussion regarding terms related to the Web Site Team and regarding content on "top level pages". It was asked if it would be possible to have an independent assessment of the NCF website. It was generally agreed that this would be a good idea and will be pursued. c) Board of Directors Meetings Start Time As it was discussed at the last board meeting, Michael Mason asked that every director make a concerted effort to be on time for the meetings. After a brief discussion, it was decided that the meeting Chair will start all meetings at exactly 7:00pm. Some general discussion about the place and time of the BoD meetings. It was generally agreed that the current location rotation would continue. d) Review of the Acceptable Use Policy Andrew Nellis made a brief presentation regarding complaints that are made against FreeNets across Canada related to spam. Edmonton FreeNet has been told by their internet provider that if they receive one more complaint they will be disconnected. Apparently larger ISPs have been threatening to block FreeNets due to members' activity. As a result, it is a good idea for NCF to revise its Acceptable Use Policy regarding its views of spam. Dave Sutherland suggested that Andrew bring a proposal to the Board at the next meeting for the Board's consideration. Andrew invited all members of the board to submit comments or information by sending e-mail to the netabuse mail alias (nact@freenet.carleton.ca). e) NCF Development Team Chris Cope went through various potential development projects. Any members of the Board with ideas to add are encouraged to send them through to Chris. Proposed projects could be delegated out to individual board members for them to coordinate. Lil Lawrence who will help organise the project development. It was suggested that more discussion is needed on the development proposals and articulation on what NCF has to offer. Some discussion on the development of a brochure for use by the project coordinators. Jim Elder asked about the possiblity of having people from the community act as project coordinators. Some discussion on this topic of how to promote FreeNet. Lil Lawrence noted that if members or other people in the community take on a project, Directors must stay informed and keep track of what is being done. More discussion on how Directors could manage projects and how to determine what more can be done and how. Chris concluded that having a board member on the development teams would be valuable and challenged the directors to each take on a development project. 7. DATE OF NEXT MEETING Tuesday, April 24th at 7:00pm at the Olde Forge Community Resource Centre. 8. ADJOURNMENT There being no futher business, the meeting adjourned.