NCF Board of Directors
Minutes of Meeting
October 18 2005

SOME HIGHLIGHTS

• DSL service continues to roll out successfully.
• NCF to provide Internet access for a project run by The Anti-Poverty Project (http://www.tapp.org/)
• Many NCF volunteers providing support to members are now bilingual.

Minutes of a meeting of the Board of Directors

The meeting was called to order at 7:15 p.m. with Chris Cope as Chair and Michael Mei as Secretary.

1. INTRODUCTIONS

   Board members present:
   Christopher Cope (bz787), President/chair
   Mary Anne Dugmore (er983), 1st Vice-president
   Gary Eikenberry (aa353), 2nd Vice-president
   Michael Mei (bi195), Secretary
   Don Francis (ba990)
   Shing Kwong Lee (ez191)
   Graeme Beckett (aw958)

   Regrets:
   Tony McNeill (ff231)
   Elaine Condos (ff377)
   Mark Mielke (al278)
   Ian Gibson

   NCF Management/Staff present:
   John Selwyn (es347), Executive Director
   Brian Shouldice

   Members/Guests:
   

   Once around the table . . .
   Informal pre-meeting conversation, with Directors taking turn offering personal views and commentary on interesting things that might not make it to the Agenda.

2. CONFIRMATION OF QUORUM
   

   Quorum was confirmed.
   

3. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES OF MEETING
   (see minutes of prior month)

   MOTION: That minutes be approved with minor editorial changes.
   Moved by: Gary Eikenberry (aa353)
   Seconded by: Graeme Beckett (aw958)
   VOTE: Carried

4. REVIEW OF THE AGENDA
   (see draft agenda)

   MOTION: That the agenda be adopted as published except for the deletion of 6. b) Treasurer's Report and financial statements, the addition of 7. a) Executive Director Succession Planning, and the addition of 7. b) Presentation by acting Office Manager.
   Moved by: Don Francis (ba990)
   Seconded by: Graeme Beckett (aw958)
   VOTE: All in favour

5. ONGOING BUSINESS
   
   
6. REPORTS
   1. Executive Director's Report (John Selwyn)
      (see accompanying report)

      Highlights of the Executive Director's report include:
      

      • PCCyber is now an NCF partner, providing V.92 modems, DSL modems and filters to NCF members who need hardware.
      • The number of DSL subscribers continues to grow.
      • Cash reserves are very low but grew slightly.
      • New volunteers are coming up to speed.
      • NCF to provide Internet access for a project run by The Anti-Poverty Project (http://www.tapp.org/).
      • NCF to provide services to Reboot (http://www.rebootcanada.ca/index_html.html).
      • October and November activities will include:
      • • Continue to roll out DSL service.
        • Continue marketing DSL service.
        • Prepare an article for Monitor Magazine.
        • Speak at a number of Ottawa area PC user groups.
        • Three avenues are being pursued with the City of Ottawa to help establish the NCF Access Assistance Fund.

      MOTION: That the Executive Director's report be received.
      Moved by: Graeme Beckett (aw958)
      Seconded by: Tony McNeill (ff231)
      VOTE: All in favour

7. NEW BUSINESS
   1. Executive Director Succession Planning

      The NCF board should proactively plan for the eventual departure of the current Executive Director. The board will consider restructuring of the roles and responsibilities at the NCF, which could result in one or more part-time roles. Activities currently handled by NCF staff include:

      • System administration.
      • Software development.
      • Finance.
      • Marketing.
      • Working with volunteers.
      • Working with government organizations.
      • Working with community groups.
   2. Presentation by acting Office Manager (Brian Shouldice)

      An excellent multimedia CD was provided to board members containing presentation material and free software tools that NCF uses to provide better service to members. Highlights of the presentation and CD material include:

      • NCF has low cost competitors. Besides providing superior dial-up service, a main differentiator is and must continue to be respectful and high quality support.
      • NCF currently manages support using a new trouble ticket system. In the last year NCF currently logged approximately 5,000 trouble tickets which does not many calls that are not logged, servicing walk-ins or dealing with member emails.
      • Attracting good volunteers is difficult due to parking constraints but some volunteer work can be done from home.
      • Many NCF volunteers are now bilingual.
      • NCF provides a great training ground for volunteers.
      • NCF's target is to grow membership from 8,000 to 12,000
      • The CD contained many good ideas about member retention and renewal, marketing, and possible future services.

      MOTION: That the Office Manager's report be received.
      Moved by: Graeme Beckett (aw958)
      Seconded by: Mary Anne Dugmore (er983)
      VOTE: All in favour

8. Announcements
   1. Chris Cope advised that the City of Ottawa will be hosting a rural summit on Tuesday November 15 and Saturday November 19 (see http://www.ottawa.ca/city_hall/rural_summit/index_en.html).
   2. Chris Cope advised that the City of Ottawa has launched a 311 service that provides easy access to municipal services (see http://www.ottawa.ca/contactus_311_en.shtml). For example it will be possible to register for the rural summit using the 311 service.
   
   
9. NEXT MEETING

   November 15, at 7 p.m.
   OCRI Board Room
   2625 Queensview Drive, Suite 200

10. ADJOURNMENT

    The meeting adjourned at 9.02 p.m.