Monthly Meeting Tues 1 st May 2007

Monthly Meeting Tues 6th May 2007

PRESENT

• Andy L
• Pete F
• Rich H
• Chris P
• Matt T
• Sean K
• Mike B
• Lloyd C
• Everton
• Sam R
• Jim F
• Woodsy
• Lu
• BenG

APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

• Jules
• Andy S
• Ian C

MINUTES OF LAST MEETING

The minutes of the last meting were accepted as a true record and approved nem con.

ACTION POINTS

1. AGM - Woodsy posted a reminder to the list re organising agm.Rich reported that Jules and the auditor are working hard to prepare the accounts in time. Rich is to liaise with Jules on progress on the accounts (action - Rich).
2. Publicity/stickers/front page of website - The publicity leaflet has been produced and Rich has suggested we get a print run of 1,000 done in colour. Front page amendment still has to be done.
3. _Relationship with Nixcom/KWW - Sam has spoken to Chris P re. infrastructure upgrade at The Park and Lloyd has submitted a quote to Chris for the new hardware install. Lloyd and Chris are liaising re timing.
4. Debian consultants - Sam reported that he has also come across another useful organisation - the Open Source Consortium - that would be worthwhile our joining. Membership costs £117.50 and it was agreed we join.
5. Seniors International - Rich reported he had received an email at the last moment announcing cancellation of the event due to lack of support. Sean mentioned that Silver Surfers' Day (aka SSD - for youngsters aged 50+) was being held on 27th May. Sean mentioned Voscur had a web page for SSD and would post link to list (action - Sean).
6. Calendar - Acesabe has set up Bristol Wireless calendar on Google. The ultimate aim is to run the calendar on Zimbra groupware on our new server.

MATTERS ARISING

1. Cube event - Sean reported that the Cube has been booked from 5-9 pm on 17th June for our 6th birthday event. Mike will be streaming the Sunday Roast on Radio Vague live from the Cube. As Sean will be in Poland at the time, a new contact person would be needed nearer the event. Pete F agreed to take on this role. The event will need T-shirts, stickers and other merchandise, plus a small LTSP suite and ideas for the event's content. A press release also needs preparing - to be drafted on the admin wiki. An events page has been created on the admin wiki; those interested in participating should add their names under the relevant events. (action - Pete F, Woodsy et al).
2. Easton Cowboys event - Bails and Sean attended a planning meeting at Bristol Hawks in Bristol last week. The event will take place on the August bank holiday weekend at Cullompton, Devon. Expected attendance is 3,000 from Easton and the rest of the world. Entertainment is planned for the evenings, offering possibilities for streaming. As yet it has not been decided what kit to take - either John P's bus or an LTSP suite or both.
3. Werburghs servers - These have now arrived. Called ying and yang, they have considerable bling factor and are currently being tested with 64 Debian. BenG reported the motherboards have no powersave option and this a request for a BIOS upgrade featuring this has been sent to Asus (and an acknowledgement received from them). However, if this upgrade does not emerge, a motherboard replacement might have to be considered to enable power saving. The servers' specification is to be added to the wiki. Speed testing still has to be carried out.
4. Events staffing - As previously stated an Events 2007 page has been added to the admin wiki with lists of jobs and ideas. People are invited to add their names to the events they wish to attend and the jobs they prepared to take on, bearing in mind always that some have limited tickets available.
5. Company secretary - After serving for 5 years since the formation of Bristol Wireless, Andy L has expressed his desire to stand down. Andy was given a sincere vote of thanks for all his service to Bristol Wireless over the years and, as a token of our appreciation, was presented with a 1 GB USB stick, a Bristol Wireless live CD, Bristol Wireless T-shirt and a container of apple-based beverage). Woodsy has agreed to serve as Acting Company Secretary until confirmed in office at the AGM. It was proposed by Rich and seconded by Jim that Woodsy be appointed Acting Company Secretary; this was approved nem con.

REPORTS

1. Financial report - Rich reported that Linda of WCC would like a breakdown of the how monies from UFI for the Werburghs project has been spent. Rich will contact Jules re this matter (action - Rich).
2. Training funding - Sam has investigated specific funding sources for internal training, so far to no avail, but will continue to pursue this line of inquiry. Sean reported that Voscur will be appointing a new funding advisor in the next 2 weeks and will forward details when known (action - Sean).
3. Recycling project - Sam reported the project had got off to a good start. However, he has not had to buy any reward promotional pints for BW volunteers yet! A press release had been issued 2 weeks ago, resulting in coverage. The Evening Post was due to visit Bristol Wireless tomorrow. Some internal sales had resulted from the Wireless Werburghs project. University freshers fairs were mentioned as a possible long term sales target.
4. Car club membership - Rich is still waiting to hear back and receive the membership/press pack. The direct debit has been signed. Membership allows us to access the pool of 30 cars around Bristol.
5. LTSP rollouts - Various rollouts are underway/scheduled. Pending the arrival of 'kiddy-proof' clients in the hallway at WCC, 5 Compaq thin clients have been set up. Timecare, a commercial organisation has also expressed interest in LTSP. The LTSP suite installation for CSV Environment was progressing well; cabling has been completed and the server and 4 clients are due for installation next week. The recycling/LTSP work proposed as part of the Digital Challenge bid has now been submitted for funding from the DC10 (Digital Challenge runners' up fund) and from European sources to install LTSP in sheltered housing schemes. Finally, 2 queries have been received from housing associations - Solon and United. As regards the latter, offering them a support contract and internet connection is advised.

AOB

1. Wireless Werburghs - 8 homes around Horley Road are now connected. Codes for the e-skills passport, etc. are still outstanding from UFI.
2. Malcolm X - Sam reported that, following a site visit, installations will now be centred on Halston Drive in St Pauls. UFI are happy with this change of plan. Discussions with the council are also being held re. an antenna install on Cabot School. Sam is arranging a meeting with the head (action - Sam). Lloyd mentioned that the structure of the network would need reviewing to accommodate this new expansion.
3. Nomad Mobile & Flexible Working event - Pete F reported he would be attending this event along with new Cityspace appointee Ian Muller and Stephen Hilton of Bristol City Council. Stephen is doing a workshop and was erroneously billed as 'Bristol wireless' in the event's publicity, to some consternation on the daily mailing list. Stephen had alerted the organisers to their error. Tickets to the event were being sought for Bristol Wireless and if forthcoming, a travel budget of £50 was agreed.
4. Venn Festival - Venn will take place from 30th May to 3rd June. This will involve installing some new/temporary APs and involve streaming PAL quality video from 3 events (at the Arnolfini, Cube and Croft respectively) over 3 days. Funding for this project was only secured on Friday from South West Screen. To date planning has been documented on pbwiki and a link posted to the general list.

Date and time of next meeting: Tuesday, 1st May 2007 at St Werburghs Community Centre at 6.30 pm.