Bristol Wireless Wiki - Monthly Meeting Tues 3 rd October 2006

MonthlyMeetings

PRESENT

Pete F (Chair)
Julien
Rich
Jim
Lloyd
Matt T
Tom T
Chris P
Mike B
Jon Elmes
Woodsy

APOLOGIES

Sam
Sean
Andy L
Bails

MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING

These were approved nem. con.

MATTERS ARISING

Bus: A wiki page has been started on the admin wiki. Julien informed with meeting he has a contact at First who may be able to help with any acquisition.

ACCOUNTS

Julien circulated copies of the accounts (trading account and project accounts) for the period 8th April 2005 to 3rd October 2006. He is still awaiting copies of accounts for 04/05 and 05/06 financial years from the auditor who has just returned from holiday. These should be available in about 1 week. Julien stated our turnover is approx. �40,000 p.a. On the expenditure side, 66% of grants are spent directly on projects. Rent expenditure has increased due to our taking on additional space; on the other hand the old lab at Bannerman Buildings has now been vacated. On the Vivaldi project, we are still endeavouring to recover �1,000 still owed from the City Council, whilst the remaining funds shown in the project budget have now been spent on equipment whose delivery we are awaiting. On the Bannerman Rd project, the �3,000 still outstanding on the project budget has been allocated for works around WCC. Our bank account has a healthy balance and there are no outstanding liabilities. Pete F raised the question of VAT registration: Julien replied that, given we are mostly funded by grants, the auditor considers it would be disadvantageous for us to register (our turnover is way below the registration threshold anyway!), although Julien will continue to monitor the situation.

ECC/PHONE CO-OP FAILURE/TOC H

Lloyd reported that the DSL line at ECC has gone down, apparently due to a cock-up involving BT. Given that BMEX bandwidth will be available at ECC in a couple of weeks, Lloyd wishes to ask TOC H if we can link to their DSL line as a temporary measure. Rich reported that we are awaiting payment of outstanding invoice for DSL line from TOC H. Richard and Lloyd to liaise with Mark Trotter of TOC H on this matter.

TECHNICAL MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE

Lloyd presented his ideas on this subject, stating the need for a network management sub-group, with the present technical group of Lloyd, Rich, Bails, Ben G and Matt Leonard to be enlarged to include Jon Elmes (Knowle West Web) and Mike Harris (psand.net). This was agreed. Lloyd also stated it was proposed to hold technical meetings on the first Tuesday of each month just prior to the regular monthly meeting (with a report from the former to the latter).

PHONE CO-OP INVESTMENT

Julien reported that we ought to put our idle but healthy bank balance to work to earn interest. At the moment the Phone Co-op is offering rates well above bank interest rates. It was proposed by Julien and seconded by Matt T that we invest �2,000 in the Phone Co-op and also that a deposit account be opened with Unity Trust. Both proposals were agreed.

PUBLIC WIFI NETWORK - EXPRESSION OF INTEREST

Bristol City Council is asking for expressions of interest for the installation of a public wifi network in Bristol. Details are available at http://www.bristol-cyps.org.uk/wifi. The meeting expressed its disappointment that Bristol Wireless would be unable to bid as installation of the network would be at the supplier�s cost and risk, hence no funding is available. Lloyd pointed out that Bristol Wireless could play a co-ordinating role and provide consultancy. Pete F suggested we nevertheless submit an expression of interest whose wording would be worked out by a small group (consisting of Pete F, Chris P, Lloyd, Sam and Sean) and circulated to the Grindstone.

OLD LAB

The old lab at Bannerman Buildings has now been vacated and surrendered. There are still some minor matters concerning the rent (paid quarterly) to be resolved.

ECDL

The National Computer Council called recently regarding the ECDL. Bristol Wireless is being considered as an ECDL training provider. This would nevertheless involve all potential trainers having to complete the course themselves.

WEBSITE/WORDPRESS UPDATE

Chris Wach has prepared a test page featuring the new layout (including news feed in right-hand sidebar). It was pointed out that any update needs to include the new logo. Comments on the redesign to be posted to the BW mailing list.

KNOWLE WEST WEB

Chris P reported that KWW has funding secured until April 2007 and gave a brief summary of the project's progress. A memorandum of understanding with Bristol Wireless has been drafted and is posted on the admin wiki for comment.

BANGLADESHI ASSOCIATION

We have been approached by the above organisation regarding the supply of refurbished equipment for Bangladesh. It was decided to refer them to Byteback.

C3 PERFORMANCE REVIEW

Woodsy reported the notes of the action plan final meeting had now been posted on the wiki. In addition, a follow-up meeting needs to be arranged with Kate Harkavy; Pete F, Rich, Woodsy and Sam will consult their diaries to find a convenient date.

AOB

Milan visit: Rich gave a brief report of his recent visit to Milan to collect 2 phones for Bristol Wireless to test. These are VOIP and GSM phones, of which Lloyd has one and Bails the other. We also have access to the phone developers should we have any feedback for them.