Monthly Meeting Tues 4 th December 2007

BRISTOL WIRELESS MONTHLY MEETING, TUESDAY 4TH DECEMBER 2007

PRESENT:

Rich H, Woodsy, Jim F, Lloyd C, Acesabe, Mike H, Ben G, Jules, John P, Sean K, Pete F, Sam R, Everton

APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE:

Lu, Kevin O'M

MINUTES OF LAST MEETING:

Woodsy indicated that a small typographical error had been spotted and fixed in the minutes, which were subsequently approved.

MATTERS ARISING

1. XtreamLab: Rich indicated that the 3 venues on the list (Croft, Clockwork & Blue Mountain) had all been visited, as had the Trinity, which is keen on being connected to network. Mike H added that the second Xtream event will be held at Trinity on Saturday 23 February 2008.
2. LTSP Project Management: Acesabe has been suggested as a potential project manager. He is willing to assume this responsibility subject to the preparation of a job description and definition of the job's scope. It was agreed Mike H and Acesabe prepare the job description (action - Mike H, Acesabe).
3. Christmas/Solstice/insert_festival_of_choice event: A provisional date of 19 December (Acesabe's birthday!) and time of 6/7 pm was suggested for a 'home brew' event at WCC. Further planning will take place on daily list (action - all).
4. Effective publicity course: Woodsy reported that the course had been very beneficial and the course materials will be kept on file in the lab as an aid for all volunteers to use when producing publicity materials, press releases, news pieces, etc. In addition, he had been able to attend the course on a Neighbourhood Renewal bursary, saving Bristol Wireless the £50 course fees. A marketing course is being held in the future and Woodsy would also like to try and get on this on, again on a bursary. Lloyd likewise expressed a wish to go on the marketing course.

REPORTS

1. Financial report: Jules handed out copies of the latest accounts and presented them to the meeting. Our overall financial position is healthy according to the current net assets position. There are two areas of concern: car club costs and calls to VoIP calls to mobiles. Jules again requested all accounts to be forwarded to him promptly. As regards payment of travel costs, for paid jobs of work, Jules would like these included as an element in peoples' professional fees charged to Bristol Wireless, after which they can be passed on to the client: this will remove a burden from the central services budget. Travel expenses incurred on Bristol Wireless business by volunteers will be unaffected. The Phone Co-op's financial year ends on 31st December and we should see a dividend from our investment. On the accounts receivable side of the balance sheet, there are several accounts outstanding, the most elderly of which Jules will make one final effort to collect (action - Jules). It was proposed by Sam and seconded by Pete F that we buy a copy of Quickbooks (and Crossover Office, if required). This was carried nem con. Secondly, to ensure better accounting, it was also proposed by Jules and seconded by Sam that bills must be submitted within one calendar month to be paid. This was likewise carried nem con.
2. Recycling project report: Sam reported he was trying to source additional computers (from BCC via Kevin O'M & Byteback). A proposal has been forwarded to Helen Holland, leader of the Council. In addition, Lu has done some publicity work and been successful in getting an additional line of placing advertisements set up via the local veg box scheme. Finally, some reorganisation of Room 6 is being planned, including sink removal.
3. Unmet needs fund planning: Sean stated a contract from Voscur was still outstanding (expected by end of week). An article on the project went up on the Voscur website today (Tuesday) and further publicity is planned in the Voscur e-bulletin, where it will be the main article. Sean also has meeting scheduled with North Somerset Community Development and S. Gloucestershire CVS.
4. Social Source event update: Sean, Rich, Woodsy and Lu held a planning meeting on Sunday evening, the notes from which have been turned into a planning page on the admin wiki. A further meeting is planned for lunchtime on Friday 7th in the lab or via IRC for those not physically there. The online registration form is now active. Sean indicated that all wishing to attend must register as the event has a cut-off of 100 persons max. (incl. all helpers, speakers, etc.).
5. UFI update: Sam told the meeting that there had been a slow start to the User Journey element, but numbers were now picking up. A site visit and survey are planned for Dove St with a view to a wi-fi project rollout using adhesive antennae, etc. A meeting with UFI regional officers is due to take place next week. CSV Media in Old Market are to be connected to the network. A detailed specification is needed for the Twinnell House upgrade; Lloyd has offered to write it (action - Lloyd) We are still awaiting confirmation that BCC does not want to charge us a £500 licence fee for every new infrastructure installation on their property.
6. Pervasive Media event: Pete F attended the Pervasive Media Sandbox event run recently by Ed Mitchell and sponsored by HP Labs, i-Shed and both local universities. There is a £54 K funding pot to be awarded in chunks of £9 K each. Our project would involve a located media portal. The proposal has to be in by Friday this week and Pete F shall be writing it (action - Pete F). Rich added he has already had some feedback: Malcolm Hatch who attended the event has contacted us offering help in marketing Bristol Wireless.

AOB

1. CSVE: Sean reported that there has been some trouble recently with the LTSP server, compounded by new, untrained staff. Bails and Sean have fixed the system but CSVE still has a faulty modem and noisy switch (to be replaced). Other work will also need to be carried out; this will be posted on the admin wiki for quotations.
2. Bannerman Road area: Sam informed the meeting that £1 K had been received from Neighbourhood Renewal for an omni antenna and connections in the area.
3. Knowle West/CitySpace: A sheltered housing scheme for an LTSP install has been identified. Sam would like to see us to an extension of our own to the lamp-post installs identified by CitySpace and BCC.
4. Flat screens for mobile LTSP suite: Sam raised the idea of setting a £1 K budget to buy new monitors for the mobile LTSP suite.
5. Easton Community Centre: Rich mentioned ECC are interested in LTSP and a meeting is planned with them for later this week. Lloyd mentioned that on a recent visit he discovered one of the lobby machines running a torrent client that had downloaded 60 GB of data; he disconnected it. Mike mentioned that an old server (topper) was available for ECC at Bannerman Road if required.

Date of next meeting: Tuesday 8th January 2008, 6.30 pm at St Werbughs Community Centre

Advance notice: February's meeting will be held on the 1st Thursday, i.e. 7th