Monthly Meeting Tues 6 th November 2007

BRISTOL WIRELESS - MONTHLY MEETING - TUESDAY 6th November 2007

PRESENT

Pete F, Rich H, Sam R, Jim F, Kevin O'M, Mike H, Everton, Jules, Matthew E

APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Sean K, Acesabe, Bails, Lloyd

WELCOME!

Pete F welcomed Kevin O'Malley from Connecting Bristol, who was attending his first Bristol Wireless meeting.

MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING

The minutes of the last meeting were agreed nem con.

MATTERS ARISING

1. Easton Cowboys Party: Anyone wanting tickets please contact Woodsy. All tickets come complete with free cocktail!
2. Open Spaces & long-term planning: Rich and Sean met a representative of Open Spaces at the Watershed and returned with the feeling that it what not appropriate to us. Moreover, the facilitator they met thought Bristol Wireless was dynamic enough anyway.
3. Student placements: Sam has spoken to Nick Plant of UWE. Nick Plant wants a management proposal from Bristol Wireless, whilst another matter that needs resolution is the time and support implications for Bristol Wireless of managing student volunteers.
4. Mark wireless: Rich mentioned plenty of funding was available, e.g. SWRDA's rural exclusion fund, ruralnet. Sam has drafted and sent an email to prospective partners. However, a funding bid has yet to be submitted although our proposal has been prepared on the admin wiki.

REPORTS

1. Financial report: Due to illness, Jules had no written report to present. A written update will nevertheless be ready on Thursday. Our temporary funding crisis is now past due to invoices for large amounts outstanding being paid. Ben G asked for confirmation - given - that the invoice could be raised for the monitors purchased for WCC. On other matters, Jules reported that the question of our corporation tax liability should be resolved in the near future. In addition, Woodsy indicated we should be aware that reform of the Industrial & Provident Societies legislation could be expected at some time in the future: this would mean regulation of co-operatives being removed from the FSA.
2. Recycling project report: Sam's new flyer needs to be converted to CMYK ready for printing. So far he has had no success in doing so and might just refer it to a graphic artist: Pete F suggested posting for assistance on underscore as a solution to Sam's woes. Lu has been assisting Sam with publicity for the recycling project. The Unmet Needs fund monies would be used to subsidise recycling and provide hardware for voluntary sector organisations. Stephen Hilton has also been contacted with a view to acquiring surplus city council kit for recycling.
3. UFI update: Ben G reported that the monitors for WCC had been bought: 9 have already been installed. Cabinets are still required and a meeting needs to be arranged via the list to discuss this matter. Ben also mentioned that more RAM was needed for the server. Purchasing 8 GB @ £350 was agreed. Sam mentioned that Wireless St Pauls is going well, reaching people who are deriving real benefit from internet access. Sam is trying to promote meshing by encouraging people to leave their APs switched on: at present 12 properties are on the network and about 40 MAC addresses link to it.
4. XtreamLab update: Mike H gave some background on Xtreamlab (in which Bristol Wireless is a partner) and an update of planned activities. From the Venn Festival events some online video shorts and a DVD have been produced. The next event planned is a live event tied into SecondLife in February. A venue still has to be arranged, for which site visits are planned for 13th November. Mike will post more information to the daily list after the site visit (action - Mike H).
5. Social Source event planing and publicity: Rich reported that the South West ICTHub has an events budget. Bristol Wireless would like to hold a Social Source event in Bristol aimed at the voluntary sector. The event would be at St Werburghs at the end of January/beginning of February. Matthew E knows a couple of people who would be interested in being involved. Woodsy has agreed to help with preparing publicity. Arrangements are to be discussed on the daily list. (action - Sean, Woodsy)
6. Unmet needs fund planning: see above under recycling project report.

PROPOSALS

1. LTSP hireable suite/cybertent project: making this a separate/ring-fenced project with its own budget. In addition, can the money collected from the summer be spent on upgrading the suite?

Mike H mentioned he had already contacted Jules about the present funding arrangements for the mobile LTSP suite: all income and expenditure is currently channelled into central services. Jules mentioned that the only factor that would change his present budgetary control arrangements would be if external funding of LTSP were to occur. The current suite is in need of updating since the 12-year old laptops do not quite create the right professional image. Bookings also need to be handled through one point of contact to avoid clashes. Acesabe would be prepared to act as the LTSP administrator handling the bookings calendar and other matters such as inventory and insurance. Woodsy mentioned LTSP is a good solid project we could promote to voluntary organisations/businesses as an IT product. After discussion, it was proposed by Mike H and seconded by Jules that it be agreed in principle to appoint a project manager for LTSP. This was agreed unanimously.

2. Night of meeting. Is it possible to change to a night that's not Tuesday?

Lu raised this matter as she is presently unable to attend the monthly Tuesday meetings and wondered if it might be possible to change. Others were also unable to attend in the evening (e.g Bails would have difficulty getting home to Yatton). Ben G mentioned that any change would interfere with his childcare arrangements; others may be similarly affected. An earlier start - say 5.30 pm - was suggested. This would also be impractical for those with jobs who work regular office hours. As there was no seconder for a proposal to change the date/time of the monthly meetings, this matter was not voted upon.

AOB

1. FOSS @ VCS: Sam mentioned the services being developed to promote FOSS to the voluntary and community sectors by the ICTHub and wondered if M6-IT were involved. Matthew E stated M6-IT were not involved.
2. Voscur's Developing Effective Publicity Course: Woodsy expressed a wish to attend this one-day course on 4th December to hone his skills at a cost to Bristol Wireless of £50. This expenditure was agreed.
3. Connecting Bristol: Kevin O'M gave a brief report on the recent activities of the Connecting Bristol Team (Kevin & Stephen Hilton). Each of the 10 Digital Challenge (DC10) finalists is to lead on one key area of work: Bristol's is digital environment, with Knowle West Media Centre assisting in establishing showcase communities. Manchester is tackling skills (could there be possibilities for a link-up here?) Manchester and Milton Keynes are also tackling connectivity - another area where Bristol Wireless has expertise. Closer to home, the developers of Cabot Circus, the Broadmead expansion developers, will be providing access for wifi access, whilst Crest Nicholson, developers for Harbourside, are still undecided on wifi. As regards Knowle West, Sam mentioned that with Streetnet having been appointed as preferred partners for wifi development, all possible conflicts with the existing Knowle West Web network should be avoided, whilst possibilities for mesh networking should not be disregarded. Sam is to maintain contact with Helen Bream of BCC.
4. Christmas/Solstice/insert_festival_of_choice event: This is to be arranged via the list (action - all).

Date of Next Meeting: Tuesday 4th December 2007 at St Werburghs Community Centre. Advance notice for January 2008: Tuesday 8th January 2008 at St Werburghs Community Centre.