2021-10-05
Contents |
October 5th, 2021
Agenda
Summary
- Member Reports
- Guest Introductions
- Upcoming Events
- Recurring Events
- Non-Recurring Events
- Previous Minutes
- Member Attendance
- Recruitment / Retention / Fundraising
- Consent Agenda
- Old Business
- Pinned items
- Action Items
- New Business
- Officer Reports
- Other
- Trash/Recycling Volunteer
- Adjournment
Guest Introductions
- Bryan has some experience with 3d printing and generalized robotics. Bryan wants to put together a desk for himself. Holly joined Bryan for moral support. They were originally from Boston
- Wendolyn was present but did not speak.
Member Reports
- Adam has been working with his Helium radio and has been attempting to perform a difficult soldering operation on the Rpi. He collected a few prints that he had been working on, including a properly fitting microSD holder.
- Eli has been working on "invisible" genetics in the basement. He did some serious work cleaning up the basement. He floated the idea of communal PCR tools. He stuck an air filter in the basement room, it helps to cut down on the dust (and bio projects). His brother - "a real engineer, not a genetic engineer" - is giving him some tips on a flow hood. It seems feasible.
- A short but lively conversation followed about the legitimacy of engineer-adjacent professions. Ryan offered to start a support group in Slack for imposter syndrome. The secretary considered joining it, but isn't a good enough imposter to do so.
- Justin - who also suffers from imposter syndrome - has been working on a Python version of the game Set. He's developed a proof of concept program and wants to include it in his portfolio. He thought that he could turn this into a mobile program, hopefully for multiplayer use. He has been exploring software options for doing so -- including rewriting the whole thing in Javascript. He's been looking at jobs in embedded systems, but is hedging his bets with web development and taking a number of online courses. He's building a Linux test bench from an old PC. He's been tinkering with robots and "a million of other projects." He installed Retropie on the Bulletron and it is working. He's got a number of ROMs on the system - 2nd player support needs to be added. He notes that the ROMs disqualify from this unit from being used commercially in Fullsteam.
- Lewis's fermented hot sauce was a success, he's been enjoying it. He started several hundred fall vegetable crops from seed. He has also been working on his "11 inch 12 inch ruler," which Justin describes as a "dirty trick." He has managed to find a way to pack more inches - per inch - into a ruler.
- Ryan has been catching up with projects. He applied for a job at the Durham County library.
- Scott had some wood milled up and it is now drying under a canopy. He's been doing a lot of outdoor maintenance at his house. He's also done some outdoor band rehearsals - "mask up until you put the horn to your mouth." He's having a concert at Central Park at 2pm on Halloween.
- Tom will be giving a keynote speech on DNA anaysis at an Oct 6th STEM meeting held by the North Carolina Association for Biomedical Research. More specifically, this is about companies like 23 and Me and Ancestry - what can they tell you, what can't they tell you. He's been working hard on getting this talk together.
- Ryan has been working on his home, finishing another room and scraping popcorn ceilings. The supply chain issues has caused him problems. He's also making a top for the SMARS robot using Tinkercad. He's also joined the Python train. He's on page 33 of a 1500 page Python book. He's been fighting with his CNC machine, trying to get a more accurate cut.
Upcoming Events
note new calendar for 2021 External Outreach Events list
Recurring Events
Regular events carried from month to month.
- Train show - learn to solder table (when?)
- Cleanup parties are tentatively held on the last Sunday of each month: in October, the 24th
- Saturday Science is hosted at SplatSpace on Saturdays from 1 - 4pm. by TriDIYBio {Meetup: [1]}
- TriBRAE Beginning Raspberry Pi, Arduino, and Electronics is hosted at SplatSpace monthly on the 3rd Saturday. {Meetup: [2]}
- Triangle Helium Interest Group People Powered Networks is hosted at SplatSpace on Wednesdays from 5 - 7:30pm. {Meetup: [3]}
- Makers Connect Social Get-Together is held at SplatSpace monthly on the 3rd Tuesday, from 7 to 8:30pm.
Non-Recurring Events
- SplatSpace Board elections at the November Annual Membership Meeting, on Nov. 9th, 2021
- encourage any member to run
- officer descriptions at: SplatSpace Officers Bylaws#Article_IV:_The_Officers
- ...another point...
- Neuse River Valley Model Train Show Nov. 6-7, 2021, 9am-5pm at the NC State Fairgrounds - SplatSpace is hosting a Learn To Solder table, Discount Door Entry Coupon
- As usual, check https://www.meetup.com/splatspace/events/calendar for posted events.
Previous Minutes
- Approved minutes from September 7th, 2021.
Recruitment / Retention / Fundraising
Member Attendance
63 Dues-paying (voting) members
__ members in attendance
Quorum = 16 members
Notes from the Special Action Committee:
Consent Agenda
{none}
Old Business
Pinned Items
Permanent items of the Old Business section carried from month to month.
- Ryan created New Member Onboarding reference documents:
- For new members (simple version): https://docs.google.com/document/d/1WS6hGOBg1eXdSLeJK2YxhIqZXPscr0Qg/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=108561949558363481608&rtpof=true&sd=true
- With Dorbo & key fob instructions: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1OPpWS1ZrWfCOaDLCxn67kgUAnkBFq3pc/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=108561949558363481608&rtpof=true&sd=true
ToDo Action Items
(Items carried forward from previous meetings, but not up for discussion this month. Recorded here so we don't forget about them.)
- Identify and maintain (online) lists of SMEs (subject matter experts) for each equipment or space. (No Update)
- Member info onesheet: it contains a lot of good information, is about 75% finished, but isn't organized well yet. Want to help? Please do! (No Update)
- Website: on hold for a little while at the moment. Blake invites any interested people to join the project. The draft is currently up at https://master.d3vo4125o10qad.amplifyapp.com/index.html. Still needs some work. Wordpress and Stripe are not playing well.
- Members are beginning to plan meetups and congregate--Ryan is planning to create and install room capacity placards in the work rooms for informational and safety purposes (supporting continuing COVID and social distancing safety, but also general shop safety). SplatSpace lease provides the total space capacity.
New Business
- A reminder to members to be mindful to clean up the space after using it.
Officer Reports
President
Vice-President
Treasurer
Account balances as of 9/30/2021:
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This month's income (cash in):
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This month's expenses (cash out):
Income - Expenses = $550.50
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Active Member count as of 10/5/2021:
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Monthly Expected Expenses
Current = $2510 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Deficit/Surplus
Current = $3310 - $2510 = $800/mo |
Departing Members: none
New Members: Patrick C.
Arrears: 3 members
Our reserve is fully funded for the first time since August, 2019. Go team Raptorcorn!
- Note: the projection below is based on current member dues and recurring donations.
https://wiki.splatspace.org/images/b/b1/Reserve_Projection_2021-10-05.pdf
Donations: Thank you to Blake, Graham, and Kunal, for your donations. You've kept us in the game!
Special thanks (again!) to our anonymous benefactor for (previously) donating $3000 through Fidelity Charitable. That donation brought us 10 months closer to funding our reserve, which we just accomplished! Now we can start planning expenditures to help improve SplatSpace for our membership. This was tremendously important and impactful support--thank you.
Pending: SplatSpace's Charitable Solicitation License Exemption filing was due May 15, 2021, with the NC Secretary of State. I haven't yet filed our renewal for 2021, though I plan to soon. Our past filings can be found by searching for "Durham Makerspace" at https://www.sosnc.gov/csl/search. We have filed late previously without incident (so far).
Secretary
Public Relations
At-Large
Other
{none}
Trash/Recycling Volunteer