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Minutes:
Metro Community Access Network Society
Board of Directors Meeting
Wednesday March 9, 1994 7:30-10:00
5847 Grant St. Halifax

ATTENDING: Ellen Sherlock, Joan Brown-Hicks(Co-chair), Renee Davis,
Carlos Freitas, Rand Cooper, David Murdoch, Kevin Nugent, David
Trueman(Co-chair), Peter Henry, Laura Jantek.

NOT IN ATTENDANCE: Connie Carruthers, Paul Skeffington.

AGENDA: Changes: Laura Jantek asked that we add a section on
Expert Forums.  Rand Cooper asked that we add the topics of
accurate media coverage and a volunteer coordinator.  David Murdoch
asked that we add the upcoming demo and the umbrella group to the
agenda.  All suggestions were approved by consensus.

MOVED, By Laura Jantek: That the board approve the minutes of the
previous two meetings as submitted by the secretary.  SECONDED, by
Carlos Freitas.  No dissenting votes were cast.  Motion carried.

MATTERS ARISING FROM MINUTES:
     * Joan Brown-Hicks asked that a policy book be compiled based
on decisions of policy reached at board meetings.  This will be
compiled by the secretary and posted to the system.

     * David Trueman further emphasized that all databases relating
to the society and the system should be online and generally
accessible to the board.

REPORTS:
Communications:
     * Ellen Sherlock reported that the April 9 date for the quiet
launch is good for their purposes. She also emphasized that the
official launch should follow as soon as possible after the quiet
launch.  The end of May was suggested.  No decision was made in
reference to this last suggestion.
     * Laura Jantek suggested that a newsletter would be useful to
keep members current on developments in the society.
     * It was mentioned that gifts will be created for sale in
connection with the launch.  These gifts should appeal to all
members of the community and not just to "techies".
     * Rand Cooper expressed concern about the accuracy of the
media coverage to date.  It was generally thought that the
important thing now is that we have publicity, an
be time to fine tune the message later on.

     * Peter Henry mentioned that we should be careful about the
groups to which we send e-mail since some messages may not get as
much distribution as they could.  The default group for discussion
should be fairly widely read unless the subject is of a sensitive
or confidential nature.
**POLICY**All committee decisions will be posted to a general
information mailing list (such as cfn-steering).

     * Each committee is asked to post their timelines for the
quiet launch.

Finance/Administration:
     * Kevin Nugent has created and posted an updated Terms Of
Reference for the committee.
     * Some suggestions were made by the committee regarding
hardware and software for use by the hired staff in running the
office.  It was widely thought that it's still too early for the
board to concentrate on these issues yet.
     * The most important timeline item for this committee was the
creation of a chart of accounts for the society.  Paul Skeffington
has said that he will put together a skeleton chart of accounts to
be examined and revised by the end of this week.
     * Ray Pierce will be contacted for the purpose of recruiting
a CA for the society.

Training/Support:
     * This committee met alone and with the IP's committee in the
past week.  Some changes were suggested for the user interface,
including a help link on the home page.

Technical:
     * David Trueman posted an action list in order of priority. 
     * He suggested that it should be a matter of policy that we
keep all the modems etc. the same in order to avoid compatibility
problems with users.  At present we have 2 modems which are close
to obsolete.  This should be a priority when preparing budgets.  No
policy decision was reached on this point.
     * Ellen Sherlock asked if quick obsolescence would be a
problem with any modems purchased and David T. said no.

Information Providers:
     * A policy regarding business information is needed.  90% of
the Freenets online do contain some business info.  David Trueman 
suggested that the policy be contained in the information providers 
agreement to be composed.
     * Some thought has to be given to the attractiveness of the
presentation of the information/menus etc.
     * Some further discussion focused on copyright issues, upload
and download procedures.

Membership:
     * Rand Cooper proposed four membership categories and
corresponding prices.  It was pointed out that the pricing is a
fund raising concern and should be up to the fundraising committee.
     * Some discussion followed on the role of the membership
committee.  It was decided that the membership committee would
concern itself with the recruitment of single memberships as well
as $60 charter memberships.
     * The membership committee met with Tony Lamport who would
like to assume the role of volunteer coordinator.

Fundraising:
     * The second draft of the terms of reference was passed around
for examination.  Included were membership categories and various
levels of prices for memberships.

Umbrella Group:
     * Consists of Bernie Hart, David Murdoch, Don Black, Marion
Pape.
     * Guiding principles have been set up.

Cape Breton:
     * Joan Brown-Hicks has spoken to Pat Melski about the meeting
of the two boards.  It was agreed that our board will be
represented by David Murdoch, David Trueman, Joan Brown-Hicks, and
Bernie Hart.
     * A copy of the Cape Breton BP was passed around.

Network Negotiations:
     David M, David T., and Renee Davis spoke with Mike Martineau
of NSTN.  Their position is that they want to house and manage the
facilities for the system.  He will provide information regarding
the basis for their price re: facilities management.

     * David M. suggested that some of the further discussion of
group issues be conducted online.
     * It was suggested that we budget for the printing and
distribution of the business plan.
     * Finally, it was urged by David M. that we work on getting
some political decision makers onside.

Next meeting:
     To be on March 22nd.  At a place to be announced later.

Adjournment: 10:00pm




+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Kevin Alexander James Nugent, aa006@chebucto.ns.ca
Chebucto Freenet, a new kind of community.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

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