Member Meeting Minutes – July 23

1. Opening and Platform Transition
- Leadership welcomed attendees and shared a video showcasing a new membership and billing platform.
- Over 50 volunteer hours have gone into replacing Confluence (being sunset) and the current billing system.
- The new system removes PayPal as a middleman, uses Stripe for payments, and enhances privacy and billing control.

2. New Member Portal Demo
- Cameron demonstrated a functional prototype of the member registration, billing, and management platform.
- New members will sign up, verify their email, choose payment plans, and optionally link their Discord accounts.
- Stripe handles billing and securely stores payment data.
- Keycloak manages user identity and access.

3. System Migration and Legacy Rates
- Current members will retain their legacy rates during the migration to the new system.
- The old system had numerous issues with data integrity and membership tracking.
- Email invitations to switch platforms will be sent within the next 30 days.

4. Membership Validation and Impact
- Leadership aims to clean up inactive or unknown member accounts.
- This shift ensures only active, consenting members are billed.
- A potential 10% member drop-off is expected but considered manageable.

5. Lab Activity and Member Highlights
- Miles updated the group on his cosplay project, electronics progress, and working with his dad’s membership.
- John shared a digital Game of Life project involving LED matrix animations.
- Jen announced a needle-felting workshop with a small material fee.
- Weekly "Get to Know Your Lab" workshops will be hosted on Thursdays by Duck to cover topics like 3D printing and lasers.

6. Additional Notes
- Members were reminded they can suggest technologies they’d like covered in future workshops.
- Discussion about the co-working channel clarified it’s informal and for casual lab use—not a formal co-working space.
- Discord channels will be reorganized to improve clarity and usability.

7. Meeting Closure
- Meeting ended with a short break before transitioning to the leadership session.
- Members were encouraged to observe the leadership meeting for transparency and learning.


Meeting Summary

Summary of Member Meeting – July 23

- A new membership and billing platform is being launched to replace Confluence and the old billing system.
- The new system will improve accuracy, privacy, and user experience using Stripe and Keycloak.
- Current members will retain their rates during the transition; emails to migrate accounts will be sent soon.
- Leadership anticipates a small drop in membership but expects more reliable data.
- Ongoing and upcoming events include a needle-felting workshop and weekly lab orientation sessions.
- Members shared updates on projects (cosplay, electronics, Game of Life demo).
- Co-working Discord channel clarified to be informal; broader Discord reorganization is planned.