Membership Metrics: The board plans to investigate resurrecting metrics on Grafana and checking member numbers. While active members are tracked by badge access, there's no metric for “churn” (members who paid but didn't show up), which can be seen in Stripe but would be beneficial to visualize on the same page. This will be something to work on going forwards.
Team Support for Fall Projects: Andre Turcotti is requesting support for three teams this fall, but there are concerns about the ability to provide reliable support due to work commitments of board members. The classes typically meet from 3:00 to 4:40 PM, which can conflict with work schedules. The success of student projects largely depends on having a reliable partner who can commit to showing up, ideally every other week. It was suggested to identify individuals within the organization who can support these teams.
Makerspace Benefits from UTD Projects: The Makerspace benefits from these collaborations through engineering projects and community service. For example, students developed a replacement system for badge readers, which means the current badge readers will be left behind when the Makerspace moves. The preference is for open-source solutions that can be self-assembled for various tracking needs.
Fall Projects:
Filament Station: A project to create solid materials from recycled PLA, ABS, and PETG plastics, which can be used for training materials, CNC routing, or positive molds for leather molding. This aims to avoid using new filament for simple training blocks. A commercial-grade shredder might be incorporated into future iterations of this project.
Resin Wash: A project to improve environmental stewardship by reducing IPA consumption through better filtering, potentially using coffee filters as a pre-filter.
Vacuum Form: The vacuum form project previously won “best in design”, and the board wants to ensure continued success in future projects.
Grants and Community Engagement: It was highlighted that sustained collaboration with UTD and a history of cool product outcomes will be crucial for securing grants in the future, showcasing the Makerspace as a community non-profit rather than just a social group.
Financial and Administrative Updates:
Insurance payment needs to be made in person due to DocuSign issues. Auto-drafts for rent and internet are working.
Amazon Prime subscription is coming up in August; it's deemed reasonable to continue for screen and device utility, though alternatives are welcome.
LightBurn software subscription will be renewed as it works reliably and offers a discount. There were mentions of recent annoying changes to LightBurn, like the inability to do crosshatching.
Subscription for resin-based printing is on hold until the resin printers are fully operational.
Meeting Time Adjustments:
A proposal was made to shift the membership meeting from 7:30 PM to 8:00 PM and make it 30 minutes long (8:00-8:30 PM), followed by the leadership meeting at 8:30 PM. This change aims to provide more time for tours (7:00-7:20 PM).
The idea of holding the leadership meeting five minutes after the conclusion of the member meeting was proposed, with a default agenda to adjourn unless a vote is called for during the membership meeting. This streamlines the process and ensures prompt action on decisions without burning out board members.
The board can take action by unanimous consent outside of a formal board meeting, with votes being recapped at the next meeting for minutes.
New Location Search: The organization is technically looking at zero active properties because a preferred location requires a six-month rent commitment, while the budget only allows for a one-month overlap. The landlord of a property with a woodworking shop is understanding of dust, but the price is at the commodity market rate for flex space.
North Texas Giving Day: The Makerspace will sign up for North Texas Giving Day, which costs $50 due to a scaled fee based on previous annual revenue. This is considered worthwhile as some companies offer specialized matches during this event.