Logs Of Board Meeting, 2004 09 12.

wrdsrchr But it isn't a difficult process. We need by-laws, which we have a draft of. Has anyone taken a look at the private board members' section yet and seen them?
Milton_ I have
wrdsrchr Dr Caleb?
Dr_Caleb I've read them.
wrdsrchr OK, basically I'll just need to know if you have any suggestions or revisions. We can decide that now or you can take some time to look at them more closely.
Jesse_in_seattle by the way, I am now logging this meeting, so we'll have automatic minutes. :)
wrdsrchr Thanks Jesse, I was just about to ask that
Milton_ I would like to have another look at them but I don't recall having any revisions in mind.
Jesse_in_seattle I think my last bunch of revisions were actually implemented, so I should be fine with them.
Jesse_in_seattle wrdsrchr : are they online anywhere?
wrdsrchr Yup they're in the board members' section of Vive.
Dr_Caleb In the Board Section ...
Milton_ BoD
Dr_Caleb I thought they were quite complete.
wrdsrchr That's good. They're meant to give us the ability to run basically as a collective but still be legally official. Other than the by-laws we need a signed affadavit that our application is all true, which I will do. Plus a name search for our proposed name, plus an application for incorporation signed by three people, plus an official seal.
Jesse_in_seattle have we run the bylaws past the gov't yet?
Jesse_in_seattle wrdsrchr : also, is Tony still on the board?
wrdsrchr Nope, that won't happen until we send them in. And Tony only wanted to be on the board until we found other people, so no, we talked via email and he is no longer on the board now that Milton and Dr Caleb are.
wrdsrchr If there is something wrong with the by-laws, we'll get a letter back explaining what that is from the government and they'l' give us a chance to fix it.
Jesse_in_seattle wrdsrchr : right.
wrdsrchr What we mainly need to do is agree to finally incorporate, and sign the application again. I'm in Edmonton on the 18th. Could be a good time to do that. OR we may need to wait.
Milton_ OK with me.
Jesse_in_seattle wrdsrchr : I am probably going to be in edmonton for thanksgiving, and not before.
Dr_Caleb Sounds good.
Milton_ Can we fax?
wrdsrchr Thanksgiving is reasonable, not too far in the future.
Jesse_in_seattle We really need to come up with government-approved methods of having a geographically diverse board. fax is probably the ebst way.
wrdsrchr I think they want original signatures as near as I can tell from the guidelines. But I will double check if fax is OK.
Jesse_in_seattle well, there's always the mail.
Jesse_in_seattle wrdsrchr : what happens to our original set of signatures including Nick?
Dr_Caleb Fax is legal, but having sigs on the original at some point may be a good idea.
wrdsrchr We just won't use the original signatures. I would just print up a blank copy and we will send that in.
Jesse_in_seattle okay.
wrdsrchr So do we want to sign via mail or do we want to get together in Edmonton on Thanksgiving?
Dr_Caleb If you both will be in Edmonton, we can get together for coffee and do it then. Ok Milton?
Jesse_in_seattle works for me.
Milton_ I can't definitely commit to Thanksgiving, but if I can I will.
Jesse_in_seattle Milton_ : care to do a signature by mail before then, and do one in person if possible?
Milton_ I can't see that far into the future, sure to the signature by mail and in person.
wrdsrchr BTW, we don't need everyone's sigantures. Just three, and a note saying all other board members agree on the appluication.
Jesse_in_seattle also, Milton has been added to the board@vive mailing list.
Milton_ Thank you wrdsrchr Thanks Jesse.
Dr_Caleb*cough* spam magnet *cough* ;)
Jesse_in_seattle wrdsrchr : in that case, let's keep the official signatures to you me and Dr Caleb, to reduce the problems.
Jesse_in_seattle Dr_Caleb : it's got spam filters on it. you don't even want to see how much comes to info@vivelecanada.ca
Dr_Caleb Sounds good!
wrdsrchr Sure, and if Bob and Milton can make it then they are free to sign too. Otherwise we won't worry about it. I agree.
Milton_ OK
Jesse_in_seattle wrdsrchr : send a blank form to Milton by email to get it started
wrdsrchr OK. So it's agreed we'll arrange to meet in Edmonton over thanksgiving to sign and have coffee, and meanwhile I will send a form to Milton via email and let Bob know he can sign via mail.
Dr_Caleb Agreed.
Jesse_in_seattle agreed.
Milton_ OK
wrdsrchr Other business. Board positions. When we incorporate, at some point we will have to have an AGM and elect board positions. But in hte meantime we should assign interim positions. Pres, VP, Treasurer, Secretary, and members at large are the basics.
Jesse_in_seattle Milton for treasurer!
Dr_Caleb Seconded!
Milton_ Fine , accepted
wrdsrchr Settled, so moved and carried :-)
Jesse_in_seattle after the bylaws are accepted, we're really going to have to be a bit more formal. Everyone read up on Robert's rules. :P
Dr_Caleb Pres, VP are obvous ;)
wrdsrchr We can have people move things, and then have seconders, if you all prefer, right now.
Jesse_in_seattle wrdsrchr : it would be preferred.
Dr_Caleb Normal procedure IHMO
wrdsrchr I move either Jesse or Dr Caleb be interim VP.
Milton_ seconded
wrdsrchr OK guys, who wants the job?
Dr_Caleb I can take it, if you are too busy Jesse.
Jesse_in_seattle I'm not necessarily too busy, but I am out of the country.
Dr_Caleb Secretary is more my gig though.
Jesse_in_seattle wrdsrchr : does it involve anything more than we've already been doing?
wrdsrchr No, basically VP chairs meetings if the Pres is unavailable and does other duties as the Pres sees fit ;-)
Jesse_in_seattle If nominated, I will use my previous experience at VPing to great advantage. :P
Milton_ I nominate Jesse for VP
wrdsrchr I second that
Dr_Caleb Done I guess.
Jesse_in_seattle I accept the nomination.
Milton_ I nominate Dr C for Secretary
Jesse_in_seattle seconded.
wrdsrchr Carried.
Dr_Caleb Accepted %-)
Jesse_in_seattle excellent. next step?
wrdsrchr I move we make Bob Price a member-at-large, pending his acceptance of the position.
Dr_Caleb Seconded.
Jesse_in_seattle agreed.
Milton_ agreed
wrdsrchr Carried. The next step is to decide whether we need more board members, and where to find them. Anyone on Vive you recommend?
Milton_ Catherine
Dr_Caleb C# definitely. Jim?
Jesse_in_seattle Catherine as Volunteer coordinator?
wrdsrchr I agree, Catherine would be great. She's running for the NDP provincially now so she'll be busy, but it's a low-intensity job anyway. And yeah, a volunteer coordinator would be really helpful.
Jesse_in_seattleI say we shouldn't bring people on board without a specific position for them.
Milton_ agreed
Jesse_in_seattle other than taking care of money and keeping the troops in line, I can't think of much else that needs doing.
wrdsrchr Well, usually there are several members-at-large. We haev everything else basically covered.
Dr_Caleb It is a good idea. Assign tasks as peoples' strengths and passions dictate
Jesse_in_seattle wrdsrchr : fair enough.
Milton_ agreed
wrdsrchr I agree--to me, those members at large should be talented committed people we want kept in the loop and who are thus available for those tasks as they arise.
Milton_ sounds good
Milton_ So then we need more members at large?
Dr_Caleb Catherine as VC is a perfect fit.
Jesse_in_seattle I think we add people as MaL as we decide they should be on the board, rather than having quotas to fill
Milton_ I agree on C#
wrdsrchr Someone suggested Jim--I'm not sure about him, because he has had some links with ethnic nationalism through websites/radio which is something we are trying to avoid. BUt I move we invite Catherine to join the board as a member at large and ask whether she's interested in volunteer coordinator. I also move we invite more members at large over time as we see fit., as Jesse suggests.
Jesse_in_seattle seconded.
Milton_ I second Catherine
Milton_ Thirded
wrdsrchr Carried.
Dr_Caleb I wasn't sure about Jim. I do see his passion though. If he's got skeletons, then we should definitely avoid that.
Milton_ I am not familiar with Jim as yet
Dr_Caleb Jim Callahan.
wrdsrchr Jim Callaghan. He just seems to lean towards anti-immigrant positions, which I really want to avoid.
Milton_ OK, lets leave him out for the moment
wrdsrchr I think Kory or Kevin may be better choices.
Dr_Caleb What about Kory? Perhaps he's a little young though.
Dr_Caleb Kevin is a good choice.
Jesse_in_seattle hrm, shouldn't Kory be back by now?
Milton_ Kory is good, I don't know if Kevin has time now that he is in love
wrdsrchr Kevin does always have good ideas and passion for the site--it couldn't hurt to ask him.
Jesse_in_seattle true enough.
Milton_ Young is good, ask them both.
Jesse_in_seattle sure.
Jesse_in_seattle er, agreed.
wrdsrchr OK, I move we also ask Kory and Kevin to join the board as members at large with all the related permissions.
Milton_ seconded
wrdsrchr Carried, Pending their acceptance.
Dr_Caleb Agreed.
wrdsrchr Let's move on to financial.
Milton_ nothing to report as yet.
wrdsrchr Costs for the site have been very low, and perhaps Jesse can just list his fees so far.
Jesse_in_seattle our hits have stopped climbing after the election
Jesse_in_seattle so no worries about excess bandwidth charges
wrdsrchr So we mainly pay hosting fees to Jesse's company, and domain registration fees, once a year.
Jesse_in_seattle $20/y for the .ca domain, another $20/y for vivelecanada.com, and $60/y for hosting.
Milton_ sweet
wrdsrchr Milton, did I fwd you the receipts via email yet? If not I will, and I'llas k you to keep copies around.
Milton_ No you didn't and I will keep copies.
Jesse_in_seattle those are, I think, *all* of the expenses thus far.
wrdsrchr Ok. Jesse, do you know what we have in the Vive paypal account?
Jesse_in_seattle no, but I can check
Jesse_in_seattle Nick never got around to asking for the password for that, btw.
Dr_Caleb :-(
wrdsrchr Hmm. I don't think Nick really got around to anything, unfortunately. Please do check. Meanwhile, Milton, did you check if we can open a bank account without being incorporated?
Milton_ No we can't open it under the corp name.
Jesse_in_seattle current balance in paypal is $163.40 CAD.
Dr_Caleb You need the incorporation certificate to open an account.
Jesse_in_seattle most of the paypal balance came from video sales.
Jesse_in_seattle some amount came from personal donations.
wrdsrchr Milton: OK, that's what we thought. Jesse: That's right, which we aren't selling anymore really (no orders). Everyone: The main upcoming costs for us are incorporation costs. Cost for incorporation is $250, plus the cost for the seal, plus the cost for the name searches. I will pay for that out of pocket, and if it's OK by everyone, I would also like to use that PayPal money if needed. I will mail and/or emial all receipts t
Jesse_in_seattle t?
Dr_Caleb By all means - use the paypal! I live cheque to cheque too...
Milton_ agreed
wrdsrchr Mel Hurtig did donate some money but I used that for hosting and other costs.
Milton_ can we look into click ads for the site?
Jesse_in_seattle wrdsrchr : get that info to Milton too, obviously.
Dr_Caleb That's a slippery slope . . .
wrdsrchr Jesse: Yup.
Milton_ How so?
Jesse_in_seattle I move to approve a transfer of funds from vive's paypal account to Susan's, to help cover immediate incorporation costs.
Milton_ seconded
wrdsrchr What do we have to do to set that up?
Dr_Caleb I'll let J explain the ads...
Jesse_in_seattle Milton_ : we have a stated policy against ads. They don't actually have a very good business model these days.
Milton_ Ok
wrdsrchr Plus we're trying to limit our corporate ties in every way possible, down to the software we're using which is open source.
Jesse_in_seattle Milton_ : further, most people see them as evil and corporate sell-out-ish, something we really want to avoid.
Milton_ I was hoping for taseful type ads
wrdsrchr We had an angry email or two when Flick posted a link to his own (low budget, leftist) movie.
wrdsrchr And that wasn't even an ad.
Dr_Caleb That's not controllable by the webste, only the advertiser . .. that's the slipery part . .
wrdsrchr I think we would consider ads in the future but only for socially conscious, Canadian products or some such.
Jesse_in_seattle we would need to set it up on our own, with ads for other sites that we like/approve of. but we're much better off with a link exchange rather than ads in that case.
Dr_Caleb Good idea. Not through a click agency.
Milton_ Ok, sounds good, I wasn't thinking of a click agency anyway.
wrdsrchr Anyway, it was carried I will use PayPal for incorporation and I think we can have subsequent meetings on fundraising ideas once we have incorporated.
Milton_ Fine
Jesse_in_seattle I think we should probably have a standing meeting scheduled.
wrdsrchr Once a month is reasonable to me.
Milton_ Yes
Jesse_in_seattle wrdsrchr : $150 enough?
Milton_ Yes
Jesse_in_seattle agreed on the 1/month.
Dr_Caleb Yes. even if it's short.
wrdsrchr Jesse: Anything beyond the PayPay will be out of pocket. I am getting enough writing work to cover it now.
wrdsrchr I agree on the 1/month too. Is IRC OK with everyone? Although the Thanksgiving thing could also be a board meeting in person.
Dr_Caleb IRC is fine for me.
Jesse_in_seattle IRC is fine for me.
Milton_ IRC is good
Milton_ I would try to make the Thansgiving meeting.
Dr_Caleb That would be cool.
wrdsrchr OK, I move we have a meeting the second Sunday of each month via IRC unless otherwise arranged.
Milton_ seconded
Dr_Caleb Agreed.
wrdsrchr Great, carried. Let's move on to other suggestions for improving the site.
Jesse_in_seattle ok.
wrdsrchr Dr Caleb has suggested more original content. Dr C?
Dr_Caleb I suggested to Susan that we should try for more original content, rather than regurgitating other's news. I think we have enough readership that we could dredge the occasional original story . . .
Jesse_in_seattle agreed.
Milton_ not sure what you mean
Milton_ do you mean write our own stories?
Dr_Caleb It's good and all to get people involved, but I'm sure there are people out there that see things that aren't in the regular news - like Janis Schmidt.
Dr_Caleb Yes, our own stories.
Milton_ How would we impliment that?
wrdsrchr Right now we have the columnists for original content. And Jesse has mentioned to me before that news filters like ours and slashdot have a purpose as well. I haev two concerns re our own stories. First, if we go the indymedia route content is generally, well, crap, which has killed indymedia in places like Edmonton. Second, to get quality writing, we need to pay $$, even if it's a low amount.
wrdsrchr The only option I see is to have some people who are using the blogging style posting regularly, like notacolony.ca but our own people, searching for the sovereignty related news and offering their own opinions on it regularly.
Dr_Caleb Sorry all - poverty internet. Got an incoming call...
Milton_ I don't see the mechanism to make it tick
Milton_ I like the idea of original stories but I also like having news brought to my attention.
Milton_ The times are as volatile as the weather.
Dr_Caleb To generate the stories? We get lots of submissions, but it's just people scouring the news for things they want to talk about. I say let's try asking people for the news.
Milton_ You threw me with the Dr_Caleb switch Dr C
Jesse_in_seattle Incentives for original articles would be good.
Dr_Caleb Sorry - couldn't log back in as Dr C is still active somewhere in Cyberspace. .
Jesse_in_seattle we could probably do a 'tip the author' thing on original articles, using paypal.
Jesse_in_seattle take a small cut, and give the rest to the author.
Milton_ Incentives are good but I don't see how we can afford it at present.
Dr_Caleb It's just a thought.
wrdsrchr Milton: I think it would still be a mix of found news and original stuff. But we need to work out whether or not we're going to pay and yes, how to do it. Personally, what I'd like to see more of is original actions, like the census action.
Dr_Caleb A vive t-shirt for the highest viewed story of the month perhaps?
wrdsrchr How would that work, Jesse?
Milton_ I like the original actions idea.
Jesse_in_seattle wrdsrchr : not sure of specifics yet.
wrdsrchr Jesse: Do people contribute money to a specific link if they like the story?
Jesse_in_seattle wrdsrchr : yeah, we could do it as a paypal link with the author's name in the 'item' field, and then we can track it that way.
wrdsrchr Milton: Yeah, I see our mission as 2 fold: 1, education and a sort of media site, and 2, actions and activism a la sites like MoveOn.org
Milton_ I agree Susan. As for the paypal link I am not sure.
Dr_Caleb I agree. So many things I see need people's attention, and so few do anything about it. I just hought of it as a way for people to care more about Canada if they participate in it.
Milton_ It might confuse our folks as to our motives.
Jesse_in_seattle Milton_ : adding the link can be automatic, and payments can be made to authors on a monthly basis or so. we could limit it to authors with a paypal account.
Jesse_in_seattle Milton_ : can you explain how it would confuse people?
Milton_ They might think we want them to pay us.
Milton_ I mean that the times are very confusing and it doesn't take much to depress the wrong button.
Dr_Caleb True.
wrdsrchr Well, many online papers have some free content (all of our news clippings and such would be free) and some subscription only. But we wouldn't be forcing them to pay, we'd be asking them to support writers they like as an option (tipping). We could run a trial with the PayPal idea using our current columnists. We would need to explain that the money goes to the author and that a small amount goes to Vive for costs.
Jesse_in_seattle and a well specified amount goes to vive for costs.
Jesse_in_seattle like 5% or something.
wrdsrchr Jesse: Yes, a set percentage would be perfect.
Milton_ I like the idea of making some money to improve the site, it is the mechanisms I am unsure of. Sure, we could explain our modus operandi.
Jesse_in_seattle also, paypal has about 3 levels of confirmation.
Jesse_in_seattle and yes, a description of what it is and why we have it would be necessary.
Dr_Caleb Adding money lets us be more active too.
Jesse_in_seattle I would like to see a t-shirt order done sometime, but that would take a decent initial investment.
wrdsrchr I like the idea because we are not limiting our content and forcing people to pay to see it, but it is a way for people to vote for their favourite writers using a small amount of $$ (could be 5 cents a person, whatever they want to tip).
Jesse_in_seattle there would probably be a $1 minimum.
Jesse_in_seattle we're not quite in the world of true micropayments yet.
wrdsrchr Jesse: Fair enough.
wrdsrchr :-)
Jesse_in_seattle so, I'll look into such a system. Susan, bring it up with the columnists? Or let C# do that?
Jesse_in_seattle do columnists count as volunteers?
Milton_ I think they should.
wrdsrchr Yes, for now. Most are on the advisory board.
Jesse_in_seattle ok.
Milton_ How is the advisory board treated?
Dr_Caleb I'm leaning that they should count as volunteers too.
Milton_ Do they get the minutes of our meetings?
Jesse_in_seattle the advisory board is generally a bunch of people who we tell things to and sometimes get a response.
Jesse_in_seattle they should get the minutes, probably. or a summary.
Milton_ I agree
wrdsrchr The advisory board has a group email like the board email and now and then we ask them for their opinion. They also contribute art, help, etc. (eg Flick's help on the census action). I think they should get a copy of the minutes too.
Jesse_in_seattle I move that the actual chat logs (edited to remove IP addresses and stuff) be put on the site.
Dr_Caleb Agreed.
Milton_ agreed
wrdsrchr In the public area or the board/advisory?
Dr_Caleb Board area.
Milton_ advisory
Jesse_in_seattle advisory, I would say.
Jesse_in_seattle not quite public
Jesse_in_seattle we can move them later.
wrdsrchr Then I second or fourth it or whatever.
Milton_ should we let them come to meetings too?
Dr_Caleb Same area?
Jesse_in_seattle yes.
wrdsrchr There are two private areas of the site, board and advisory. Board members can see both, advisory only one.
Jesse_in_seattle any members are allowed to attend. they just aren't allowed to vote, and should be recognised by a board member before speaking.
Dr_Caleb Ok. Yes, they shouls have the opportunity for meetings.
wrdsrchr Advisory can only see advisory, I mean.
wrdsrchr I agree with Jesse and Dr_Caleb.
Jesse_in_seattle in IRC, the rules will be relaxed, but we would still need a board member to confirm they are a vive member.
Milton_ me too
wrdsrchr Do I hear another motion?
Jesse_in_seattle wrdsrchr : not needed
wrdsrchr OK
Jesse_in_seattle wrdsrchr : meeting procedures are covered by our bylaws/procedure manual/Robert's rules.
Dr_Caleb And the IRC host can boot people off.
Jesse_in_seattle indeed.
Milton_ Are they notified that a meeting will take place?
Jesse_in_seattle we'd post it on the public part of the site.
Milton_ ok
wrdsrchr Yup, that's why we have a calendar.
Jesse_in_seattle speaking of which, we should probably have a 'meetings' static page.
Jesse_in_seattle wrdsrchr : want to write such a beast?
wrdsrchr Jesse: OK
wrdsrchr Include meeting announcements, agendas, and minutes?
Jesse_in_seattle links to those, anyway.
Milton_ agreed
Dr_Caleb Good idea.
wrdsrchr I want to make another suggestion for improving the site. Once we have a vol coordinator, I'd like to have a list of volunteers across Canada willing to attend events on our behalf and promote the site, or post posters on actions, that kind of thing.
Dr_CalebNext order of Business?
Jesse_in_seattle wrdsrchr : would be good.
Dr_Caleb Excellent!
Milton_ yes
Jesse_in_seattle C# would be in charge of maintaining it, and probably keeping the relevant email list.
wrdsrchr We don't have pamphlets but we could provide fact sheets and pamphelts and stuff in PDF files for people to print off themselves.
Milton_ Yes we could.
wrdsrchr And I agree on C# maintaining and tracking that and offering assistance to volunteers.
Milton_ I agree too, I hope she does as well.
Dr_Caleb I think she's do great.
Milton_ I meant I hope she agree's.
Jesse_in_seattle yup
Dr_Caleb That too.
wrdsrchr As I mentioned, this kind of thing may have to wait until after the provincial election since she's running, but I think we really need to do this kind of building organizationally at some point.
wrdsrchr Soon.
Jesse_in_seattle okay, so we'll get C# to assemble such a list when she can?
wrdsrchr Yes.
Dr_Caleb (if she agrees . . .)
Milton_ Maybe she needs an assistant like Kory or Kevin or both?
wrdsrchr We can post a request for volunteers to the already existing volunteer section, and give her charge over that.
wrdsrchr Milton: Or I could help her out for the first while.
Milton_ Sounds good to me.
wrdsrchr Any other suggestions for the site? If not I think we can adjourn.
Milton_ None from me
Dr_Caleb Nothing from me not discussed already.
Jesse_in_seattleI move to adjourn
wrdsrchr It's been a long and very productive meeting. And Jesse, sure 8-)
wrdsrchr I second
Milton_ agreed
Dr_Caleb Done.
wrdsrchr Thanks everyone
IRC log ended Sun Sep 12 15:45:01 2004