Election Q&A meeting notes

Hi all! Here are the notes from the election Q&A meeting last night. It was great to see so many people excited about being involved! Please excuse any typos or errors. These were taken very quickly. :blush:
Election Town Hall.pdf (29.8 KB)

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Thanks for taking notes @mindy500, I thought it was super informative. Though is seems maybe it got off topic more than once i think a lot of good points were made and most of all how the elections work. which it seems long time members pretty much understood everything but a lot of newer members had no idea about a lot of it.

If something like this isn’t held every year it should be! On that note would anyone be interested in hosting a small Q&A maybe the Saturday before the elections? I know at the board meeting the next day it was said every candidate had 3mins to give a speech if they wanted but i didn’t hear anything about maybe a small open forum for in person questions, And yes i know this can also be done on the forum its self but if candidates are interested and so are members why not have one?

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Did it come up that the board is actually not the board of the makerspace? The board is actually the MakeICT Institute, the makerspace is a program for that nonprofit. There were other projects that fell off the radar because the makerspace became the focus. The makerspace should have a Director who is over the makerspace and reports to the board. We haven’t had a makerspace director since 2018.

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It did not, Good info. Would you mind expanding on that? Reason why the space hasn’t had a director since 2018 and what the roles were? @Malissa

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Probably because it’s a volunteer position which makes 1 person the go to for everything at the Makerspace. Nobody wants all that responsibility with no pay, but having the board be that person isn’t a good position either. The major job they did in the past were running the Area Leads meeting and conflict resolution.

The position is mentioned in 2 places with details that I could find on the wiki.

https://wiki.makeict.org/wiki/MakeICT_Institute_Programs

https://wiki.makeict.org/wiki/Authorization_and_Area_Leads

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It seems to me having a director would expedite getting things done, and maybe save the board meetings a lot of time.

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It did. It was a great system till nobody volunteers for it. That’s why we want to encourage volunteers.

That’s a common challenge for nonprofits.

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I imagine being responsible for a whole space is a intimidating job for one voluteer.

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Picture every single problem, be it machinery or personnel, falling on the shoulders of a single volunteer. Currently the closest we come is Rustin as president and his job is pretty overwhelming.

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Well they had the full support of the leads.

Still would I imagine.

Perhaps if we put a large stone with an exacto knife stuck in it… Who so pullith out the exacto blade is DIRECTOR of all makeict.

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On Tue, May 23, 2023, 15:54 Michael Atherton via MakeICT Forum <noreply@talk.makeict.org> wrote:

| MAtherton Jewelry Lead
May 23 |

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I imagine being responsible for a whole space is a intimidating job for one voluteer.


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James’s ideas are for entertainment purposes only

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On Tue, May 23, 2023, 15:58 James Seymour <james.a.seymour@makeict.org> wrote:

Well they had the full support of the leads.

Still would I imagine.

Perhaps if we put a large stone with an exacto knife stuck in it… Who so pullith out the exacto blade is DIRECTOR of all makeict.

On Tue, May 23, 2023, 15:54 Michael Atherton via MakeICT Forum <noreply@talk.makeict.org> wrote:

| MAtherton Jewelry Lead
May 23 |

  • | - |

I imagine being responsible for a whole space is a intimidating job for one voluteer.


Visit Topic or reply to this email to respond.

To unsubscribe from these emails, click here.

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Why couldnt two directors postions be made instead of 1. Yes i know its hard to currently find someome to fill the current spot but it seems like that position is currently vacant because its to much work for one person. Make it more desirable by making it two or even 3 if we had the support.

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There were actually 2 directors Makerspace and Education. I think because the education director wasn’t in the building often some wanted to and eliminated that position.

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I could see splitting into two members running into a loggerhead, then needing a third to break ties. Before long its a board that reports to a board.
Its messy and a pain for presidents but it might just be a case of Program Directors as a position are vestigial.

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In most larger 501c3s there is a single Director position that reports to the board. That is usually a paid position.

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I just noticed something. During the meeting we all talked about the 18th being the annual meeting which was a Sunday. The wiki says its the 17th a Saturday, Which is correct

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The 18th is correct. Point me to where it is wrong, and I can get it corrected. I just checked the nominations page 2023 Board Nominations and Election Results - MakeICT Wiki and it was correct there anyway.

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https://wiki.makeict.org/wiki/Meetings_and_agendas

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Thank you. Corrected now.

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Small non-profits have paid directors too. IMHO, it’s a position we should have and it should be funded.

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