Meeting notes

This page serves as the index for SkullSpace meeting minutes.

Minutes from previous years

Meeting_notes (2019)

Meeting_notes (2018)

Meeting_notes (2017)

Meeting_notes (2016)

Meeting_notes (2015)

Meeting_notes (2014)

Meeting_notes (2013)

Meeting_notes (2012)

Meeting_notes (2011)

Meeting_notes (2010)

September 2020 and beyond

We ended up losing track of the notes that were left in Slack, and now Discord. If you'd like to find the notes for a specific month but you cannot access those platforms, let someone else (or the board) know and we'll try to copy those notes here.

If you have some time and want to help with that, please go through September 2020 and onward, compiling notes from each meeting and recording them here.

July 28th, 2026 - 18:00 @ 200-374 Donald

• Introductions
• Projects
  • Mark C was scaling a 3D print
  • Michael fed an old website into Claude.ai and it found quite a few vulnerabilities. Was a good exploration into all the random things I don't know when trying to design things securely
• Major changes?
  • Dennis asked about working with people on stuff around the space. There was a discussion about how members of the community just come together to do the things they're interested in
  • The A/C actually didn't leak when we turned it off, so it's been dry enough
• Events
  • Smash bros on Sunday. Good attendance, about 20
  • Flow practice on Wednesdays
  • Glenn tried to run the DJ equipment one evening, had trouble with all the wiring everywhere
  • Garbage has piled up. If you'd like to help, Tuesdays are a good day to do a little cleaning around the meetings. It used to be included in the rhythm of throwing monthly events, but we've been on break over the summer
  • Mark brought up the idea of an event coordinator again, for something like 4 hours per week, to make sure the space is stocked and cleaned and is running events
  • We talked about events and how things have worked this year, limited permits, whether we'll run more dances soon
  • Pigeon wants to help us run an event. We've done our Diary Sessions through them, at Nuit Blanche
  • For an event like Nuit Blanche, we should increase our ticket prices to help cover the larger costs
  • First Friday August 7th: We'll be open for tours, play some board games. Come on down if you want to work on projects or join in some games
• Others
  • Mentoring on infrastructure and other plans. "Sith model", have someone with you as you work on SkullSpace things, learning so we have more members who are familiar with how things work and what we should do
  • Discord plans (forum channels?)
• Financials
  • Moving to quarterly reports? Things are in flux around the meeting structure.

February 28th, 2023 - 18:00 @ 200-374 Donald

• We achieved quorum
• Year in review:
  • Finally back in force after being on break since 2020.
  • We got a whole whack of really old augmented-reality headsets. Most seem to be running an old version of Android. Neat!
  • There was a burglary into one of the higher floors, and our footage was able to confirm that someone left the building with another tenant's bike.
  • We ground the hinges off the door to regain entry after there were errors in the fob system. It may have been a case of loose wiring. The new fire-safetied door has a keyhole for emergencies.
  • We upgraded various computer system. The fob and camera management computer was toast, so we updated the hardware and the software platform. We also got our hands on a new server with many GBs of RAM.
  • We started meeting on Discord.
  • We started hosting events on the first Friday of each month again.
  • Finally got our occupancy permit, after more than ten years in the space. We can hold events now.
• Voting for 2023 board.
  • We had 5 candidates, so the board was acclaimed:
    • Edwin Amsler
    • Michael Kozakewich
    • Thor Robinson
    • Mark Campbell
    • Justin Labrie
  • We held a mock election for any two of Pirates, Clowns, and Ninjas. The winners were Pirates and Ninjas.
• Financial report
  • We've climbed slowly from dangerous levels back up to an acceptable amount.
  • This was because we got a massive cut in rent, and we've been allowed to set our rent quarterly based on what we can handle.
  • At the moment, our trajectory is very flat, maybe trending downward slightly.
  • As we gain members, that'll increase. Then we'll increase our rent to flatten it again. That'll continue until we're back to our 2019 level of membership and our 2019 level of rent.
  • Everything else is pretty normal.
• Other news
  • Movie nights are still happening. Next is March 17th.
  • HAX is coming up! We're announcing a list of presenters on Friday, and HAX itself is coming up on March 31st.

February 23rd, 2021 - 18:00 @ Slack General Channel

• Got quorum.
• Year in review:
  • This is our 12th online meeting.
  • We mourned Chris Johnson's passing in June.
  • Thank you to Thor for holding his movie nights.
  • Edwin bought us some new tools, third hands, and soldering irons.
  • We had the online Hax event in October.
  • About three pop-in hackathons.
• Voting for 2021 board.
  • We had 5 candidates, so the board was acclaimed:
  • Edwin Amsler
  • Michael Kozakewich
  • Thor Robinson
  • Pietra Shirley
  • Kyle Martin
• Discussions on whether we can set up a budget for our electricity bill. Either through Hydro our do it ourselves.
  • Not really necessary, really.
• Snack donations haven't been accounted for, but we don't expect much given the lack of attendance.
• Bitcoin endowment fund it's at 0.51687800 of a bitcoin.
  • https://blockchain.info/address/35RRPxpKJARa2SrLVpXieRQdQtv2947kMx
• Question was asked when we would be out of money. The estimate is approximately 12 months.
• Concerns were raised about abuse of membership signup process where a member could cancel/renew their membership based on the weather.
  • Putting one's membership on hold at a gym, for example, is usually limited to once per year
• Raised that we'd like to have a new rave once vaccinations are in order and we're allowed to assemble.
  • Get occupancy permit
    • Probably need railing on back steps up to fire escape.
  • Get licensed as a live music venue which allows us to run events when we'd want. (LGCA)
  • Expecting to try this around the end of the summer.
  • Ben has offered to run through this process.
  • There would be a license cost of $500-$1000 per year versus $150-$200 per event and adds the requirement of 4 weeks advance notice. Considered a reasonable investment.
  • The donation method of fundraising via livestreams has proven successful, provided a coordinated presentation and well marketed donation initiative
  • We're pending further information from the government before re-opening for usual events and gatherings.
  • Province sets the public health laws and guidelines
• Meeting ended at 6:56 PM.

(We'll have to finally compile all the notes from Slack! Please let me know if you'd like to help with that from September onward.)

August 25th, 2020 - 18:00 @ Slack General Channel

• Financials
  • We managed to get a rent reduction of 20% for the year.
  • We finally got the new directors added to our bank account
  • Hydro estimated an extra $100 for no reason. That just means the price will be lower in a later month.
  • We appreciate any extra donations!
  • Mark C is willing to fund volunteer work for SkullSpace. He has the money, but not the time. Are you interested in running online classes or live-streaming electronics stuff?
  • We discussed power usage. We're going through roughly $30-$40 per week, mostly because of our servers. It would be nice to lower that, but we're not pushing too hard.
• We put an old Google Meet link on our sites and such, but apparently only Mark has access to it. We might need to make a different link.
• Mark J is planning another Hax festival on October 17th.
  • Virtual event, live sessions, no pre-bake.
  • Payment offered for each half-hour session.
• Edwin is now a director. Pirates won the mock vote against Ninjas.
• September's movie stream: "Fantastic Voyage" and "Innerspace"
  • It was postponed from last month.

July 28th, 2020 - 18:00 @ Slack General Channel

• Financials
  • June wasn't super bad. July is super bad.
  • We're losing members at about our usual rate, but we aren't replenishing them with new members.
  • We got a bonus from some old gift card funds. (Remember FundScrip?)
  • We also forgot about some of Nate's expenses, so I went back and lowered our NYE profits and took out some snack profits.
  • We're looking into the emergency rent reduction stuff
  • It seems like we're supposed to be surviving through our members' CERB payments.
• We've had a couple people ask about getting tours, so we should start maintaining a presence at the space again.
• Reminder: SkullSpace offers email addresses to members. If you'd like one, just send an email to admin@.
• We should collect impact statements from all the participants of our TEC workshops.
• We updated our website with more COVID-19 info.
• The election for the new director is on Tuesday. No other candidates besides Edwin, yet. Mark J is our election official, and has plans for encrypted public-channel voting. If there are no other candidates announced, he'll hold a mock vote for Pirates vs Ninjas.
• Events
  • Online board game night next Tuesday (Aug 4) at 6:00.
  • August's movie stream: "Fantastic Voyage" and "Innerspace".

June 30th, 2020 - 18:00 @ Slack General Channel

• Financials
  • It turns out Google Drive wasn't backing up Michael's copy of the books, and so a data-loss event ruined several months of records. No reports this month while he rebuilds it, but we expect that the downward ramp will continue.
• Chris Johnson passed away at the very end of May. There's a notebook at the space for anyone who'd like to record some memories. The book will be given to his parents at some point in the future.
  • Because of the new opening on the board, we're going to call some new elections. Edwin has been cleared by his company, so he'll fill that spot if no-one else nominates themselves.
  • Some members wanted to work on a memorial project for Chris. There were some ideas on Slack, but a lot of us are probably waiting until we can gather safely.
• Edwin had brought the Prusa printer home some months ago, and was thinking about bringing it back.
• Colin E. had some leads on a donation of synth production gear.
• Michael would like to try to keep up appearances online even when we go back to face-to-face meetings at the space.
• Thor is streaming movie night. This month was "Blast from the Past" and "Bubble Boy". Next month is "Starship Troopers" and "Ender's Game".

May 26th, 2020 - 18:00 @ Slack General Channel

• Financials
  • Starting to see that drop. Memberships down $60 from last month, which will continue.
  • We tend to get a member or two leaving every month or two, so we rely on incoming members.
  • Everything else is roughly the same
• 16 virus cases in total in MB, so things will either get better and better, or worse and worse.
• Thor has been streaming movie night. This month was 'Ready or Not' and 'The Cabin in the Woods'. Next month is 'Blast from the Past' and 'Bubble Boy'.

April 28th, 2020 - 18:00 @ Slack General Channel

• 6:03: Ratified last-month's minutes
• 6:06: Financials
  • The net worth is steady, but we will be losing over the next little bit due to member loss.
  • Expenses are pretty flat. Income had quite a bit of food and drink.
  • We earned $40.00 from the coffee machine, this month.
  • Membership slightly down - have not been chasing for dues, though we also haven't heard that anyone is unable to pay.
  • Michael removed members who didn't respond since February and March.
  • Michael will pay a coworking fee for using the fancy desks during April.
  • Our average monthly cost is $2400 ($1890 rent + $210 insurance + $200 utilities + 70 bank)
  • A few scenarios:
    • If literally all money stopped coming in, we'd last about three months.
    • If only our PAD amounts were still coming in, we'd last about six months.
    • If we continued on as usual, but we lost about three or four of our members, we'd be on a sixteen-month slope unless we held fundraisers.
• 6:31: 3D Printer was making the PETG face mask straps, but clogged. Largely its been operating fine but Edwin will be ordering a replacement bed as the previous one was damaged slightly
• 6:39: Province to announce opening up again soon in a limited fashion and we will keep people up to date
  • No events, yet, and use space sparingly.
• 6:40: Need for an IRC bot set up for slack.
• 6:48: If anyone is having trouble paying dues for April/ May, let Michael know in case we can get reimbursed.
  • Due to the pandemic, we have lost a few hundred dollars and it would be nice if we could get some of that.
  • We might need our members to pay with money from their own government subsidies. That might be how we're supposed to get help from the government for this.
• 6:56: Thor streamed his movie night. The same might happen next month.

March 31st, 2020 - 18:00 @ Slack General Channel

• Introductions
• Last minutes
• Financials
  • I forgot to arrange some server space with Mark, so instead I made a really long web link for the financial results
  • http://rhombitruncated.icosidodecahedron.com/skullspace_financial_reports_as_of_2020-03-31/
  • Net worth is holding pretty steady, all things considered.
  • We outlaid some expenses to get groceries and the like.
  • Our drink and snack income were fairly high, so thank you to Nate for restocking that.
  • Membership is holding steady for now.
  • I didn't collect enough over-dues.
• Stuff
  • 3D Printer had problems again. It looked overheated. Edwin will take it home to look at it.
  • The half-taken-apart TV is Edwin's.
  • The whole place has pretty much been in stasis
• COVID-19
  • We're trying to reduce the number of people in the space. So far there have never been more than about six.
  • We just reached 100 cases of the disease in Manitoba.
  • At the time, it could have started doubling every few days, but that's the exact point where the curve-flattening started working.
  • “I can’t go out, I’m washing my hands tonight”
  • We're not locking the space down, but we are urging members to stay home.
  • The ‘modular petting zoo’ is cancelled until further notice.
  • Gatherings of up to 10 people should still be fine.
  • We updated the front page of the website with a message.
  • We'll need to keep on top of lost funds due to cancelled memberships and non-payment. Please talk to Michael K if you need to make arrangements.

February 25th, 2020 - 18:00 @ 200-374 Donald

• Started 6:00pm
• Attendance was taken
• We have quorum. 15 people in attendance, two proxy
• 6:04: Year in review
  • Movie team paid for the Space and didn't use it. We made $2,000 and they cleaned the windows for us.
  • Two very well received and attended socials. A good mix of a traditional social and our gaming/hangout space.
  • Earned $1,500 for the first and $1,700 on the second.
  • Year-over-year we're doing quite well as far as earnings
  • Presented cashflow, income and expenses from the past 12 months
  • Donations for the tech club $500
  • Helga's donation for our help
• 6:10: Membership count is currently at 58. Down from 60 last AGM.
• 6:15: Discussing net worth, how we track what people owe us
• 6:15: Rent was not sustainable at one point and we re-negotiated. How are we with the landlord.
  • We checked the property value and it was under $400,000. Could we buy the building?
  • We should offer to renew early?
• 6:20: Revisiting year in review:
  • Tech club occurred in October and November which taught electronics on three separate events.
    • Arduino session, intro to 3D printing, Arduino 7 segment display
    • 15 kids aged ten to sixteen came out.
    • Funding from the city
    • Super success!
  • MGUG events held at least five evenings.
  • YIMBY events held ten meetings.
  • First Fridays have happened.
  • Movie nights have been a grand success.
  • Helped local artist realize their "Shimmer" exhibit
  • Carl (CNC machine can cut metal things now and is much quieter)
  • Began building out an office-like space with the earnings from the first social
    • Two 4K monitors and desks
    • Built a wall
• 6:30: Discussions about wall building
• 6:33: Final notes
  • Thor: Participation is important, letting other members have a try
  • Brad: It was a good experience. Recommend it to build a higher profile
• 6:36: New board decided without a vote.
  • Chris Johnson
  • Kyle Martin
  • Mark Campbell
  • Michael Kozakewich
  • Nate Wild
• Action item:
  • 3D print something for the tech club contributors
  • Wall builders strike force. Help come build more wall. Next Tuesday March 3rd.

January 28, 2020 - 18:00 @ 200-374 Donald

• No introductions needed
• Previous minutes
• Financial
  • NYE Social boosted it a bunch
  • We still haven't gotten back up to peak members, so we'd be on a slight downward slope without these fundraisers
  • Everything else is similar. It seems it mostly boils down to membership levels and fundraisers.
• NYE Social:
  • Got too much alcohol
  • Managed to return most of that
  • In the end we made about $1400, so it was a success
  • More than half our guests used EventBrite
  • We keep on underpricing drinks
  • The downstairs has been leased, so we can't throw any more of this type of social
    • Or can we? It seems the second floor of the adjoining building is still open, so that's an avenue of discussion
• AGM soon
  • Any bylaws or such need to be in by February 4th.