[Imc] IMC meeting notes 01/28/01

[Zachary C.Miller]

Once again I couldn't make the meeting, so I'll add my random rambling
comments.

> We need more Flyers and business cards.

I can make these as soon as I get the new fixed up logo (with the
outline font) from Danielle. Did she already send it out and I missed
it? Also for the business cards, I still hold that they'll look a
_lot_ better with a black on white logo rather than the white on black
on that we have. Or alternatively the white on black needs bolder
white lines so it shrinks down better.

> FUNDRAISING: The IMC has crossed $1,500 mark for Founding Funders. A 
> request was made for the budget info to be made available for the larger 
> group. Fundraising group discussed: space rental (what is use of space that 
> is a revenue source? Speakers? Open mic? )

I am extremely interested in organizing an Open Mic. I was thinking
that Monday nights would be very good. I was thinking we could charge
$1 at the door, this could potentially make us an extra $100/month.

I would also like to have semi-regular benefit performances.

I have a personal interest in this stuff. My dad and my sister both
play folk music and I am looking for places to book them. I know they
would love to use the IMC performances both as a way to help raise
money for IMC and as a venue to audience test" their sets. I am sure
there are lots of other performers who would do the same. We could be
a great venue for new performers (including dancers, poets, and actors
as well as musicians) to get started doing full sets rather than just
open stages.

I think we should try to have a show every saturday, friday, or sunday
night. Sunday is somewhat appealing because we wouldn't conflict with
bigger shows at local bars. But friday and saturday we may be able to
attract some of the downtown bar going crowd who might stop in to our
show for a bit before, after, or during their trip to the Office or
the Embassy. 

Anyway, the point is that I'd love to help with this.

> Shared office space--decided to sit down with groups that have expressed an 
> interest in this.

A related thing that some groups may want would be the ability to just
put a phone line and an answering machine in the networking
closet. The greens in particular could benefit from having a phone
number for people to call and leave messages but probably don't need
office space so much except during major campaigns.

Are there issues with working with the Greens and 501c3 stuff?

> Space rental for member $10-20 per hour $50 for up to 8 hours. Negotiate 
> cleaning and any damage that may occur.

For reference it currently costs the Greens $15 to rent the Red
Herring for 2 hours. And that fee is waived if we volunteer a certain
amount of time to Red Herring work (like construction projects or dish
washing).

> Paul R. is looking into book selling. Selling local artisan wares is 
> another option being considered. The pricing split would be75% to the 
> artisan an d25% to the IMC.

I have been talking to a friend (Mitra, who just joined the list and
hopes to get more involved with IMC in coming time) who is very
interested in selling prints/posters of her art at our space. I am
sure there are _many_ local artists who would be interested in
this. My mother would probably love to sell some of her jewelry there. 

If we get into this kind of retailing is there any issue with 501c3? I
assume that as long as we are using it for fundraising that it is ok.

We might want to get some kind of display case or similar thing for
our "sales area".

This is another thing I wouldn't mind helping a little with but not
coordinating.

Another thought: Paul R and I talked a while back about the idea of
selling bulk media and batteries at near cost. I still think this is a
good idea. 

Although for batteries I think we should just make sure that all our
portable equipment has rechargeable batteries and that we have
"check/recharge/change the batteries" as one of the daily tasks for
staff people.

> LIBRARIANS: The librarians are working on 3 policies: collection
> development, circulation, and the relationship between the archive
> and library.

At some point we need to forge a strong connection between the
archivists and the website. I want to have an online archive of
materials that is organized by hand rather than by the IMC
software. I'd like to basically have a special page for each major
story/project that we work on and that page would have links out to
all our work on that story/project. I especially want to get any audio
we have uploaded to the site in an orderly fashion. 

It would also be nice to produce CDs of some of our audio, possibly
for sale as a fundraiser.

> TECH: Have not had meeting. Paul R. will call a meeting to discuss wiring 
> and configuring computers among other things..

We are meeting Wednesday (today) at 6pm. 

> There was also general consensus in support of a sunshine clause for
> any organizational structure that is approved.

Sunshine is so much more cheery than sunset. :)

I do have to make a warning that I am simultaneously Extremely
Motivated to organize a bunch of things at the IMC but also Really
Needing to spend more time on my day job (that I work at night
lately). So it would be very healthy for the organization to not rely
on me for much more than the tech stuff (and even that I want to work
on spinning out to others as much as possible) for a little while.

I am still very interested in helping with staffing once/if we get a
good network connection.

-- 
Zachary C. Miller - @= - http://wolfgang.groogroo.com/
IMSA 1995 - UIUC 2000 - Just Another Leftist Muppet
 Social Justice, Community, Nonviolence, Decentralization, Feminism,
 Sustainability, Responsibility, Diversity, Democracy, Ecology
Ya Basta! - http://www.greens.org