Some more details on last night: Most people want to move - even with AW being the new leasee, we have no trust in the building owners not trying to screw us again by ignoring contracts/the law. (Lots of FUD about this - they could call in question any of a number of permits, they hire criminals every morning in the basement, etc. We have no leverage and they have all of it.) Also staying here requires electrical renovations (cost of $5k for full fix, we haven't been talking about the costs of a partial fix lately), still better insulation, etc, and us paying a part (currently ~1/4th) of the electrical bill ransom that AW paid to the owner in an urgent bid to stay (they asked us if we could arrange to pay half since we had used about half the electricity)
Any new space will be much more expensive - we currently will pay ~1200/mo at Adelaide, Justin looked at a lot of exchange district (general agreement is that we need central, bus access) options and the cheapest nice place (large, nice room with new windows, finished electrical) will cost about double - 2400/mo. (Also we'd need to build some walls to separate the rooms and do some electrical, I think his dividers/extension cords concept is not sustainable). Members and drink sales make us like 2000/mo so that cannot work for long, even with $8k we can put together from indiegogo/member donations/emergency bank funds. Either we need to look at $60/mo memberships or get many new members to stay above water. The above decisions seem a bit silly to me, I'm sure to many of you too, but options are very few and we've got fear and only a few of our members have any management/real-estate experience. It's not easy but consensus thinks this is our best bet to keep going well into the future. On 10/31/12, Mak Kolybabi <[email protected]> wrote: > =====================================tl;dr===================================== > We're moving, having a vote, having an election, and making three strike > forces > to handle the tasks that need to be taken care of. > =====================================tl;dr===================================== > > Last night's meeting -- actually, series of meetings -- resulted in some > hard > decisions being made, and lots of work being created. The most important > thing > that was decided is that SkullSpace will be leaving 125 Adelaide at the end > of > November. > > As a result of this decision, three tasks were created, each assigned to a > new > strike force: > > 1) The Real Estate Strike Force -- headed up by Jay -- is responsible for > finding us a new home. One possibility was already presented at the > meeting, > and several more have been visited/evaluated in the past week. > > 2) The New Members Strike Force -- headed up by me -- is responsible for > recruiting new members, primarily. We have 2-3 events planned in > November, > notably Central Canada Comic Con and Jimcon at which recruiting will > occur. User group infiltration will also resume. > > 3) The Moving Strike Force -- headed up by me -- is responsible for moving > SkullSpace, no matter what, the last week of November. > > If you are able to help any of the strike forces, please contact the person > heading them up out-of-band (don't reply to the list) to volunteer. > SkullSpace > is moving the last week of November, and will need trucks and labour to get > that done. The Moving Strike Force is working to coordinate storage space > so > that when the last week of November comes, we definitely have places to put > our > stuff. If you have storage space available -- garages, basements, etc. -- > and > are willing to offer them to us, please contact me. > > Since we postponed the vote on student rates, it will occur at next > Tuesday's > meeting. The bylaws state that the board sets the membership rates, so to > keep > this simple the vote will be on whether we approve a student rate for > full-time > students. It will be a show-of-hands vote, no proxies, nothing fancy. If > you > have been opposed to a student rate, as I have been in the past, please > note > that as of yesterday we are in active recruiting mode, and a student rate is > an > attractive offer that we know there is a demand for. > > At last night's meeting, at which more than half the membership attended, > many > members pledged to individually, *optionally* increase their monthly > membership > rate above $40 to include a monthly donation. An email will be sent to each > member not asked at last night's meeting if they would be willing to do the > same. Please note that if you don't respond to that email we'll leave you > alone > and not pester you further, we're trying to not be pushy. > > As a result of a resignation, an election for a new director must be held. > The > term for the new director will be three months: from the last meeting in > November until our Annual General Meeting, currently scheduled for the last > meeting in February. The election will be held as it was in February: > secret > ballot, proxies, and self-nominations. The voting instructions and list of > candidates will be sent after third meeting in November. Please note that > this > is to elect a *director*, not to elect a director to a *position*, the > board > works positions out on their own. If you wish to run in this election, > please > email me out-of-band (don't reply to the list) to nominate yourself. > > Finally, as a result of us moving, ALL MEMBERS MUST REMOVE THEIR BELONGINGS > FROM THE SPACE BEFORE FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 23. For those few members that are > out-of-town, please contact me to make arrangements. > > A lot is happening in November, so here's a calendar: > > Nov 01 :: Central Canada Comic Con (setup) > Nov 02 :: Central Canada Comic Con > Nov 03 :: Central Canada Comic Con > Nov 04 :: Central Canada Comic Con > Nov 05 :: > Nov 06 :: Weekly SkullSpace Meeting (student rate vote) > Nov 07 :: > Nov 08 :: > Nov 09 :: > Nov 10 :: > Nov 11 :: > Nov 12 :: > Nov 13 :: Weekly SkullSpace Meeting (student rate vote) > Nov 14 :: > Nov 15 :: > Nov 16 :: Jimcon > Nov 17 :: Jimcon > Nov 18 :: Jimcon > Nov 19 :: > Nov 20 :: Weekly SkullSpace Meeting (director nominations end) > Nov 21 :: > Nov 22 :: Last day to remove your belongings > Nov 23 :: Moving of SkullSpace begins > Nov 24 :: Moving of SkullSpace continues > Nov 25 :: Moving of SkullSpace continues > Nov 26 :: Moving of SkullSpace continues > Nov 27 :: Weekly SkullSpace Meeting (director election) > Nov 28 :: Moving of SkullSpace continues > Nov 29 :: Moving of SkullSpace continues > Nov 30 :: Last day at 125 Adelaide > > I think that's all of the important information. It was a long night, so if > I've missed anything, please let me know by replying -- which will create a > thread on discuss@. > > -- > Mak Kolybabi > <[email protected]> > > () ASCII Ribbon Campaign | Against HTML e-mail > /\ www.asciiribbon.org | Against proprietary extensions > > _______________________________________________ > SkullSpace Announce Mailing List > Help: http://www.skullspace.ca/wiki/index.php/Mailing_List#Announce > Archive: https://groups.google.com/group/skullspace-announce-archive/ > _______________________________________________ SkullSpace Discuss Mailing List Help: http://www.skullspace.ca/wiki/index.php/Mailing_List#Discuss Archive: https://groups.google.com/group/skullspace-discuss-archive/
