[2023-03-11] - Tinker Different Board Meeting Minutes

[Androda]

March 11, 2023 Board Meeting​

Attendance:​

Kai Robinson, Jacob (Androda), Eric (eric), Bruce (Branchus), Christian (fogWraith), Justin (jdmcs)

Absent:​

Ron (Ron’s Computer Videos), Josh (Drake)

Agenda:​

Item 1:​

Clarifications on Recycler / EWaste Guidelines Before Moving Forward

Notes:

• There was some confusion around what the action items were in relation to Recyclers and EWaste from the previous board meeting
• A Tinker Different forum section for Recyclers and EWaste should be created, such that providers of these services can post their links on the forum
• The “look what I found” section of Discord is also appropriate for these kinds of listings
• “Look what I found” in Discord was not originally intended to be specifically a place for interesting product listings - it’s also a place where interesting projects, software, tools, and other things could be posted to raise awareness of them

Action Items:

• Create the Recyclers and EWaste section on Tinker Different
• Create draft messaging to Recyclers and EWaste providers to help them understand the new policies in regard to where their listings should be posted on the Tinker Different forum and Discord

Item 2:​

Prize Pool for Competitions and Events

Notes:

• Some prizes have become unavailable due to use
• Physically large prizes are hard to ship outside their origin country

Action Items:

• Follow up with certain individuals about availability of their prizes
• Follow up with a forum member that offered some larger items to the prize pool
• Put out a call for prizes

Item 3:​

Forum Policies Follow-Up From Prior Board Meeting

Notes:

• Updates to forum policies from the previous board meeting are in progress, with a few questions asked about wording and organization
• It was noted that there has not been an ‘official’ way to request addition to the vendor section

Action Items

• Policy updates for Vendors and other areas are in progress with feedback from the Board

Item 4:​

Livestream to meet the Board, talk about Forum features, and some notable Projects

Notes:

• In keeping with “MARCHintosh” it would be good to highlight the forum with a livestream or similar event, displaying the value the forum provides

Action Items:

• Bruce to organize a livestream of the new Board, forum features, and highlights of various projects which appear here and nowhere else

Item 5:​

Merch Store

Notes:

• Some work was done on a possible merch store, but many issues were encountered with the software of a vendor being evaluated

Action Items:

• Ron, Bruce, or Eric to evaluate a different vendor for the merch store depending on availability

Item 6:​

Finance Status

Notes:

• Linode increased prices 20% on many products
• Tinker Different is not yet affected by the pricing increase, but will be soon

Action Items:

• Create a top-level “Donate” button on the Tinker Different site