As part of our promise for transparency in the running of Tinker Different, here are the minutes of the very first official Tinker Different board meeting.
In attendance: Bruce, Christian, Steven H., Stephen, Steven M., Erich H.
Absent: Kai R.
Notes: We suggested creating a “Vintage Other” sub-section and have these placed under there.
Decision: We all agreed to have these created.
Action Item: Bruce will set these up.
Notes: We weighed the pros and cons but believe we should try enabling images for viewers (non registered users) to see how things go.
Decision: Let’s turn this on and see how things go.
Action Item: Eric will handle turning this on. Christian may assist with some options if needed.
Notes: We discussed “Validated Vendors” but landed on “Friends of Tinker Different”. This way, there is no warranty on our “validation” or “approval”.
Decision: To keep the thread section short, we recommended setting up the vendor area as follows:
The exact names and order of these sections can be refined. But the idea would be under Repair & Recapping you’d have ONE THREAD per business.
For example: Branchus Creations has one thread, all news / details / feedback / issues dealing with that vendor for recapping services and repairs can be there. If Branchus also does products, they can have another thread in Products.
Another example, MacEffects can have one thread. They can update/edit the first post to add links. They can reply to their own thread to provide new images/details, responses, etc.
Vendors / Repair folks should not have multiple threads in these sections. We should build guidelines / rules for vendors to follow. If they get consistent poor feedback, or break the rules, this is something we’ll need to address, and possibly remove them from this section. Hopefully this isn’t something we have to heavily moderate. We expect the buyers of their products will act as the pulse for these individuals.
Action Item: We agreed with these changes. We may need to hash out the finer details of this at a later date.
For example, if someone posts a photo of a logic board that is damaged, and the person is asking for assistance in cleaning, troubleshooting, repair, or recapping, it is acceptable for someone to respond and offer assistance or offer their services.
However, if someone is just posting a photo, or just discussing a damaged logic board, we would prefer users do not solicit their services. If they want to private message the person, that’s fine. However, if we get reports of someone abusing or spamming people over private message, this user will be warned and we can take matters from there.
Decision: Once the Vendors area is set up, we should review the rules / guidelines for posting about services outside of that area. Unsolicited repair/recapping offers will be frowned upon. If we get repeat offenders bothering people their posts may be removed and we may need to take action against these individuals.
Action Item: We will monitor this activity and draft up rules / guidelines for solicitation of services, etc.
We should discuss this further to determine what we all think. We obviously don’t want to be in a place where X person is doing a great job, they love it, we love it, but they must step down because of a limit that is set. This will require further discussion.
Action Item: We will revisit this at a future meeting
In order to draw attention and gain interest, we may want to think about some fun giveaways. We need to look into the rules for doing this, and what can be given away, etc. This is nothing urgent, but just something to think about.
Action Item: We will all compile a list of items we can potentially pool together as a prize. We will revisit this. Not urgent.
Notes: Some members are very interested in selling things with the TD logo on them.
We need to think about how we handle this. Does TD keep a percentage of these sales? We need to have control over who we grant access to sell / produce these items. We don’t want to end up with potentially sub-par products being sold with our logo, etc.
Maybe only board members can use the logo for these purposes?
Action Item: Stephen A. will propose guidelines on this.
Notes: Christian reported that we are set up for at least the end of the year, plus a few months after. So while it is not urgent we set this up, we should maybe set up a PayPal to start. Just because if people have money burning in their pockets, we should have the ability to receive it.
Patreon or another crowd-funding subscription model may be nice. Maybe supporters get a badge on the forum, or Discord perks, etc. We will need to discuss this more. Most people just like supporting a place, they don’t look for extras. But perks may be nice. Maybe a higher tier perk can get discounts on BlueSCSIs or MacEffects items (just examples), etc, etc.
Action Items: Christian will look into setting up a PayPal account to see if he can do this based on an existing account. We will focus on PayPal as we look into other options.
Notes: New users cannot join. Permissions have been adjusted and locked down to prevent erasure of founding conversations, documents, etc.
We should all keep an eye on the “presidential suite” channel so we can keep up to date on what is going on, etc.
Action Items: We will keep the “A Gathering” (founders) discord channel as the place to discuss internal matters. We can revisit this and adjust things if needed depending on how this is going.
Notes: We agreed that the special titles / badges on the forum for founding members should be enough. We think it may muddy the waters if non-voting roles were present at meetings etc.
Action Items: Special titles are available for founding members. We’ll see if this solves this want.
Notes: Prior to the board forming we were reviewing the rules for the forum. We should solidify these.
Steven M. will re-share this document with the goal of cleaning these up. What Steven shares will not be set in stone, let’s look at it, review it, and if needed discuss them during one of these meetings.
Action Items: Stephen will be involved in these (he was off the call when this topic was brought up). Steven will share a Google doc of these rules and we can discuss them on Discord or in the next meeting, etc.
Tinker Different Board Meeting Minutes
November 13, 2021
In attendance: Bruce, Christian, Steven H., Stephen, Steven M., Erich H.
Absent: Kai R.
Topic 1:
Proposal of new forum categories to cover areas which do not currently have representation. These include: Other 80’s Micros, CRTs, Emulators, OtherNotes: We suggested creating a “Vintage Other” sub-section and have these placed under there.
Decision: We all agreed to have these created.
Action Item: Bruce will set these up.
Topic 2:
How do we want to handle images loading for users who aren’t logged in? This affects our viewers who are not registered. Do we want to force people to register just to view images? Would this affect our bandwidth and costs?Notes: We weighed the pros and cons but believe we should try enabling images for viewers (non registered users) to see how things go.
Decision: Let’s turn this on and see how things go.
Action Item: Eric will handle turning this on. Christian may assist with some options if needed.
Topic 3:
Discussion about Vendors. Validated members versus calling them something else. We may not want to be in the business of getting too involved with this, it could become a burden or a lot of work.Notes: We discussed “Validated Vendors” but landed on “Friends of Tinker Different”. This way, there is no warranty on our “validation” or “approval”.
Decision: To keep the thread section short, we recommended setting up the vendor area as follows:
The exact names and order of these sections can be refined. But the idea would be under Repair & Recapping you’d have ONE THREAD per business.
For example: Branchus Creations has one thread, all news / details / feedback / issues dealing with that vendor for recapping services and repairs can be there. If Branchus also does products, they can have another thread in Products.
Another example, MacEffects can have one thread. They can update/edit the first post to add links. They can reply to their own thread to provide new images/details, responses, etc.
Vendors / Repair folks should not have multiple threads in these sections. We should build guidelines / rules for vendors to follow. If they get consistent poor feedback, or break the rules, this is something we’ll need to address, and possibly remove them from this section. Hopefully this isn’t something we have to heavily moderate. We expect the buyers of their products will act as the pulse for these individuals.
Action Item: We agreed with these changes. We may need to hash out the finer details of this at a later date.
Topic 4:
The topic of member(s) offering unsolicited repair quotes/services/offers was brought up.For example, if someone posts a photo of a logic board that is damaged, and the person is asking for assistance in cleaning, troubleshooting, repair, or recapping, it is acceptable for someone to respond and offer assistance or offer their services.
However, if someone is just posting a photo, or just discussing a damaged logic board, we would prefer users do not solicit their services. If they want to private message the person, that’s fine. However, if we get reports of someone abusing or spamming people over private message, this user will be warned and we can take matters from there.
Decision: Once the Vendors area is set up, we should review the rules / guidelines for posting about services outside of that area. Unsolicited repair/recapping offers will be frowned upon. If we get repeat offenders bothering people their posts may be removed and we may need to take action against these individuals.
Action Item: We will monitor this activity and draft up rules / guidelines for solicitation of services, etc.
Topic 5:
Term Limits for the BoardWe should discuss this further to determine what we all think. We obviously don’t want to be in a place where X person is doing a great job, they love it, we love it, but they must step down because of a limit that is set. This will require further discussion.
Action Item: We will revisit this at a future meeting
Topic 6:
Competitions and PrizesIn order to draw attention and gain interest, we may want to think about some fun giveaways. We need to look into the rules for doing this, and what can be given away, etc. This is nothing urgent, but just something to think about.
Action Item: We will all compile a list of items we can potentially pool together as a prize. We will revisit this. Not urgent.
Topic 7:
MerchandiseNotes: Some members are very interested in selling things with the TD logo on them.
We need to think about how we handle this. Does TD keep a percentage of these sales? We need to have control over who we grant access to sell / produce these items. We don’t want to end up with potentially sub-par products being sold with our logo, etc.
Maybe only board members can use the logo for these purposes?
Action Item: Stephen A. will propose guidelines on this.
Topic 8:
Donations and Setting Up a Patreon, etcNotes: Christian reported that we are set up for at least the end of the year, plus a few months after. So while it is not urgent we set this up, we should maybe set up a PayPal to start. Just because if people have money burning in their pockets, we should have the ability to receive it.
Patreon or another crowd-funding subscription model may be nice. Maybe supporters get a badge on the forum, or Discord perks, etc. We will need to discuss this more. Most people just like supporting a place, they don’t look for extras. But perks may be nice. Maybe a higher tier perk can get discounts on BlueSCSIs or MacEffects items (just examples), etc, etc.
Action Items: Christian will look into setting up a PayPal account to see if he can do this based on an existing account. We will focus on PayPal as we look into other options.
Topic 9:
Tinker Different founders Discord forum Permissions and AccessNotes: New users cannot join. Permissions have been adjusted and locked down to prevent erasure of founding conversations, documents, etc.
We should all keep an eye on the “presidential suite” channel so we can keep up to date on what is going on, etc.
Action Items: We will keep the “A Gathering” (founders) discord channel as the place to discuss internal matters. We can revisit this and adjust things if needed depending on how this is going.
Topic 10:
Honorary Titles: Possibility of honorary non-voting board position for Tinker Different founder as acknowledgement for the work done getting us all together.Notes: We agreed that the special titles / badges on the forum for founding members should be enough. We think it may muddy the waters if non-voting roles were present at meetings etc.
Action Items: Special titles are available for founding members. We’ll see if this solves this want.
Topic 11:
Revisit Our Work On Rules / Conduct GuidelinesNotes: Prior to the board forming we were reviewing the rules for the forum. We should solidify these.
Steven M. will re-share this document with the goal of cleaning these up. What Steven shares will not be set in stone, let’s look at it, review it, and if needed discuss them during one of these meetings.
Action Items: Stephen will be involved in these (he was off the call when this topic was brought up). Steven will share a Google doc of these rules and we can discuss them on Discord or in the next meeting, etc.
