20:08 #SPI: < Noodles> *GAVEL*
20:08 #SPI: < Noodles> [item 1, Opening] Welcome to today's Software in the Public Interest board of director's meeting, which is now called to order.
20:08 #SPI: < Noodles> Today's agenda can be found on the web at: http://www.spi-inc.org/meetings/agendas/2012/2012-11-08/
20:08 #SPI: < Noodles> [item 2, Roll Call]
20:08 #spi: < schultmc> Michael Schultheiss
20:08 #spi: < Hydroxide> Jimmy Kaplowitz
20:08 #SPI: < Noodles> Board members, please state your name for the record.  As we have nine board members, quorum for today's meeting is six.
20:08 #spi: < Solver> Robert Brockway
20:08 #SPI: < Noodles> Guests (including board advisors), please /msg your names to Noodles if you wish your attendance to be recorded in the minutes of this meeting.
20:08 #SPI: < Noodles> Jonathan McDowell
20:08 #spi: < zobel> Martin Zobel-Helas
20:09 #SPI: < Noodles> Clint?
20:09 #spi: < zobel> 11/08/12 [21:02:50] < Clint> i'm here but a little distracted
20:09 #spi: < Clint> Clint Adams
20:10 #SPI: < Noodles> I've seen regrets from bdale, nothing from Ganneff or linuxpoet.
20:10 #SPI: < Noodles> But that's quorum so let's proceed.
20:10 #SPI: < Noodles> [item 3, President's Report]
20:10 #SPI: < Noodles> No bdale, so nothing here.
20:10 #SPI: < Noodles> [item 4, Treasurer's Report]
20:10 #SPI: < Noodles> Michael?
20:11 #spi: < schultmc> Standard report is in the agenda.  I do want to publically thank Google for their generous donation of USD 10,000 to the SPI General fund.
20:11 #spi: < zobel> wow!
20:11 #spi: < jberkus> wow, what inspired that?
20:11 #spi: < schultmc> I also got the raw data for the Debian audit to zobel and Solver
20:11 #spi: < Solver> Yes that was fantastic, and I think completely unexpected
20:12 #SPI: < Noodles> Yes, it was a nice surprise.
20:12 #spi: < Solver> schultmc: thanks very much for that, and thanks to zobel for working through the data
20:12 #SPI: < Noodles> Moving on if there are no further questions/comments...
20:12 #SPI: < Noodles> [item 5, Secretary's report]
20:12 #spi: < Hydroxide> jberkus: I have no inside info on that despite working for Google, but based on the email the board received, they wanted to recognize and support what we do. It was unsolicited
20:12 #spi: < zobel> i still need to move them from paper&pencil back to my PC, but 2010/01-2010/06 done 
20:13 #spi: < Hydroxide> schultmc: I do have a question about the treasurer's report, but it doesn't need to delay the meeting necessarily
20:13 #spi: < Ganneff> oh sod it.
20:13 #spi: < Ganneff> sorry, im here now
20:13 #spi: < zobel> Ganneff: got my SMS?
20:13 #SPI: < Noodles> Hydroxide: Do you want to go ahead?
20:14 #spi: < Hydroxide> Noodles: briefly, but if it's long, we can abort the q and proceed
20:14 #spi: < Ganneff> zobel: yeah, but delayed.
20:15 #spi: < Hydroxide> schultmc: I didn't see any email about a $10k+ deposit to the account, but I also don't see any "money to be received from C&P/PaySimple" asset account. how are we accounting for such things in terms of the balance sheet?
20:15 #spi: < schultmc> C&P and PaySimple do direct deposits to our accounts shortly after the donations are made
20:16 #spi: < schultmc> there's no longer the delay of waiting for a paper check
20:16 #spi: < Hydroxide> ok, good to know. as long as the money is in one of the asset accounts that are listed as of the balance sheet date, I'm fine. thanks for the answer!
20:16 #spi: < schultmc> np
20:16 #spi: < zobel> schultmc: and my q: i think Solver pushed all data you send us to git. can you do so in future as well, with the new monthly balance sheets from Chase and & Key?
20:17 #spi: < schultmc> zobel: sure
20:17 #spi: < zobel> great.
20:17 #spi: < Solver> I used the board-private repo
20:17 #spi: < schultmc> ok
20:17 #SPI: < Noodles> Ok, done?
20:17 #spi: < schultmc> yes
20:17 #SPI: < Noodles> [item 5, Secretary's report]
20:17 #SPI: < Noodles> Nothing in particular from me. I had confirmation that we'd be receiving $335.30 from the Chase Giving program at some point.
20:18 #SPI: < Noodles> [item 6, Outstanding minutes]
20:18 #SPI: < Noodles> We've one set to vote on, from last month.
20:18 #SPI: < Noodles> Voting started, 7 people (schultmc,zobel,hydroxide,clint,noodles,solver,ganneff) allowed to vote on Meeting minutes for Thursday, 11th October 2012. - You may vote yes/no/abstain only, type !vote $yourchoice now.
20:18 #spi: < Clint> !vote yes
20:18 #SPI: < Noodles> !vote yes
20:18 #spi: < Solver> !vote yes
20:18 #spi: < Hydroxide> !vote yes
20:18 #spi: < schultmc> !vote yes
20:18 #spi: < zobel> !vote yes
20:18 #spi: < Ganneff> !vote abstain
20:18 #SPI: < Noodles> Current voting results for "Meeting minutes for Thursday, 11th October 2012": Yes: 6, No: 0, Abstain: 1, Missing: 0 ()
20:18 #SPI: < Noodles> Voting for "Meeting minutes for Thursday, 11th October 2012" closed.
20:18 #spi: < zobel> now that schultmc fixed the sums :)
20:19 #SPI: < Noodles> [item 7, Items up for discussion]
20:19 #SPI: < Noodles> Nothing on the agenda this month here.
20:19 #spi: < Solver> zobel: :)
20:19 #SPI: < Noodles> [item 8, Any other business]
20:19 #SPI: < Noodles> Anyone have anything else they'd like to bring up?
20:19 #spi: < Solver> one quick item
20:19 #SPI: < Noodles> Go for it.
20:19 #spi: < zobel> any progress with the bookkeeping service?
20:19 #spi: < Solver> schultmc: do you have any local recommendations?
20:20 #spi: < schultmc> I need to call the service Solver found - it looks like they'd work well
20:20 #spi: < jberkus> we're looking for a bookkeeper in Indiana?
20:20 #spi: < schultmc> I don't have any local recommendations
20:20 #spi: < zobel> schultmc is doing a perfect job, btw.
20:20 #spi: < Solver> I asked on the foundations list for recommendations/suggestions.  It was suggested to me to get an NYS based service as SPI is registered there
20:20 #spi: < zobel> as already said before the meeting....
20:20 #spi: < Hydroxide> I don't think the state of incorporation matters too much
20:21 #spi: < Hydroxide> for this purpose I mean
20:21 #spi: < Hydroxide> ease of coordination matters more.
20:21 #spi: < Clint> unless they're doing tax filings
20:21 #spi: < jberkus> well, our tax accountant needs to be in NY
20:21 #spi: < Solver> ah ok
20:22 #spi: < Hydroxide> Clint, jberkus: the only filing with much substance to it is the IRS Form 990. We do need to file a NY form, but the NY-specific bits aren't too hard
20:22 #spi: < jberkus> as I asked before, we were working with a firm in NYC which was doing tax accounting for us.  they also offered bookkeping services.  what happend to them?
20:22 #spi: < Hydroxide> still, if we use someone else for day-to-day-stuff and someone in NY for the NY filings, sure
20:22 #spi: < jberkus> schultmc: do you have a rough estimate on our annual income for SPI general fund?
20:23 #spi: < schultmc> roughly 5k
20:23 #spi: < Hydroxide> I guess it's possible there might be some NY-specific legal nuance in terms of how to determine whether we pass certain income/asset thresholds
20:23 #spi: < jberkus> schultmc: really?  seems like I've been seeing a lot more "undesignated" gifts lately
20:23 #spi: < Hydroxide> since they care about NY-source numbers for that
20:23 #spi: < Hydroxide> schultmc: well, presumably aside from the $10k that just happened :)
20:24 #spi: < schultmc> jberkus: that was a very rough estimate - i'd have to check for more accurate numbers
20:24 #spi: < Solver> schultmc: what do you think about using the NY based firm that is used for filing, or is local better?
20:24 #spi: < jberkus> ok, if it's only $5K we can't hire an admin
20:24 #spi: < zobel> beside the 10k, the 5k roughly  matche what i saw during my two night shifts walking through the data.
20:24 #spi: < jberkus> ok
20:25 #spi: < Hydroxide> jberkus: if we want to hire an admin, we probably could seek and obtain additional funds, with specific fundraising
20:25 #spi: < jberkus> I'd have recommendations if we could use a California company, but I don't think that helps
20:25 #spi: < Hydroxide> jberkus: we've never tried to fundraise for SPI itself, so I'm sure we could afford part-time help if we go that route
20:26 #spi: < jberkus> yeah, we're better off with a contract company than a part-time employee
20:26 #spi: < Solver> that was the concensus
20:26 #spi: < jberkus> so, let me put an offer on the table.  I'm not sure it's the best approach, but I want the board to be aware that it exists
20:27 #spi: < jberkus> our company in SF has an office staff who does bookkeeping and paperwork for the 4 corporations our group runs
20:28 #spi: < jberkus> we could do SPI's check processing and bookkeeping for fairly reasonable, discounted-for-nonprofit rattes
20:28 #spi: < zobel> jberkus: what would that roughly mean?
20:28 #spi: < zobel> in terms of money...
20:28 #spi: < jberkus> I'd have to get an estimate
20:29 #spi: < jberkus> it would be low, though.  SPI doesn't actually have much paperwork
20:29 #spi: < Hydroxide> I'd be quite open to that if we follow good practices in approving and overseeing that to avoid conflict-of-interest concerns, such as getting the understanding in writing to avoid differing impressions and having disinterested knowledgeable board members (bdale?) agree the rates are fair.
20:29 #spi: < jberkus> the Board would also have to discuss conflict-of-interest issues, and rearranging treasurer permissions to avoid malfeasance
20:29 #spi: < Hydroxide> yup, what jberkus said
20:30 #spi: < jberkus> but the idea would be to take away the routine data entry work from schultmc 
20:30 #SPI: < Noodles> Still seems worth talking to the service Solver found?
20:30 #spi: < jberkus> and have him only approve stuff
20:30 #spi: < jberkus> Noodles: yes, please.  let's get some competitive bids
20:30 #spi: < schultmc> Noodles: i think it would be good to get an estimate from them
20:31 #SPI: < Noodles> Ok. Sounds like we're making a little bit of progress which is good to see.
20:31 #SPI: < Noodles> Did anyone have anything else they wanted to bring up?
20:31 #spi: < Solver> one item
20:32 #spi: < zobel> i played around with an open source software called tryton, which looked quite promising. if we could import our data into that, i am sure we could do most of our bookkeeping ourself.
20:32 #SPI: < Noodles> zobel, stop hijacking Solver
20:32 #SPI: < Noodles> :P
20:32 #spi: < Solver> DPL asked about whether RT was the official place to send reimbursement requests
20:32 #spi: < Solver> :)
20:32 #spi: < zobel> sorry.
20:32 #spi: < Solver> can we get some concensus.  is it official?
20:32 #spi: < Ganneff> Solver: IMO it should be
20:32 #SPI: < Noodles> I think everyone had said using RT was helpful to the treasurer?
20:32 #spi: < Solver> I agree that it should be
20:32 #spi: < jberkus> zobel: oh, cool!  this is one I handn't heard of before
20:33 #spi: < jberkus> Noodles: yes
20:33 #spi: < Clint> it's a fork of openerp
20:33 #spi: < Solver> so does anyone object if the answer is "Yes, send them to RT" ?
20:33 #spi: < Ganneff> the maintainers in debian are entirely broken, though...
20:33 #spi: < zobel> Ganneff: ack.
20:33 #SPI: < Noodles> Solver: It sounds like that's what our answer should be.
20:33 #spi: < Hydroxide> we don't have to use the debian package just because most of us have debian associations :)
20:33 #spi: < zobel> better, the maintainer
20:33 #spi: < Solver> great thanks.  that's it from me
20:33 #spi: < jberkus> yes, please
20:33 #spi: < zobel> are there more than one?
20:34 #spi: < Ganneff> Hydroxide: we have debian servers... but yes, we can test it, if treasruer wants it
20:34 #spi: < Clint> fwiw, i used to use tryton and in retrospect should have used ledger instead
20:34 #spi: < jberkus> zobel: the lead developer for LedgerSMB, a different ERP package, is willing to help us adapt the software to SPI needs
20:35 #spi: < Solver> my company used ledgersmb.  I love it
20:35 #spi: < Hydroxide> Ganneff: never a requirement to use OS-vendor packages if there's a reason to do otherwise. it's always nice of course from perspectives like ours
20:35 #spi: < Ganneff> Hydroxide: "the more comes out of packages, the more happy our admins are".
20:35 #spi: < Hydroxide> I agree on that point :)
20:36 #spi: < Solver> so all reimbursement requests must be individually authorised by schultmc right?
20:36 #spi: < zobel> schultmc: what are you using for the accounting currently?
20:36 #spi: < Ganneff> Solver: or whichever future treasurer we have
20:36 #spi: < Solver> if so, could we allow assistant treasurers to authorise receipts up to some limit?
20:36 #spi: < Solver> the larger ones would still fall to the treasurer
20:36 #spi: < Ganneff> eww
20:37 #spi: < zobel> Solver: i THINK our bylaws forbid that.
20:37 #spi: < Solver> oh ok
20:37 #spi: < jberkus> actually, no.  AFAIK, I can handle anything as long as I'm doing it under schultmc's direction
20:37 #spi: < jberkus> however, I have to run.  we can discuss this later
20:37 #spi: < schultmc> zobel: spreadsheets mostly
20:37 #spi: < Hydroxide> yeah, our bylaws don't restrict our flexibility in this regard as much as they do in some
20:38 #spi: < Hydroxide> we can do various kinds of delegations of authority
20:38 #spi:  * Solver recommends LedgerSMB, never treid Tryton
20:38 #spi: < Hydroxide> but, outside the scope of this meeting.
20:38 #SPI: < Noodles> Yes, we can discuss this offline I think.
20:38 #spi: < Solver> np
20:38 #spi: < Ganneff> we HAD a *ldegder* (whichever) install at one point
20:39 #SPI: < Noodles> Anything else other than bookeeping to discuss?
20:39 #spi:  * zobel is done
20:39 #SPI: < Noodles> [item 9, Next board meeting]
20:39 #SPI: < Noodles> Our next regularly-scheduled monthly meeting would be 13th December 2012, 20:00 UTC
20:40 #spi: < zobel> wfm
20:40 #spi: < Clint> should work
20:40 #spi: < Hydroxide> will be at a conference - tentative regrets here
20:40 #spi: < Hydroxide> but depending on things I might show up
20:40 #spi: < Hydroxide> most times that week are similar, so don't move it on my account
20:40 #SPI: < Noodles> Ok, let's keep with that earlier time then if it's not causing problems.
20:41 #SPI: < Noodles> Thank you to everyone present for participating today.
20:41 #spi: < Solver> yep np
20:41 #SPI: < Noodles> *GAVEL*