Vancouver Community Network Board Meeting Minutes - October 27, 1999 Minutes of the Regular Meeting of the Vancouver Community Network, Board of Directors, held on Wednesday, October 27, 1999 at 6:30 P.M. in the Boardroom, 411 Dunsmuir Street, Vancouver, BC. Present: Alison Curtis, Lyle Gardiner, Penny Goldsmith, Michael Gurstein, Josee Lebel, Darlene McBain, Sujay Nazareth, Jonn Olldym, Richard Smith, Richard Songhurst, Greg Sturk Staff: Jason Currell, Peter Royce Absent: Suzanne Klinga, Paul Hunt Chair: Penny Goldsmith Secretary: Greg Sturk 1. Adoption of the agenda, M/S/C. 2. Minutes of September 7, 1999 meeting accepted, M/S/C. 3. Staff and Committee Reports 3a. Peter's Report The bulk of the work is on the VolNet project. We are in the fifth month of nine, with an interim report done yesterday and good reviews so far. We have trained 289 people, representing 154 groups, with 88 computers ordered. We have a Delivery Agency Network mailing list up, but it is not being used yet. At the end of October we plan to stop taking in new groups, with the end of computer orders at the end of November. Terry and Peter made a trip to Ottawa, which did not result in any changes but did confirm that we are doing the right things. Much of the discussion in Ottawa concerned minor computer problems from the computer supplier. Peter is planning a basic HTML workshop for the end of November, beginning of December. For the Vancouver Foundation we are contracting out some of the work and have received an impressive proposal from Steven Chan. Health Canada has contacted us regarding a re-run of last year's training, but it is not yet official. 3b. Jason's Report We have had a very serious hacker incident. This time it has been a sophisticated attack intended to do damage. They used our Internet feed to anonymously ping flood several IP numbers. The program loaded was very well hidden in an obscure directory. After they were kicked off they removed some login scripts so no one could log back on. Jason took down the servers and loaded Solaris 7 with all the patches, which hopefully will keep them off. Jason was commended by several Board members for the speed in which he made a recovery. One of our non-profit users has asked for a refund amounting to two hundred dollars. This resulted from a backlog of email requests that Jason did not have time to get to. It raises the question that some groups are now expecting us to provide a level of service comparable to other ISPs, when we have a fraction of the staff. Jason has contracted out the Help Desk software which he has not had the time to do. A general discussion followed where various Board members suggested that we might have to increase staff on a contract or permanent basis to maintain service levels. 3c. Fundraising Fundraising meeting talked about the state of VolNet and focused on grants. 4. Finances 4a. Statements for August 31, 1999 (year end -unadjusted) Statements have to be approved, agreed that the Board will meet before the AGM at the library to review. 4b. Statements for September 30, 1999 This month's statements were not available for the Board in time for the meeting. Peter will fax the report to Board members tomorrow. 5. Annual General Meeting 5a. Nominations Committee The Nominations Committee has recommended that Alison and Greg serve as Co-chairs for the next term. 5b. Package There will be a President's report for the AGM, and short individual biographies from the Board are expected for the meeting. Of the current board, Paul Hunt, Josee Lebel and Darlene McBain, will not be returning due to other commitments or change of address. The rest of the Board has agreed to stand again. 5c. Organizing We will have tea and coffee and some light refreshments at the AGM meeting. General discussion about on-line voting, where it was agreed that a web page be created so that members and users of the VCN can post non-binding issues that can be voted on. The page will be moderated and issues would have to have the support of 10 other persons. All voting issues will have to be in accordance with the policy statements of the VCN. Richard Smith will write up a motion that will be presented to the membership at the AGM. 6. Volunteer Expenses Some volunteers have expressed a need for bus fare to come to the VCN office. General discussion where the Board agreed that bus tickets would be purchased on an ad hoc basis to measure the need. Agreed that bus fare would be paid for Volunteers and the Board, but that parking would be too expensive. 7. Other Business Motion to approve a VCN credit arrangement for the purposes of Master Card and Visa merchant accounts through VanCity, M/S/C. Michael presented a report on the BCCNA Fall 1999 Board Meeting in Kelowna. Industry Canada presented demonstrations of products/services, which are to help Community Nets/CAPs achieve self-financing. Community Nets indicated that they were holding their own in terms of memberships. Determined that Whistler would be the site of the Spring Conference to accompany the BCInternet Association. The BCCNA and Victoria Freenet sponsored province portal was demonstrated (www.portal.victoria.bc.ca). Lyle and Michael attended a meeting regarding the recent Surrey Library decision to take out the VCN access terminals. The decision came as a result of the small number of people using the terminals and other options available for email in the library. 8. Adjourn Meeting concluded at 8:30 P.M. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Minutes of a special meeting of the Vancouver Community Network, Board of Directors, held on November 2, 1999 at 5:30 P.M. in the 7th Floor Boardroom, Vancouver Public Library, Vancouver, BC. Present: Lyle Gardiner, Penny Goldsmith, Jonn Olldym, Richard Smith, Richard Songhurst, Greg Sturk Staff: Peter Royce Agenda: Financial Statements Financial Statements for the past year were reviewed. Motion to accept Financial Statements of September 1, 1998 to August 31, 1999, M/S/C. Meeting ajourned at 6:00 PM.