[kwlug-disc] Company sponsorship for meeting place?

[unsolicited]

Paul Nijjar wrote, On 12/21/2009 3:18 PM:
> On Mon, Dec 21, 2009 at 02:26:27PM -0500, Insurance Squared Inc. wrote:
> 
>> Perhaps it could be more informal than that.  Corporate folks could
>> just pay the library directly - let them handle the money without it
>> passing through the lug's hands.  But I don't have a strong opinion,
>> particularly since I rarely attend.
>>
> 
> My bias would be to avoid incorporation, but while lurking on the
> makekw list it was clear that some people felt strongly that
> incorporating would be a good idea to protect our "assets", if you
> know what I mean. Personally I don't think I would participate in the
> KWLUG corporate bureaucracy.
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We do not have any assets. Or, at least, none that need such 
protection - the only assets I can think of is kwlug.org. Certainly, 
part of this discussion has included assets, such as an audio system. 
I don't know yet if we are yet sure that we absolutely require assets 
to be acquired. e.g. 1st United is a quieter room in the first place, 
and has audio equipment, IIRC.

If we have assets, do we also pay a rental fee for storage space? If 
we let someone store them for us, are we not back to the same concerns 
that lead people to desire incorporation?

Incorporation is not strictly necessary, or at least it didn't use to 
be. I have served a term as the President of the (RTA) Richmond 
Tenants Association (two large apartment buildings at Regina & 
Hickory, behind the Waterloo Swiss Chalet). We were not incorporated. 
We did have a constitution. We did have annual meetings. There was 
voting. Annual membership fees were collected into a bank account. 
Cheques e.g. for Landlord Tenant Act consultant and submissions, had 
to be signed by two officers of the RTA. The treasurer could not be 
one of them. At the annual meeting was an accounting of the funds.

I don't foresee sufficiently costly assets that their theft or 
destruction would cause debilitating hardship. There isn't anything 
$1,000+ around, and anything less kwlug could work around or do 
without until it could acquire replacement - be it via fund raising, 
donations, or whatever.


I am concerned that a for fee meeting location rental would inherently 
limit kwlug potential activities. Should we decide to hold additional 
events, e.g. a launch party, additional rental fees would have to be 
paid. Do we draw from the current fund? Do we raise additional funds? 
Will there be time? (If we pre-pay for meeting space, to keep 
temptation to a minimum, i.e. balance near zero, there is nothing in 
the kitty to draw upon. If there is something in the kitty to draw 
upon, who is the guardian of the assets, and how do we go about 
deciding what to buy, when, and execute same.)

I would rather build a relationship with monthly meetings at a free 
location, where if additional events were desired, the question above 
doesn't even come up. There are so many facilities present at 1st. 
True, we would have to work around availability for the gym for a 
launch party, but such would be more flexible as to dates than a 
defined, regular, monthly meeting.

I am not against raising funds, but I would rather see those funds 
used for other things, such as a kwlug groupware site.

I am not against a for fee rental meeting place, noting the processes 
that would have to surround cost acquisition, but I would rather kwlug 
not be committed in that manner, be it monthly costs, or in space 
requirements. e.g. Do we contract for a year for a space big enough 
for mythtv, leaving it 1/4 empty the rest of the time?


There has been discussion around who we are and what we want to do. In 
essence, we don't advertise. We don't raise our own awareness. [Not 
strictly true, but bear with me.] We don't have mass membership drives 
that draw in a bunch of new members in a shot. Restricting ourselves 
to a free space reaffirms our community (symbiotic) emphasis, while 
not restricting or constraining us in whatever else we might want to 
do or additional emphasis we wish to promote.

Accepting free meeting space, accepting corporate donated meeting 
space, or raising funds and paying for meeting space, means choosing a 
path. Which path we choose reflects what kwlug wants to be, and making 
any choice has shades of meaning beyond just the choice itself.

What does kwlug choose?

It is worth noting: nothing prevents us from changing our mind later. 
Choosing free now, and paid for space later, or vice versa, isn't 
precluded.