In attendance: Ashley, Ella (moderator), Jackson (moderator), Tati (secretary)
Meeting Start: 7:00 PM

1) Computer – Ashley has brought a computer to use as our public use computer. The OS is out of date though, and Ashley is offering to get a new OS for, but ze’d like to get reimbursed. Reimbursement granted. Ella will also donate a new mouse, and may have an extra keyboard, but if not then we’re confident that we can find a keyboard easily.

2) Website – Ella added a footer to the website, as well as a map application in the contact box. Also a few backroom stuff were edited to make posting and such more convenient. It is basically done, so next week we will do a last review and see whether we can put it up for the public.

3) Promotional materials – The main promo materials needed right now is the Open House flier and the calendar, as well as handbill versions of each. Ella wanted to know a timetable for making them. Scheduling right now is dependent on when we can get a wheelchair ramp constructed. We’re going to get an estimate on that, perhaps two before the next meeting, so we’ll table that discussion until then.

4) May Day – We’re going to get a hold of people and see what sort of date and time is best for an organizational meeting. Ella’s set up Doodle for us to refer people to, so we can do exactly that. The location for our pre-planning meeting will be the Mill. The Doodle link is here: http://doodle.com/wrx3inec7yus766q

Adjourned: 7:47 PM

In attendance: Ashley (moderator), Jackson (secretary), Tati (moderator)
Meeting Started: 7:00 PM

1) Porch light – Tati attempted to investigate the situation, but just isn’t tall enough! Jackson will attempt to unscrew it, and see if we need to buy a new fixture.

2) Wheelchair ramp – Ashley’s done some research, but we don’t yet have any leads on contractors for the job. We need to do more research, possibly by asking around at accessibility stores in town.

3) Bathroom – We haven’t heard anything from our contractor yet. Ashley needs to call him and see what’s up.

4) Living room – Jackson needs to clean out the desk in the living room very soon. Tati suggests a deadline for cleaning all personal items out of the public space: we should be done by the time we hold our yard sale fundraiser.

5) Yard sale – We decided we’re going to tentatively schedule our yard sale for March 16. Jackson suggests we brand it as a “Help us get a wheelchair ramp!” fundraiser, because that is most likely what we’ll put the proceeds toward anyway. We’ll need to start watching the long-term weather forecasts to see whether the weather will cooperate that day. Our rain-date is tentatively March 23. We need to be getting our items ready, and start soliciting for donations from our supporters as well (within the event advertising itself, or by direct communication with our friends, etc.). We’ll aim to have our FB advertisements for the event up about two weeks in advance. We should probably start soliciting for donations ASAP. We’ll discuss our progress next week.

6) Library update: Ashley has plugged all of the books in our library into our web database, except for the dictionaries (which we won’t bother with). We still need to add shelves and physically organize the books. We could also possibly be working on zines, but our printer is not currently working so that is on hold. We still need to get some kind of donations box for libary expenses/expansion. Ashley suggests that we have a separate library-related treasury.

7) Stuff we need: We’re not actively buying the stuff we need right now because we’re waiting to see how much we need for the ramp. Ashley will post our list to the FB page and see if anyone wants to donate, or sell to us at a discount. We’ll need to get our public computer situation figured out soon too.

Meeting adjourned: 7:50 PM

In attendance: Ashley (secretary), Ella (moderator), Tati (moderator)
Start time: 7:00

Mission Statement: We bring the mission statement topic back up, with a few different options to think about. We decided on “The Black Cat House is an organization dedicated to educating ourselves and the community about oppressive power structures, and how to dismantle them.”

About Us: Ashley wrote up a couple of paragraphs for the about us on the website. We had a collective editing session and made a lot of progress then got stuck on a sentence, so we decided to table it until the end of the meeting. We fixed the problem when we went back to it.

Materials/Web: Ella gives us an update on the website work she’s doing. Ashley and Tati suggest adding a few more pieces to the site, such as having “wheelchair accessible” with a warning to those allergic to cats where the address for the house appears, as well as having individual bios for members. Ashley also wanted a Favicon shaped like a kitty. :3

Meeting adjourned: 8:15

In attendance: Ashley (moderator), Ella, Jackson (moderator), Tati (secretary)
Start time: 7:00 PM

1) Bathroom – The bathroom work will begin next week. While the contractor’s here, we’re also going to ask him about the wheelchair ramp. Ashley also suggests getting another estimate from someone who specializes in this, which ze will get a hold of.

2) Feminism handout – Ashley made the edits we suggested on it last week, and we also went over a few more minor things. We decided it was solid for publishing for the event.

3) Stuff we need to open –

We need:
Desk, or to clean out Jackson’s desk
The public computer set up
Pick up magazine rack, chairs, rug
Additional chairs
Projector screen
Bookcase, and bookcase shelves

Ashley also has some sources for zines for printing and putting in the library. Tati has yet to mess with the porchlight, but ti’ll do it this week.

4) Website, Facebook, emails – Ella has made us images for the Facebook, a flier for our open house (just needs a print test), and she will set us up theblackcathouse.org emails. The website is not yet going to go live, since apparently there’s still a few issues with FatCow.

5) Mission statement – Ella has brought up concerns with the structure of the mission statement, so we talked about different ways we could edit the grammar. We didn’t reach a conclusion on a better way of writing it, so we’ll table this and ask some more opinions and think about this.

Adjourned: 8:01 PM

In attendance: Ashley (moderator), Jackson (secretary), Tati (moderator)
Start time: 7:00 PM

1) Group review of Feminism 101 handout; Ashley presented a rough draft of the handout that will accompany the Feminist Discussion Group’s debut event. We critiqued for 20 minutes, and decided to table the discussion for time constraints. Ashley will tweak a bit more, and we’ll finish this discussion next week.

2) Books – Ashley picked up a couple of books by bell hooks for the library, and asked whether we would reimburse hir out of the treasury. We are not yet willing to spend treasury money on the library, given the expensive renovations and equipment needed that are not yet paid for.

3) Porch light – We need to replace our motion-sensitive porch light with a conventional one that will just stay on. Tati will take a look at it soon.

4) Bathroom – We have an itemized estimate from one contractor, and rough verbal estimate from another contractor (which was actually significantly cheaper). Ashley will contact him for an itemized, written estimate so that we can more fairly compare the two proposals.

5) Facebook – Jackson suggests we should be preparing a FB launch ASAP, to start spreading the word to our network of friends and allies. It seems a “page” is more useful for us than a “group.” We agreed to put up a teaser page very soon, with the logo, mission statement, address, and “Opening Spring 2013.” Ashley will consult with Ella soon, and then put up the teaser for us.

6) Calendar tweaks – We’re replacing the “What is…?” sex positivity event with one on gender identity. Sex positivity will be rescheduled for later on. We’re not ready to attach dates to events, so that is tabled. We’re tentatively planning a yard sale fundraiser as early as mid-March, even if we’re not yet ready to open the house for events.

7) Website update – We’ve had server issues delaying updates to our website. We need to figure out if we have to pay for @blackcathouse.org email addresses, because we want some! Jackson reserved the theblackcathouse.org domain for us, and Jackson will be reimbursed for the expense. (Cost was approximately $45. This should have been discussed last week when the reservation decision was made… Whoops!) Further updates are not possible because our web specialist was unable to attend tonight.

8) Treasury – We need to decide on a place on the website to disclose our financial situation. We need to think about it.

9) Mini-workshops – tabled.

Meeting adjourned: 8:10 PM

1/21/13 meeting started at 7:00
In attendance: Ashley (secretary), Brian, Ella, Jackson (moderator), Tati (moderator)

What is anarchism pamphlet: When we decided at the last meeting some of the events we were doing, Ashley started writing up info sheets so we could distribute them at said events. Ze finished the what is anarchism one, and those in attendance looked it over. The group touched up on the grammar and debated a few facts, but now it’s ready to publish.

Website domain: We own Blackcathouse.org, but Ella suggested last meeting that we buy Theblackcathouse.org as well. We decided to buy the .org domains but not the .com’s at this moment.

Website update: Ella put up the newest draft on the test site, and we pretty much all like it. Tati had some concerns about the color scheme, but ti decided that it might grow on tir. Brian and Ella talk about what tools are needed to get the radio streaming on the site.

Movies: We talked about what movies we want to show, and there was a discussion about whether Idiocracy was appropriate or not. We decided it at least wasn’t something we wanted to show in the first few months and tabled further discussion. Instead we picked the Garden, Dr. Strangelove, Monty Python and the life of Brian.

Other groups: We had a discussion about what other groups with whom we want to associate and cooperate.

Ella and Brian were both added to the moderator/secretary rotation

meeting ended 8:15

In Attendance: Ashley (moderator), Ella, Jackson (moderator), Tati (secretary)

Start Time: 7 PM

Website: Ella showed some more updates she did with the website, most of which dealing with easier reading and accessibility. We like how it’s looking so far. Also we’ve decided on using a built-in blog on the site instead of the Tumblr blog. We’re also planning on buying theblackcathouse.org, and will think about buying related .com domains as well, just to cover as many bases as possible.

Events: Planning on three events a month, 1 LSH meeting every quarter.
Decided that What is…? events will be the second Saturday of the month, 1 PM. End time will be 3 PM where we have to, with disclaimers where we can that people can arrive late when we need to. Feminist Discussion Group will be last Sunday of month, 2 PM to 4 PM.
The first three What is..? events will be Anarchism, Environmentalism, and Sex Positivity. The first three FDG events will be Feminism 101, Geek Culture, and Intersectionality (will not be called this exactly). Movies to be determined. Trekkies for Humanism also considered as optional event.

Internal Workshops: After reading an article on anarchist organizations, and liking what was stated, we decided to make a few workshops for the group in order to deal with a few issues that we haven’t yet dealt with. We talked about some warning signs from people who want an organizing position within the group who have some ego issues. We also want to have a workshop on conflict resolution within events and how to deal with someone yelling or otherwise upsetting people. We’re also discussing how we want to relate with other groups. We’ll put these at the tail end of upcoming weekly meetings.

Meeting adjourned: 8:12 PM

In attendance: Ashley (moderator), Jackson (secretary), Tati (moderator)

Late: Ella

Start time: 7:20 PM

Defining documents –

We unanimously ratified the Mission Statement.

We unanimously ratified the House Rules. (Additional to-do list related to House Rules follows:)

“Private” signs will be posted on the stairs at the base and at the “turn”; also on the kitchen doors

We’ll need to get ashtrays/cans for the smoking area.

The House Rules will be posted to front door, possibly to other entrances to the house, and in other places in the house. Internet rules will be posted on or near the public use computer (possibly as a custom wallpaper?).

We unanimously ratified the Meeting Rules.

House Repairs – We are still getting quotes for the bathroom installation. It looks likely that we’ll be able to get it done on-budget (under $4000). Jackson also needs to schedule an electrician in to upgrade our outlets.

Stuff We Need – We are still looking for a projector screen, and 25 padded folding chairs. Jackson thinks we should be prepared to offer $10 apiece to buy them outright. Ashley is also researching the possibilities of adding pads to common folding chairs. Wheelchair ramp is tabled, as we wait for better/warmer weather.

Website – Ella brought a rough draft of the website. We are impressed! She’s going to give us a way to view and play with this draft on our own time.

Graphics – We briefly discussed graphics with Ella, primarily what we’ll need for fliers. Ella needs more of an idea of our content first.

Meeting adjourned: 8:52 PM