Log
Board Meeting
November 15, 1998

Session Start: Sun Nov 15 18:18:48 1998
*** Now talking in #Troubled_Times
(Nancy) Will the meeting please come to order.
(Nancy) We are having, as usual, problems with NetMeeting and have at least two members that we know of trying to join via IRC.
(Nancy) We were expecting other Board Members likewise.
(Lyn) Made it! Don't know how long this connection will hold.
(Nancy) However, we have a gathering and will undertake discussion, only, no voting due to the lack of quorum.
(Nancy) This meeting has a couple guests at the open Board Meeting - memebers Michel and Roger
(Nancy) In Shirley's absense, I want to address the first two agenda items, which are announcements only.
(Nancy) This is on the web, on the Agenda, so I'll be brief.
(Nancy) We conducted an e-mail vote on 3 issues, and the Secretary took count of the votes and reported that all items passed.
(Nancy) I have consequently updated the Bylaws.
(Nancy) Issue 1 is that for any grant of $5,000 or larger, we will be getting a bookkeeping service to act as a check and balance to the Treasurer.
(Nancy) Issue 2 is that Jan is our new Internal Auditor. I'll have a bit to say about how he will review materials in a moment.
(Nancy) Issue 3 is that Brand can continue as the Lockbox holder, even though a Treasurer. Being an Officer is no longer a bar to this.
(Nancy) I now open the floor to discussion on these 3 issues. Any discussion?
(Clipper) No discusion here.
(Gerard) same for me.
(Lyn) Brand just IM'd me. He is having trouble getting on also.
(Lyn) No discussion here.
(Nancy) If Brand and Pat arrive, we have a strong quorum!
(Nancy) I wanted to add that I did some thinking about how to make documents easily viewable by Jan and others, as auditors.
(Nancy) I mentioned earlier that putting them on the web, at a private spot, after scanning them would be cheaper than faxing.
(Nancy) Faxing, unless one has a machine handy, is $$. $3.00 minimum here, for even a page.
(Nancy) I have a full color scanner, and can convert any document into a GIF, which is Internet ready!
(Gerard) in some cases jpges is better especialy if it are full color pictures and such.
(Roger) Couldn't you just email that image (once scanned)?
(Nancy) After saying it could be put on the web, at a private spot, I thought of a better way. I could make web packages, zipped, that if put in a directory in personal PC would be just the same. Less chance of others finding the info on the web, as this will include account information, etc.
(Clipper) I like that better
(Nancy) Roger, yet, e-mail, but zip and e-mail a complex of web pages with graphics. Our vouchers, for instance, are more easily taken from hypertext than as the word document we use in our machines. We have umpteen different text processor, etc.
(Nancy) Some are MAC, some PC, etc. Web format is universal.
(Roger) Oh! (I knew that)
(Nancy) This is my intent. I'm going to prep a full web directory to sent to Jan and Brand that will include ALL the Vouchers and receipts to date, etc. This will include the Bank Statements from the Gift Pool that Clipper sent to me.
(Gerard) Maybe someone could use aim to mention this to Brand i have aim but I already have ICQ open and netmeeting and IRC would be to much I think if I also open AIM and he is not in my list yet.
(Nancy) I think I just covered Agenda Item 4, which was fiscal controls and how we would handle Jan's review.
(Gerard) ok
(Roger) I have AIM, what is Brand's email addy?
(Nancy) Whoever is in contact with Brand, please reassure him that we are on IRC and hoping he can make it! NetMeeting is a bust for him, and today is a bust for most of use too.
(Lyn) He knows and is trying
(Nancy) If there is no further discussion, I'll move onto Agenda Item 5, which is a report by the President.
(Gerard) ok
(Nancy) We got a notice on August 3, 1998 that we owned the IRS a Form 941, which is how employers report to the IRS re income tax withheld and other such withholding as Workmans' Comp.
(Nancy) I called the IRS, and they told me that as a nonprofit without employees, that I only need to indicate that on the form, which I did on September 3, 1998.
(Nancy) We got a second notice, in firm language, on September 28, 1998. I called them again this past week, and learned that our September 3 ,1998 had arrived, but not been processed by September 28, 1998.
(Nancy) We do NOT have to submit regular 941 forms, unless and until we get employees.
(Gerard) ok
(Nancy) The statement I placed on my response to them was that we "had been granted nonprofit status" and were "stafffed by volunteers".
(Clipper) So we got that straightened out?
(Nancy) Any questions on that matter? I know Brand was concerned that we had to file quarterly, as he had a bad experience not doing so, but this was with a for-profit startup.
(Nancy) Yes, Clipper. They checked in their computer as we talked, and they told me they do not WANT regular Form 941 from us, as this is paper clutter, etc.
(Gerard) aha
(Clipper) Okay
(Nancy) If there is no further discussion on this matter, I'll move to Agenda Item 6, another report by the President.
(Clipper) None here
(Nancy) I am closing on my real estate deal, and will be able to include the address as a place of business on this years Annual Report, if the board so approves.
(Nancy) This is not the month for that vote, but in January, would be on the Agenda.
(Clipper) Good
(Nancy) We discussed this place during the September meeting, and I again reference those graphics showing the site layout as links off this months Agenda.
(Nancy) This will be my home, but I am dedicating the two front rooms to the nonprofit.
(Nancy) They are BIG rooms, with a separate formal entry from the main street, and sliding pocket doors that separate them from the rest of the house.
(Clipper) Sounds very nice.
(Nancy) One room can be the office, 15 by 15 or whatever it is, and the other with the entry a reception/display room.
(Gerard) sounds good
(Lyn) Quite adequate!
(Nancy) I plan to plant for seeds there, already have my asparagus there, and there is an old MacIntosh apple tree that bears, Concord grape vine that bears, and a plum tree that bears. Seeds that are surely non-hybrid as they are close to a century old!
(Nancy) When I move there, we can get a nonprofit free-mailing permit, and distribute brochures, etc., from there. Print and mail, etc. Also, free video postage, I think!
(Clipper) Nancy apple seed :-)
(Gerard) :)
(Nancy) The site has 15+ acres, spring fed pond with watercress, and could be a demo for bermed structures, windmills, hyroponics, houseboats, fresh water shrimp and fish tanks, etc.
(Nancy) Tours could be conducted, etc. Hydroponics in the basement where there is a door that opens directly to the outdoors.
(Nancy) Has lots of room and potential. Even a cottage with a separate bathroom, for visitors to use!
(Roger) Sign me up for a visit!
(Nancy) So, if all goes well and the closing completes, as I anticipate it will, then in January we I will formally ask the board to approve this as a Place of Business.
(Gerard) ok
(Clipper) Sounds good
(Nancy) This means we can disburse $$ to the Seed TEAM, as our Bylaws require us to have a Place of Business associated with each project funded.
(Clipper) So, do we wait to disperse seed team monies, or can we do that now?
(Nancy) Re this, I will also be raising the issue for vote when we have a quorum (perhaps doing by e-mail again) re having the Seed TEAM project be considered a petty cash fund. Keeping receipts on every posting is unmanageable. If fraud going to happen on $1.24 postage, en mass? Not so, as we all communicate with each other, and the postage is double checked in that way.
(Nancy) Clipper, we promise reimbursement, so those posting should keep track. I've asked the hubs to keep record, and we'll use this as a basis for repayment.
(Nancy) We can wait until January, or so, and have Brand write the checks.
(Clipper) Okay
(Nancy) There will be a flurry of sending back and forth now, to get the 1999 season kicked off. Just keep track, hubs :-).
(Gerard) Hello Jan
(Nancy) Jan! I just reported on Agenda Items 1-7, that's all. Nothing new.
(Jan) Hi all. You also have problems getting on Netmeeting??
(Nancy) If Pat or Brand make it, we have a quorum.
(Nancy) The only matter to vote on this minute is making Seed TEAM disbusement petty cash format, rather than a receipt for each $.32 mailing, etc. We can do this by e-mail, however, my thoughts.
(Nancy) NetMeeting was impossible for me. Tried a dozen times or more. Too busy.
(Clipper) Email would be fine with me.
(Gerard) Yes, problems with netmeeting. I am on, and so is Clipper :)
(Nancy) If there is no further discussion on Agenda Item 5, Place of Business, then I'll move onto Item 6
(Clipper) We refuse not to be:-)
(Clipper) No discussion here
(Roger) Pat is still trying (having problems with being told to try AOL, etc.). Also Craig is trying to get on.
(Nancy) Brand did not get his Balance Sheet prepared 3 days ahead of the meeting, so we will be discussing this in January as we skip December due to holidays.
(Nancy) However, I updated the Budget (a link off the Agenda at nov1598a.htm) with current expenses and the like.
(Nancy) The only real difference between this and the last Budget is how we treat the embezzlement by Diana.
(Nancy) Brand and I discussed this over the phone, and it needs to be handled as a loss, bad debt, etc.
(Nancy) If the money comes through, in time, then there are accounting ways to move that line, etc., but at present, at year end, we need to show it that way.
(Nancy) As agreed earlier at another Board Meeting, I will delay submitting a Voucher for the attorney's review. This way cash in hand is adequate.
(Clipper) Agreed
(Nancy) We're in the black, as it were.
(Jan) How many do we have on now? And who's who?
(Nancy) In January, I will have a report on the arrest warrant or whatever to make. Will contact the authorities and get an update.
(Nancy) Jan, we have 5 voting members here, and Roger and Michel as guest members.
(Nancy) Any further discussion on the Budget?
(Jan) Who are obany and Mastodon?
(Clipper) None here
(Gerard) I am Gerard
(Nancy) Obany=Gerard, Mastodon=Michel, Frugal=Roger, Bird=Lyn
(Nancy) The last Agenda Item is discussion on the video. Both Geson and Michel prepared material.
(Jan) Hi all!. Pat is struggling hard to get on IRC, gets "not welcome here" from IRC servers.
(Michel) my proposal is on the web and it is very simple. I want the board to approve - though it already is approved - the storyboard as put on the web by nancy (the one with my sketches) in regards only to it's sequence. Being point 1. news footages 2. history (ice ages, frozen mammoths, whales in mountains, jewish exodus, etc.)3. present pole shift hypothesis + support 4. talking preparation-end with TT url. Approval is not on exact contents. I have
(Nancy) Geson's MPG clip is not there, as a link off the Agenda page, in it's entirety. I tried for 10 hours or so this past week, with Gerard, to get my hands on it so I could make it available.
(Nancy) Michel was kind enough to make an animated graphic out of it, which is jerky as it is only a frame per second, but gives one the idea.
(Clipper) I never could open it to view it.
(Clipper) I saw Michel;s version though
(Gerard) you need a good mpeg player i think, the new microsoft media player can play mpeg
(Nancy) The animated graphic that Michel provided works well, and is a link off the Agenda page. Check it out now if you have a chance.
(Nancy) My first take was that Geson and Michel have VERY different styles!
(Nancy) I love them both, but they are VERY different, and rather than try to cram them both into the same box, why not have TWO video productions!
(Michel) May I speak?
(Clipper) That may be good as when they blend their styles to form one.
(Nancy) Geson's is gripping, I could not take my eyes off it, and with music missing, I can imagine what the original was like!
(Nancy) Michel has a way of putting emotion into pictures that is entrancing, and is trying educate humanity in his approach, get the common man to undertand.
(Michel) Yes Nancy, but Geson's clip had no relation to the pole shift, it was just that, gripping. I showed it so several friends and they also did not make the connection.
(Nancy) The saying is, "too many cooks spoil the broth' and that means that forcing creative styles together can create mud!
(Gerard) I also showed it to someone and he didn't know what it was about .
(Michel) As we are making an educative clip I think that Geson's quality of entrancement can be used with applying such effects where needed and the result will be better than when it would be just him or me making the clip. The mix makes it work
(Gerard) agree Michel
(Nancy) He said it was a playfull first pass. The intro or ending should orient the viewer.
(Jan) I agree with Michel. Geson's clip was very good artwork, but no PS. I also think that the PS clip should be National Geographic or Discovery style, not MTV style.
(Michel) Geson did tell me that it was made for a friend some time ago, more or less to give a message
(Nancy) He started with Orion, showed the passage, also man caught unawares, and the ending as in being able to transform like a butterfly into a better era. Quite entrancing, I thought!
(Michel) So Geson can do better at making it informative, but I am already in contact with Geson about this.
(Clipper) I liked that part
(Michel) yes it was very nice, but too many people would not see that
(Michel) so it's not the way to make the video look. It must be direct and straight to the point
(Michel) it's only 6 minutes, being vague about the subject will be a lost of money and time'
(Nancy) My feeling on what Michel is developing is that it will be too LONG. We will lose folks. For a documentary, or a video provided for free or at cost by the nonprofit, this is perfect EDUCATION. But what Geson did will get folks to NOTICE in a way that an educational documentary will not.
(Michel) not agreed
(Michel) 6 minutes is enough to show what we need to show
(Nancy) Both Michel and Geson are artists in their own rights, and should not be subservient to each other. I also think that they do NOT work well together as a team, as oil and water, etc. I fear losing something from either if we force them together, not to say that they can't help each other with production, etc.
(Nancy) Why just have one? Why not have several?
(Clipper) Two videos huh?
(Lyn) Agree!
(Nancy) The production is the expensive part, and we can have several OPTIONS on a single video.
(Gerard) I think that Michel and Geson are working together fine . don't know
(Clipper) Michel's would also make a great web page as well.
(Jan) I think Nancy is on to something. Maybe Geson's approach will be the introductory video, and Michel's the informational one. Nothing wrong with two approaches if we can afford it.
(Michel) I already proposed the 'two video option' in a commentary in an email in reply to Geson's video, I think one for MTV crowd and one for more or less Discovery channel kind of crowd
(Nancy) If the TV station want a 2 minute short, they take Geson's. If they want drama. If they want a 15 minute documentary, they take a piece off Michel's. Michel can then have short, medium, and long versions of his educational video, all on the same cartridge! And maybe we don't stop there!
(Gerard) Well I heard the music that belongs to vidoe file Geson made and it's to well MTV like. So this one could be used for MTV broadcast so to say ..
(Michel) You will see Geson's in the afternoon during the day on MTV and other such channels and mine in the late hours of the day and into the night on channels like discovery and news broadcast channels wherever the subject requests it.
(Nancy) Well, the e-mail between them didn't sound like it. Geson can deliver dynamite stuff, and earns his living at this stuff, but if we are objecting to everything he does, the creative spirit dies! Likewise with Michel, who is working hard here and has his own style which is very appealing to me, always has been!
(Michel) My thoughts too Nancy
(Nancy) Gerard, Geson said he lifted the music, did not make it for the clip, as this was just an example, to show someone.
(Gerard) okay
(Clipper) I agree. They have different styles and both should be able to express them selves to the max.
(Michel) the music came from a computer game
(Gerard) I didn't know that Michel
(Nancy) So our artists can support each other, such as offering access to equipment and the like, but should be peers, not in hierarchy arrangement. We should allow for each to pour themselves into the production, doing what they do best!
(Clipper) Yes.
(Michel) Nancy, the nonprofit can SELL a longer video- documentary like- by the end of next year via the nonprofit
(Lyn) Back again...got disconnected.
(Clipper) Welcome back Lyn:-)
(Jan) Hi Lyn. Pat and Shirley still have problems though; looks like we will not get that quorum this time either :-(
(Michel) But that is future talk
(Nancy) Video cartridges hold 2 hours of stuff, and 1/2 hour is the very smallest, I think. It this correct?
(Michel) 30 minutes yes
(Nancy) So to do less than filling each cartridge with options for the viewer, is wasting the cartridge, right?
(Michel) Yep!
(Nancy) We can start with a menu, saying fast-forward to xxx location for xxx, etc.
(Clipper) Now we are getting somewhere.
(Nancy) Well, cost wise, it not a 2 hour cartridge almost as cheap as a 30 minute cartridge?
(Michel) ok, two videos (I can make an extra long version anyways later)
(Clipper) To confirm, xxx is used as a number location on vdio only. Not sex related.
(Nancy) If for the extra pennies, we go with 2 hours, then we can have a number of options! Maybe, in future, different cultures will want different approaches. To appear to Asia, would that clip be different? To Africa? To Russia? In different languages, etc.?
(Michel) Nancy, that depends on the brand name of the video, but in general video prizes ar enot much different between 60 minutes and two hour video crtridges'
(Nancy) Well, MANY videos, packaged onto a single cartridge when we mass produce, so that the TV station or whomever can choose.
(Nancy) We should put these into different languages, eventually, anyway, right?
(Gerard) good idea
(Michel) 2 hours is enough
(Michel) eventually yes
(Clipper) Yes
(Nancy) Ever watch TV stations from Asia? My husband does this, follows some soap opera things and historical stuff. Their tone is different. We need MANY options! All on the same cartridge so as not to waste the space we pay for anyway!
(Michel) but the languages is something of our least worries, it's at the end of the production. The video will be the same, text is ALWAYS added after the video so there is no problem there
(Jan) From Pat:Can't get in. No other way. Will have to upgrade system soon. Running
(Jan) into too many problems. Sorry, Pat A.
(Michel) Ok, I want still though the following. Acceptance on the storyboard of - now - my video so I can go work on it.
(Nancy) For instance, take the what-to-do part of it. If we are appealing to those in South America, we may show them going into the hills on Lama back. If in Asia, we may show them preparing to live off houseboats. If in the US, we may show them driving to the heartland to stay with family in the country, etc.
(Michel) I will email Geson and ask him what he wants to do
(Gerard) Well I think you can continue. I read it and looked at it and so far it seems good to me :)
(Nancy) Many options will be eventually packaged, and the TV station taking what best suits them, for their local clips!
(Nancy) My only suggestions is that you not go into too much detail, etc., Michel.
(Clipper) I liked it Michel
(Michel) Nancy, I don't think there is time to make a video for each country, there is no time for that. I am going to make one for english speaking westernized countries first, then comes asia then south america, africa, russia etc.
(Nancy) For instance, on the Mammoth stuff I looked at and packaged last night. The point was that the mastodons are frozen up there with grass in their tummies and buttercups too.
(Nancy) To say that hunting killed the last of them off is too much detail!
(Clipper) Hmmm, good point
(Michel) Nancy, I won't go into much detail. But for myself I need to get all the data on the web, and I have it on paper here, so I an take from it what I want
(Nancy) It would make a nice 30 minute documentary on mastodons alone! But when you only have a few minutes, you have to hit the pertinent points, my thoughts.
(Michel) Nancy, point taken into consideration but it doesn't take this much time as you think it does, not in my way.
(Nancy) Michel, agree on priorities of countries. Your artwork can be used as a basis when we get artitst from those countries willing to translate, etc. Such as Veronique in France. If you have a base, the translators will FIND you :-)
(Jan) The best results always come from having too much information and then cut down.
(Nancy) We're losing the crowd. Should we end the formal meeting? Is there a motion to this effect?
(Clipper) I make a motion we end the formal meeting.
(Nancy) There are 4 of us left - Jan, Gerard, Clipper, and myself.
(Jan) Nancy, is there a fomal meeting - we never did get that quorum this time either
(Nancy) A second?
(Gerard) I second
(Nancy) I opened a formal meeting. Motion made and seconded, all in favor say Yes, opposed say No.
(Nancy) Yes
(Gerard) yes
(Jan) Yes
(Clipper) Yes
(Nancy) The motion passes and meeting is adjourned.
Session Close: Sun Nov 15 21:09:49 1998