[D-Space] Moving forward

[Aldo Cortesi]

Thus spake Paul Campbell (paul at taniwha.com):

> Yesterd after we looked at the space we went back to my place for
> coffee (some guy in a red suit and a broken down sleigh was blocking
> access to the down town cafes).

I'm sorry I couldn't make this - I was out of town over the weekend.
Out of interest, you mentioned that they wanted 4 weeks up front as a
deposit - is that the bond or just a holidng deposit? If it's not the
bond, did they ask for one? Also, is the lease month-by-month or
longer? I'm a big fan of flying light and staying flexible, so I'd
argue that we should try to keep lease commitments as short as possible
(month-by-month if we can).

> We talked about how to move forward - I think we have to make a
> decision on the space this week, sooner rather than later - we formed
> a committee of 3 because that's who was there we'll try and co-opt
> others (Aldo you volunteered right?) - 

Sure thing.

> I propose that we:
> - form a board and unincorporated society (basically a bank account) - we're 
> doing this
> - start soliciting members
> - convert our assets into a charitable trust with the board of the incorporated 
> society being the board of the trust - this board can be elected
> 
> Charity's have to meet some specific types of goals - we fall under the 
> "educational" and "beneficial to society" clauses.
> 
> Forming any of these cost money - $100 in fees plus possibly a lawyer's fee - we 
> need a trust deed - I've been researching similar organisations (there are a 
> bunch of "mens sheds" charitable trusts - we may be able to simply copy one of 
> those and make the appropriate changes - I don't know if copyright attaches to 
> such public documents
> 
> (search for "mens shed" on http://www.societies.govt.nz/cms/customer-
> support/learn-about-our-online-services/banner_template/SOCAGENT for some 
> examples)

I'd like to know a bit more about what the ongoing accounting burden of
a charitable trust would be. I have a sneaking suspicion that we'd be
looking at about $1500 a year unless one of us has the time and
expertise to shoulder the accounting burden. That said, my gut instinct
might be biased due to 10 years of pain getting shafted by the
complexity and expense of the Australian tax system where this could
easily cost $10k per year - New Zealand may be different. If the cost
turns out to be significant, we should see if there's a way to keep
things less formal until we know the momentum is there. Either way, I'd
be happy to front up for a meeting with my accountant to get a feel for
what would be involved? 

> A name: we really need a name - I'm going to open a bank account for
> the "Dunedin Makerspace" but honestly that's boring ... I've thrown a
> silly idea on the wiki - please brainstorm and throw some others up
> there
> 
> We also talked about having a meeting of some sort this week - more
> of a general meeting rather than just a board meeting - when is good?
> tomorrow's a bit soon, Wed is DUNlug (shall we just go downstairs at
> the pub for a while? 7pm?) - Friday is probably a bit late (if we
> want to sign up the space) - what is good for people

I'm back in Dunedin tomorrow, so any time after that is good for me. 

> PS: we're moving fast here - and trying to do it as openly and
> publicly as possible - so far no one's made any negative comments,
> which is actually quite scary (come on someone - tell me I'm full of
> crap! now rather than later) please speak up, express any
> reservations 

I think it's excellent that you've pushed this forward so quickly.    



Cheers,



Aldo


-- 
Aldo Cortesi
www.nullcube.com
+64 210 718 900