DACS Board of Directors Meeting
Wednesday, December 11, 2013

By Bruce Preston

Called to Order: 7:15 PM

Attending:  Richard Corzo, Jim Scheef, Lisa Leifels, Andy Woodruff, Bruce Preston, Dick Gingras, Dave Green, Bert Goff

Visitors: Charlie Bovaird, Annette van Ommeren

Minutes of Last Meeting: Accepted

Treasurer’s Report

Membership Report

Old Business

1. General meetings

• December 3: Bill DeRosa—Facebook and Pinterest.  Preview: Lisa Leifels, Review: Richard Teasdale
• January 7, 2014: Richard Corzo—Apple Ecosystem.  Preview: Jeff Smith, Review: TBD, Andy Woodruff (backup)
• February 4: Jay Ferron—Windows 8.1.  Preview: Bruce Preston, Review: Richard Corzo
• Possible future topics:
• We’ve started to do a “Meet the SIG” segment between the Ask DACS session and the featured presentation? We did the Linux SIG in November. The January presentation on Apple products can include a plug for the Apple SIG. What SIG should we do in February? Mobile Devices.  Others available for future months: Drupal, Web Design.
• “LifeStream” monitoring. Mike Kaltschnee mentioned FitBit (currently available at BestBuy) or other ‘wearable electronics.’ Andy will speak with Jeff Schlicht, professor of Health Promotion & Exercise at WestConn, about a possible presentation at DACS re wearable electronic devices that monitor exercise and/or body functions.  Bill may have access to someone who has Google Glass, and perhaps other health-related wearable devices.
• Sean and Bruce have agreed to put together a Saturday session, perhaps in January, more likely in February, on building virtual machines.  Participants would have to bring their own operating system.  Sean has his music seminar in November and a certification exam in December so we don’t anticipate any action on this until after these two events.
• Andy suggested a session on creating a web site of various types: blog, brochure, e-commerce site, etc.) – making use of such as products/services as site builder (online or on PC), turn-key sites, etc.  Andy suggested that as a computer group we should do some sort of session that would answer the question: “I think I need a web site, what are my options?”  This might involve a “high level” overview of the various approaches. Andy (and to some extent Bruce) wanted to talk about the entry level ‘turn-key’ systems where you must live within the constraints of the design, where Annette is more concerned about  “What happens if it doesn’t do what you want it to do?”  Annette and Andy will discuss creating an outline that describes at a high-level what components might be a part of a web site and the repercussions they have upon the construction of the site.  No activity to report.
• Lisa suggested a “decision tree” presentation – “What should I get?” – Windows or Mac, Desktop, All-in-One, Notebook, Tablet, or even SmartPhone – Android or iOS, etc. Lots of decisions - how to decide what meets your needs.  We think this would be a ‘tough’ presentation to pull off but a lively session. Bruce, Richard C., Jim and Charlie will work on defining the metrics.
• Video production – putting something up on YouTube.  Vine, Instagram, etc.  Approach WestConn or Naugatuck to see if a student might do it.  Perhaps for a Senior project?  Andy is currently working on a project, he says he might be able to do it in 6 months or so.  Also “personal videos” that might be put on Twitter or Flickr.
• Google products?  Android operating system, Chromebook, Plus, etc. Our previous Google speaker Millicent Branca has a new position at Google and did not volunteer to help us find an Android presenter.  Try to find her replacement, or Mike K. if he has a contact.
• Home theater systems.  Jim is in process of assembling one, might put together a program based upon his experiences.  Richard also mentioned watching YouTube on TV, but it might be more suitable as an article.
• Digital cameras – higher end digital cameras.  Explanation of what they have that you don’t get in a phone etc.  What is RAW mode, HDR, etc., sensor size, what causes noise, etc.
• John Patrick—we should request him for a presentation in May.
• 3D Printing.  A demo of creating a 3D model in software and then printing it.  Because printing is slow, it would probably be a demo of the software, start the printer, and then show the finished product that had previously been printed.

2. Opening/filled positions

• Dave Green has submitted his resignation as Treasure effective 12/31/2013.  Bert Goff has agreed to assume the position of Treasurer effective 01/01/2014.  Motion made and approved by the board that the board accept Dave’s resignation and appointed Bert Goff as Treasurer.  Dave will remain in a consulting role during transition until March 31st. 
• Dick Gingras will take over the President position from Richard Corzo at the end of his term, March 31st...
• Replacements for retiring “odd-year class” board members Drew Kwashnak and Annette van Ommeren in December. Bert Goff was elected at the December annual meeting to fill one of the vacated board positions. The remaining position is open in case a good candidate arises. Otherwise we will begin to downsize the board from 11 to 9 directors.

3. Jim had been looking into the feasibility of implementing a ‘split domain’ where DACS e-mails may be serviced by either Microsoft Office 365 or our current mail server on Bluehost.  It was decided to not pursue this functionality.

New Business

1. Bob Green has become very frustrated with trying to use CiviCRM to maintain our membership data and then generating his sign-in sheets for members and visitors to the general meeting. He is near the point where he wants to quit, so we need to focus on issues he has reported and make this a turnkey operation for him that does not require him to debug the system. There are data entry questions (handling family memberships, membership start dates, etc.), sometimes extreme slowness when trying to use CiviCRM, and the need to manually fix up his sign-in sheet.
2. 1. The board approved the renewal of our APCUG membership this month.
3. Dave Green has received a letter from our insurance carrier Zurich North America notifying us that the company providing us with small business insurance, Maryland Casualty Company will be replaced with a new one, Foremost Insurance Company.  Bert offered to look into options.  Jim reported that he had investigated with an agency where he has a contact, and our carrier at that time was the only one offering coverage appropriate to our needs.
4. Our Bluehost web hosting subscription expires in February. Do we want to form a committee to look at other options, or shall we plan on renewing our subscription? After discussion we decided to stay with Bluehost.
5. Bill DeRosa gave us some feedback on our Facebook page. Do we want to make any changes in how we use it?  We decided that while his suggestions may be valid they are impractical, there isn’t enough ‘return on investment’.  Jim suggested that instead of posting articles on Facebook that we at least post links to the DACS site.  We should look for a volunteer who enjoys working with Facebook.  Annette puts up meetings, but we need to find someone who is more involved with Facebook.  We decided to focus upon Meetup instead.  It was suggested that we establish a Social Networking SIG, with our publicity as a component of the SIG’s charter.
6. To get more board members attending the BOD meetings, the day of the BOD meeting will be the Wednesday immediately after the General Meeting.  This will go into effect with the January 2014 BOD meeting.
7. RC Phone circuit – Dick will look into alternatives for the phone line, which also supports the buzz in, DSL, and the security system.
8. Richard will ask for the auditorium for the 2014 general meetings.

Adjourned: 9:50