Oct 23, 2022 ACM minutes

Topics: budget requests, Slack software, revitalizing ACMs

All-Community Meeting Minutes

Sunday October 23, 2022, 3:00-5:00 p.m.

Reminders:  Remove hoses from house bibs.  Get your budget requests submitted.

Venue: common house in-person and online

Attendees: Lynda, Alex, Kerry, Kay, Linda, Coleen, Beth, Ben, Vinnie, Marina, Vicky, Mike, Mary, Laura, Myste, Scott, Amy, Jorge 3:40.

Note Taker: Kay

Consensed Decisions: Skip check-out and end early next three ACMs.

Budget

Initial discussion on budget next month and again in December.  All committee budgets are being defaulted to zero if you do not request a budget, due today/a.s.a.p.  Meet with the committee and decide on plans for next year; fill out the google form (including who was present).  Four committees have submitted requests so far. 

Management discussed including money in the budget as a subsidy for outside conflict mediation.  Conflict Support is planning to request it.

Every year we increase the amount transferred to the capital reserve by 3%.

Slack

50 users for $7.95/mo, unlimited use.  Business acct $12.50, unlimited users. Currently have 46 adults including room-mates.  Each committee can have its own channel and subchannels.  A channel is like a chat room.  Integrates with google sheets, google drive.  Can have "active" files that can be modified. Can export data if you discontinue using it.  

Push notifications.  You can "at" a person or a channel.  Unlike Discord, it isn't live.  Direct message option, longer messages, desktop or smartphone.  Can text people without needing to know their phone number.   If you prefer you can have Slack send you an email, respond with an email which goes into Slack.   Useful terms:  "Digital natives" grew up with internet; "digital immigrants" didn't.  Vinnie's experience is that the learning curve isn't too steep.  Beth's experience is that people who text and email can learn it easily, although there's a period where people have to remind themselves to use Slack instead of email or text.  We would probably keep the googlegroups email and wiki.  Slack would be for everyday back and forth or for urgent messages.  There's a "do not disturb" setting. You can set preferences for the level of notifications.

Vinnie & Beth will prepare a proposal.

Revitalizing ACMs

What can we do to make attending ACMs worthwhile?  Can we make changes to get people to attend for whom ACM currently doesn't feel worthwhile?  A common complaint is that meetings are too long.  Can we shorten them without losing content?

Business vs. Making Connections. The primary purpose is community business, but ACMs also help make connections between people.  ACMs provide an opportunity to get to know people in a different way than meals or parties. Meals and parties tend to be one-on-one interactions rather than group. 

There are periods of time when there actually isn't a lot of business at ACMs.  Most actual business is handled by Management, although more important items are then run by the community before finalization. 

A meeting dedicated to business and a separate one for relationship building. Might get different people attending meetings dedicated to business and connections. 

Maybe some shorter or longer meetings.

Be flexible, open to changing what ACM is for and help it work for people who don't currently attend. 

Sense occasional reluctance among long-time residents to changing "the way we've always done it."

If we make changes, will the people who don't attend show up? If we change everything, we won't know what made any difference. Experiment, change individual variables and see who shows up. 

Worth reiterating that it's okay for people to change their level of participation depending on what's going on in their life.

Only one business meeting a month would draw out proposal discussions to at least two months -- pre-proposal discussion, proposal discussion, proposal approval.

More special topic meetings.

Happy hour.

Check-in/Check-out.  Check-ins and check-outs don't necessarily seem like a good use of limited time for some very busy people.  Not efficient for accomplishing business. 

Sometimes important topic discussions have to be rushed to make time for committee reports, announcements, and checkout.

Check-in can vary from ten minutes to forty, depending  on what is going on in people's lives and what other business needs to be got through. 

Had a meeting with no check-in and some people were upset.

Sometimes deliberately come late to skip check-in.  Stopping whatever is being discussed to ask a late-comer to check in puts them on the spot.  It's usually phrased as "Would you like to check in?" but some people don't feel okay saying no thank you.

Checkout is often largely "Good meeting, good facilitation." Reassuring for a new facilitator, but not necessary.  Checkouts when we've had a charged discussion are more helpful, giving people a chance for a last word.  Checkout is a chance to come back together.  Group hug.

Alternative formats for short check-ins.

Have the policy be that people who are here at check-in are asked to check in (always can pass). If people come later don't put them on the spot asking them to check-in.   If someone coming in late feels a need to check in they can request to.

Straw poll -- Skip checkout at next three meetings and end early?  Yes, a couple of stand asides.

Straw poll -- Don't stop discussion to ask late people to check in?  Yes.

Announcements

Got a block party permit for Halloween 4 to 10 p.m. -- traffic barricades California to High.  Barbecue. 

Peace Corps potluck and slide show on calendar

Oct 30 planting garlic 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. 

Jorge and Robin will have a couple of Pack Rat containers (like a pod) coming, one this week, one early November.

Gutter party run by Meagan and Cheryl October 30.

The solar panel installation has commenced.  Another day or two of work this week.  They will let us know if cars need to be moved. Inspector told Beth the transformer has been updated.