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Committee Meeting Minutes: 10 August 2026

Attendees

  • Maggie
  • Wade
  • Jade
  • Sarah

Agenda

  • Code of Conduct
  • Usability / design directions
  • Taiga board review
  • AI DCs?
  • Alternatives to Matrix for connecting with others
  • Connect with collaborators through 2-weekly catchups

Actions

  • Sarah: include CAM in council submission and draft submission; prepare membership spreadsheet; obtain cash box; check approach for members with Rob. Create outline of membership pitch (benefits and expectations), existing fees model, mechanisms for communications.
  • Jade: provide PayID details; arrange Rob's bank access; create an email address for complaints / reporting breach of code of conduct. Start work on AI policy. Contact Milly to see if we can discuss design before Jade's travel.
  • Committee: nominate two points of contact (excluding Jade) for complaints/escalation.
  • Rob: Solarpunks meetups: arrange and publish next three locations on the website.

Notes

Alternatives to Matrix (Wade)

  • Suggested options:
    • Mailing list (per Tech Guilds)
    • Superbridge.chat — bridge between chat protocols

Submission to council meeting (Sarah)

Node stewards update (Jade)

  • Status:
    • Now have 4 nodes connected via the Internet (whoop!)
    • Increased engagement, including willingness for coding tasks.
    • More nodes expected soon

Digital lounge update (Jade)

  • Plans progressing; they aim to set a date soon (e.g. monthly at Catalyst).
  • Maggie: For volunteer groups such as CAM it's a challenge to move to other digital platforms. People unwilling to invest time in learning a new tool. The Network Effect presents barriers. FB and Insta have to be used in order to reach and engage people, so what's the point of adding yet another platform? The utility of e.g. Google Docs makes it hard for people to leave these tools behind.

Code of Conduct

  • Reference: Django Code of Conduct.
  • Reporting:
    • Need an email address for reporting breaches and complaints; will sign up for Fastmail.
    • As a committee, two members (not Jade) can act as points of contact for complaints, reporting and escalation.
  • Note: Further work on processes may be required.

AI policy

  • Let's develop an AI policy

Codebase / contributions

  • Getting the codebase ready for contributions — work in progress.

Membership — make clearer and more compelling

  • Points discussed:
    • Membership dues and participation should be clearer.
    • Define “who” membership is for.
    • Governance relies on a meaningful membership base and quorum — identify members who can steward governance.
    • Dues may act as friction to ensure commitment.
    • No stable financial model currently; short-term approach reliant on Jade's contributions.
    • Examples:
      • Charging a fee to access the chat platform.
      • Automated mailing list.
      • Small future fee (e.g. \$1/month) for network membership.
  • Initial membership structure ideas:
    • Manual approach: define membership, explain on the website.
      • Use spreadsheets (Excel) to track membership.
    • Financial actions:
      • Jade to get PayID details and provide Rob with bank access.
      • Sarah to prepare a spreadsheet approach, obtain a cash box and create a simple process; check with Rob for the Solarpunk group.

Design / Usability directions

  • Consider engaging designers on an ongoing basis.
  • Design sprints are useful for O/S design but can feel non-welcoming for non-tech participants.
  • Need documentation writers and other non-tech roles.
    • Wade example: Carrot Weather allows changing the tone of reports.
  • UX questions:
    • LoRes user experience vs MerriBek Tech experience — will users see one or both?
    • Benefit in a template applicable to every network.
  • Outreach:
    • Jessie, Milly, Lou, students — consider how to include newcomers.
  • Next step:
    • Try to organise a conversation for Thu 13th before Jade goes away.

Events, travel and groups

  • Jade away — returning 21st; then visitors from Adelaide.
  • Groups:
    • GlobalGathering: event in Portugal https://gathering.digitalrights.community/
    • Connection Labs
    • ComputerBank (good learning place for Solarpunks folks)
    • Permacomputing as a brand; hacking/building on old hardware

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