2019 07 11 Committee meeting

Ruby New Zealand Incorporated

2019-07-11 Committee Meeting - Minutes

7.15pm - 8.15pm

Present:

• Andrew
• Anthony
• Mathew
• Merrin
• Steve
• Pete

Apologies:

• Laura
• Rebecca

Opened: 7.21pm

Minutes:

• Kiwi Ruby update
  • Website launched. Good feedback.
  • CFP open. Quite a few talks received already
• Compensation for event organisers
  • Ruby community burns out event organisers. (From a limited pool of organisers)
  • Proposal as a counter for this burnout, to set up a pool of money for organisers for things like foot when meeting up, time off work, travel
  • Currently these scenarios are dealt with ad-hoc, and generally reimbursed
  • Those who need reimbursement may not be the people who are comfortable doing so
  • Would like to introduce a what/how to claim guideline
  • Events that Ruby NZ agrees to help fund or organise often result in a green balance sheet
  • Clear expectations on what’s reimbursed, what’s not
  • Potentially some optics around sponsorship
  • Reimbursement-focused for expenses like travel, food related to organising the event
  • Guideline vs policy
  • Very difficult to discuss in the abstract
  • Pete proposes Merrin create a concrete proposal to aid discussion
  • Ruby NZ has a good history for having a net positive from events. A reimbursement policy may change that, but would also encourage participation in organising events.
  • What happens if we are not in the green
  • Pete suggest we have a guideline/blueprint on organising event which also mentions Ruby NZ will support aspects like food, and Ruby NZ may reimburse on a discretionary basis
  • Vote for Merrin to make a proposal for next meeting
    • Passed unanimously
• Rails Camp region / naming / liquor license
  • Discussion on region, tradition of rotating
  • Vote on taking any region
  • Passed unanimously
  • Discussion on attempts to do rails camp at other locations that have not come to fruition
  • No one minds that Rails Camp name may change
  • Previous committee did work to establish that we could not serve alcohol
  • Could open up other places by not serving alcohol
  • Selwyn district required Special license + duty manager
  • Tradition of bringing Whisky - not providing alcohol might encourage people to bring their own spirits
  • Cut offs, and small monitored batches of alcohol have been tactics used before
  • Alcohol has made it challenging to organise camps in past
  • Could speak to more popular regions (aus, USA), but policies usually region specific
  • Cheeseman presents issues around unruly people drinking, but organisation has gotten better over the years, and lessons have been learnt
  • Moving to Ruby Retreat could help reset the culture around alcohol
  • Andrew to ask (Volunteered Member) how we can support them in making sure organisation of ‘Rails Camp’ goes forward
• Community subcommittee
  • Nothing to report
• Strategy subcommittee
  • Posted strategy on Slack
  • Still have not done general/announcement channel switch. It is becoming quite announcement-y. Few non-committee messages coming through #general.
  • Will continue onto renaming the channel, to encourage more general discussion
  • Vote to rename #general to announcements and not programmatically invite
    • 5 Yes, 1 no (Pete)
  • Vote to Rename, Pete does script to invite to new #general
    • Unanimous yes
    • Merrin to add Pete as admin

Closed: 8.12pm