03.14.04
Roboto Monthly Meeting - Minutes for the 03.14.04 Meeting

(1) Introduction

(2) Old Business, see Feb. meeting minutes

(3) New Business

Secretary/PR (Jeremy Hedges)
- The March renewal period is almost up.  Most of the membership expires on Dec. 31 or March 31, so if you need to renew please do so soon!  Also note the Lifetime Membership option below.
-We have decided to continue hosting the monthly Roboto Spaghetti Social events based upon the success of the first one.  These events showcase two performers that haven't done anything at Roboto in the past.  If you would like to perform, or know someone who would be interested OR would like to help organize these in the future, contact us!
-Elections are upon us again!  The April meeting will include the elections for the Treasurer, Secretary/PR and Booking board positions.  If you would like to nominate yourself or someone else you MUST email info@therobotoproject.org or otherwise let a board member know by April 18th (the next meeting).  See the membership packet for info on these positions.

Treasurer (Mike "Q-tip" Roth)
- Balance is $1853.
- Our taxes have been shoveled off to our accountant for his assistance.

Facilities (Jim Robinson and Jen Briselli)
- The second Roboto painting event took place.  A different group of folks showed up and started to fill in the gaps.  See below for the discussion about having additional painting events.
- The pics of the potential new building will be up soon.
- Jen has requested that bands load equipment away from the vents near the door.  This will keep the warm air flowing.  We're not heating the neighborhood.

Booking (Joseph Wilk)
- Nothing.

IV. Open Discussion

- Lifetime Memberships.  We discussed the proposal of creating a lifetime membership for people interested.  The proposed cost for the lifetime membership would be $85 for current members (which includes a discount from the initial $15 membership fee) or $100 for new members.  Lifetime members would receive all of the benefits of a normal member, plus added perks from time to time.  Lifetime members would no longer need to pay the $10 renewal fee each year.  This proposal was voted upon and passed by the board.  The proposal will be added to the membership packet:  "Roboto now offers a lifetime membership. The cost is $100 (current members can upgrade their membership to a lifetime membership for $85.) The lifetime membership offers the same rights and privileges as a standard membership; however, lifetime members never need to renew their membership or pay annual fees. Lifetime members will also receive occasional gifts (pins, stickers, mugs, free show passes, or other such items) in appreciation of their commitment to Roboto. Also, like standard memberships, the only portion of the membership that is refundable is the $15 share if you decide to cancel your membership."
- New Building.  Several members went with the mayor of Wilkinsburg to see a potential site for a new location.  The building is located on Penn Avenue.  It has three floors.  The ground floor is a large space with ceiling about the same height. The room is a width a bit wider and a length the size of Roboto if the current space was all one level.  There is a back room with a bathroom and a storage area.  The second and third floors are apartments that could be converted into office spaces or living quarters.  The mayor estimated that the building would cost $7-8,000 to purchase.  He had some give an estimate on the repairs/renovation, which the person put around $30-40,000.  We would like to have our own contractor look at the building and give us a second estimate.  The mayor has also been adamant about the possibility of help from the borough with renovation costs.  We would like to organize another visit before the next meeting and propose a general membership vote for the OK to pursue site control.  Site control would be an amount paid into an escrow account to sort of "reserve" the building for us (so that nobody can come along and purchase it while we continue to fundraise).  This vote would allow us to begin working on the logistics of fundraising for the entire project and specifically looking towards gaining site control.  We will let everyone know when the next date for looking at the building will be when the mayor gets back to us.  Also check out the Gallery on the website for pictures of the possible space.
- Website.  With the website moved to a new server, it has been proposed that an ad hoc committee form to discuss a facelift for the new site. This could include but is not limited to new graphics, different layout, more/less features, updated information, etc.  If you are interested in being part of this committee or helping out with the project, email matt@therobotoproject.org and/or info@therobotoproject.org.
- Painting.  We discussed the future of painting the walls at Roboto.   A group of folks are interested in creating a mural on the walls.  It seemed a general consensus among the members present at the meeting that rotating wall art might be a way to keep the space interesting.  By doing this, we will also be able to bring some order to the chaos.  Jim suggested giving each set of paintings 3 months to stay up then repainting the walls to allow for new art.  Q proposed creating "frames" within which anyone can paint whatever he or she wishes.  These would also allow us to paint over the area more quickly.  Interested in contributing some visual stimulation to Roboto?  Let us know!
- DC Trip.  The DC trip was postponed due to a lack of interested folks/available drivers.  We will hopefully make the trek sometime soon when more people have free time in their schedule.

The next monthly meeting will take place on Sunday April 18th at 6pm.  We will be meeting at the CMU Women's Center once again, located on Margaret Morrison Avenue off of Forbes on CMU's campus.