5.14.02
Roboto Monthly Meeting - Minutes for 5/14/02 Meeting

(1) Introduction

As part of the new meeting structure, each general meeting will begin with an introduction of all attending members.

(2) Old Business

The main items brought up during old business this month were the grievances and complaints organized and detailed by Deanna in the Roboto Speaks for the month of May. For a more in depth explanation of the following, please pick up a copy the next time you are at Roboto. The issues presented were: the use of sexist/homophobic/racist language by performers and attendees; the meeting organization/importance; elections and the recent problematic elections; and the elitist nature of the Roboto cooperative. The first issue was addressed by several people, with the conclusion that signs will be created to inform people of the expectations put forth in the mission statement for the Mr. Roboto Project. Promoters will also be better informed of these expectations and will be better informed on what these expectations are and what their role as promoter is with regards to these (mainly to responsibly evaluate the lyrical content of the bands they do shows for and to maintain a safe environment during shows they promote). The board, at our last meeting, addressed the second issue and we came up with a structure for future general meetings. This new structure (which is outlined in these minutes) allows for both the presentation and discussion of items by the board and by members of the cooperative. We hope that through this new organization members will feel better about talking and bringing up issues during meetings. The third issue of the elections came up as a result of the poor voter turnout for the recent elections, the short time span for voting to occur, and the poor representation of the candidates running for the board. A longer voting period as well as candidates running a campaign rather than having their name and a short bio representing them will resolve these problems. The issue of elitism at Roboto seemed to the board a less pressing matter, coming out of a misunderstanding of the way Roboto operates as a cooperative. We will try to be more clear about this in the future, however, the structure of Roboto can be found in both the membership packet and on the website.

(3) New Business

General/PR . Jeremy Hedges

-We have a new server for the website. As a result our various email addresses have changed. Check the website for these updates. The show/update list will be changing as well, so if anyone previously receiving the weekly update stops receiving it, they need to contact me at info@therobotoproject.org.
-Members of Roboto who wish to continue their membership need to pay their yearly renewal of $10. Most of our current members have not renewed, so those needing to do so much contact us at the above address, or speak to a board member at any Roboto show.

Finances . Q

-Our current balance is $2948.00. The specifics of our finances can be found in this month's Roboto Speaks.
-We.ve received an extension on our yearly taxes, now due in September. Our accountant will be filing these soon.

Facilities . Eric and Eileen

-The broken glass in the door will be fixed soon, and the bars that were originally on the inside of the door will be replaced.
-Eric will be caulking the display windows to provide added reinforcement.
-Eric and Eileen will be working together to create a weekly cleanup schedule for Roboto.

Booking . Jeremy Carson

-Jeremy couldn.t make it to the meeting.

(4) Open Forum

-Toni attended the meeting from Pitt to discuss the Living Wages Campaign at Pitt and ask for our support. She passed around a signup sheet for their emailing list. If you.re interested, email us at info@therobotoproject.org and we will put you in touch with Toni.

-We discussed the possibility of allowing free benefits each month at Roboto. One suggestion was the allowance of two benefits, each paying Roboto $25 to use the space rather than the normal $50. This issue will be discussed further at the next meeting and voted upon at the following meeting.

-The next monthly meeting is set for Wednesday, June 19th at 6:30.