Common House minutes: 2017-01-10

Agenda:

Common House Committee Meeting 01/10/2017

present: elph, nancy, jim, katie, thomas

Agenda

1.

Office for rent
2.

Proposal to authorize the CH kitchen redesign group to conduct
experiments
3.

Computer replacement $250
4.

Family Farms - Now at Covenant Church
5.

Mandate ready


Decision: Extend office lease to Syndallas for 3 months.

Decision: Authorize CH kitchen redesign committee to conduct experiments

Decision: Purchase computer replacement for $250 - seek 50% funds from Tech

Monkey: Elph check with Sunward CH about house concerts?

Monkey: Jim to contact Gary at Faux Floors about laundry room quote

Monkey: Katie to write up all the benefits of GO using the office

Monkey: Elph will send an email straw poll to community once Katie has
written up all the benefits of GO using the CH.


1.

Office for rent

The CH committee will seek consultative feedback from the community in
regards to a proposal to use Office #1 for the community. Compelling
reasons and background info will be shared with the poll. Office #2 is
rented to Syndallas and Andrea and they are unsure yet hopeful about
continuing their lease into this year and have asked for a few more months.
Decision was made to do a 3 month extension on her one year lease.

2. Proposal to authorize the CH kitchen redesign group to conduct
experiments

Approved.

See background material noted below.

3. Computer replacement $250

Approved.

The committee did not have strong feelings on the proposal from Sarah to
purchase her computer to replace the aging common house computer. We sought
input from the community via an online poll and 71% were in favor. Details
below.

The committee decided to approve the purchase for $250 from the
Improvements line but to seek $125 from Tech capital fund to reduce the
cost burden on the common house.

Also noted was the desire from many people to make sure that Tech
understood that providing a simple way to print both from the computer and
from the network was important.

4. Family Farms - Now at Covenant Church

They will no longer be using our common house but we expect their members
may continue to show up looking for them. Jim will put a note on the door
on Friday morning directing them to the new location at Covenant Church on
Jackson Road - down towards Zeeb near Share House.

5. Mandate ready

It’s in pretty good shape for the upcoming community review.

Jim has some minor “english major” suggested improvements.

Comments are welcome at
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Hkz6MmKYOEipPgQPjvZFVwJEisxnOAQXcIEktIHnjAM/edit


Also mentioned in the meeting was the Hobart death and the need to clean
the west hallway floor - perhaps wax during work holiday.

Minutes:

2. Background material

Authorize the CH kitchen redesign group to conduct experiments

Background:

Over the past handful of years, the community has saved $20,000 for
improvements to our common house kitchen. An ad-hoc redesign group is in
the midst of a user-centered design process to determine the biggest usage
problems, and a variety of solutions to address them.

The redesign group would like to conduct a few experiments, gathering
feedback which will assist us in the design process. Instead of committing
a lot of time and thought into an ultimate design, we would like to first
try out a few ideas that would not require a significant expenditure of
time/money. Some examples of potential experiments:

Small: Rearrange where things live, which could be easily changed

Medium: Mockups, prototypes, and temporary changes (for example: pushing 2
dining tables together adjacent to the island in the kitchen to learn what
it would be like for cooks to prep at a large center island like the
Touchstone kitchen)

Larger: Acquiring some bookshelves (even if they're on loan) which can be
located in unusual places to simulate a wall, or coerce a different traffic
flow.

Ultimately, these experiments are meant to be reversible, so that if we're
met with large amounts of negative feedback, we can easily change things
back.

We’re also requesting authorization to make some small purchases, up to a
total maximum of $500, in order to support these experiments. One example
would be to pick a drawer, get rid of tools that we don't use, pick up
tools we need, and organize those that remain. We're interested in trying
out some Kaizen foam for supporting this organization experiment:
http://www.fastcap.com/estore/pc/Kaizen-Foam-p13435.htm

All of this will be done with the intention of stimulating feedback to
guide further design ideas.

Proposal:

Authorize the common house kitchen redesign group to make experimental
changes to workflow and organization in the common house kitchen. These
experimental changes will be reversible, and will be intended to last no
longer than 2 weeks unless we receive strong support for keeping the change.

The ad-hoc redesign group will be authorized to spend up to $500 on
materials to support these experimental changes. This authorization would
expire on July 1st, 2017 or when superseded by another proposal. This
money will come from the $20,000 we have saved for the redesign project,
not from the operating budget.

The redesign group will send messages via email to inform the community of
each experiment and how long they’re intended to last.

Pros:

We get to learn quickly what changes can make a positive difference.

We can start purchasing things that may be ultimately used in the final
design.

The community can start seeing benefits to large-value, low-cost changes in
the kitchen.

It allows the redesign committee to work at a rapid pace.

Cons:

Some of these experiments may be failures, or just not popular.

Cooks, cleaners and diners may need to spend some extra time re-adjusting
their workflows.

We may purchase some items which ultimately aren't used in the final design.


------------------------------
3. Common House Computer Replacement


Poll Background: We have a 6+ year old computer available to folks to use
in the CH. We have an offer from Sarah to replace it with a nicer computer
with a nicer screen, albeit still 3+ years old, at a price of $250. We
didn't specifically budget for this replacement but it could be
appropriately fit under our broader "improvements" line without a problem.
The question we have for you - the community - is it worth it to you to
have this newer, nicer computer there?

Poll numbers: 30 responses: 71% in favor

Poll comments

-

Mark me as a "maybe." It seems unnecessary if the current computer
works. I only use it for printing dinner sign-up sheet. If the current
computer is not meeting the needs of people who really make use of it, then
I'm fine with getting a new one that will be better for them.
-

budget for and buy a new computer
-

I want more options in this survey... I'm a rare user of the CH
computer, other than for printing and occasional looking up/printing
recipes or closing a meal in MESS. My needs are extremely low. -Eric
-

I don't think the CH computer gets *much* use. I agree w/ Rod, that Tech
decides whether there is a way to make printing easier
-

I am happy with the CH computer, its serving well. Plus, I do not want
to spend $250 on a 3+ years old computer.
-

The old one does what I need but is slow and keyboard, in particular, is
clunkey.
-

Whatever you decide is fine with me!
-

I don't use it a lot but I see others using it. Would then like to learn
what documents it opens or not. Thanks!
-

I haven't heard concerns with our existing computer.
-

The only thing I ever use the computer for is printing my dinner
paperwork if I forget it, so it matters not a bit to me personally. But I
know there are community members who use it for real purposes, and a newer
one would probably be great for them.
-

"nicer" is a little vague. since the CH computer is mostly used for web
browsing, mail and printing, I'm curious as to what would be better with
the new machine. but $250 is pretty small potatoes.
-

only if it's a mac
-

I'm not sure what we're trying to accomplish: yes, some software doesn't
update, but does it need to? What is the computer for and does it
accomplish that task? How will upgrading to this new computer accomplish
that task better? I don't use it except for quite rarely and then it does
the minor web browsing quite admirably. Any computer needs to be set up
appropriately for its use and maybe the current one just isn't. I'm not
voting on this since the answer isn't clear at all at this point.
-

I don't use it enough to care. I'm happy to go with whatever the main
users want:-)


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