BoardMeeting202602

Minutes

February 15, 2026 virtually via Big Blue Button

• Start time: 4:00 PM
• Attendance: Issac M., Sue J., Jondale S., Tracy H., Billy H., Daryl H., Sean S.
• Ten general members also in attendance

Votes

• Voted to approve Adam's first aid refresh budget
• Voted to approve hosting FreeCAD North America meetup

Meeting end: 4:55 PM

Supplemental Notes

Issac: President

• SPARK news: still have not resolved lease situation - it is top priority now that we have finalized the purchase
  • Hopefully the next tie we talk about this, there will be great jubilation
  • We need to have a party when that is settled - and invite the other people outside our org that have helped us get through this
  • Details to be determined
• Building news: Now we need to talk about the roof - will schedule a more thorough inspection
• Documentary: Will stream on WBIR this week!
• Adam and Nadah have plans for revamping First Aid area(s) and has brought up a potential shopping list.
  • There will be three kits:
    • Main kit in Bay 2 (will contain small items, and then "go bags" that you can quick grab and go to an injured person depending on their need)
    • Woodshop and Blacksmithing will have smaller kits with relevant items
  • Adam also wants to do some first aid classes - especially centered around the "go bags"
• FreeCAD meetup proposal: Billy wants to host the North American meetup for FreeCAD
  • Will be a full weekend (but mostly Saturday) in August
  • Probably about a dozen people but maybe more KM people will want to attend
• Maker Market - Will be October 4th
  • Need to put it on the agenda every month so we can make sure we keep on top of it
  • First up - put it on community calendars and get some graphic design inclined members to possibly make some art

Sue: Treasurer

• Building fund - continuing to grow even without it being main focus
• Again, lease thing is still not sorted, so we've sent Spark an invoice for March rent
• Still a healthy balance

Tracy: Membership Director

• 407 members
• Emailed our City Council member about city grants - if the grant I saw is correct, it's due on Tuesday :panic:
• Have list of possible funders from BKS, will respond to them tomorrow with any personal connections we have.
• Also have our Case for Support finished, will need to put that up somewhere on the website and decide how else we want to distribute that.
• Have also found a grant for solar, but that would have to be in conjunction with roof repair/replace - will see if that's feasible
• Should figure out how our "small donor" fundraising will be both internally and with the public

Russell: Community Director

• Skipped out to hang with *family* - where are his priorities?
• Talked about our intern anyway - she will be helping design a more welcoming entryway and possible landscaping - this is a project for a class at UTK

Jondale: Tech Director

• Haxdb v2 - sent a preview to the board to find bugs, will update and slow roll it out - eventually to everyone
  • Members will get access and be able to update their own information
• Maker City Summit - cancelled because of snow :(
  • KM still had people show up anyway - so big props to them
• Dogwood Arts Festival is already in April and that is very soon! We don't know much about it yet but Jondale will push that

Daryl: Communications

• Daryl is coming to us from the sky
• Website is good as far as content
  • Should talk timelines about commerce side and plugins

Sean: Creative Director

• Looked into some local people and orgs to reach out to for smaller donations
  • Messaging should be exciting and make people feel they are making a difference
  • We have a secure home now but we want to take it from a dumpy box to an amazing Makerplex!
  • Could make some swag to give out or leave around Knoxville or do a little thing for local businesses

Billy: Facilities

• People are clamoring to do things but Billy is holding them back until lease is taken care of
• Probably can restart shop air project but not quite on paint booth

Other stuff

• Board retreat is next month - will Issac give us homework?
  • The board retreat is something we do every year - we go to a lake house with little contact with the outside world to work out many issues at once
  • We want to note that Knox Makers does not pay for any of this - the board members pay personally
• Next meeting: March 15, 2026!