January 7 2000 Nat Minutes

Minutes of Committee Meeting
Victorian Innovations Centre
Wedesday January 19th, 2000

Present: Kylie Davies, David Totterdell Peter Eckersley, Bill McPherson, Patricia Fraser

The meeting was convened at 6:30, with the single agenda item being the preparation of material for inclusion in a submission for funding.

Kylie had a list of several potential funding sources:

Skills.net offer $10,000 grants for training 100 people in a year, We can use the FCCVI to apply for this; 30 people have been through already. We can also use the Burnt Toast Cafe project once it is up and running.

The Sidney Myer Foundation
BHP Community Funding
The four major banks
The Lance Richtenstein Foundation
The Community Support Fund

It was thought that we could apply to all of these with modifications to a general project submission.

Funding or support from Multimedia Victoria requires that we put a proposal to them directly, since they don't have a formal funding programme to which we can apply.

The project decided on was suggested by Peter Eckersley, to establish a training facility. This depends on us having premises in which to set up the facility, but we feel that the Horticultural Hall space will become available soon and this space would be ideal.

Other projects suggested were the rollouts of various systems for recipients, or the setting up of an ISP. Neither of these were taken up with enthusiasm, since they were seen to raise as many problems as they solved.

The group will spend the next week each working on parts of the proposal, to be completed by the next meeting in a week's time.

The framework of the proposal is that in one year, the training facility will have been developed. An experienced person will be hired to:

a) develop courses on three levels: recipient (simple end user), system administrator (for recipients and paying trainees), and trainer.
b) prepare all training materials for publication.
c) develop a framework for updating the materials and courses as the technology develops.
d) develop the physical facility for course delivery, including the network of teaching workstations.
e) deliver the first train-the-trainer course
f) supervise the delivery of the first end-user and system administration courses by the new trainers.

The project's aim is to enable CBV to become financially self-sufficient in a way that supports its core ethic of making technology available to disadvantaged people. As well as selling Linux training to organisations and paying trainees, there is the potential to sell course notes, manuals etc.

Tasks were apportioned as follows:

Kylie will write up the CBV achievements to be included in the proposal, and quantify the inputs of time and resources that members and benefactors have put in to date.

David will prepare the financial report.

Peter will write up the outline of the proposal.

Bill will write up the membership / committee of management roles and responsibilities

Patricia will work up the timeline and costings.

All Committee members will have to provide a short biographical piece for inclusion.

These tasks must be completed in time for the next meeting, at the VIC on Wednesday 26-1-00.

Meeting closed at 8:15.