Mediatech Foundation

Mediatech Foundation
September 22, 2008

MINUTES

The meeting was called to order at 5:30 PM by Warren Buckleitner.

In attendance: Lou Hosta, Warren Buckleitner, Mike Sozansky, Shawn Armington, Mike Holk. Visitors: Bob Flisser and Carol Wachter

Not present: Will, Ellen, Chris, Michelle and Sandy

KEY DATES: The next board meeting will be December 9, at 5:30 PM
There will be a fund raising pizza party on Saturday, Nov. 15 at 10:00 AM

TREASURER’S REPORT
We currently have $4,181.07 in the checking account; all bills have been paid.
Mike estimates that without costs for staff, that we could stay open for six to eight months.

OLD  BUSINESS
1. Grant: Warren shared the feedback on the 21st Century Community Learning Centers grant. To be considered, we needed a score of 65/100 points. Our score was just 43.3. So it is clear that we have some work to do before applying for such a grant again.

NEW BUSINESS
2. Flemington Wiki: Bob Flisser provided an update on both the Flemington Wiki and the free Wi-Fi initiative. Warren urged the board members to have a look at the wiki:
http://www.historicflemington.com/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page
and make sure that it has been de-spammed. Bob noted that he was able to fix the problems that were permitting spammers from ruining the site. Warren suggested that we consider holding a “fill the wiki” party, where people could sit together and design the key pages. In terms of the Flemington Wi-Fi, Bob presented a proposal entitled the “Do-It-Yourself, Public Wi-Fi Pilot Program for Flemington Business Districts.” The board had some questions about the selling of ads required to fund such a service, followed by discussion about how the service would work. It was decided to take a closer look at the proposal. (If you’d like to see a copy, please contact Warren).

3. New circulation system. Carol Wachter and Shawn proudly showed off the new circulation system. Currently, about 80 of the games have been cataloged and are currently in circulation in the FFPL library system. In addition, we can now circulate a video camera.

4. New game storage sytem. Carol’s husband Bill has been hard at work building game storage systems for the PS3 and Wii. The board was highly complimentary of this work. In addition, things are looking cleaner and more orderly.

5. New stairstep. It was with a sad note that we placed a stairstep placque in honor of Gred Destefano, Jr. The engraving reads: “In memory of our former wrestler, Greg Destefano, Jr., by the Flemington Elks Wrestling Association”

6. Warren accepted the resignation of Doug Orr, who will be replaced by Michell Ritger, mritger@frsd.k12.nj.us, who will represent the FRSD.

7. Warren would like to schedule a Saturday to do some fundraising. It was suggested that midThe meeting was adjurned at 6:30 PM. The next meeting will be

Director’s Report: 9/22/2008

After a very busy summer, we’ve made some transitions to be able to survive the Fall.

Unfortunately I was not able to get a grant from the State of New Jersey Community Technology Center grant, but I did learn that (a) I need more time to prepare and (b) we need to do some things to improve our chances. As part of the grant process, I obtained feedback that I will share at the board meeting.

Hunterdon Hispanos ran several Spanish language computer classes over the summer at Mediatech.   Kelly Ospina, of Hunterdon Hispanos, has been looking into starting a local Spanish language GED program, using Mediatech and community room space, possibly in coordination with the YMCA.

Working with Shawn Armington, the FFPL Director, we have undertaken a significant reorganization of Mediatech this summer.  The library board approved a part-time library position to work with Mediatech last November.  For the first eight months of this year, we have worked with a staffing model which interpreted this position as essentially managerial – Mediatech retained its own staff, and the library staff  person helped to oversee and coordinate operations.  We are now moving towards more direct library supervision of Mediatech.  In large part for financial considerations, Mediatech has stopped employing a separate staff, at least for the time being.   For now, library staff member Carol Wachter and Shawn are sharing supervisory responsibilities over a somewhat abbreviated schedule. With this change, we have also begun to integrate the Mediatech software collection into the library catalogue, and to circulate these materials through the library circulation system. Also, Carol’s husband, Bill, has volunteered to build special game cabinets for Mediatech.

I am very grateful for the Library’s willingness to step up to the challenge of helping to keep the Mediatech vision open. While things have been moved around and our hours are open, it is still a vibrant place that is full of activity.

I am currently looking for volunteers to work on one Saturday in October to help with a fund raising drive.

I am also very interested in FAME, although my time has become limited with my teaching and writing.  It is essential that we come up with a plan to raise additional funds, in order to improve the technology and increase the hours for 2009.

Warren Buckleitner, Executive Director