PRESENT:
Dennis Cavanaugh, Chair
Larry Porn, Vice Chair
Solomon Johnson, Secretary
Janet Craig, Board
Charles Wright, Board
Scott Gifford, Board
Chad Cramer, Website

ABSENT:
Beverly Duval, Board
Les LeMieux, Board
Kenny Thomas, Systems

Call to order at 5:19pm. Chair Dennis Cavanaugh presiding.

There was considerable discussion of connection problems experienced by some members. Dial-up connections are dropped and DSL connections are denied by the mail server, both occurring at inconsistent times. Scott Gifford will use the Telnet Worldwide back office utility to search for patterns of server behavior in attempt to diagnose the problem. Chad Cramer and Scott will try to send the 2007 annual meeting ballot to the membership for approval/disapproval of suggested bylaws changes and Board member candidates.

There were questions raised about the specifications System Administrator Kenny Thomas has obtained for a Blade Server. The Systems Committee would like to compare his information with what may be available on a refurbished Dell Blade Server through the GFN discount account with Dell. Kenny will be asked to supply the specifications he has obtained.

Scott Gifford and Larry Porn will work on diagnosing server problems. Scott will send Larry a number of checks to try out. Chad Cramer will conduct a number of tests also.

Chair Report.
Chair Dennis Cavanaugh presented some goals for the coming year. These included changing the FreeNet business name to GFN. Statewide extension of GFN dial-up service through a managed modem arrangement. Cooperation with other nonprofit organizations to promote clusters of growth throughout Michigan.

Web Site Report.
Webmaster Chad Cramer reported on recent work completed on the Web server. Work continues on the Content Management System (CMS) being developed to offer to members and nonprofit organizations who want to create and manage their own GFN hosted Web sites. Other actions taken included installing MOD Deflate to compress GFN Web applications and speed up Web access. Chad completed development of a site map with link to a Google account. Further plans include setting up Google Analytics for the GFN Web site. Chad mentioned that Webmail had a log problem which he corrected.

Adjournment: 6:15pm.

Next Board Meeting.
Thursday, January 24, 2008, 5:15pm, at the the Flint Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, 316 Water Street.

Respectfully Submitted,

Solomon T Johnson, Secretary