PRESENT:
Larry Porn, Chair
Scott Gifford, Vice Chair
Solomon Johnson, Secretary
Dennis Cavanaugh, Treasurer
Janet Craig, Board
Chris Hall, Board
Nicolette Hodge, Board
Chad Cramer, Website

ABSENT:
No absentees.

Before the Board meeting, at 4pm, members of the Board met with Cynthia Koch consultant for Strategic Planning. Scott Gifford gave an overview of how GFN got started, what has been going on since, where GFN wants to go now and the challenges of current technology. Nicky Hodge commented that GFN will need more than volunteer staff to implement Web hosting and a supervisor of any staff.

Consultant Cynthia Koch posed questions for us to consider. Why are we continuing to do what we do? What is GFN's mission statement? Should we consider our mission has been accomplished and cease operation or choose a new direction and continue to serve our Charter members? What was our promise to Charter members? What would happen to our current members if we choose to cease operation? These questions need to be resolved and written before we proceed.

Board consensus appeared to be that GFN services continue to be needed by the community and to proceed with investigating how to implement Web site hosting for nonprofit entities. A future meeting detailing what GFN will have to do to proceed likely will be held with the Strategic Planning consultant.

The regular meeting of the Board was called to order at 4:59pm with Board Chair Larry Porn presiding.

Additions to Agenda.
Chair Larry Porn briefly commented on records he had compiled from the database for years 2008, 2009 and 2010. For 2010, since January 1, there have been 143 account renewals, 6 new accounts created and 2 account upgrades. The total number of GFN members was not determined.

Financial Report.
Treasurers Report.
GFN Status.
Treasurer Dennis Cavanaugh reported that ELGA accounts had $7146 in MNA grant funds, $23,000 in Savings and $8000 in Checking.

Secretary Comments.
Chad has posted the Board minutes to the GFN Website for April, May and June.

Office Report.
Larry reported on modifications made to the telephone calling plan to reduce expense. The DSL speed was reduced and the AT&T telephone bill should be around $82.30 a month as a result. The DSL modem still drops out and/or resets but office staff has been trained how to restart office systems. Ten accounts were deleted this month and 8 are slated for shut off next month. We continue updating the Office Procedures.

Systems Report.
Scott may get with Larry to develop training on how to use the Drupal Web creation and maintenance program. Chad will set up a four or five page generic Drupal Web page. It will take about a month to complete given his workload. The GFN server is working relatively fine. Some Mail files filled and were emptied. RADIUS died for some reason but appeared to correct itself. The Untangle server updates itself. Chad has sent Larry some information on members using 123.net dial-in that may be switched over to Telnet Worldwide dial-in use. Next month Larry will prepare a list of 123.net users to notify by email.

Other Old Business.
MNA (Michigan Nonprofit Association) Program Status.
Terrance Campbell has been conducting computer classes for inexperienced users on Monday nights. Scott has not had time to work with Terrence but Larry stopped by one class. Larry and Denny may try to work with Terrance on the endeavor.

Scott commented on what the MNA grant can and cannot be used for. On August 4 at 5pm the GFN Marketing Committee will meet with a MNA supplied marketing consultant.

QuickBooks has been setup in nonprofit mode on the Vista office computer. Denny and Larry will have to workout how to import ELGA account data into the program.

New Business.
Progress has to be made in two areas: Web accounts and recruitment of new dial-up customers. There was some discussion of developing a Web site hosting implementation plan, including seminars for Web page development. An August 11 meeting was tentatively set for 6pm to develop a plan for rolling out Web site hosting on the GFN server.

Comments.
None.

Adjournment: 7pm.

Next Meeting.
The next regular Board meeting is scheduled for Thursday, August 26, 2010, 5:00pm, at Bristolwood Community of Christ Church, 1158 West Bristol Road, Flint MI, 48507-5518.

Respectfully Submitted,

Solomon T Johnson, Secretary