Annual Membership Meeting On ZOOM: Saturday, October 3

We’ve scheduled our annual meeting for Saturday 10/3, starting at 1:00pm .

To keep everyone safe we will be holding the meeting and election remotely. You be able to attend the annual meeting via Zoom, look for more meeting information to come.

We’ll go over the previous year’s financial s and major happenings, and talk about future plans. We’ll also be voting for two Governing Board seats that are up for reelection this year. There will be more information coming out as we get closer to the meeting date.

Which brings up a couple of sub-points:

Nominations for board positions are open

Have a member you think would be an excellent leader for out organization and want to nominate for the Twin Cities Maker 2020 Election? Please do email [email protected].

Eligibility Requirements: Any member in good standing and 18 years of age or older may be nominated to the Board.

The board terms are for 3 years and will expire in 2023.
Please review the Board Position and Expectations and Code of Conduct before making a nomination.
https://wiki.tcmaker.org/about_us/org_chart/duties/board
go.tcmaker.org/conduct

Want to know what a board meeting is like? All of our meetings are open to members! The next board meeting is Tuesday 9/8, starting at 6pm here: go.tcmaker.org/boardmeeting .

The meeting agenda is also open

Got something you’d like to discuss at the Annual Meeting? Let the Board [email protected] know that too! We need to get the agenda at least mostly set by Friday 9/25, so please submit your items before then. There will still be the chance to bring things up at the meeting, but 9/25 is the last day we can get it onto the agenda that will be sent to all members. (Why do we send it out to all members? We want members to be involved and state law says we have to!)

Want to get Involved another way? We have open shop positions that need Leaders to fill them.

These positions are an excellent way to make a positive impact on the Twin City Maker community, the lives of others in it, and those who are touched by it’s impact.

Shop General Manager

Facilities Manager

Logistics Coordinator

Robotics Team Coordinator

Marketing Team Volunteers

Position details and responsibilities can be found on our wiki here: https://wiki.tcmaker.org/about_us/org_chart/start

TCMaker is open for business! [Updated]

May 16, 2020

I hope you are all doing well. The shop closure has been tough, but we’re back!

Please read this message carefully, as it contains information that you will need to know to get into the shop. Remember, as much as we all want to get in and work on projects, it is important that we do so in a way that keeps everyone safe.

ILLNESS: If you are feeling unwell, or have a confirmed or suspected case of COVID-19, please STAY HOME. If you have already been in the shop and suspect that you have COVID-19, have tested positive, or have been around someone who is confirmed or suspected to have COVID-19:

Please email [email protected] to inform us.
This information will only be used to the extent necessary to inform others that they may have potentially been exposed and to make decisions about closing areas of the shop for a more thorough sanitization. This information will also be needed in the event that contact tracers need information from us.

Your identity will not be made public.

LIMIT ON SHOP CAPACITY: Our big focus on helping to prevent excessive spread of covid-19 will be social distancing in the shop. Unlike our normal operation (24/7 access whenever you want), we will be limiting the number of people in the facility at any given time.

We have worked with area managers to determine how many people can be in each area while still having enough room to allow people to work at least 6 feet apart. Signs have been posted around the shop to clearly show how many people that area has been limited to.

SHOP USAGE SIGN-UP: If your membership is current, you should have received an email from [email protected] inviting you to register for our new membership dashboard. If your membership expired, or if you’re a new member, you’ll get an invite sent to you.

Once logged into the dashboard, you will be allowed to register for one 3-hour timeslot for the area of the shop you wish to use.
The number of spots for each area is limited to allow for social distancing.
Each person is limited to one signup per day..
If you find that you will not be able to make it at your designated time, please cancel your reservation. This will allow someone else to utilize that spot.
Key fobs will be activated and deactivated according to the registrations.

WHEN IN THE SHOP:

Please follow the MDH and CDC’s recommendations https://www.health.state.mn.us/diseases/coronavirus/prevention.html and remain at least six feet away from other people if possible.
A face mask is required per the City of Minneapolis.
Please wash your hands frequently. We have also stationed hand sanitizer at convenient locations around the shop.
Please limit your work to the area that you have signed up for. Obviously people will need to do things like use the restroom, wash their hands, or grab a few items from storage; however, please avoid working in other areas.

SHOP CLEANLINESS: In addition to the normal expectation that everyone cleans up after themselves (materials and tools put away; sawdust/metal shavings swept/vacuumed), we are asking people to take some additional steps.

Sanitize the part of equipment that gets touched (handles, buttons) before and after use.
Follow signs for each department / piece of equipment for the appropriate type of cleaner. Some cleaners are harmful to certain materials. Please only use what the area manager has recommended.
Please only spray cleaner onto a paper-towel and then wipe down handles / buttons. DO NOT spray cleaner onto the equipment. This can damage motors and electrical components.

MEMBERSHIPS: For both new and returning members, our sign-up process is being revised to minimize the need for face-to-face contact.

Some contact may still be needed for key-fob hand-off.
Due to the possibility of many people wanting to renew memberships at the same time, there may be up to a week delay on processing membership renewals. We understand that people are excited to come work on projects again; however, membership processing still relies, to some extent, on volunteer time.

Finally, I want to thank all of the people who have continued their memberships despite the shop closure. You’ve helped to sustain the organization through this trying time and ensured that we’ll be able to bounce back. A big thank you also goes out to all of our board and staff for working hard behind the scene to prepare us to have a successful reopening.

Becca Steffen
President
Twin Cities Maker