Minutes for 2025-11-11

Meeting Location

Meeting was Called to Order At: 19:34

https://i3detroit.org/hangout and at i3Detroit

If you'd like to be added to the attendance list, please message your name in the thread in #meetings on Slack

Hybrid Meeting Etiquette

Be excellent.
Attendance and voting can be found in the #meetings slack channel.
Please show up early if you are concerned about your audio.
If there is no one waiting to speak feel free to do so at the next opportunity.
If there is someone waiting to speak, please say that you are raising your hand in the google call chat. (This will be demonstrated)
Please refrain from other side conversations, these can be distracting for the rest of the meeting and make it difficult for the chair to keep track of what's going on.
If you're in the space remember that having a single person speaking at a time is helpful for those attending online.

Introductions

What does being excellent at i3 mean

An experienced member explains what being excellent at i3 means to them

Experienced Members

Frank Aloia
Katy C

New Members & Guests

Chris H
Dave F
Liam W
Sandy T

Show and Tell

Jeremy - neopixel LED strip. Runs off ESP32 (wi-fi). You can download the WLED app to change the color and patterns
Tom - flare thermal imaging camera which has been donated to i3 by SiriusXM. It's available for members to borrow. It has lots of features and applications. It can tell you about insulation infiltration points, insect and animal nests in your walls, electrical load distribution, etc. Authorization/training is required
Katy C - linocut printmaking patches: printed and then heat set with the heat press

Outstanding Action Items

AJ is making sad faces at everyone who attended and / or helped set up the Halloween Party.

I dropped by and started putting decorations away as much as I could before leaving on vacation for a week... I got back yesterday afternoon. Anyone want to guess about the state of the decorations and where everything was when I came in for today's member meeting?

New Business

Upcoming Events

Volunteers to host upcoming Friday tours?
Up coming Events Calendar

11 Nov 2025 Member Meeting N/A 12 Nov 2025 Wiki Wine 6:30 13 Nov 2025 Kicad workshop 14 Nov 2025 Leather Lunge 15 Nov 2025 Build out 17 Nov 2025 Intro in to free cad 18 Nov 2025 Board meeting 20 Nov 2025 Intro into theromography 22 Nov 2025 Buildout 22 Nov 2025 Cutting Board Class 22 Nov 2025 i3Detroit Ideation Night 25 Nov 2025 Member Meeting N/A 27 Nov 2025 Kicad PCB Workshop 29 Nov 2025 Buildout

What would people think of a 'Festivus' in December. Potluck, "airing of grievances"

Wednesday, Nov 12th (tomorrow!): Wiki Wine party @ 6:30pm!
Saturday, Nov 22nd: i3Detroit Ideation Night! (eventBrite Link)

B-Side Door by Auto Zone

Was left open the other day -- this is a security risk!
Needs to be used only for Emergency
Cannot be locked for fire safety reasons -- just don't use it!!
Check that this door is fully closed as part of shutdown at the end of the night

Andrew Youmans is i3's Member Advocate!

This was technically announced at a previous meeting, but it was while some things were still in limbo. These things are resolved now and it's official: Andrew Youmans is i3's Member Advocate!
If you have any problems or concerns, be it with another member or anything else, he's a great point of contact to reach out to
He plans on having a "Meet and Greet" / Coffee and Tea session to introduce himself as Member Advocate; date/time pending

Names for the printers

We're going to name the printers so we don't have to remember the difference between HP 3421 and HP 3332! (not actual printers at i3) Here's a list of the printers that need names:

HP Designjet t1100ps (the really wide one)
Epson Stylus Pro 9800 (the new really wide one that hasn't been set up yet)
Kyocera 4551ci (the full-size copy machine)
HP Laserjet 700 M712 (the b&w only printer on the bottom shelf)
HP Colorjet 4650 (is this the same as the CP1525nw)???
Epson Ecotank 8550 (smaller fancy photo printer)
Epson ET-2803 (sublimation printer)
Jeff P would like to have caretakers for each printer (checking supply levels, troubleshooting, maintenance, etc) - any volunteers?
Name ideas: Henrietta Puffington, Happy Puppy, Kyocera, Eclipse, Empresa, Larry Laserjet

I also propose to have a white board where we can have a table of information such as: printer name (nickname and real), what its good at, status, needs. Does anyone have a whiteboard that can be donated to this? Anything else that should go on that table?

Jeff will take on the two printers which he has a financial interest in - Epson Ecotank. The large format printer should have one person in charge and an assistant who learns how. Jeff suggests that only these people should be allowed to troubleshoot the printers.
Question from Nate - are i3 members not capable of operating the printers?
AJ - Currently, only one printer requires authorization (according to the wiki page).
Jeff P - concerned that people may replace cartridges before they are actually empty (not just 'low'). Also, don't run paper through twice. Sorry he didn't film all of this like he said he would
AJ - we can make this part of training

If anyone has a whiteboard to donate please let Katy know

Board Elected Positions

(AJ sent out an email to the i3detroit-announce today with these details too.)

As you know, a new Board term recently started, and as part of this, we elect officers. We've decided to try something new this year: opening interest for all Board-elected positions. I listed the roles out in the email I sent, and they're also listed out on the Zones and Officers_and_Board_of_Directors pages. If you have interest in any of them, please let me or another Board member know.

We believe this will help with some very important things:

Making sure all our Officers and Zone Coordinators are engaged and want their roles
Ensuring anyone who wants to get more involved with i3 has ample opportunity to
Gauging interest and investment in different Zones

The first step towards this has already been done -- all Officers and ZCs received an email from me ~2 weeks ago. Many expressed desire for a co-coordinator, some said they'd be willing to step down if someone else showed interest, and a few admitted they don't have the bandwidth to continue in the role right now. In the future, we'll check in with our Officers more frequently (especially Zone Coordinators) to make sure they're receiving the support they need.

Again, if you have any interest in any roles, please let me or another board member know! Even if we don't plan on changing the current Coordinator / Officer in the position, they may be interested in an assistant or co-coordinator, there may be another way for you to help out with the Zone, and it will show members are invested in those Zones / roles.

i3Detroit nominated for Ferndale's 2025 Business of the Year Award!

Michael Lary, the Director of Special Events for the City of Ferndale, reached out to let us know i3Detroit has been nominated for this year's Business of the Year Award! (Shout out to Roger S for making sure Mr. Lary got in contact with us)

The Board is invited to attend the Mayor's Business Council Awards Ceremony on Thursday, December 11, 2025, to accept the award. (Note from AJ: we're still working out details and learning about this! I'm not sure if it's an 'open attendance' event, but we'll update as soon as we know so members know if they can attend too! If anyone is more familiar and already knows, feel free to speak up)

They're also setting up an interview with us (Jan is the 'lead' for interviewing) and would like to take pictures -- that's where you all come in! Once we have a date, we'll need to make sure the space is (relatively) clean and that there are people here working on stuff to take pictures of! If you have a project you've been meaning to work on, this would be a great time to do it. They want to know what i3Detroit is about and what people do here; let's show off!!

We'll provide updates as we figure out dates / times for everything, so keep an eye on Slack and your email.

Zone updates

Automotive Zone

Sid - minor organizational upgrades have been made to the tool storage area
Looking for some volunteers to help with construction to make a notice-board (could be a potlock or seperate!)
Frank offered to help

Bicycle Shop

n/a

Ceramics Zone

n/a

Classroom

n/a

CNC Zone

n/a

Commons Area

Thomas - some of the chairs are pretty bad. I have 5-8 chairs in Novi that are reasonable shape that I would like to donate but I need a way to get them to i3
Matt said they can talk 1-on-1, he might be able to help