9th January 2006 Matilda meeting

Minutes of Matilda Meeting - Monday 9th January 2006

1/ Proposal - Work week - Doing up the building. The Gig Collective and Cafe Collective had already set workdays over the next 10 days or so. Proposal to expand this to the whole building. People split into groups to discuss. 1 group focusing on front of building and gantry. Other focusing on general maintainance + heating. First workday Thursday 12th Jan running through until the middle of the following week. Details in an e-mail to announcements and discussion lists. It would be great if as many people as possible could come along and help out. Donations of curtains appreciated. The proposal was agreed. It was also agreed to allow the group doing up then entrance up to £50 and the group sorting toilets, windows, etc. up to £100.

2/ Proposal – Richard Hawley – Video filming for new single – 2 days next week. There was limited time to discuss this. The proposal stated that a donation would be made to Matilda (this was of an unspecified amount). Issues were raised about people profiting from using the space. Consensus could not be reached on allowing the proposal in the allotted discussion time. The proposal was not agreed.

3/ Saving Iceland Gathering – The gathering is taking place over the weekend of 21st-22nd Jan. People will be arriving at Matilda Friday 20th and staying over for the weekend.

4/ Proposal - Food Co-op – Proposal for a Food Co-Operative to start in the building. The Co-op would purchase food in bulk and sell it on to its members. The Co-op would probably need at least 10 members to begin with. The proposal was agreed.

5/ Proposal – For a new Structure for General Matilda meetings – A very detailed proposal was submitted by 2 members of the Café collective.

Reasons for Proposal:
 * To create a more positive meeting atmosphere
 * The weekly meeting model was intended to see Matilda through its early days – this has been achieved
 * Participation and agreement are easier on a smaller scale
 * To increase trust between collectives
 * To make Matilda more inclusive & with easier points of access
 * To encourage people to follow through with implementing ideas agreed at General Meetings.
 * To address falling attendance at meetings

Outline of Proposal:
 * General meetings to be organised around collectives instead of individuals.
 * General meetings of collectives to be held every 3rd Monday.
 * Collectives to meet as and when they see fit. Collective meetings to be openly advertised.
 * Everyone involved in Matilda to join (at least 1) collective. More collectives should be created covering everything we want to do at Matilda.
 * Thursday socials to be organised by collectives (This includes cooking + cleaning).
 * Collectives to be trusted to organise their own events.
 * Ideally issues should be discussed (and resolved) between collectives to avoid them being brought to General Meetings.
 * Greater feedback from collectives.

The proposal was agreed with the following additions:
 * Collectives to make themselves open and accessible, by providing good contact details and letting people know the times of their meetings.
 * Collectives organising Thursday socials to take on identifying and welcoming people who are new to the building.
 * The creation of new collectives to be agreed at a General Meeting.
 * People external to the Matilda process wishing to host events should seek the support of a collective.

Agreed implementation of proposal:
 * The meetings on Monday 16th and Monday 23rd January to be in 2 parts. Part 1 Collectives to meet for 45min.  15 min break.  Part 2 Collectives to come together for general meeting.


 * Meeting Monday 30th January to be organised around collectives. (With possibly 1 collective for people not yet in collectives – for the purposes of this meeting only)


 * Meeting Monday 20th February to be organised around collectives.

Apologies if anything has been missed out. This was both a detailed proposal and discussion. The proposal was agreed.

6/ Discussion of party organised as a Benefit for the creation of an Indymedia Lab at the forthcoming World Social Forum in Bamako, Mali. There will be films and 2 sound systems. The event will (strictly) finish at 2am. Some people present signed up to a rota to help run the event. More volunteers would be welcome. Contact fab@in-no.org to help out

7/ Finance. Some talk about money. R to take on finding out all info and compiling it. Will acquire a bookkeeping book and keep a record of ins and outs. It was agreed to spend £40 on 2 new First Aid Kits.

8/ Announcments:
 * Bread Baking workshops – Thursday 19th Jan and Thursday 26th Jan from midday. For more details speak to café collective.
 * Critical mass cycle ride – Saturday 28th Jan, 3.30pm Meet next to Hallam University Student Union, Brown Steet (formerly NCfPM).
 * Demonstration as part of the campaign to stop the deportation of Mohammad Arrian. Weds 11th Januaray, 4pm Town Hall steps. See www.indymedia.org.uk/en/regions/sheffield/2006/01/330760.html