---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Thu, 3 Aug 2023 15:28:32 -0700
From: Z Silver Zahn <natashazahn27(a)gmail.com>
To: consensus <consensus(a)lists.omnicommons.org>
Subject: [omni-consensus] Updates
Update CSC will formally move out of the current room and is pending their
decision on moving to the current omni office or sticking to their other space
by the end of the month.
Also ANV gave their 30 day notice and is moving out of Omni , (they recently
got city slicker …
[View More]farm as their new csa location whoo)!
However if CSC moves on then we will earn $200 a month less in rent + ANV
office space which is $675. Losing total of $875 monthly rent income.
Reminder that collectives pay monthly rent of :
Sudo room : $2,000
Counter Culture Labs : $2,000
Sudo Mesh : $200
Global Women Strike : $200
Food Not Bombs : $500
Village of Love : $1,800 (months behind on rent)
Myriad Outreach Program : $100
Safer DIY : $300
Monthly rent will be around , $6,100
Events have been averaging $5k for the year of 2023.
I don’t have the number for donations but it’s definitely not a lot and
averages $1k.
So our income is roughly 12k (Sarah please correct me if I’m way off, this
is just my newbie research) Huge thanks to Sarah for book keeping and
making sure events and tenants know where they are at with their invoices!
And so much more in the finance realm that i'm still trying to grapple!
I report monthly how much we make from events , (the cost of the event that
occured that month and not invoices previous or future events)
and can try to report monthly expenses on our contractors.
Example : Event Coordinator Budget Tracker
<https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/14-JhFQ8GUHyDI4IRe0inoVg6KUe0NMw-k-8…>
* Curious if any financial experts can support monthly reports of our expenses?
feel inclined to join a finance working group to help understand our accounts more!
*Collective financial transparency is liberating!*
Our expenses in July was around 17k+ which is our average utility/insurance
etc costs plus contractors costs that began from Hellman grant, for Billy
and myself at $30 an hour for events. Sarah was already contracted as our
book bookkeeper and Susan as our grant writer.
Meaning if we keep things exactly the same we will be losing $5k a month
which is how much we give our mortgage lender.
*Things are financially unwell and I think we need to focus on bringing in
a new collective vision aligned with who can pay monthly consistent rent.*
We were dependent on events to help raise revenue but we hardly get
requests. I think it’s a combination of decay neglected entrance hall that
easily turns people away. The building WG for the last few months has been
meeting weekly on Sunday tending to the common spaces and the next big
action item is a dump run day! This would be greatly done collectively ,
does Sunday afternoon anytime noon to 6pm work for folks?
+ We approved a budget for building cleanliness. I suggest paying part of
that budget to Phil who has been cleaning Omni for years as a volunteer.
Deep cleaning all the bathrooms taking out all the trash mopping commons
areas, etc.
Secondly our outreach and website needs to be ramped up. I have been doing
a lot of the work and think it’ll only be successful in a collective manner!
*We approved $2k for a website contractor and outlined the scope of the
work. I suggest we empower the website working group to hire the best
candidate!*
Also with rooms opening up to collectively decide what we want to rent out
and for how much. I’ve proposed moving the Omni Office to VOL smaller room
(that room was Joey's suggestion) to ease their monthly rent so we can rent
out the current office to so man interested collectives! Or even moving the
Omni office to the current mail room?
The Den and ANV office is available for future tenants as well~
Lastly I would suggest renting out the ticket booth room for a collective.
It hasn’t been functional since I volunteered back in 2018. Now it has some
scaffolding but it hasn’t been used for years as well.
Also as Sarah mentioned a committee to actively invite possible new
tenants.
I'm losing a little hope as delegates meetings have been feeling like
containers of blockages. Especially since most delegate representatives
don’t participate in any working groups that need support rather than
blocks. I encourage delegates to participate at least in one working group~
That being said I’ve posted marketing and outreach coordinator (approved
from Hellman grant) for more capacity building and for my slow transition
out of Omni Commons.
Sorry for the long rant , these are just concerning thoughts. I believe we
can pull through this financial deficit with some collective creativity!!
Last year our private loan investor extended our balloon payment by a year
due to the incredible fundraising efforts with people power.
This year we’re losing collectives, money, general activation &
participation. Thats not encouraging our lender to continue their
investment by the end of this year of our due date of 890k .We are not a
viable candidate for refi with loss of revenue .
Maybe we should start talking about plan B if refinance isn't feasible?
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FYI this is an omni commons proposal
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Thu, 3 Aug 2023 14:54:10 -0700
From: Z Silver Zahn <natashazahn27(a)gmail.com>
To: consensus <consensus(a)lists.omnicommons.org>
Subject: [omni-consensus] Marketing & Volunteer Outreach Coordinator!
Hello all,
Two days ago I put out a hiring flyer for marketing & volunteer outreach
coordinator. We approved 4k for 4 months, about 33 hours a month at $30 an
hour. While I do a large chunk of …
[View More]the work, I only clocked in 12.5 hours
for the month of July. Meaning we have a budget to expand our marketing &
outreach team that we deeply need!
So far we've gotten 25 applicants and want to propose a working group
minimum of 3 folks choosing the top 3-5 for an interview and possibly a
test design project for Omni to see their skills. The hiring committee will
also create guidelines that promote a healthy work culture. See the example
we made for our grant writer Susan Silber MOU PDF below:
http://omnicommons.org/pipermail/consensus/attachments/20230803/496b19b2/at…
Now that the Hellman grant budget has been approved we should move forward
using it to capacity build at Omni Commons!
Hellman Grant Allocated $4,000 to Marketing & Outreach Coordinator
$30 an hour for 4 months
Creates weekly posts through slack, mailing lists, social media (FB &
Instagram) *need more activity on twitter, for volunteers to participate in
the many projects happening at Omni.
Building a working group meets weekly on Sundays and has been a great way
for new folks wanting to plug in to join.
Responding to all volunteer inquiries on the sign up form linked to
instagram *needs to be integrated to website
Coordinate monthly tours for large groups to better understand Omni and
learn how they would like to get involved in the many different working
groups and collectives going on.
Being in active communication & relationship with the different collective
members to support their work with interested volunteers. Also upkeep news
from other collectives helps content creation for our social media platform
and newsletter that get published monthly.
-
Responsible for responding to all social media interactions and
directing them with answers.
-
Make sure to receive or take documentations of events at Omni to share
on social media.
-
Improve websites for better user experience so folks can plug in more
easily.
-
Works closely with fundraising working groups, plans for large
fundraisers and DAF.
-
Create at least 1- 2 social media posts to share publicly our activities.
-
Reach out to neighbors and build a relationship with them, plan
neighborhood assembly.
*Proposal :*
Omni Commons should have a front desk individual scheduled every Sunday &
Monday 3pm to 6pm.
This will encourage more openness of the building. Also, the clinic is
already open for Tuesdays and Wed - Sat 3pm to 6pm. The free store is open
near the entrance.
This role should be appointed by the M & O coordinator so they can give
tours for those who want to book an event or check out omni, rather
volunteers try to coordinate a mutual time. I think it is critical we have
more Omni folks in the building helping answer questions. Or greet
potential donors we often miss because doors are closed. This will also
support in gathering stories for grants.
This can also be an opportunity for us to sell merch and other items,
classes, workshops etc.
The goal is to hire the most compatible applicant within a month!
The budget will be tracked and shared monthly along with work metrics to
delegates!
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FYI sudoroom, as a member collective of Omni Commons, will be asked to vote
(through our delegate) on whether this group should be able to join as a
member collective and/or rent space in the Omni (which we desparately need, as
ANV is leaving Omni and we need to present a strong monthly income if we want
to keep the building)
-jake
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Thu, 3 Aug 2023 09:47:06 -0700
From: Daniel Tutt <daniel.g.tutt(a)gmail.com>
To: Sarah Lockhart <sarah.ee.el(…
[View More]a)gmail.com>, consensus(a)lists.omnicommons.org,
discuss(a)omnicommons.org, sdlefebvre(a)gmail.com
Subject: [omni-consensus] Application to Become a Member Collective: Oakland
Printshop
Hi all,
Been at the last couple delegate meetings talking mostly about TANC, but
here's the official application for the Oakland Printshop to become a
member collective at the Omni! This move has already been preliminarily
approved by the shop. We could move in as early as late September, though
perhaps October is more realistic. Sam L should also be at the meeting
tonight to discuss or answer questions.
Also, the shop is aiming to become a 509a2 organization, which is under the
501c3 umbrella. This may take a couple months, and in the meantime we are
ok with sponsorship.
Thank you,
Dani
*1. What do you do that makes a difference in the world?*
The Oakland Printshop provides at cost printing to members, generally
oriented at leftist political printing. Currently, the shop is used to
print zines for prisoners, to print for TANC, to print for union drives and
the Emergency Workplace Organizing committee, and for individual printing
projects.
*2. **Briefly recap your history as an organization.*
The shop has been around for a long time, since before 2016 when I became
aware of it. We now have about 15 dues paying members.
*3. How do you make decisions? How many people are involved?*
The shop makes decisions by consensus unless decisions are time sensitive,
in which case we do vote by large majority (~75 percent). We meet as needed
but about every month.
*4. Please include links to any organizing documents you may have: bylaws,
mission statement, etc.*
The shop is an analog, word of mouth organization. We are currently working
on bylaws to get our official nonprofit status.
*5. State your goals for becoming an Omni member collective. How would your
presence in the Omni contribute to its purpose and Statement of Solidarity?*
The shop provides at cost printing to members and political projects, so
having it in the Omni would be a potential benefit to all the collectives.
Specifically, our Risograph printer is relatively unique and hard to find
elsewhere. The shop also currently supports prison abolition, tenant union
organization, and worker union organization.
*6. What dedicated space do you need? What will you do in it? (For example:
office, work space, etc)*
The shop requires space for printers, paper, other machines and material,
etc. In short, the shop is looking for a home. The space should be open to
shop members and should be lockable, since there are valuable pieces of
equipment and other materials stored inside.
*7. What shared space do you need? What will you do with it?*
The shop does not need shared space.
*8. Will you need to modify the building? (Include floor plans if that
makes your proposal clearer.)*
We are not aware of any modification to the building, but would be willing
to contribute labor and funds to make any happen if needed.
*9. How much are you able to pay?*
The shop currently pays $450 in rent, and may be open to more for a space
that's larger than our current one.
[View Less]
dear sudoroom,
I didn't attend the delegates meeting last night so sudoroom didn't get
represented. Someone else should step up to be sudoroom's delegate so we
don't get marked as "inactive".
-jake
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Fri, 21 Jul 2023 09:31:41 -0700
From: Sarah Lockhart <sarah.ee.el(a)gmail.com>
To: consensus <consensus(a)lists.omnicommons.org>,
fundraising <fundraising(a)lists.omnicommons.org>
Subject: [omni-consensus] Hellman Capacity Grant …
[View More]Funds - Budget Completed
Hi everyone,
Thank you everyone for your participation and support in this process of
allocating the $50k Hellman capacity building grant. My goal with pushing
these decisions to be made -- is so that we could see the effects of the
spending sooner rather than latter, which ideally would be increased
revenue (to qualify for the refi) as well as general improvements to Omni
functionality and morale (e.g. paying volunteers who were on the verge of
burn out).
[Below is] a pdf is the entire consensed upon budget:
http://omnicommons.org/pipermail/consensus/attachments/20230721/ea7b6f82/at…
If for various reasons, some of these funds don't end up being spent on
their allocated purposes, we could revisit the budget at a later date.
Perhaps the first meeting in September would be a good opportunity to check
in about the status of these things.
In Solidarity,
Sarah L
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Hey everyone,
Heads up that a donation of really old computers came today. We have good
contact with owner and he is coming by tomorrow. I am leaving it out on the
main table for the hw hacking crowd to check out, but I will be in tomorrow
to move as required for hacking workspace needs. But should be fun to talk
with the donor about all this gear tomorrow night. His name is Tom and he
said hed come by at 7 and is happy to take back whatever we dont want.
So we should figure out what we want …
[View More]now. Or later and deal with it some
time soon along with all are other ewaste (another discussion...). The big
one todays crowd was excited about was the Osborne 1. But the other stuff
seems sellable but depends on if we can get it turning on.
Paige
[View Less]
Hello everyone!
We are trying to update Omni Commons website, landing pages for community
space search engine and general audiences gaze of Omni Commons.
Please send over or upload images, videos and or even graphics you have of
Omni Commons from o er the years!
Let’s show them a beautiful story of our collective building in visual
format ❤️
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1-84ZsmC7alzSFPU1i9w9LUqzrABCtSUz
Hi everyone!
This *Wednesday, August 2nd @ 8 - 9 PM* is our usual big monthly meeting,
in person and at meet.waag.org/turtlesturtlesturtles!
*Why should you come?? I'm glad you asked!* As always, there's a carrot and
a stick:
The 🥕: Show up to have fun and see awesome shit like the new old terminal
computers and the analog synth, and set up a day to decorate computers and
maybe shirts?!? We're also discussing road safety proposals in our
community, and sharing show-n-tell as always!
The 🏒 …
[View More]: Another month has passed, and again we find ourselves at a
recurring crossroads: more people are showing up, more people are joining,
but less time remains for us to meet our goals to help ensure Omni has a
future in 2024. Involvement is how we survive.
*See you tomorrow night!*
*Andrew R Gross, (he/him)*
412.657.5332 - shrad.org <http://www.shrad.org>
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