[Ec-ncuc] Video update

[Tapani Tarvainen]

On Sun, Feb 03, 2013 at 07:02:31AM +0000, Milton L Mueller (mueller at syr.edu) wrote:

> [Milton L Mueller] The project was duly authorized by the previous
> EC. Yes, that decision is fully documented, and I can forward the
> original October 8 2012 proposal from Brenden, which was approved.

Thank you for that.

But this does underline the need to set up some kind of
project management, not only for managing deadlines &c
but also for documenting current and past projects and
plans in a central place. (Will be working on that with
the e-team.)

> I understand that since most members of this EC group were not
> involved in the original decision to make the video it is less
> invested in or interested in the follow through

If you want new people to be interested, let alone enthusiastic,
the first thing is to *tell* them what is going on.
Having to fish for every bit of information gets tiresome.

> We spent $2,315 on the shooting.

Thank you! (Numbers make me happy.)

> Not a big deal.

True, that's not much for any kind of video production.
Nor would spending another $2k be all that much.
But it's still a significant sum for us - about what it'd
take to send another person to Beijing, for example.

> "5% of our accumulated funds" is not at all how I would characterize
> the expenditure.

Good. I hope you can characterize it better. I knew that wasn't
accurate - it was rather intended to underline how little I know.
All I've been told about our finances is that "there's about $40k in
the bank", and on that basis it is a bit difficult to determine how
much it is reasonable to spend.

> NCUC funds are not a fixed amount that every expenditure subtracts
> from until we are at zero. We get recurring annual contributions
> from PIR and special contributions from other sources. So the fund
> level goes down when we spend, but goes back up when we get
> contributions.

Of course. Having $40k in the bank doesn't tell much in itself -
we could be getting and spending all of that every month, or
it could be several years' savings for all I know. Which is why
I keep whining about past finances. I want to get an idea of
how big our yearly budget actually would be.

Could you give us any details on those contributions, how
big and how frequent they are, when can we expect the next one?

> There are no other outstanding demands on our budget at this time.

That is good to know.

But is there really nothing else even planned - any events that
will cost money, in Beijing for example?

-- 
Tapani Tarvainen