[TriLUG] Upcoming vote on TriLUG non-profit status

[matt at noway2.thruhere.net]

If I am interpreting the last few messages on this subject correctly, the
question has been raised as to whether or not Trilug is even registered as
a 501(c)?  Does this impact the discussion or our options at all?

Personally, I think that maintaining the organizations legal identity is
valuable.  I am also getting the distinct impression that not having this
identity may make certain financial dealings considerably more difficult.

In one of the posts yesterday, William Sutton had said in response to my
earlier comments, "Sounds like you volunteered yourself."  To that end, I
would like to offer any assistance I can and would like to suggest that
the SC can contact me on or off lift to this end.

I am also getting the impression that the current SC is feeling at least a
bit overwhelmed with the amount of work involved and I would like to offer
any assistance I can provide in this regard too.  As has been mentioned a
couple of times in this discussion, perhaps the time has come to increase
the size of the committee to better address the range of needs?

> I don't know what the current status of the Inflow/Sungard and TriLUG
> is, but I was working at Inflow when TriLUG started hosting there.  I
> wasn't involved in the deal, but talking to those that were, having
> 501(c)(3) status was mentioned by the Inflow management as a nice
> benefit to providing the hosting (that and the engagement with the tech
> community).  To Inflow, TriLUG was treated as a standard simple customer
> and was put into all the documentation like anyone else renting out
> space in the DataCenter.  Now this was way back in 2000, so no idea how
> it's recorded or maintained after all the mergers and years.
>
> For a more current comparison, I'm actually on the Board of Directors
> for Tux.org located up here in the DC area.  We actually just went
> through a discussion on if we should keep maintaining our status as a
> non-profit.  In the end it was agreed that, though a pain, the benefits
> are worth it, primarily for the donation of space and bandwidth we
> receive.  Anything we can do, like being tax deductible, that makes it
> easier for companies to provide donations to us is a good thing.
>
> Cheers,
> David