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AMT is not a good example of comparison. While we aren't far off in
the number of dues paying members (around 32 right now), we've got a
much smaller overall community and we have never committed to
running the kind of open access space that Noisebridge was founded
upon.<br>
<br>
All of our *events* and *meetings* are open to the public at AMT
but, otherwise, you have to be let in by a member and are expected
to be supervised if you aren't a member. Basically, while people are
occasionally let in off the street, it is pretty rare and usually
they'll be given a tour if they are and then expected to go. If
people want to hang out and hack, we suggest that they come to our
Thursday night weekly meeting or one of the other weekly or
bi-weekly events that we list on the calendar. Otherwise, strangers
may show up and find no one answering the doorbell. AMT committed
itself to offering educational events and meeting space to the
public but always with the requirement that a dues paying member be
the point person in charge. <br>
<br>
If people do want to join AMT, they start paying dues (either
standard or starving hacker rates normally) and participate. After
roughly three months, they get voted on by the existing members as
to whether they can become full AMT members. We've never turned
anyone down but people normally self-select based on the space and
their interactions with folks. <br>
<br>
As was mentioned, we don't have a bathroom in the space (there is
one just outside for our end of the building) nor a kitchen. We
actually do have couches but have had a "no sleeping in the space"
rule since we opened 1 1/2 years ago. <br>
<br>
Barring an in person interpersonal conflict or two, we've also been
amazingly drama free since we opened. I generally put it down to our
smaller size and the lack of complete strangers. Many people that
come are friends of friends with the exception to people coming to
events or who hear about our weekly meeting on Meetup.com.<br>
<br>
Basically, we have the kinds of rules that many people at NB would
just hate and don't ever want to see happen at Noisebridge. We are a
fundamentally different style of organization with voting by
members, no open access to the public 24/7, and a number of set
rules. It works for us and I think it is the more common paradigm in
American hackerspaces based on what I've seen.<br>
<br>
Noisebridge has the strengths of community and place that come with
being completely open but, based on my reading of digests here,
there are quite a few people struggling with the occasional
downsides as well. I do not think that NB is likely to change the
kind of space it is by closing for the night, locking the public
out, etc. It is kind of the foundation of the group.<br>
<br>
Al @ AMT<br>
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<pre style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; word-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap; ">From: jim <a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:jim@systemateka.com"><jim@systemateka.com></a>
Date: Tue, 21 Feb 2012 10:39:16 -0800
Subject: Re: [Noisebridge-discuss] I want NoiseBridge to change.
Message: 61
There needs a definition of "hacking". The space has
sewing machines, lots of soldering irons and oscilloscopes,
various tools in the dirty workshop, and so on. Yet much
of the email discusses hacking with respect to the software
domain.
A week or so ago some J R hacker stopped by the space
with an aquatic sailing device that adjusts its shape to
optimize speed and (I think) expected to be able to do some
work on it. Some months ago a group of French stopped by
the space as part of their world tour to study such spaces.
Tastebridge came out of Czeck Frantisek's persistent
efforts.
Making a "structural change" needs clarification,
probably with respect to the definition of hacking.
And probably the use of the equipment in the space ought
to be considered in defining hacking.
Note that the AMTD discuss list so far has been devoid
of the drama component that occasionally explodes on the NB
discuss list. What about their structure might have a
filtering affect?
For one thing, it seems that no one is sleeping there:
as I recall, their space has no kitchen and no couches and
does have locked doors (not easily accessible by the curious).
Is that what we want?
Trying to fix things comes with volatility. Maybe we
don't understand our circumstance well enough. Seems to me
good to focus on doing things that __are__ hacking as we
each individually understand it and set a tone by example.
Be wary of changes that require maintenance.
Be patient. Care hard. NB seems a natural community
space, with the complexities that come with. </pre>
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