[Noisebridge-discuss] Are we submitting to Bre's project?

[astera]

On 23.12.2008, at 10:21, David Molnar wrote:

> Al Billings wrote:
>> http://brepettis.com/blog/2008/12/19/hackerspaces-the-beginning-last-call-for-submissions/
>>
>>
>> We aren't on the list of those who have responded.
>
> Thanks for pointing this out. We have had several people contribute
> responses, but no single mail answering all of the questions, so maybe
> that doesn't yet count.
>
Hey there,

you are featured in the Hackerspaces: The Beginning book, with two  
pages. I might send you a pdf later tonight or tomorrow for review.
Anyway, until then I might copy/paste the text we included in the book:

NoiseBridge
San Francisco, CA, US
(should include contact e-mail!)

Be excellent to each other.

	It took us a long time to go through the community bootstrapping  
phase.  That worked out well for us, however.  Slowly and steadily the  
right people collected together, creating a group that would work and  
play well as a whole..  Over time, people came and went.  For every  
four people we‘d attract, excited about the idea of a hacker space in  
San Francisco, three would become disinterested within a few weeks.   
This was OK.  San Francisco is a busy city and we really felt it was  
important to be something beyond a gym.  We desired not only a space  
but a community to fill the space.

	The search for a space took months – „we“ simply weren‘t ready,  
meaning that the group wasn’t a cohesive whole yet, still unable to  
coalesce with a collective vision.  Focusing on legal infrastructure  
and other bureaucratic necessities, a lot of our meetings were boring  
and uninteresting, and as a result, some people started to actually do  
things. People talked about and improved their art projects during  
meetings. This was a real turning point because it signaled that we  
were together collaborating on *projects* rather than just discussing  
*ideas*.  This shift started attracting many more people.  It became  
apparent that when we found a space our community would rapidly expand.

	Over our many months of community-forming, we had formed a mutual  
respect and admiration for each other.  It created a nice power  
dynamic where everyone could and often did feel like it was *their*  
space.  But we still didn‘t have an actual permanent home.  However,  
we now had a group with a vision, so we knew what to look for.  We  
collectively wrote the space desires into our wiki, and we set our TAZ  
to the task.  When our current space was found, the group just knew it  
was right.  It fit our needs.  It was time to move, even with some  
worries over financial risk, wondering how we would pay the deposit  
and the ongoing expensive San Francisco rent.  As it happened, we  
managed to raise about USD $12,000 in one twenty four hour period.  We  
were in the black from the very first month.  Enough people believed  
that our flavor of chaos was realistic and workable, despite, and  
because of, our unique blend of crazy ideas.

	Since setting up our hacker space, new visitors continue to bring  
their own crazy ideas, finding a new friend or ten at the space to  
help realize their visions.  At first new visitors question their own  
ability in the space, asking permission to do everything.  When they  
really settle in, however, they all really become an embodiment of our  
catch phrase: „Be Excellent To Each Other.“  We ask questions about  
everything not because of authority but because of respect for each  
person in the group. It makes amazing things possible and this  
facilitates great things into happening.


You can reach Bre and me via book at hackerspaces.org, btw.

Cheers,
/astera
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