[Noisebridge-discuss] Keys

[Shannon Lee]

A) the wiki is a wiki - sometimes it changes so that it no longer reflects
reality, and sometimes reality changes so that the wiki no longer reflects
it.

B) Noisebridge hasn't been around a long time, and we're still working on
consensus on who we are and how things work.

There's been a lot of noise lately about how things are supposed to work and
what might go wrong if they don't work that way.  Noisebridge has been a
very successful experiment in open human-systems design, largely because we
have been willing to take a just-in-time approach to social engineering:  we
don't solve problems before we have them.  This means, for example, that we
take the opportunities presented by making sure everybody who wants to come
to Noisebridge can come there -- which means that it's been useful to as
many people as possible -- while waiting to solve the problems associated
with handing out keys willy-nilly until we have them.

So far, the problem associated with handing out keys like candy is that we
have too many people using the space.  This is one of those "good problems,"
in my opinion; it means we've done something very right, that this many
people want to be here.  It creates a new opportunity, the opportunity to
get bigger and better digs (an opportunity, I might add, that we're not
jumping on as hard as we could be).

The problems that we have worried about having have largely not
materialized.  We haven't experienced any theft, we haven't experienced
anyone hanging around the space assaulting people (well, aside from Mike),
we haven't had an influx of homeless people living in the space (we do, in
fact, have homeless Noisebridgers, and they've all done a magnificent job of
not dominating the use of the space).  This stuff hasn't happened because
everybody who has the use of the space feels "at home" here and wouldn't
want to hurt it.

What we've avoided by handing out keys has been bad feelings, and a sense of
in-and-out groups -- the idea that there's a group of Special People who can
come and go as they please, and a group of Less Special People who are
dependent on the Special People for access.  That's not a good dichotomy to
have, and we've thankfully avoided it.  Even if we'd had some of the
potential problems I mentioned above, it'd still be worth it to have avoided
this social split, combined with the administrative overhead of having to
keep track of who's allowed to have a key.

This sort of division leads directly to the kinds of problems we're trying
to avoid -- that is, stuff being stolen or hoarded, resources being hogged,
people being, and feeling, taken advantage of.

If we're feeling a little crowded, if we're feeling a little like, "Hey, who
are all these people treating my Noisebridge like it's *their*
Noisebridge?", maybe it's time to address one or two of the problems we
actually have; for example, we could use a new and larger space.  If
everybody who wrote into the list the last couple of days had instead spent
the time browsing Craigslist and calling rental ads, we might have solved
our problem, rather than borrowing five more.

--S


On Tue, Jun 2, 2009 at 12:49 PM, Ed Hunsinger <edrabbit at edrabbit.com> wrote:

> I feel like the mailing list lately has been a lot of people trying to
> figure out all the possible edge cases that could come up (there are a bunch
> of programmers with NB).  It's kind of out of hand and I feel sorry for
> those that are joining the list after hearing about NB at Maker Faire.  That
> being said, here's my contribution:
>
> Personally I feel a little uneasy with the key situation.  Not bothered
> enough to start up a lengthy discussion, until something bad actually
> happens.
>
> But it does confuse me when our wiki says:
> When is Noisebridge open?
>
> Our space (83c Wiese) is open 24/7 to good standing members. Non-members
> are allowed to visit the space while another member is willing to accompany
> them.
>
> If everyone has a key, then how are we to determine who is a member and who
> is not, and who it is alright to leave in the space when you leave?  A
> meeting several weeks ago seemed to have resolve this with "anyone in the
> space is cool", eliminating any need to check.  (This may not be the exact
> resolution, but the meeting notes aren't on the wiki for several meetings?)
>
> In addition to this, the wiki page describes a two other "privileges"
> afforded to members in addition to consensus process: shelf space and junk
> donation.
>
> -Ed
>
>
> On Mon, Jun 1, 2009 at 6:25 PM, d p chang <weasel at meer.net> wrote:
>
>> Ani Niow <v at oneletterwonder.com> writes:
>>
>> > Anyway, while I don't know of anyone with a key I would object to
>> > actually having a key, I hope that you can understand my perspective.
>>
>> i think i can see both sides to the discussion (thus far). however, it
>> does seem that most of the discussions on nb-discuss have been of the
>> 'theorhetical' nature.
>>
>> \p
>> ---
>> If you can't be kind, at least be vague. - Judith Manners
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>> Noisebridge-discuss at lists.noisebridge.net
>> https://www.noisebridge.net/mailman/listinfo/noisebridge-discuss
>>
>
>
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>


-- 
Shannon Lee
(503) 539-3700

"Any sufficiently analyzed magic is indistinguishable from science."
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