[Noisebridge-discuss] long-time visitors VS. new visitors (the growing rift)

Dr. Jesus j at hug.gs
Thu Dec 23 21:14:21 UTC 2010


On Thu, Dec 23, 2010 at 12:04 PM, Jason Dusek <jason.dusek at gmail.com> wrote:
>  The rift has remained the same size for as long as I've been
>  coming to NB.
>
>  You will start to feel at home just about the time you stop
>  posting so much and stop trying to help the community find
>  direction.
>
>  Step off your soapbox and become a member.

Social friction never results from showing up and working on
interesting projects that don't change the space.  From the first day
I spent at 2169 Mission waiting for Sonic to show up and install our
DSL line, it has always been possible to come to Noisebridge and work
on electronics projects.

During the meeting, when we were debating what our values should be
and what we thought should and should not be encouraged, two people
were behind the projector screen working on an amplifier.  I stopped
by, introduced myself, and asked them what they thought about all the
politics they were overhearing.  One of them said that as long as they
could keep working on the amplifier, they didn't pay too much
attention to it.

People were in the kitchen cooking food.  People were on the chairs
near the shelves working on software.  A girl from the bike kitchen
was mending clothes in the sewing area and said perhaps we might make
more money if we taught more classes.

We were surrounded on three sides by people doing things and using the
space for it's intended purpose.  I met some of them that night. I
also thought, how nice it must be for them that those of us who have
been around so long sequester ourselves every Tuesday night with
invisible walls of personal history and unwritten rules so as not to
bother everyone else who would rather learn and meet friends and do
things.

Changes to the space will be de facto, not de jure.  Non-members are
all around us, all the time, making small, helpful, incremental
changes to the space so it is easier to use for them.  Any rift here
has nothing to do with who has been around longer.  Some people just
don't want to be members because we have no good answer to the
question, "why should I ally myself with the rest of the membership
when you bicker so much?"

I'm going to start skipping the discussion section of the Tuesday
meeting from now on and clean up the EE equipment shelves instead.
It's past time the membership made more progress towards improving the
space instead of talking about it.  I have faith that many of my views
will be represented by other members who enjoy the discussion process.
 Meanwhile, I'll be asking people working on electronics projects what
they need, if they can help out with some cash to get it, and if they
have any to spare to help support the space.  That's how communities
are built, right?



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