[Noisebridge-discuss] Fundraising and membership at NB

[aestetix aestetix]

Disclaimer: we don't actually have a clue what we're doing. We made up the
membership process on the fly because we decided we needed something, and
we've been winging it all along.

Oops. Did I actually say that? Wait, how does that differ from any other
organization?

Is there some inherently correct method of induction that the Right People
have been using all along, discovered by the Druids, inherited by the Norman
kings, and passed along through the Knights Templars? That's right, the
secret underground Illuminati, originally founded by Adam Weishaupt,
eventually moving throughout Europe and culminating in the CCC, shared a
secret document with Mitch Altman and Jacob Appelbaum (and a few other brave
souls who earned it) outlining the exact steps to create a perfect society
of chaos through a Vatican tested Jesus approved membership induction
system.

Meanwhile, the rest of us just kind of throw poo at the monolith.

Getting back to reality (or chaos), the entire point of the four week period
is so we get to know who everyone is. It's also a good way to test whether
someone is going to stick around for at least a month, although as long as
they keep doing cool stuff, it's not a huge deal. Several people have been
fast-tracked before, and several will in the future. I've been at numerous
meetings where someone is up for decision and there isn't anyone there who
can say "yeah, I know them, they're cool." Think of the four week period as
a way for them to get sponsors and get to know everyone who's around the
space right now.

What does membership actually get you? Um. Uh. Yeah, that's a good one. What
does being a member mean, besides having a name on the books, and being able
to "block" this "consensus" thing? It's really just a way to satisfy our
nonprofit requirement of having a member list. In fact, everything here that
seems to be a rule is just kind of stuck in there to satisfy Uncle Sam. You
know, sticking a big Noisebridge sausage in his mouth so he'll shut up.

Don't get too wrapped up in legal proceedings and stuff, unless you're
really getting something good out of it and it doesn't negatively affect the
community. We write laws to keep ourselves from hurting each other. We
shouldn't be using them to attack each other.

I hope that makes sense. Now I need to go eat a golden apple and copulate
with a hot dog bun.

Hail Eris,
aestetix

On Sat, Jun 19, 2010 at 11:54 AM, Hephaestus <hephaestus at antipunk.net>wrote:

> Wait, really, Christie? "but there's no reason we can't have lots of
> exceptions, especially for people who obviously belong like you,
> Hephaestus."
>
> That's entirely the wrong attitude to have. Either everybody who
> expresses interest in nb should 'belong' at nb, or it's just an
> elitest private hacker club.
>
> Considering anybody who wants can currently come to 2169 mission any
> time they want for any reason they want, no matter how trollish they
> choose to be, no matter how helpful they choose to be, no matter how
> many dues they choose to pay (or not), our current membership
> procedure is obviously broken.
>
> Waiting 4 weeks doesn't keep trolls away. Waiting 4 weeks only keeps
> financial support farther away.
>
> It feels to me like an arbitrary rule designed to make the space feel
> more 'elite' than it really is. There's no real incentive to become a
> member at this point. All membership adds to your experience at
> noisebridge is vastly more drama (meetings, etc) and a high financial
> obligation.
>
> If we streamlined the membership process, and only imposed the drama
> and high financial obligation on people who wanted to /shape/ the
> space, rather than people who might want to incidentally /participate/
> in the space, we could greatly increase our membership.
>
> Most people who come to NB would be much happier paying $20/mo without
> the added responsibility of 'voting rights'. Four casual 'affiliate'
> members would be a LOT easier to get, especially if we streamlined the
> membership process to a form on a clipboard (or on the web) and a
> laminated ID card after a 5MoF, than one $80/mo member who actively
> wants to shape the space for the future.
>
> My suggestions:
>
> 1) Introduce and promote 'Affiliate Membership'
> 2) Allow 'Affiliate Members' with the only obligation being their
> first-month-dues instead of 4 weeks of review.
>
> --
> Hephaestus
>
> On Sat, Jun 19, 2010 at 3:31 AM, Sai Emrys <noisebridge at saizai.com> wrote:
> > On Sat, Jun 19, 2010 at 1:53 AM, Christie Dudley <longobord at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> >> I personally don't see
> >> any reason why an organization such as ours needs to mechanically follow
> >> such a rigid procedure.
> >
> > IIRC, the concern voiced against allowing this was that it would
> > quickly turn into a de facto situation where *not* fast-tracking
> > someone was implicitly a negative decision about them.
> >
> > Given that decisions seem to currently be made on the basis of "they
> > seem cool enough" I don't really see much point in having such a
> > strict membership policy in the first place... except for the inherent
> > problem that consensus does not scale or tolerate trolling / obstinacy
> > well. I suspect that if this were not an issue, having more open
> > membership would not be either.
> >
> > - Sai
> > _______________________________________________
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> > https://www.noisebridge.net/mailman/listinfo/noisebridge-discuss
> >
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