[Noisebridge-discuss] donations to noisebridge

[Andy Isaacson]

On Fri, May 28, 2010 at 03:45:13PM -0700, Ian Atha wrote:
> Lastly, unless Noisebridge has offered Michael Kan a receipt for the
> SEM, I don't think it's fair to claim it's donated.

As I recall, Michael specifically requested that the SEM be granted a
special status of not being a pure donation, but being housed at NB.  We
discussed the request at a tuesday member's meeting early this year
(February or something like that, or maybe even December 2009).  I
wasn't very excited about making exceptions to the rule, but decided to
go with it because

1. Michael has dedicated a lot of time and energy to NB and has
   demonstrated through his actions that he has the best interests of
   our community at heart.

2. a SEM is a pretty rare beast, offering unique capabilities that
   advance our educational and scientific mission.

3. we agreed at the meeting that this should not set a precedent, and
   that our preexisting consensus continues.

I'll try to express that consensus (as I understand it) below:
(and I'm sorry that I say the same thing three different ways.)

> I certainly hope
> that various gizmos I've left around at the Noisebridge are not
> considered "donations" implicitly, and I may opt to take them away
> from Noisebridge at any point of time.

If you're leaving stuff at NB that's not a donation, please stop.

Please don't leave things at Noisebridge unless either

   you consider them donations.
or
   you keep them on your member shelf.

If it's not on your shelf, you shouldn't be suprised if it gets
destroyed while being used to construct a giant robot.  That's what
we're here for, after all.

This means
1. if you don't keep it on your shelf, others will expect it to be a
donation to the space, and not to go away.
2. if you don't keep it on your shelf, others will expect equal access,
and you don't get to throw a hissy fit when someone else is using the
soldering iron to work on their trivial project while OMG MY MAKER FAIRE
PROJECT IS GOING TO BE LATE AND I DONATED THAT IRON GIVE IT TO ME RIGHT
NOW.
3. if it gets used or abused in a way that you find unacceptable, you
get to shrug and move on with your life.  You can help others learn how
to use things but you can't prevent them from doing things you don't
like.

Of course, common sense does apply.  Hopefully nobody will melt down
the drill press to make a robot that kills us all.  I hope I can leave
my laptop (screensaver-locked) on the table for a few minutes while I go
get a burrito, without expecting to come back and find robot footprints
all over it.  After all, we are all trying to be excellent to one
another.

But, if I leave my laptop at NB and it gets stolen, or I leave
a priceless artwork at NB (even on my shelf) and it gets rained on, or I
donate a soldering iron and the tip gets ruined a few days later, I have
only myself to blame.

-andy