[Noisebridge-discuss] policies and procedures (more things you don't want to hear)

[L E]

Just for informational purposes, Wikipedia has:
- The Five Pillars
- Policies
- Guidelines 
- Essays
- Consensus on particular items, as arrived at in article talk pages or personal 
talk pages

These aren't intended to count as "rules," since they're in the main arrived at 
by discussion and consensus, in the spirit of a community-based construction of 
a thing: an encyclopedia.  In some areas where there's an interface with the 
law, such as copyright and libel, the policies and guidelines are more serious, 
and more seriously applied.  


The Five Pillars were arrived at early in the creation of Wikipedia .  
Everything to follow descends from them, and  external legal requirements.  Over 
time, the sheer volume of all of the above has become overwhelming and 
oppressive. This has been discussed elsewhere.  In contrast, Wikibooks has very 
few policies, and a lot of hazy notions, such as "Don't be Wikipedia."  Just 
kidding - they have sound reasons for some differences in approach, but still 
foster the same community vibe.


So, if any of this applies to Noisebridge, I think it starts from "Be Excellent" 
and other pillars, and encompasses the legal interfaces (lease, laws), and 
expands only to a very small number (5?) of behavioral guidelines and dispute 
resolution processes.  But that's a slippery slope, I know.

Since Wikipedia is a large amorphous, relatively constantly-present group 
dedicated to achieving one thing, and Noisebridge is a small, amorphous, 
inconstantly-present semi-anarchic group dedicated to many, many things, I would 
imagine the fewer the "rules" the better.

- Lex



----- Original Message ----
> From: Liz Henry <liz at bookmaniac.org>
> To: noisebridge-discuss at lists.noisebridge.net
> Sent: Sat, January 1, 2011 11:39:12 PM
> Subject: Re: [Noisebridge-discuss] policies and procedures (more things you 
>don't want to hear)
> 
> Hey Patrick,
> 
> I think reframing some of that as "customary practices"  instead of
> "policies" may be useful, and won't put people's backs up quite so  much.
> 
> Why not list some of your observations on some current  Noisebridge
> customs on the wiki?
> 
> I will then change anything that  strikes me as filthy orc-speak into
> kinder, gentler, anarcho-feminist  language.  Or, whatever.
> 
> Cheers!
> 
> -  Liz
> 
> On 1/1/11 9:25 PM, Patrick Keys wrote:
> > Since nobody  wants to hear it from me, I'll try to keep this short:
> > 
> > Going  into this new year, Noisebridge should (needs!) do things like the 
> > rest  of the world and formally acknowledge some policies and procedures. 
> >   You can read more about these types of things at:
> > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Policies_and_procedures
> > 
> > There  are both legal and practical requirements for policies and 
> >  procedures.  While it sounds cool to claim there's no policies, I'm 
> > certain Noisebridge has at least some general policies. "Be excellent  to 
> > each other", wear shoes while in the space, don't use bittorrent on  the 
> > noisebridge network, clean up after yourself, don't sleep here  overnight 
> > are just a few policies that I know exist.
> > 
> >  As for procedures, Noisebridge has some of those as well.  Post 
> >  something to the rack list if you modify a server, put money into the 
> >  drink donations bin if you take a drink from the fridge, etc.  A few 
> > more that should seriously be considered are providing a real receipt  to 
> > the treasurer/bookkeeper if you spend noisebridge money, a procedure  to 
> > reserve certain resources for a specific date/time (a classroom, use  of 
> > a projector, etc.), and accepting packages delivered to noisebridge  and 
> > notifying the recipient.
> > 
> > All policies and  procedures should be kept in a location that guests and 
> > members alike  can easily locate.  I recommend:
> > https://www.noisebridge.net/wiki/Policies_and_procedures
> > 
> >  Policies and procedures prevent petty disputes and allow people that 
> >  don't know each other very well and don't particularly like each other 
> >  very much to at least sorta get along with each other.  Noisebridge has 
> > too many members and visitors at this point to not have any general 
> > policies and procedures.
> > 
> > Hopefully this posting will  not start a flame war.
> > 
> > 
> > Happy New Year!
> > 
> > 
> > Patrick
> >  _______________________________________________
> > Noisebridge-discuss  mailing list
> > Noisebridge-discuss at lists.noisebridge.net
> > https://www.noisebridge.net/mailman/listinfo/noisebridge-discuss
> > 
> 
> -- 
> Liz Henry
> lizhenry at gmail.com
> http://bookmaniac.org
> http://badgermama.com
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>