[Noisebridge-discuss] policies and procedures (more things you don't want to hear)
Tymm Twillman
tymmothy at gmail.com
Mon Jan 3 09:55:36 UTC 2011
Patrick,
Might I suggest simply observing how Noisebridge works for a couple of months before trying to tell the group how they should be doing things? It's actually really interesting to observe how problems are handled... and they have been around for some time, successfully so, in what is quite an amazing social experiment. From my personal experience... the first week on this list I was convinced the group couldn't survive without a lot more structure in place; as time has passed I've found that I've got far more to learn from NB about how groups (and people) can operate effectively and compassionately than they have to learn from me about how to run an organization.
I think what is excellent will also become evident with observation.
On Jan 3, 2011, at 12:26 AM, Patrick Keys wrote:
> Since nobody is in charge, who gets to decide what's excellent and what
> isn't?
>
>
> Patrick
>
>
> On 1/3/2011 12:20 AM, girlgeek at wt.net wrote:
>> Christie wrote "While generally, it's a good idea to do or not do
>> certain things, and
>> often it may even be necessary to write those certain things down, we've
>> kinda stuck with the "be excellent" as a catch-all for hopefully not
>> having to tell people that being hurtful to the space or others who use
>> it is bad."
>>
>> Christie,
>> "be excellent" is a really much more excellent way to deal with things
>> than rules. For example, exactly how much sleeping on the couch is not
>> acceptable? "When it is not excellent behavior" is the answer.
>>
>> I think that you and I are agreeing, but I just wanted to write this.
>> Be well,
>> Claudia
>>
>>
>> --- longobord at gmail.com wrote:
>>
>> From: Christie Dudley <longobord at gmail.com>
>> To: Patrick Keys <citizenkeys at gmail.com>
>> Cc: "noisebridge-discuss at lists.noisebridge.net"
>> <noisebridge-discuss at lists.noisebridge.net>
>> Subject: Re: [Noisebridge-discuss] policies and procedures (more things
>> you don't want to hear)
>> Date: Sun, 2 Jan 2011 21:48:06 -0800
>>
>> So you really think that'll make a difference in a lawsuit? I really
>> wonder what the insurance people have to say about it. We do, after all,
>> have coverage for just that sort of thing. I'm surprised we had to rely
>> on you and not them for this sort of instructions.
>>
>> And Noisebridge is all about covering their ass for this sort of thing,
>> naturally.
>>
>> C
>> _______
>> "It is the time you have lost for your rose that makes your rose so
>> important."
>> Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
>>
>> "Too long a sacrifice can make a stone of the heart."
>> William Butler Yeats
>>
>>
>>
>> On Sun, Jan 2, 2011 at 9:30 PM, Patrick Keys <citizenkeys at gmail.com
>> <mailto:citizenkeys at gmail.com>> wrote:
>>
>> If nothing else, they need to be called "policies and procedures"
>> for legal reasons.
>>
>> The first time somebody gets a serious injury and decides to file a
>> lawsuit, the first question that will be asked is "did noisebridge
>> have any policy or procedure intended to prevent this?"
>>
>> Likewise, noisebridge legally needs a policy to prevent taking
>> noisebridge property because noisebridge is a non-profit. taking
>> noisebridge property is considered an illegal transfer of assets.
>> legally, assets at a non-profit can only be transferred to another
>> non-profit. taking something from a non-profit for personal use can
>> easily cause noisebridge to lose its tax-exempt status.
>>
>>
>> Patrick
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On 1/2/2011 8:43 PM, Christie Dudley wrote:
>>
>> I admit that the OP was tl;dr.
>>
>> The biggest problem with any "rule" at Noisebridge is that it's
>> ultimately unenforceable.
>>
>> Remember the time we tried to keep the dirty hippy out and he
>> climbed
>> the fire escape to get in?
>> Think of all the sleeping people!
>>
>> Until we have a 24x7 hall monitor that we trust with real power and
>> authority, it just makes people who try to make rules look dumb
>> to have
>> the rules flagrantly disregarded. There are sometimes trolls
>> amongst us
>> who will deliberately flagrantly disregard rules for the purpose of
>> making the rule-maker look stupid.
>>
>> While generally, it's a good idea to do or not do certain
>> things, and
>> often it may even be necessary to write those certain things
>> down, we've
>> kinda stuck with the "be excellent" as a catch-all for hopefully not
>> having to tell people that being hurtful to the space or others
>> who use
>> it is bad.
>>
>> Christie
>> _______
>> "It is the time you have lost for your rose that makes your rose so
>> important."
>> Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
>>
>> "Too long a sacrifice can make a stone of the heart."
>> William Butler Yeats
>>
>>
>>
>> On Sun, Jan 2, 2011 at 9:19 AM, jim <jim at systemateka.com
>> <mailto:jim at systemateka.com>
>> <mailto:jim at systemateka.com <mailto:jim at systemateka.com>>> wrote:
>>
>>
>> these seem like reasonable tho'ts.
>>
>>
>> On Sat, 2011-01-01 at 21:25 -0800, 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
>> <mailto:Noisebridge-discuss at lists.noisebridge.net>
>> <mailto:Noisebridge-discuss at lists.noisebridge.net
>> <mailto:Noisebridge-discuss at lists.noisebridge.net>>
>>
>>> https://www.noisebridge.net/mailman/listinfo/noisebridge-discuss
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Noisebridge-discuss mailing list
>> Noisebridge-discuss at lists.noisebridge.net
>> <mailto:Noisebridge-discuss at lists.noisebridge.net>
>> <mailto:Noisebridge-discuss at lists.noisebridge.net
>> <mailto:Noisebridge-discuss at lists.noisebridge.net>>
>>
>> https://www.noisebridge.net/mailman/listinfo/noisebridge-discuss
>>
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________ Noisebridge-discuss
>> mailing list Noisebridge-discuss at lists.noisebridge.net
>> </eonapps/ft/wm/page/compose?send_to=Noisebridge-discuss%40lists.noisebridge.net>
>> https://www.noisebridge.net/mailman/listinfo/noisebridge-discuss
> _______________________________________________
> Noisebridge-discuss mailing list
> Noisebridge-discuss at lists.noisebridge.net
> https://www.noisebridge.net/mailman/listinfo/noisebridge-discuss
More information about the Noisebridge-discuss
mailing list