[Noisebridge-discuss] jerks ringing the doorbell, and redshirts

Jake jake at spaz.org
Fri Jul 5 23:09:32 UTC 2013


Thanks mitch.

Noisebridge has started doing something called "redshirts" which means 
that on many nights, someone sits at a desk area near the upstairs entry, 
facing it, and answers the door when people ring the doorbell.  often 
wearing a red shirt.

As the night gets later, the person is more likely to talk to the person 
on the intercom and say something like "are you here to hack?" or "what 
are you here to do?"

On monday night, JC was redshirt, and doing this for every person ringing 
the doorbell (i was doing some of them).  One person responded "just 
fucking let me in already".

to which he responded something like, "what are you here to do?" and the 
person just kept verbally assaulting him for not letting her in already. 
I asked who she knew up here, and she wouldn't answer.  eventually Alex 
Peake came over and said that he had seen her around before and that he 
didn't like the conflict this was creating.  So he went downstairs and let 
her in - ON HIS WAY OUT.

When the person came up she ignored us and went to meet up with her 
friends - a group that does "fear projects" meaning they sit around at a 
table with art supplies on it pretending to do something interesting all 
night.  JC tried to talk to her but she wouldn't talk to him.  Whatever.

The next night, Dana was doing redshirt duty.  I doubt anyone would ever 
accuse Dana (who found noisebridge because of Occupy ironically) of being 
rude or judgemental.  When Dana answered the intercom to the SAME PERSON 
she got the same response - Quit fucking around and open the damn door 
already, this is bullshit.

When the person came up, Dana engaged her in conversation about 
noisebridge and the process of being let in, but the person was still 
being pretty obnoxious and rude to Dana.  The rebase meeting was happening 
(it must have been about 7:30) and I went over to this person (who was 
still arguing with Dana) and loudly told her that no one else has behaved 
this way when ringing the doorbell and that she was the problem.  People 
came over and everyone turned their heads toward the situation and 
hopefully she realized that this is not acceptable or excellent behavior 
at noisebridge.

I wish i or someone else had thought to ask her to leave until a meeting 
one of those nights.  Actually the second time was right before a meeting.

-jake

On Fri, 5 Jul 2013, Mitch Altman wrote:

> Thanks for the story on Evo.
>  
> We really do need to keep a bunch of people out of Noisebridge.  There are too many who are just using Noisebridge, without contributing, and have some bizarre sense of
> entitlement about Noisebridge being there for them to use, without contributing.  All of those people need to not come in.
>  
> Everyone is welcome to come and check us out to see if it is a place where they want to contribute to our community, and if it is, they are welcome to come as much as they like,
> as long as they contribute in some way that fits with what the members want.
>  
> If you think that going for consensus at a meeting on this and other things will help, then please go for it.
>  
> Best,
> Mitch.
> 
>  
> ------------------- 
> > Date: Fri, 5 Jul 2013 15:28:56 -0700
> > From: jake at spaz.org
> > To: maltman23 at hotmail.com
> > CC: leif at synthesize.us
> > Subject: RE: door code proposal
> >
> > Also i want to mention that I realize that we could just "do this" instead
> > of trying for consensus.
> >
> > But we tried that already, and some people reverted to the old sytem, and
> > rather than revert again, I felt that it was time for Noisebridge to meet
> > and consense about something important, relating to access.
> >
> > In case you didn't notice, noisebridge has been rolling downhill lately,
> > and there is a struggle between people who want it to roll further, people
> > who want to roll back to where we used to be, and people who deny there's
> > a problem.
> >
> > So i am basically trying to use the decisionmaking power of noisebridge
> > meetings to decide which way we want to go, one concrete step at a time.
> >
> > this isn't supposed to keep people out necessarily, it's supposed to make
> > it so that when people come into noisebridge, there is a specific event
> > taking place between someone who is part of noisebridge and the newcomer.
> > That has been missing for so long that entropy has driven noisebridge's
> > culture to where it is now.
> >
> > -jake
> >
> > On Fri, 5 Jul 2013, Mitch Altman wrote:
> >
> > > Hi Jake,
> > >  
> > > Sorry for the delayed response -- it's difficult to keep up with email while traveling.
> > >  
> > > I won't stand in the way if you want to try for a consensus.
> > >  
> > > But, if you think it will work, I'd also be fine if you just tried it, and see what happens. 
> > >  
> > > It will be a real pain to deal with all the people coming for popular workshops and classes and events, like Circuit Hacking Monday, Front End Web Development, and Five
> > > Minutes
> > > of Fame.  Do you have a suggestion for those times?
> > >  
> > > Best,
> > > Mitch.
> > > (in Brazil)
> > >
> > >  
> > > -------------------- 
> > > > Date: Wed, 3 Jul 2013 00:36:08 -0700
> > > > From: jake at spaz.org
> > > > To: maltman23 at hotmail.com
> > > > Subject: door code proposal
> > > >
> > > > hi mitch!
> > > >
> > > > we have a proposal for a consensus item, and i want to know if you think
> > > > it is a good idea.
> > > >
> > > > I proposed that noisebridge decide that there should be a code-pad at the
> > > > upstairs door, instead of the DOOR button, so that if someone inside
> > > > noisebridge wants to buzz open the downstairs door, they need a code to do
> > > > it.
> > > >
> > > > I proposed this because, at the moment, when someone downstairs presses
> > > > the doorbell, someone upstairs (usually a newcomer who knows very little
> > > > about noisebrige) goes and presses the DOOR button to let them in - and
> > > > then walks away. They don't ask any questions over the intercom (even if
> > > > it's after midnight) and whoever was at the street comes in, and nobody
> > > > introduces themselves or asks them what they're here to do.
> > > >
> > > > This sends the wrong message to the public about what noisebridge is here
> > > > for. Tonight, and last night, the same person came to the door (around
> > > > 11pm) and when the redshirt (person who sits at a desk 8pm-midnight
> > > > answering the doorbell and welcoming people to noisebridge) and rang the
> > > > doorbell. When that person was asked what they came to do at noisebridge,
> > > > they immediately became hostile (tonight and last night both) demanding
> > > > "just open the fucking door already".
> > > >
> > > > I feel that we should decide it is our policy to only allow people with a
> > > > door code to buzz the door open for others. This will improve the process
> > > > of letting people in, and encourage more caring introductions to the
> > > > space.
> > > >
> > > > Leif thought you would object to this, so i am writing to ask you how you
> > > > feel about it. If you don't object, i think the consensus item will pass
> > > > next week.
> > > >
> > > > I hope you're having fun in brazil (or wherever you are)!
> > > >
> > > > -jake
> > >
> > >
> 
>


More information about the Noisebridge-discuss mailing list