[Noisebridge-discuss] how Noisebridge could improve

[Naomi Most]

I agree that Attitude /can/ be considered "the problem", but it's
important to keep context in mind when you make comparisons.

Context is EVERYTHING.  The context of the Dickens Fair (which I'm
very familiar with; if you ever notice that key I wear around my neck,
it was from the 2005 DCF) is:

* very short duration
* gated community (must buy tickets or be a performer)
* organizers and performers probably want to work well with each other
from year to year (incentive to harmonize).
* organizers would like to keep customers happy to ensure they come
back (monetary incentive to provide a safe space).

Contrast with Noisebridge:

* very long duration.
* open community (no cost of any kind to participate).
* very little social "gating" (we accept lots of weird people).
* very little to easily distinguish those with a long-term vested
interest in the space and those who are just there for a day.
* some ppl who hang out have nothing to lose by being bad actors.

Ergo:   Noisebridge, unlike the DCF, is the kind of place where people
with nothing to lose are able to hang out and commit acts that only
people with nothing to lose (socially) would commit.

(That doesn't mean that everybody there is like that, of course. Far from it.)

The above is part of the Threat Model of Noisebridge.

--Naomi



On Sat, Apr 12, 2014 at 11:56 AM, Norman Bradley <pryankster at gmail.com> wrote:
> Thank you for forwarding my message.
>
> I'm not much of a writer so sometimes what I am trying to say just doesn't
> come out properly. I wasn't suggesting added security. I was trying to get
> at a change in attitudes of the people that frequent NB. The attitude can be
> summed up as "It's not mine so I will leave it alone." I know that it is
> unlikely ever to happen at NB but over the years I have been involved with
> several large groups of people where that attitude is part of the culture.
>
> As an example I perform at The Dickens Christmas Fair. One year I forgot a
> book at the front gate. The person who found it isn't on the internet but
> she kept it all year. Tuned it in to Lost & Found the next fair. One of the
> folks at Lost & Found recognized it and sent me a message that it was there
> and I should pick it up. If it is possible at DCF where there are over 500
> performers it can happen at NB.
>
>
> You are entitled to your own opinion.
> You are NOT entitled to your own facts.
>
> Norman
>
> On 4/11/2014 5:54 AM, Naomi Most wrote:
>>
>> So, I want to offer this perhaps sobering bit of truth about
>> Noisebridge: it has /never/ been a safe place to leave your stuff.
>>
>> I have had things stolen from me at Noisebridge since NB epoch.  Yes,
>> that's unexcellent.  I'm not going to put a "but" on that fact.  It
>> just is.
>>
>> In the future, maybe Noisebridge CAN become the sort of place you
>> envision, but -- to be very honest -- because Noisebridge was not
>> designed with that kind of security in mind, and has never had that
>> kind of security (except basically by accident), it does not seem very
>> likely.
>>
>> You know what was a good solution?  The lockers that Al graciously
>> bought and installed for us.
>>
>> If anyone needs one, they can use #22, which is mine, for free.  Email
>> me off-list for the code.
>>
>> I think it's time to be up-front about what we do and don't expect
>> Noisebridge to be.
>>
>> As a mother, for example, I do not expect Noisebridge to ever be a
>> safe place for my 3-year-old child.  I just don't.  I can bring my
>> child there on occasion, but it's not a playroom for little kids.
>> *shrug*
>>
>> --Naomi
>>
>>
>> On Fri, Apr 11, 2014 at 5:48 AM, Naomi Most <pnaomi at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>> There was a message from Norman (aka pryankster) in the moderation
>>> queue (which I have now turned off).   The only thing I changed is the
>>> email subject.
>>>
>>>
>>> Original message:
>>> ---
>>> After reading openfly's ramble I thought I should finally post this.
>>>
>>> I don't get to Noisebridge much anymore and this is why. At the basic
>>> level I feel safer out on Mission than I feel at Noisebridge. There are
>>> a couple of reasons, 1. out on the street I can usually see danger
>>> approaching and avoid it and 2. at Noisebridge it just isn't safe.
>>>
>>> I started showing up at NB because it felt like a good place to interact
>>> with other folks that understand, Scientific, Mathematical, and
>>> Technical things. Where we could help each other out with knowledge
>>> sharing. With a few notable exceptions if I try to talk "Tech" folks I
>>> am now usually met with blank stares.
>>>
>>> I think that NB should be a place where if you leave your stuff to go to
>>> the restroom or down stairs for a snack it is there when you come back.
>>> If you forget something it is put in Lost & Found and remains there
>>> until you claim it. It should NOT be as it is where if I get up to give
>>> some new people a tour things are missing when I come back.
>>>
>>> You are entitled to your own opinion.
>>> You are NOT entitled to your own facts.
>>> Norman
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> Naomi Theora Most
>>> naomi at nthmost.com
>>> +1-415-728-7490
>>>
>>> skype: nthmost
>>>
>>> http://twitter.com/nthmost
>>
>>
>>
>
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-- 
Naomi Theora Most
naomi at nthmost.com
+1-415-728-7490

skype: nthmost

http://twitter.com/nthmost