[Noisebridge-discuss] kitchen excelence; a word from a chef who specializes in using other people's kitchens

[Naomi Most]

Hi Stan,

Thanks for chiming in.  Part of the problem we're having here is that
we don't get much participation from "the kitchen crowd" on this
mailing list, and this mailing list is where we spend the most time
deliberating stuff.


>The people who care the most about a kitchen are usually
> the ones who spend the most time cleaning up after those
> who don't or can't clean.  So stop complaining about those
> of us who know and love kitchens.


We're not!  We're complaining that the kitchen -- as it is -- is an
unsafe environment.  And that needs to change, irrespective of who or
what is involved.

It has been Bad enough for long enough that most of the people who
don't use the kitchen have repeatedly proposed tearing it down.

So I posited the idea of setting up an ultimatum for the kitchen: get
it safe and clean, or it gets torn down.  (No date has been set yet.)

That sounds harsh, but in all honesty, I want the kitchen to exist,
because it could be a force for Awesome.  When the kitchen was being
installed, I wanted to see "Iron Hacker Chef" competitions and cooking
lessons.  Right now those things would be completely impossible.

This is a crisis-opportunity for the Kitchen crowd.  Right now there
is no incentive for anyone to talk to each other very much, and no
consequences for doing the wrong things in the kitchen.  If you use
this manufactured crisis correctly, you end up with a group of people
who can work with each other and make the kitchen an ASSET to
Noisebridge rather than a liability.

It sounds to me like you know your way around kitchen maintenance, and
by posting here, you're concerned about its continued existence.

Would you, then, consider helping form the Kitchen Working Group?
Your early participation would probably mean a lot towards setting
really good standards and practices.

Here's where I've started this document.  If you don't know your way
around wiki editing, contact me off-list and I will totally,
definitely help.

https://noisebridge.net/wiki/KitchenWorkingGroup

You might also like participating on the Noisebridge Slack group,
which is an in-browser and multi-platform chat application.  A lot of
informal discussion happens there, and who knows, maybe it's a good
place to start getting the Kitchen Working Group coordinated.

Send me an email off-list and I'll send you an invite to the Slack group.

Cheers,
Naomi

On Tue, Apr 15, 2014 at 9:27 PM, Stan Osborne <stan at ana.com> wrote:
> Most people use all kitchens the same way.  This means their understanding
> of kitchen excellence is cultural.  They already think they know all there
> is to know.  In a professional kitchen someone is paid to clean up after
> the chefs are done.  In a collective kitchen, all who benefit from the
> kitchen are responsible for all aspects of its operation.
>
> The problems at NoiseBridge with the kitchen are universal to communal
> kitchens of any size shape or form.  Some people don't clean up after
> themselves.  Not cleaning up after making a mess is not excellent.  People
> who are not excellent should, at a minimum, be reprimanded and instructed
> to mend their ways. Since NoiseBridge is all about education, the only way
> to improve the kitchen is to educate or ban the hackers who want to remain
> slobs all the time.  They can always be slobs elsewhere.
>
> The people who care the most about a kitchen are usually the ones who
> spend the most time cleaning up after those who don't or can't clean.  So
> stop complaining about those of us who know and love kitchens.
>
> If you want to see how I participate in returning a borrowed communal
> kitchen, come to a Volx Kuche dinner and stick around long enough to
> help/watch us lock up.  http://www.vokusf.org/.
>
> Please read the noisebridge wiki 'kitchen' entry.
>  https://www.noisebridge.net/kitchen
>
> Be excellent, always,
> Stan
>
> _______________________________________________
> Noisebridge-discuss mailing list
> Noisebridge-discuss at lists.noisebridge.net
> https://www.noisebridge.net/mailman/listinfo/noisebridge-discuss



-- 
Naomi Theora Most
naomi at nthmost.com
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skype: nthmost

http://twitter.com/nthmost