[Noisebridge-discuss] think bigger

Jeffrey Carl Faden jeffreyatw at gmail.com
Sat Apr 5 20:17:56 UTC 2014


I think in this case - no harm, no foul. The event was run by monochrom,
which if I'm not mistaken was instrumental in founding the space in the
first place.

It's hard to tell if anyone was repelled by Arse Elektronika holding an
event at Noisebridge, but it was definitely done with fair warning (an
event was posted, and the event has happened as recently as 2011 -
https://www.noisebridge.net/pipermail/noisebridge-announce/2011-September/000406.html),
and can, in a sense, be considered technical-creative.

If you, Hannah, or anyone else feels like that sort of event shouldn't take
place at Noisebridge because you feel offended by it, then by all means,
reach out to the event coordinators. But I still don't understand how an
event focus around sex positivity and electronics doesn't have a place at a
hackerspace.

Jeffrey


On Sat, Apr 5, 2014 at 1:11 PM, Tom Lowenthal <me at tomlowenthal.com> wrote:

> On Fri, Apr 4, 2014 at 7:33 PM, Praveen Sinha <dmhomee at gmail.com> wrote:
> > In that, I submit that our pains have not to do with mismanagment, but
> > that we need to grow into our next phase for an even larger and more
> dynamic
> > community:  I don't know what it's going to look like or what the outcome
> > will be, but as everyone is shuffling about in this latest re-org, I
> think
> > it's important to think bigger and more radical and more creative and
> more
> > inclusive.  As a hackerspace, we can go in directions no other space or
> > collective on the planet is capable of at the moment.  Keep it mind as we
> > fight our battles, whatever side of drama you wind up on.
>
> Hannah wrote:
> > Praveen, this is not as simple as an issue of "inclusion" and a happy
> little
> > collective.  The truth of the matter is that when you include some
> people,
> > you cause others to feel threatened & unsafe and thereby exclude them.
> > People who are high at Noisebridge tend to cross boundaries, and one of
> > those boundaries is often the bodily autonomy of women at the space.  San
> > Francisco is full of places where people can go to see folks screw in
> > public, Noisebridge does not need to be one of them.  If you want to
> display
> > your bondage technology, go to Wicked Grounds!  If you want to get high
> in
> > public, go to Dolores Park!  The place full of collectively owned
> powertools
> > is not the correct venue for those activities.
>
>
> I think Hannah pretty much nailed it.
>
>
> I think that Noisebridge is a hackerspace, and our stated goal is to
> be a place where diverse sorts of people feel safe and comfortable
> working on and talking about their technical-creative projects. I'm
> quite certain that other things can happen at Noisebridge; many do.
> When we're thinking about another activity, considering whether it's a
> good fit for Noisebridge, the most important question we should ask
> is:
>
> > "Does this enable or interfere with Noisebridge as place where diverse
> sorts
> > of people feel safe and comfortable working on and talking about their
> technical-
> > -creative projects.?"
>
> Our answer to this question should be the most important factor in
> determining what to do. If there's something that makes people feel
> *less* safe and comfortable, or makes it *harder* to work on
> technical-creative projects, we should recognise that -- although this
> activity may be totally reasonable in general -- Noisebridge isn't the
> place for it.
>
> Hugs & kisses,
> -Tom
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