Meeting Notes 2023 08 08

These are the notes from the The 735th Meeting of Noisebridge.

Date: 2023_08_08

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Note-takers: Mark

Moderators: Loren

Meeting Summary

• Fundraising Update:

VArious fundraising ideas discussed

• Announcements:

Godot game devs meetup August 19th! 5 Minutes of Fame next Thursday, sign up to speak for 5 mins about whatever topic!

Bike Party - East Bay, this Friday. h/t Elan

Mark looking for help w/ arcade cabinet projects

• Finances:

Lost about 5k overall last month (big spending happened)

• New members:
• New associate members: Claudia, Rob, Kelsey
• Discussion Items: Discussed a couple consensus item proposals about membership process and security at the space.

Introductions

• Ask people to share their name, access needs, and preferred gender pronouns what they do at noisebridge

• Loren - he/him - rack things
• Kelsey - building a bike thing, I do CAD things. Want to teach.
• JD - laser trainer, power tool safety, CNC guild
• Ken (Inno) - you guys know me. try to get away from carpentry, but find myself back in it regardless
• Mark - video game things, Noisebridge organizing things
• Rob - pulled into SHED software system. Applying Associate Membership.
• Ben - Hi. Work on the CNC machine.
• Sergio - helping out in metal and woodshops
• Claudia - was a member from 2010 to about 2015 I guess. I don't code anymore really, but I like using the shop and sewing stuff. Want to re-Member.
• TJ - AI & robotics. In this meeting, Noisebridge board elections consensus item.
• Zach - I do gamedev stuff, with Godot specifically, brand new, found out about NB from Mark
• Elan - wikipedia/ noisebridge infrastructure project
• Preston - 2nd day here. Intersted in twitch stream, social media presence.
• Paul -

Short announcements and events

• Ken - had a incident of conflict with John. Requesting: no use of power tools in space. Dangerous use of tools.

*Mark and Loren : Noted. We can discuss later.

• Loren: Need to update the wiki for events that are actually NOT happening! Make things more clear!

• Mark: Looking help on arcade cabinet projects. Anyone who wants to help with any skill sets is welcome to apply!

anyone with experience (or committed interest) please reach out to @Arity on Discord.

• Zack/Chris - Godot engine meetup.

For hosting an event, the first thing to do is check the wiki. 2pm Saturday, Sat Aug 19th. https://www.noisebridge.net/wiki/Events https://www.noisebridge.net/wiki/Hosting_an_Event

(There seems to be no conflicts - consider the event ANNOUNCED!)

• 5 Minutes of Fame next Thursday the 17th! Sign up here! https://www.noisebridge.net/wiki/Five_Minutes_of_Fame

• Bike Party - East Bay, this Friday. h/t Elan

Excellence

Our One Rule is to Be Excellent to Each Other. (On first Tuesdays, seek a few definitions. Other Tuesday, give a 1-3 sentence summary.)

What does that mean? Please see our page on excellence https://www.noisebridge.net/wiki/Excellence!

Anti-Harassment Policy & Community Standards of Excellence

Noisebridge has an Anti-Harassment Policy https://www.noisebridge.net/wiki/Anti-Harassment_Policy https://www.noisebridge.net/wiki/Community_Standards Everyone is expected to follow the Anti-Harassment Policy, please familiarize yourself with it.) TWO MINUTES MAX

Guilds

• Industrial Knitting Machine - has knit its first pattern.

New Members/Associate Members

What are they? Is anyone trying to become a Member or Associate Member? If not move on. No long discussions.

Noisebridge has a membership program yadda yadda.

Associate Members

• Rob M is applying. Paul sponsoring.
  • Why do you want to be one Rob?
    • Want to work more on SHED and contribute more to the operating of the space more generally.

No one blocks, Rob is a associate member!

• Kelsey is applying. Paul sponsoring.
  • Why do you want Membership?
    • I think its a wonderful space with a good community and I'd like to just get more engaged with caring about stuff and building stuff with the community.
    • I feel like there might be a niche for a cool bike-building/modding etc meetup I could help spearhead?

No one blocks - Kelsey is associate member!

• Claudia is applying, JD sponsors
  • Claudia does sewing and woodworking stuff, woould like to learn 3D printing stuff!
  • Why would you like to be a member again?
    • I really used to enjoy Noisebridge a lot back those years ago.

Anyone have any more questions for Claudia?

What kind of coding did you used to do?

Cobol! Was an Oracle DBA at some point.

No one blocks! Claudia is now an associate member.

Membership

Ken (Inno) application. JD requests a delay (on week 2), for at least a month. We should not be so quick as 8 week. We should maybe have more sponsors

JD also has some questions/ concerns for Ken that need to be discussed separately.

JD's block goes through and process is halted for now until resolved.

Financial Report (first Tuesday of month only)

Anarchist societies under a capitalist state need money to survive and thrive, yo.

Revenue for July - see previous meeting: https://www.noisebridge.net/wiki/Meeting_Notes_2023_08_01#Financial_Report_(first_Tuesday_of_month_only)

Spending Needs

Gotta spend money on XYZ (i.e. Gate, wiring etc.). WHO CAN SIGN THE CHECK OR LEND THE CREDIT CARD!?!?! It doesn't matter if we agree to do something and it can’t be paid for. See #finance-wg in slack. Ask there!

Fundraising Update

Ken would like to reiterate point about doing merchandise. We should get blanks (t-shirts) and embroider/screen print/ whatever to make cool NB merch and sell it!

Kelsey suggests making some cool NB socks with the new knitting machine!

Mark - would love to reinstate snack & drink bar. Needs active maintainers to work, help. May also need a new transparent for that project before we can do it.

Something like the former godwaffle noise pancakes should happen again! (JD mentions to if we make food, do it on the patio.)

Create a shelf of things to be donated/sold and sell them!

Preston wanted to help with a live social stream. People seemed encouraging of this

Big C Consensus Items

Nobody likes 3 hour meetings, only explain if people ask. https://www.noisebridge.net/wiki/Current_Consensus_Items

Consensus Items

No current Consensus items on the docket

Discussion

Discussion Item 1: John and Woodshop

Ken wants to restrict John from using power tools in the shop? Maybe give him another chance to correct his actions. He has been careless thus far though, and there are witnesses to this.

Perhaps we should ask him to account for himself and try to explain his behavior somehow? IDK if bring to a meeting or a mediation of some sort or what?

People suggest woodshop guild have a sitdown with him, let him know his behavioral problem, and suggest that he will be monitored and if he doesn't take care to improve his habits, there will be more serious consequences, like, ask to leave, for instance.

Discussion Item 2

Membership process language draft consensus item

There are questions about the new Membership process. From the draft item:

"Currently, there is an 8 week process to become a full Member, (Consensed on Feb 8th 2022), with 4 weeks dedicated to reviewing their application for concerns/blocks. But also, we Consensed in 2018 on a 2 week post-acceptance "oh shit" period in case a Member is late to block for whatever reason. We need to decide if this is still necessary since the new process allots so much consideration time and update the language accordingly so that it is clear that it overrides the old "oh shit" process, if it indeed does. Proposal: Amend the Feb 2022 Membership process Consensus item to say "oh shit" period is no longer necessary, or: if we think it is still, amend it to make it clear that it is not overridden. Update the language in the wiki and on the application form so there is no ambiguity."

Mark: I would also like to add some text clarifying process for dealing with blocks, since I see there being some exploitable ambiguity there also.

JD: Generally favors a more prolonged period before big M Member is allowed

TJ: Don't know if I necessarily agree, but I want to keep this discussion focused on the immediate changes and clarifications under consideration.

So the first one is about the "oh shit period". For context this is about a failed proxy block that happened a few years back, and the take-back period was instituted as a result of this logistical issue and the ensuing drama.

Loren: feels like there isn't a practical process for Membering announcements. People seem to be better at announceing things that HAVE happened, as opposed to stuff that is GOING TO happen.

Serge:

    I just became an associate to contribute, give some money, be more egaged with improving the space/community somewhat. This place should be more aware of how much the community itself should be involved in maintaining it, member or not.

Ken: I think it would be wiser to extend the period towards getting a full Membership. I think there is not enough of a notion that the membership fee is mandatory.

TJ: Are we proposing more edits? Or what?

Rob: Does this apply to associate member applications as well?

TJ: If someone f-ed up in a way that they need their associate membership revoked, its much easier to deal with than retroactively blocking a big M member.

Mark: Second proposal for Membership process: I propose that when blocking big M Membership, should the block (all blocks, for that matter) be rescinded, we pick up at the week at which it was blocked. Four weeks unless we consense on something else.

JD : As thought experiment: 4th week, blocked on that week. That person changes when they are convinced to change their mind. At next successive meeting would become a Member. I don't see any danger in doing so.

TJ: Are we saying that in order to get the process started again, do we have to contact the blocking member to make sure they are no longer blocking?

What is the mechanism for rescinding the block?

Blocker has to actively rescind the block. It must be expressly stated. either in person or by proxy. Until then, the block stands.

Next point:

TJ: There seemed to be some confusion about who can sponsor new associate members and how many ful big M's need to sponsor a big M?

Do associate members have the power to sponsor new associate members?

Loren brings up the old adage "associate members are responsible for the space, big M Members are also responsible for the community".

Mark: So does that means associates should need to be sponsored by big M Members only?

Loren nods in agreement.

(TJ agrees to sponsor both Rob and Kelsey in Paul's place)

There is an issue of if we restrict sponsorships to big M Members only, that it will be a bit tougher for new prospective members who want to join.

Thread starting in the weekly meeting Discord