Talk:Noisebridge Vision

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l don't mean to be all intrusive by adding a prominent line at the top of this page, but your facility is so continually hazardous for me to use, and that people involved with the space take no direct action about the specific causes of those hazards, l can't help but conclude that l am an example of someone excluded from your facilities.

-- No problem Elle, you might want to put any further discussion on your User Page and link to that --Malaclyps 15:34, 18 August 2011 (UTC)


  • Noisebridge is governed by its members and its mission is to support members' activities.
  • We are an all inclusive group.
  • Decisions are made at membership meetings.
  • Responsibilities can be delegated.
  • Membership meetings have the final say.
  • Consensus is preferred over majority decisions. Every one needs to be heard before a decision can be taken.
  • Our actions in the space and with members are Civic, Courteous and Lawful.
  • This is not a space for commercial ventures, there are many good alternatives for that (add links).
  • Noisebridge is not allied with any sect, denomination, political entity, organisation or institution.

Membership expectations[edit source]

  • members should contribute not only monetarily but 'in-kind'
  • we will be flexible in monetary contributions for members with different levels of income and/or expenses
  • there is no Management responsible for (things such as) taking out the trash and buying juice and resistors and pens; each member is expected to do things that they see need doing
  • 'sudo leadership': there are no General leaders, only temporary ones in case of projects that really need one
  • members are expected to be trustworthy
  • members never represent The Community; they only speak for themselves (e.g. to the media)
  • any member can bring guests any time
  • new members must be sponsored by two current members
  • nobody will live in the space (although occasional overnights are OK in case of missed BART and such)

Decision process[edit source]

  • as noted elsewhere, consensus is the goal. In case this fails we will have to fall back on majority voting. We will know that consensus has failed when ... ?
  • individuals are always responsible for their own decisions
  • if you think it needs doing and it won't cause problems for anyone, then do it. use your judgment on whether it requires a consensus process (a possible guideline is that things you or you and one other person can do probably don't require general discussion; things that require, say, 5 or more people or expenditures of over, say, $100, probably do)

From my perspective, NoiseBridge is a continuation of the hacker space I had in mind when I started the SFhackspace google group a few days ago. So, I'll quote from some relevant parts of what I wrote there:

I was totally inspired by Chaos Camp in Berlin this summer (2007). There were so many incredibly beautiful projects that people showed at the Camp, and many of them came out of hacker spaces that exist all over Germany and Austria (in big cities, but also in lots of small towns). Since I've been back from Berlin, I've been talking to lots of people about starting a hacker space here.

Wouldn't it be wonderful to have a space that is open to members 24/7, a place to work on projects both solo and collaborative, a place to support and be supported in your projects, easily accessible to mass transit, safe to get to night or day, a place with a kitchen and a shower, a place to hang out with other geeks? Excitement has been building to create such a space! It turns out that there are several other people who have been independently thinking about starting a hacker space here. There are probably lots of people that none of us know that are also thinking about this as well. This all tells me that it is really is time for a hacker space here!

I uploaded a document that is from some Chaos folks. It gives ideas about what has worked (and not) for them. It is a good place to look to get some ideas, and is a good starting point for discussion.

Last night (18-Nov-07), as I type, a group of us discussed some ideas that we were all jazzed about (as I remember it -- others please feel free to edit this): a space where members pay between $50 and $100 per month (depending on the rent and any common fund we'd like to build up); exploring the intersection of art and technology; diverse membership is cool! (both in types of people and in the types of geekiness members are into); no tolerance of intolerance, including no homophobia, racism, sexism; agreement that people will work interpersonal things out with each other (including not talking behind others' backs); respect for others' well being; there will be space for members to work on projects, and a common space for events, classes, art; members can store their projects in storage drawers/lockers/bins; the focus of the space is non-commercial.

Mitch.


Photography is directly related to art, chemistry and mathematics. Building new an unique processes and integrating technology is very much in line with our purpose. ioerror 14:02, 19 November 2007 (PST)