<div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_extra">Here is my experience (in an easy-to-read wall of text!) from cleanups as Freeside Atlanta - </div><div class="gmail_extra"><br></div><div class="gmail_extra">First of all, I would call this problem <a href="http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newHTE_91.htm">Important, but not Urgent</a>. In other words, you probably have some people who are very excited about this (or maybe they've lost their patience with the issue) and want it to happen as soon as possible. Their enthusiasm will probably set off the paranoia of another group of people who will want to put on the brakes and have a conversation about it. Those two groups of people have to be on the same page if you want to move forward without hard feelings. I would give it 2-3 months to be fully cleared up (including delayed deadlines, which I'll get into later).</div>
<div class="gmail_extra"><br></div><div class="gmail_extra">A third group of people will emerge as you start to implement (~1 month in) who either weren't paying attention when you were getting ready or didn't take it seriously. They've got to be in on it to, so you'll have some delays and concessions for that too. This should be easier if you've got a consensus among the first two groups as long as the process moves forward respectfully but on a schedule.</div>
<div class="gmail_extra"><br></div><div class="gmail_extra">Basically, we isolate member property to member storage wherever possible and then periodically clean up member storage. It moves in waves so it isn't a constant enforcement hassle for members or whatever unlucky person has the job of enforcing storage.</div>
<div class="gmail_extra"><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Thu, Nov 21, 2013 at 9:44 PM, Nathaniel Bezanson <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:myself@telcodata.us" target="_blank">myself@telcodata.us</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div><div><font>0. Is there a collection of wisdom on this topic somewhere already? I have this feeling that Gui is going to respond with a doc-dump and I'll look silly, but I can't find anything already in a few minutes of searching... :) </font></div>
</div></blockquote><div><br></div><div>We have all of the Freeside Atlanta <a href="https://wiki.freesideatlanta.org/fs/Policies">policies </a>up on our wiki. The member storage policy specifies a storage size and that members can't store stuff over a certain dimension. They do, and that's okay. Member projects are allowed to stay in member storage for a "reasonable" amount of time. For us, reasonable is between cleanups. When it gets too full, we clean it out.</div>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div><font><br></font></div><div><span style="font-family:Arial,Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif"><font>1. Do you allow members to keep their own stuff at the space, at all? If not, why not, and what happens to stuff that gets left behind accidentally, or deliberately abandoned/donated? </font></span></div>
</blockquote><div><br></div><div>Active member projects get temporary storage in the space if they request it. If they don't want their stuff parted out by an enthusiastic hacker, they'll label it (this does happen, but only rarely). As for member storage, there are fewer questions asked there, but the stuff should be labeled. </div>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div><font><br></font></div><div><font>2. How much storage space does a member get? Is it variable? Based on what criteria?</font></div>
</blockquote><div><br></div><div>Each member gets a storage tote. Stuff that won't fit in there is usually just okayed by the members and hangs around until a cleanup. </div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<div><font><br></font></div><div><font>3. For how long can a member leave stuff in the space? Once they start, is it safe to assume that their stuff can remain as long as they remain a member? </font></div></blockquote><div>
<br></div><div>Between cleanups. Unless it's something as big as a car. People tend to get kinda impatient with stuff like that. If it stays on schedule, even that can be okay though.</div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<div><font><br></font></div><div><font>4. If there's some sort of inactivity or timeout clause, how does that work, and who enforces it?</font></div></blockquote><div><br></div><div>This is really difficult to enforce. That's why we do this as a cleanup of the space. That avoids singling people out and in general improves the condition of the space. If someone can't remove their stuff during the cleanup, get a deadline from them. Remind them of the deadline and hold them to it (in one-on-one conversations whenever possible). </div>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div><font><br></font></div><div><font>5. Assuming you require labels on storage spots or labels on stored items, how are unlabeled items handled when they turn up in storage? Or items left in unlabeled spots?</font></div>
<div><font><br></font></div></blockquote><div>After the cleanup, we move unlabeled stuff into the "attic" which is an area that's tough to get to over member storage. We periodically clear this area out too, moving this stuff to the recycling shelves. There are a lot of notifications and emails between these moves.</div>
<div> </div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div><font></font></div><div><font>6. Have you ever had anyone try to actively subvert the limits?</font></div>
</blockquote><div><br></div><div>Yes. Only rarely. It took a very long time and a lot of patience, but they eventually lost that game and left the space. Again, this stuff can't happen overnight and it's easy to turn members against the enforcing body if any missteps are made in that process. It becomes a political battle at that point and the approach changes. Give them enough rope to hang themselves. Deadlines help.</div>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div><font><br></font></div><div><font>7. Are "group projects" by a handful of members given special accommodation, beyond what an individual member would get?</font></div>
</blockquote><div><br></div><div>Yes, group projects get a special accommodation. They still got through an approval process to get allocated the space though. When I say "approval process," I mean that emails are exchanged on the mailing list and nobody objects or talks a Director to complain. You may have to live with it beyond its intended schedule, so upfront consensus keeps it from turning into tension that spills over into other stuff.</div>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div><font><br></font></div><div><font>8. Assuming you have some mechanism to throw out stuff that everyone agrees is abandoned, has anyone come back later and whined that their precious shit wasn't yours to throw out? How do you handle that?</font></div>
</blockquote><div><br></div><div>We do and they have. We apologized. What else could we do? It is unlikely that someone will sue, so they don't have much recourse. If you're a Nonprofit, you have a bit of an upper hand, because a private individual can't use the resources of a Nonprofit to their own <a href="http://www.nonprofitlawreport.com/guide/excess-benefit/">benefit in excess</a>. These situations should be taken seriously, but only as urgently as would be best for the organization.<br>
</div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div><font><br></font></div><div><font>9. Is your system so drastically different from what I'm describing that the questions don't even apply? Do tell! </font></div>
</blockquote><div><br></div><div>We avoid conflict in our space by encouraging <a href="http://www.get.gg/communication.htm">assertiveness </a>among our members. This is a skill that is tough to develop, but it is AWESOME once a critical mass of your membership gets good at it. If somebody is passive about a violation until they reach their boiling point and then blow up, they won't find much support and may just burn out. We try to watch for that and structure our culture to mitigate that. It's working really well so far.<br>
</div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div><font><br></font></div><div><font>10. Whatever storage system you have right now, is it working? What do you see as its main strengths, and main weaknesses? If you could start from a clean slate, what would you change?</font></div>
<div><font><br></font></div></blockquote><div>Or current system leverages the fact that we have a lot of space... and time. Freeside has a lot of space-time. We have Public Space, Member Storage, The Attic, and The Recycling Shelves. We move stuff from Public to Member Storage as frequently as we tidy up (twice a week or so). We move stuff from Member Storage to the Attic about every 3 months. We clear out the Attic about the same. Recycling goes out once it fills up, but once stuff is on those shelves it is open for members to take. Each step gets multiple warnings beforehand and pictures posted on the mailing list. No scolding, just business as usual.</div>
<div><br></div><div>Our Directors try to keep people from getting on the defensive. We don't single people out or call them out in public (there have been mistakes there and we've learned from them). I recommend patience and taking your time with it.You can adapt all of the policies to the style of culture in your space, but I think it's pretty universal that this kind of stuff has to be respectful, assertive, a group effort and systematic.</div>
<div> </div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div><font></font></div><div><font>Also for context, it might be helpful to understand how large your space is and how many members you have (I could just look this up in the wiki but it'll be easier to have it in your response!).</font></div>
</blockquote></div><br>Our space is 5,500 square feet and we have 55 members and growing. We're trying to get all of this stuff figured out so we can keep growing. We'll have to rebuild and expand Member Storage and increase the frequencies of cleanups as we grow, I imagine.</div>
<div class="gmail_extra"><br></div><div class="gmail_extra">Another thing to think about - do your members think of your space as a place for personal development or a shared workshop? If they think of it as a shared workshop, could they be competing for space rather than trying to optimize the shop for cool shit to happen? As hokey and corporate as it is, that's why "mission statement" conversations are so important - if your members have different expectations, they'll use the space differently and not understand the objections of other members. If that hasn't happened yet, that's a good place to start.<br>
<br clear="all"><div><div dir="ltr">Steven Sutton<div>President, Freeside Atlanta</div><div><a href="http://www.freesideatlanta.org" target="_blank">www.freesideatlanta.org</a></div><div><a href="http://www.meetup.com/Freeside-Atlanta/" target="_blank">http://www.meetup.com/Freeside-Atlanta/</a><br>
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