<html>
<head>
<meta content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1"
http-equiv="Content-Type">
</head>
<body text="#000000" bgcolor="#FFFFFF">
Yeah. I can safely say the same thing for Vancouver Hack Space
(VHS).<br>
<br>
Prior to moving to a larger (and in a lot of ways better) space, VHS
catered to a small segment. However, there was a desire to grow and
it did but came at a cost. Now VHS suffers with a problem where
theft has occurred and a mindset that didn't exist before has come
out in favour of having cameras within the space, something that
previously would have been outright rejected.<br>
<br>
Needless to say my interest in the space has waned in the past few
years and the discussion of cameras has sealed the deal on my
wanting to be around anymore. Much of the blame for this shift in
culture comes from individuals who come from groups like Occupy and
amateur radio clubs. When you make your space the space for everyone
and not put your foot down early on what is and isn't acceptable and
adopt an anarchistic approach to things, this can be the end result.
The plague that negatively affects Noisebridge can affect other
spaces too albeit in VHS' case, there is not (yet) an issue with
people sleeping there.<br>
<br>
It should be pointed out that I do not condemn these groups but I
will say openly that I want nothing to do with them.<br>
<br>
In order for a space, organisation, or group to survive change,
rules have to be set in stone from the get-go and not have them open
to reinterpretation at a later date should new groups come in and
not like what is in place. I helped form a non-profit society last
year that has been setup so it's open to membership but it would be
difficult for a group to join and usurp us from running it. I've
also folded a project of mine (<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://canary.pw">https://canary.pw</a>) into the NPO and
have made it so I retain ownership and rights to it should I decide
that I do not find the board friendly to me. It's not sure-fire that
everything will work as intended but a lot of mistakes were learnt
from VHS and other organisations and we dare not be repeated
elsewhere.<br>
<br>
Matt's advice is pretty good. Start a community first and then form
an organisation; otherwise you're just going to be fighting this
battle all over again.<br>
<br>
Cheers,<br>
Colin<br>
<br>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 01/07/2014 09:24, matt wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote
cite="mid:CAP_sDUE75rDBynEKe-vHU5N2t1zY+d2EcJ4z6vsjS0xYo4U5Pg@mail.gmail.com"
type="cite">
<div dir="ltr">
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>I think this boils down to the dichotomy of
hackerspace vs co-working space.<br>
<br>
</div>
If you build up infrastructure and expect a community to
show up in it, don't be surprised if more than one
community shows up, or the community that shows up is not
one you want to be a part of.<br>
<br>
</div>
Noisebridge suffers the tragedy of the commons in a pretty
severe way... having had mole people living in their
basement and bi-polar homeless people show up and and claim
they are 'sleep hacking'.<br>
<br>
</div>
That's not what I am talking about. What I am talking about
is the last line in that piece :<br>
<br>
"A lot of this can be traced to our collective inability to
remember our core pillars of consensus, excellence, and
do-ocracy. There is no one person or event that can be blamed.
As a community, we failed to hold close the values we had. <strong
class="">We were hacked by policy hackers."<br>
<br>
</strong></div>
<div>Now I don't know anything about synhak... so I am just
going to speak to the perspective brought forth by the person
who wrote this piece. This is a person who enjoyed the
community that arrived at synhak in the early days. As the
space grew and changed and time went on, so did the culture
and so did the community.<br>
<br>
</div>
<div>I think Torrie is talking specific solutions but not seeing
the forest through the trees. When torrie talks about common
values along side mission statement, and limiting growth of
new membership. What she is really talking about is fostering
a community rather than infrastructure. She's focusing more
on being with the people she wants to be with, than focusing
on building a space.<br>
<br>
</div>
<div>And I think that has worked out very well for NYC
Resistor. We like each other. We've liked each other with
fairly decent success for 5-6 years. And while folks have
grown apart and there has been some inevitable culture shift.
The community has remained strong.<br>
<br>
</div>
<div>So, the answer is simple. Synhak like noisebridge built a
space. And communities fought for it, and some took it and
some lost it. Much like noisebridge. NYC Resistor built a
community in a coffee shop... everything else came later. <br>
<br>
</div>
<div>Advice I give most folks starting a hackerspace, start a
community first. Find the people you want to start the space
with. Worry about that. because at the end of the day, even
if you don't have a space, that community is worth way way
more.<br>
<br>
</div>
<div>-Matt<br>
</div>
<strong class=""></strong></div>
<div class="gmail_extra"><br>
<br>
<div class="gmail_quote">On Tue, Jul 1, 2014 at 12:02 PM, Buddy
Smith <span dir="ltr"><<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="mailto:buddy.smith@ieee.org" target="_blank">buddy.smith@ieee.org</a>></span>
wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0
.8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<div dir="ltr">Saw this on /r/hackerspaces/
<div><br>
</div>
<div><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://medium.com/@tdfischer_/rip-synhak-7093ade6b943"
target="_blank">https://medium.com/@tdfischer_/rip-synhak-7093ade6b943</a><br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Anyone involved care to comment? Has something
similar happened to other spaces? How did you get past
it? How could it be prevented?</div>
<div><br>
</div>
</div>
<br>
_______________________________________________<br>
Discuss mailing list<br>
<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="mailto:Discuss@lists.hackerspaces.org">Discuss@lists.hackerspaces.org</a><br>
<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://lists.hackerspaces.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss"
target="_blank">http://lists.hackerspaces.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss</a><br>
<br>
</blockquote>
</div>
<br>
</div>
<br>
<fieldset class="mimeAttachmentHeader"></fieldset>
<br>
<pre wrap="">_______________________________________________
Discuss mailing list
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:Discuss@lists.hackerspaces.org">Discuss@lists.hackerspaces.org</a>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://lists.hackerspaces.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss">http://lists.hackerspaces.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss</a>
</pre>
</blockquote>
<br>
</body>
</html>