[hackerspaces] Member Polices/Agreements

Koen Martens gmc at sonologic.nl
Mon Oct 4 19:19:08 CEST 2010


Hi,

On Mon, Oct 04, 2010 at 12:38:12PM -0400, Matt lehner wrote:
> Lastly, enforcing rules seems to be the hardest part of all. Partly
> because of timing, rule enforcers cannot be at the space 24/7 and not
> all members are comfortable confronting people. But also how is
> fairness handled? Do people use a 3-strike rule or zero-tolerance
> policies?

I'm struggling with this myself. We happily copied the guidelines from
HSBXL for revspace:

https://foswiki.sonologic.nl/RevelationSpace/GuideLines

These are guidelines, not rules. They are ignored mostly. I don't want to
enforce the rules (guidelines), because apart from banning people from the
space there is not much one can do. And I don't want to ban people from
the place.

I've given up on enforcing the rules. The result is that the space is
rapidly becoming a mess. Apparently, this is what we as a group think is
acceptable, so why would we enforce a rule to obtain the opposite (a space
that is not a mess)?

I'd like a clean space, but I don't like having to remind people to clean
up their mess and not throw garbage next to the bin if the bin is full 
(instead of putting in a new garbage bag and disposing of the full one).

Cleaning up is just one example. If you are a community-based place, and 
the community chooses to ignore rules that you set with the community,
what can you do?

I think it is up to the community itself to correct either the rules or
the practice.

Gr,

Koen



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