[hackerspaces] RANT!: SO VERY frustrated with lack of local activity :( Warning: some negative energy present - sorry

[Far McKon]

Hey Frustrated fo sho,
I have two thoughts for you, based on my own experience in
not-dissimilar situations.*

1) Forking is OK, and friendly forking can work out better for
everyone. It's a great Open Source tradition to say, 'hey, I see where
you are going, and is not where I want to go. Goodluck, keep in touch,
but I'm leaving."  I've been through the process, and although it can
be painful in the process (especially if you are biting your tongue a
lot), a friendly fork can work out extremely well  in the end.
Especially if some friendly competition and 'hey, we can do that too'
attitude gets started.

2) You also might just be burnt out, and need a break.  Community
wrangling of any and all kinds, from hackerspace to food-drives, can
burn people out.  Especially people with big dreams, and people who
are energetic.  There is a long history in hackerspaces, art
collectives, nonprofits, neighborhood associations (the list goes on
and on) of founders burning out in the first 1-3 years of being
involved.

Mayhaps  all that effort on the space has gotten in the way of
projects or getting things done, and some hand-on project time will
even things out.   Try searching the web for 'leader burnout' or
'organizer burnout'. There is a lot of good info there, and you might
find something else helpful among those links.

 In the end hackerspaces are groups of humans (myself included) ,  and
will have all of the flaws, weirdness, and problems any kind of social
organization has. I don't know much good advice particular to your
situation, but I know a lot of hackerspace organizers have been in a
similar situation, and even if they tend to take a break, most of them
return to being active in the community.

Good luck, and I hope things work out. Hack on,
- Far McKon

http://www.FarMcKon.net "Creatively Maladjusted"

* The first hackerspace I co-founded (The Hacktory) was under the
umbrealla of a nonprofit. Due to some incompetence of a board member,
there were some false accusations, and I was forced to leave. I
started another hackerspace (Hive76) a few months later, and some
folks joined me in that 'Fork'.   About a year after that I got an
apology from the first space, and a correction about the mistake they
made.   Both spaces are still in operation today, and I'm still on the
email list  and in contact with both groups.