[hackerspaces] Inclusivity, alienation and a lame duck

Fri Feb 20 02:03:32 CET 2015

Makerbot?  Spawned at a hackerspace....

On Thu, Feb 19, 2015 at 8:00 PM, Russ Garrett <russ at garrett.co.uk> wrote:

> Humour me, Matt. Can you provide me a couple of examples of when
> hackerspaces have effected "far-reaching or profound reform in the
> existing order"?
>
> On 20 February 2015 at 00:08, matt <matt at nycresistor.com> wrote:
> > A hackerspace that could content itself with external reforms would not
> have
> > the slightest chance of success in the general struggle for life among
> the
> > hackerspaces of the world. A movement that would confine its mission to
> such
> > adjustments, which are certainly right and equitable, would effect no
> > far-reaching or profound reform in the existing order. The whole effect
> of
> > such measures would be limited to externals. They would not furnish the
> > hackerspace with that moral armament which alone will enable it
> effectively
> > to overcome the weaknesses from which we are suffering today. In order to
> > elucidate this point of view it may be worth while to glance once again
> at
> > the real origins and causes of the cultural evolution of mankind.
> >
> >
> > -openfly
> >
> > On Thu, Feb 19, 2015 at 6:31 PM, Mark Rosenblitt-Janssen
> > <dreamingforward at gmail.com> wrote:
> >>
> >> The best thing you can do in such a situation, is get the "eye of the
> >> tiger".   Get so good at something, something that is respected there,
> >> and then YOU can become the dictator.
> >>
> >> Cheers!  ;^)
> >>
> >> Marxos
> >>
> >> On Thu, Feb 19, 2015 at 2:15 PM, Morgan Gangwere
> >> <morgan.gangwere at gmail.com> wrote:
> >> > My hackerspace has 3 problems that are feeding into each other:
> >> >
> >> > (This is somewhat scattered -- read all the parts or you'll lose
> >> > context).
> >> >
> >> > 1. The board (you'll see a recurring theme soon) has declared that we
> >> > must
> >> > be "Inclusive" -- and so a task force (lead by a board member, who is
> >> > also
> >> > wife of the president of the board) reached out to people who had at
> one
> >> > point expressed an interest in joining but had not yet. This came down
> >> > to
> >> > "inclusivity."
> >> >
> >> > Don't get me wrong, I'm far from being the typical cis-het-white-male,
> >> > and
> >> > I'd love to see more non cis-white-het-male folk in our space. The
> >> > following
> >> > note is *my view* of this and I'm trying very hard to *not* point at
> any
> >> > one
> >> > person.
> >> >
> >> > The inclusivity policy was enforced by the president of the board,
> >> > before it
> >> > was actually presented to the membership for discussion, over what
> came
> >> > down
> >> > to a mis-communication between himself and the person who had just
> >> > simply
> >> > vented (who is also on the board; We'll get to her later)
> >> >
> >> > The board held a straightforward, but very heated conversation with
> the
> >> > membership. El Pres makes everything about him (and how it's not his
> >> > doing),
> >> > the one who wrote it made it (somehow) all about sex, and one who
> >> > originally
> >> > vented and started this insanity rumbling made it all about how she
> >> > doesn't
> >> > like men.
> >> >
> >> > We hammered it out, with the members that care enough to show up
> (about
> >> > 20,
> >> > out of a population of 80ish) being mostly upset at the process: a
> >> > member of
> >> > the space, who has done quite a bit of the space, was alienated on a
> >> > policy
> >> > he had no idea existed, over a misunderstanding that would have been
> >> > solved
> >> > with someone asking some basic troubleshooting questions.
> >> >
> >> > 2. We've moved into our second space. Over the last about 2 years,
> we've
> >> > had
> >> > a hell of a ride, with an indiegogo to kick off the party. One of the
> >> > perks
> >> > of getting us moving money was to be able to name a room. One of the
> >> > rooms,
> >> > the electronics lab, was named after an MLP fan-video-gone-viral.
> There
> >> > was
> >> > some argument over if this was appropriate and overall, the whole
> >> > process
> >> > was fairly unorganized and frustrating for those involved. Some were
> >> > confused as to how long the name lasted, etc.
> >> >
> >> > The individual that named the electronics lab that did it to make
> people
> >> > think, confront their discomfort, etc. It's been a bone of contention
> >> > among
> >> > some of the membership.
> >> >
> >> > Over the week, the board has used the name as a means to beat on
> >> > members.
> >> > The actions of several board members (notably, the ones already
> >> > mentioned;
> >> > there are 6 on our board, plus president, who is the longest standing
> >> > board
> >> > member with 1 year terms). Several of our members are older guys. Yes,
> >> > the
> >> > name is a bit annoying, but they have their own qualms, and the board
> >> > has
> >> > used this as a means to (subversively) ostracize and alienate those
> >> > members.
> >> >
> >> > For those quietly attacked, it feels like discrimination. For pretty
> >> > much
> >> > everyone else? *nobody gives a damn*.
> >> >
> >> > 3. The president of the board is useless, has no leadership skills,
> and
> >> > has
> >> > become in some ways a lame duck; He is a non-voting member of the
> board
> >> > according to his bylaws, but can still enforce power as president to
> >> > make
> >> > things happen. I cannot attest to this, but it seems like many are
> >> > speaking
> >> > behind his back, actively trying to usurp his power. At the moment,
> >> > there's
> >> > no way for the membership to remove a president from their position.
> The
> >> > fact his spouse serves on the board raises concerns for some of us.
> >> >
> >> > Our previous president moved on due to his promotion in the military.
> He
> >> > was
> >> > trained to lead and manage. Since leaving, our space has become prone
> to
> >> > infighting and argument over semantics with the board.
> >> >
> >> > I've considered calling for a vote of no confidence by the membership,
> >> > but
> >> > there's a problem: A majority of the membership doesn't even really
> show
> >> > up
> >> > nor care at this point. Yet that silent majority keeps the doors open.
> >> > Our
> >> > bylaws state that votes need a quorum of the membership (defined as
> 70%)
> >> > and
> >> > *three times in a row* we've had to come to a board-decision to lower
> it
> >> > down to 50% in order to pass the board vote.
> >> >
> >> > There are members, people who are in the space and who are much more
> >> > suited
> >> > to be president, and who have come up in the past as being on the
> >> > ballot.
> >> >
> >> > A note on processes: The space meets once a month, meeting to discuss
> >> > things
> >> > within the space and give progress reports on projects, bring up any
> >> > input
> >> > from the membership, etc. The board meets once a quarter, and that's
> >> > when
> >> > any actions that the board enacts happens. Recently, the board has
> been
> >> > meeting more regularly than the membership meetings and having
> >> > conversations. These are not often announced. The board is in some
> ways
> >> > a
> >> > set of BDFLs (several members of the board have been there since the
> >> > inception of the space) and there is rarely any major discussion that
> >> > happens at the membership meetings, which are run on timers and a
> "Let's
> >> > just get this over with" mentality.
> >> >
> >> >
> >> >
> >> > _______________________________________________
> >> > Discuss mailing list
> >> > Discuss at lists.hackerspaces.org
> >> > http://lists.hackerspaces.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss
> >> >
> >> _______________________________________________
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> >
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Discuss mailing list
> > Discuss at lists.hackerspaces.org
> > http://lists.hackerspaces.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss
> >
>
>
>
> --
> Russ Garrett
> russ at garrett.co.uk
> _______________________________________________
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> Discuss at lists.hackerspaces.org
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>
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