[hackerspaces] Inclusivity, alienation and a lame duck

[Mark Rosenblitt-Janssen]

I think thats 0.4/2.0 requested, since 3-d printers themselves were
the revolution and preceded makerbots (didn't they get spawned from
Make magazine anyway?)

-m

On Thu, Feb 19, 2015 at 7:03 PM, matt <matt at nycresistor.com> wrote:
> 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.
>> >> >
>> >> >
>> >> >
>> >> > _______________________________________________
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>> >> >
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>> >
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>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Russ Garrett
>> russ at garrett.co.uk
>> _______________________________________________
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