What is Protospace? =================== Written by Riel. First, let's get some structural stuff out of the way: Protospace is a 100% volunteer-run, Non-Profit Co-op. We have a Board of Directors who fulfill some necessary administrative tasks, but aside from the additional duties they've taken on, they have the same powers as non-directors. Each of our members is an individual and brings their own background and expertise. Having everyone be equals on an organizational level leads to some of the most positive aspects of our community, such as while some of our tools are owned by Protospace as an entity, many are on loan from our members. Our community is where our biggest strength lies. Do-ocracy --------- We're structured as a Do-ocracy, which is to say that we're all empowered as individuals to find our own tasks and take them on, both for our own projects and with regards to the space. See something that needs fixing and you know how? Fix it! Have a skill people are interested in? Teach them! Take on what you'd like to take on given the time and energy you have. That said, we do have a lot of members. Functionally, what Do-ocracy means is that you can do effectively whatever you want as long as it: - Is not a change to the building and its systems (code and permits may apply) - Is safe and does not make things unsafe - Can be reasonably undone in less than four hours. But to add to that, any Do-ocracy this large falls apart if everyone acts as an individual. Keep in mind that over 200 people use the space and the things you do can affect them and the things they do can affect you, both positively and negatively. Be kind to each other. Be excellent. Treat others as you'd like to be treated. Treat the equipment and space well, because you're sharing it. Leave things at least as clean as you found them. If you're concerned about someone getting upset with you for doing something with the space, post a topic on the forum and you'll find out pretty quickly whether people are for or against what you're planning. There's also an expectation that each of our members put a bit of time into the space in addition to keeping your dues current. That could be taking trash to the dumpster, becoming a trainer, attending monthly cleans and meetings, fixing broken equipment, or whatever else you find. On the personal side of any community, mistakes and miscommunications happen. We have a lot of people here. Generally speaking, things run best when we assume good intentions of other people. I think most of us tend to act with good intentions, right? So please try to be kind and understanding if anything comes up. We want everyone to feel welcome and safe and kind discussion is generally preferable to loud confrontation. Especially be respectful of other people's time. If you sign up for a class that you can't make, withdraw so someone else can take that class. If progress on something someone is doing isn't going as quickly as you'd like, help! We all have lives outside of here and things get delayed. If someone is too busy or uninterested in helping you, let it go. We all have those days. Some Policy Stuff ----------------- Safety and Fire code rule Supreme. Please bring your own consumables. If you're using Protospace for profit, it is expected that a portion of your profits will be reinvested in Protospace. Personal shelves are available, and that space is your own, but we don't have enough space for large projects for all our members. If you don't take it home and it won't fit on your shelf, it needs a pitch. If it's small and fits out of the way but needs a bit of time (like for paint to dry) put a note with your name, contact info, and when you'll be back to get it. If it's clamped, also write down when the clamps can be removed in case someone needs to use them. If it's bigger, the pitch should be made on the forums with 48 hours of notice *before* your project shows up. Let people know what your project looks like, where you hope to put it, and how long it'll have to be there. There is no overnight storage in the no-fly zone at the back of the Wood Shop. Community Events ---------------- We have a number of community events that pop up from time to time. Currently, the only consistent one is our Tuesday Night Open House, from 7-9pm. All members are encouraged to come out and be social and get to know each other. If you're comfortable with the public, please volunteer to tour people around the building, and share your enthusiasm! It lets us get to know each other and in a place like this where we're sharing a lot of space, knowing the people around you is an extremely valuable tool at your disposal. (It also helps with vetting, but we'll get to that later). Aside from that, we have games nights and movie nights and LAN parties and all sorts of things. Any vetted member can organize an event. We also occasionally do group buys and other community things that aren't tied directly into socializing, so keep an eye on the forums to see what's currently going on. Now let's move onto some general safety stuff before coming back to talk about what to do while you're un-vetted, as well as how larger organizational decisions are made here. Safety ====== General ------- This isn't mean to be an exhaustive safety seminar, because that would be impossible. Most tools have different safety requirements associated with them that will be gone over during the training on that machinery, and if you're ever not comfortable with how to do something safely, please ask. Also, everyone does unsafe things sometimes without realizing it, so if someone lets you know you're doing something questionable, no matter what your experience is, please listen to them - they're probably right. The main things to keep in mind are to keep your eyes and hearing safe, and also to keep yourself from getting snagged by a machine. Sometimes things fly across the room unexpectedly. That's life. If it hits you in the arm it might do a lot of damage, but it'll do much more if it hits you in the eye. Wear safety glasses as much as possible if you're even near *other* people using power tools. You also can't really recover your hearing, so if you're around loud things, use hearing protection. With snags, avoid wearing things like loose clothing, long sleeves, rings, necklaces, ties, gloves, and keep your hair tied back or under a hat if there's any chance it might fall into machinery. Any of these things can mean a trip to the ER around a lot of our equipment if you aren't careful. Speaking of emergencies, if someone is hurt or in danger, please call 9-1-1. You can find the address of the building on most doors. If there's a building emergency, like a burst pipe or something, please email directors@protospace.ca. Bigger Decisions and Getting Started ==================================== Getting Started --------------- The Protospace member portal is at my.protospace.ca. It's where you sign up for classes, make payments, see your records, and other things as we add them. You'll want to upload a photo of yourself. It's the photo that will go on your keycard when you get vetted. Some corporate partners, in the past, have asked for ID so please have it be a photo of your actual face. You can also use the menus to look in the member directory to try to attach faces to names or see who our current Directors are. There's also a link to set up an account on our forum, known as Spacebar. You can access the forum directly at forum.protospace.ca, but will need to sign up through the Portal in order to have access to the Member section. We're not going to go into too much depth here, but most of the forum is publicly viewable, aside from the Administrivia section (there's a lock beside it) so be mindful that things that only members should see go there. The forum is pretty well broken into categories so it should be obvious what goes where. Maybe you've signed up for a class, but you might not know that you can indicate interest in others by hitting the Interest+ button beside a course on the classes page. The next time a class on that topic gets scheduled, you should receive an email letting you know. It's a great way to let everyone know where priorities are and lets people with those knowledge-sets know that people would really appreciate some guidance. Accessing the Space as an Un-Vetted Member ------------------------------------------ Until you have keyed access, there must be a vetted member in the space willing to chaperone and take accountability for you. Currently, the best way to ensure that is to post a message on the forums asking if someone will be around, otherwise you can come to the space and ring the bell and hope for the best. The only time we can mostly guarantee there will be someone in the building is during Open House and Member Meetings, but there are typically people here most hours on the weekends as well. Outside of that, it's difficult to say. While you're un-vetted, you should try to attend as many Open Houses as possible, and spend time at the space getting to know people. Part of that is just learning about the people you're sharing the space with, but also you will need to know at least a couple of people to be vetted. Vetting ------- When you are vetted, you get voting rights, a shelf, 24/7 access to the space, and a keycard. Everything I'm going to mention here typically happens on a Tuesday night, though it can happen any time we have 11 vetted members and a Director present. If you are getting vetted on a Tuesday, please try to find a Director as soon as you get here, as this process can take some time. To be vetted, you need to tick a few boxes: - You must be sponsored by 2 vetted members in good standing. - You must have been a member for at least 4 weeks. - You must be current on your dues. - You must show ID and provide a photo for the member directory. - You must complete a short 1-on-1 chat with a Director or designate. This is about making sure you have the knowledge you need from us - it's not a screening interview. - You should also be given an in-person tour of the space, including opening and closing procedures. Once you've been vetted, you can request a key from the Portal and get your access. Find a shelf and put your name on it, and start voting at Monthly Member Meetings. Bigger Decisions ---------------- Remember the "11 vetted members" thing? We call that "Quorum" and it's the amount of vetted members we need to make any sort of organizational decision, whether it is accepting a new member or purchasing a new tool. We have scheduled Monthly Member Meetings on the third week of every month (it alternates days: Thursdays on odd months, Wednesdays on even months) at 7pm, and our Annual General Meeting in June. You can also be vetted on these days. These meetings are where all our bigger decisions get made, including whether or not to move the next meeting, so please check the calendar in the wiki or the forum to make sure they haven't moved, or, better yet, attend and stay in the loop. Vetted members are able make motions for new policies or purchases but these must be posted on the forum *at least* 72 before the meeting. This lets us discuss any issues with it before the meeting and hopefully has us closer to a consensus. Motions are then voted on with a yes, no, or abstention, and require a 75% approval to pass. Sometimes the motion is not specific enough to pass, at which point it is deferred to a small group of people with relevant expertise and enthusiasm to hone and make a more concrete decision on. The board of directors is voted in the same way, but exclusively at the Annual General Meeting. Participating in Decision-making -------------------------------- Most of the debate regarding decisions happens on the forum. It's where people post motions and discuss general interests even before ideas get formed to the point that a motion comes together. If there's something you'd like to see but don't, that's a good place to start. If you're knowledgeable about something that gets deferred at a Member's Meeting, you can probably also join the group of people entrusted in honing the motion. If you don't feel strongly about something or wouldn't actually use the thing being discussed, weighing in may be counter-productive. Remember that we are a Do-ocracy and arguing whether A is better than B when neither affect you can just make things more complicated for the people who just want to do the thing. And, of course, come to the Member's Meetings and vote. To Finish Off ------------- I touched on this before, but we don't have a cleaning staff, so please, clean up after yourself for both courtesy and safety reasons. In addition, the 3rd Saturday of every month is the Monthly Group Clean. Areas to be cleaned and a Clean Leader are usually discussed at the preceding member's meeting. It generally runs from about 10am to 2pm, and lunch is provided. And again, I really do want to stress that we want everyone to feel welcome here. In a shared space with this many people that depends on people being excellent to each other. Treat others as you'd like to be treated, and if you're trying to find out something out about this place I haven't covered, check the wiki or the forum, or ask around. Most of us are friendly most of the time.