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