protovac/info.txt

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.