Meeting Notes 2014-04-16

Facilitator: Matt Scribe(lets) (note-taker[s]): tunabananas, juul, etc

Intros

Icebreaker question: What are three words that describe your future expectations of sudo room?

• jenny (tunabananas) - sudo space forever!!
• marc (juul) - hack the planet!
• yar - I don't know...
• scott - local fun robots
• ivan - write more code
• daniel - planet to hack
• francisco - hack the future
• noemie - a lot of sudo rooms
• matt - work but not
• steve - innovation community revolution
• chrisb -
• faust - interpellation manifestation revolution
• don't stop doing

New Members

• Francisco - has experience with noisebridge, enjoyed the food at the meeting ;)
  • Q: Any advice for sudo room, coming from the noisbridge community (maybe what to do or what not to do)
  • A: This coommunnity is really young and really different in many ways, the enthusiasm here is very contagious, good thing to have in any kind of organization. My suggestion is to not stop doing things, push forward, you know, initiative.

To-Do

http://pad.riseup.net/p/sudomtg Please review on your own, skipping review for meeting tonight:

• find accountant, file taxes [max emailing nobawc & selc]
• renew lease [waiting on landlord]
• get damn debit card number already
• Fix sudoroom.org/chat (irc on site)
• find new calendar app
• Clean up network wiring, upgrade to new Cisco switch [Daniel?]
• SeltzerCRM (website & door code) [jenny?]
• set up venmo [liberty?]
• Stripe [jenny]

Announcements

preferably NONE - important/urgent things only

Bug Bomb Discussion (25 min)

Responding to bug-bomb poison released by landlord

• half a dozen people in the common area
• george said "i'm setting off bug bombs, you have 5 minutes"
• he released the canisters with everybody still there
• elliot threw them in garbage cans
• george tried to fight him, fell down doing it (?)
• stories conflicted?
• witnesses keep promising to write it down and haven't
  • audio recordings?
• george trying to ban elliot (a sudo member) from the building
• there are photos of the bomb
• instructions say "leave 24 hours before reinhabiting space"
• legally needed 24 hours notice, not 5 minutes (?)
• several people were in the BAPS classroom and were not even informed
• people reporting skin irritations from being at sudo
• another version of the story:
  • george tried to grab trash can from elliot
  • george tripped doing that
  • there was no actual contact between george & elliot

Ed's written account

I understand the landlard entered the premises a couple of days ago and gave folks 5 minutes to evacuate before setting off several bug bombs. I'm pretty sure that kind of behavior is illegal without at least 24 hours notice. I haven't noticed much sign of non-landlord related vermin in the room, but I don't spend extended amounts of time at the space. When folks objected to this intrusion I understand that the landlord set off one or more foggers in a garbage can, which, of course, rather defeats the purpose, particularly since Elliot bravely (if perhaps foolishly) took the still fuming trash can outside, I hope he's OK. Anywho, I stopped by the room last night to drop off a bag of bread and hung around gabbing for 20-30 minutes and noticed that my exposed skin was burning & itching and my lungs felt weird. I think I suffered from contact dermatitis, I took a shower as soon as I got home and threw all of my clothes in the laundry hamper even though I'd only been wearing them for a week or two, but I'm still feeling a bit of intermittent tingling. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fogger Personally, I suspect that a fair amount of the hoopla over exposure to household chemicals is overblown, even neurotic is some cases, but given the landlord's cavalier and abusive actions I surmise that he may have visited during the middle of the night and set off a large number of TRFs. Now I'm beginning to see why so many sudoers are agitating for a change of venue. Cue the music:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVDo_Ub-s9U So if this has not been done yet, I recommend that all utensils and plates get washed and all surfaces get wiped down with a damp cloth. http://insects.answers.com/pest-control/diy-pest-control-how-to-use-a-bug-bomb

Clean Surfaces to Remove Residue
Upon returning to the area it is important to properly clean the pesticide residue from all major surfaces. Counter tops, especially those that encounter food, cookware, and/or dishes, should be wiped thoroughly with warm soapy water. Carpets and rugs should be vacuumed, as should any cloth furniture that was not covered prior to fogging the area. Bedcovers, pillows, and any clothing left out during the treatment should be washed with detergent and hot water. Wood and tile floors should be swept and mopped to prevent pesticide particles from being shuffled up into the air.

In the meantime, I suggest not using utensils, cups, plates, etc. without giving them a rinse first. ... Full email: https://lists.sudoroom.org/pipermail/sudo-discuss/2014-April/006008.html

Reasons to stay?

• • It's close to some peoples houses ;)?
  • Priority one: The individual safety of our members
  • Are there any alternative options?
  • not having to move twice in just a few months
• much better transit options in Uptown than off Temescal
• Safety and health should be top priority

Safety Vs. Convenience/Opportunities

• How long?
• "i think we should be leaving ASAP? If we can, we should."
• maybe we should leave even if the omni doesn't happen

Reboot

Sudo Reboot Plan (total: 35 min)

Review reboot so far (5 min)

cleaning

• cleaning happened
• people stopped before it was done
• tool area sucks
• CNC mill is fixed!
• radio room needs attention so other people can use it

fundraising

• "we should hold some workshops and charge for them"
  • who will do it?
• raise the Gittip to $420/wk
• still 4 days for $420 by 4/20
• outreach & messaging strategy? jenny will start this
  • make infrastructure more accessible and effective (digital and physical)
• more contributions to the global hackerspace community (open space iconography; labitrack inventory system, etc)

Assess opportunities (15 min)

• current space is too limited for current level of activity. it's about time for sudo space.
• greater output, visualizing the trajectory forward (like a calendar)
• descriptions of events on calendar should not be optional, same with contact point
• encourage refocusing on projects when in the space (over extended socializing)
• work on enabling easy access to essential tools
• encourage folks to write down what skills they have and what they want to make happen (steve)
  • user pages on the wiki have traditionally been used for this
  • will be solved by the magic of email threads
• find all of the sudo room people who don't know they're sudo room people yet
• fix & upgrade sudo's network
  • we need: One weekend. One or two people. One new beagle bone black.
  • yar can show you what's there, doesn't know shit about networking tho
  • "We can break it, together." - D.

Create draft collective plan of action (15 min)

Resolve dependencies:

• Omni
• Kicked out / new contract / move out?

The Omni & The Omni Collective (35 min)

The Omni Collective needs more help

• Yar puts out a call for help as Sudo's delegate.
  • New website, new pictures - mk30 has a good flickr set
  • http://www.omni-oakland.org/
  • One issue is that the omni mailing list is closed and not archived
  • Omni Wiki (password protection?)
    • Shouldn't we value "openness over closed, proprietary processes"
  • [omni-dev-public]
• omnicollective@lists.riseup.net / omnidelegates@lists.riseup.net

Proposal

• Omni Collective should only have a public list
• ALT: Omni Collective should only use the private list when absolutely necessary
• ALT: Omni Collective list should have open (if moderated) subscription.

Proposed potential move-in date: June 1

• Overview of 8th x Alice space
• yeah it's pretty awesome

Matt's Proposal

• In order to resolve all baseline issues with ending our current rent agreement and entering into a new one, this proposal suggests:
  • The Omni Collective finalize rental payment amounts for all members (with respect to and relative of deliniated private, public, and semi-private spaces of The Omni) in order to start collecting member collective rental contributions May 1 (early), building up money exclusively for a future lease's deposit or to each respective member collective's rental contributions (paid forward). ++
    • Omni Collective needs to move beyond the ambiguous "we're all friends" to more concrete terms of engagement
  • The Omni Collective offer the following terms to the landlord for a final lease contract:
    • 3-month move-out period for landlords from June - August
      • During this period, the Omni Collective's member collectives are permitted to move in to the space and use both private and public spaces as they are made available through the landlord move-out, so long as these tenant activities place no substantial burden on other activities in the building.
    • For the first 3 months (June - August), rent charge is waived
    • For the second 3 months (September - November) 50% rent is charged to promote final build-out of space.
    • Full rent is charged from month 7 (December) onward
    • Lease length: 2 years (June 2014 - June 2015)
• We're going to see this 3-6 month component as essential with negotiation tactics, will table for now, follow up after the next omni meeting and at the next sudo room meeting

Phil:

• Does our monthly nut also include collecting money for other likely expenses?
  • Cleaning service (daily, weekly, seasonal; inside, outside)
  • Paid OmniC employees (property manage
  • Reserves
    • vacancy self-insurance (for when tenants miss payments),
    • emergency repairs (like a broken elevator, leaky roof, toxic spills, plumbing, quake recovery),
    • longer term building/property improvements (accessibility plan,
• improving wiring and systems for higher power/data demands, upgrading kitchen to 21st century commercial standards, repaving of exterior walkways, painting/weatherproofing, industrial ventilation)
• What does buildout mean here?
  • Wheelchair accessibility: building a ramp, maybe an elevator
• Sudo is expected to share space with CCL, though this wasn't brought to sudo for formal consensus.
  • "Personally, I was thinking BSL1 on the floor with SR, relatively fluid access.... although all the common space usages of SR that might be the first images you think of, will be in the common space. There probably won't be any dogs and likely fewer guitars (for better or worse)."
• "I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by." -- Douglas Adams
• Delegation to attend next Omni meeting (April 24th):
  • Steve, Faust, Daniel, Matt, Jordan, Jenny, && you? (you are welcome, please join)
  • Smaller committee meetings

--> Location?:

• Nothing specifically has been decided wrt conflict resolution, though sudo's conlict resolution policy has been looked at for inspiration
• pictures of sudoroom's potential room:
  • https://twitter.com/sudoroom/status/447553118415228928
  • https://twitter.com/sudoroom/status/447553436108591105

Consensus Items

• Omni Collective should only have a public list
• ALT: Omni Collective should only use the private list when absolutely necessary
• ALT: Omni Collective list should have open (if moderated) subscription.

Improved proposals:

• Finalize space distribution (private, public, reservable space [eg; reserving the ballroom]) i.e. a map.
  • Joel (TIL) is putting together this map, to send out a version the collectives can iterate on
  • "Publish early and often", get a map, then interate.
• Share a financial pro forma with collective members
  • #1 or #2 priority from David's POV. It's together, but on a bunch of spreadsheets and changing all the time.
  • Per collective as well as omni collective costs - eg; standing funds, running expenses [utilities, property tax, insurance, etc;]
  • Standing fund growing as donations come in
  • Parking is an issue - help strategizing on this is welcome and encouraged
    • If we get insurance for the Omni Collective from Kelly S. Wright of State Farm, Matt will get a $10 or greater gift card for the referral! (The last one went to wood glue and krazy glue, inside the space now!)
• Formalize "deposits" and proposed monthly payments for collective members
• Collect first and last month payments and deposit from collective members starting May 1
• Agree on rules for shared space and how we deal with behavior of members between groups
  • Open question.
  • Andrew encourages folks to bring proposals directly to the Omni meetings, as the groups have demonstrated a remarkable ability to come to consensus on issues
    • Marc thinks this is because the really hard problems have yet to be tackled. Some people are feeling pressured as they don't have enough information available about the project.
• Propose changes to communication strategy in order to construct more shadow Omni meetings?
• Ask groups to itemize hard & soft requirements.
  • on a wiki.
  • Including e.g. minimum sqft, minimum ceiling height, need for sink, etc.
• Proposal: All events sliding scale down to $0
• How do we remove a collective? ^.^
  • There will be terms and conditions under which a collective would be made to leave
  • OmniC delegate consensus vote
  • See https://sudoroom.org/wiki/The_Omni/2014-04-03#Ratifying_Our_Foundational_Document
• Timeline, is June 1 reasonable?
  • Collectives aren't sure, looking at other options
  • Landlord has another prospective tenant, a theater company? that was hold that they won't get any information from the landlord until june 1.
    • NOTE: This doesn't mean we have to /move/ June 1, we have to sign /something/ June 1.
• Responsibility of the spokescouncil is to focus on building consensus among the collectives

Action Items

• Steve to start census of sudoers
• Jenny to propose outreach / messaging meeting (++ hack on infrastructure)
• Omni-Oakland.org needs help - better photos, wiki

After-Meeting Teamups

• outreach and accessibility (jenny)

Appendices

question/topic defining or identifying the 'aggressor' in a conflict is being spoken about as if it were a simple or thing to do, or even a reliable skill to learn or acquire. from personal experience i for one have not known this to be the case, and i do not think it should be assumed to be so in discussions aimed at determining protocol. concepts such as 'safe space,' or 'aggressor,' are easily compromised by the wary and/or sociopathic individual, a personality type the set of whose members overlaps not infrequently, if memory serves, with the members of the set of individuals likely to be hackerspace-friendly, computer-literate, and/or familiar with and skilled at collective philosophical, artistic, cyber-political, or socioeconomic networking in the 21c, Bay Area style