[sudo-discuss] membership reboot?

[Jehan Tremback]

Phil sums it up- some people just want an office, they provide that, at a
price competitive with other offices. Simple as that.


On Fri, Mar 28, 2014 at 6:29 PM, Eddie Che <eddiemill at gmail.com> wrote:

> ew, don' tripp - aren't there better coding to work on?
>
> Sudo Room is an open, non-hierarchical, collaborative community of
> humans, including tech developers, citizen scientists, activists,
> artists--and all combinations in between and beyond!--who are
> interested in and working towards social change. Our goal is to create
> the first inclusive, dedicated hackerspace in downtown Oakland, to
> share ideas and projects in citizen science, digital citizenship and
> literacy, environmental sustainability, community engagement, and
> self-government.
>
> Sudo Room is committed to access, empowerment, transparency, and
> public/social good. Sudoers have a great diversity of interests and we
> emphasize respect and solidarity among ourselves and with others.
>
> And from https://sudoroom.org/wiki/Articles_of_Association/Membership
>
>  Membership includes 24/7 access to the space with a personal access
> method, for example code and/or rfid. (Which is, minimum of 10
> "dollars" per month)
>
>     Unanimous consent
>
> Non-members can use the space as much as they want when other members
> are present, but cannot access the space when no members are there and
> have to leave when the last member leaves.
>
>     Discussion, mostly vibe-y
>
> To empower members to deal with problematic non-members, non-members
> can be thrown out at any time by a member if that members feels that
> the non-member is being a problem, _unless_ some other member present
> in the space is willing to vouch for the non-member as a guest.
> Non-members being asked to leave must be told that they can further
> discuss the incident at a Wednesday meeting or on the mailing list.
>
>     Discussion: Some way of logging the incident?
>
> Like some people went into the public school room and locked
> themselves in.... https://sudoroom.org/wiki/Sleepers
>
> SYNHAK Akron:
> We exist as a free public resource. If you have an idea that needs
> realized, it can happen at SYNHAK.
>
> Hackerspace Santa Barbara:
> After having tools stolen by a guest, they made it so that a guest has
> to leave when the last member does for the night. I went with my
> sleeping bag down the street a ways.
> IF YOU ARE STEALING TOOLS FROM A FREE TOOL SHOP YOU'RE DOING IT WRONG.
>
> Saw another one that was that they have 12 members who are financially
> soluble, and then encourage free users to come by and use the space.
> That they're set. ACCESSIBILITY
>
> Would be even better if one had a treehouse. Or develop the
> hackerspace to not have rent.
>
> https://sudoroom.org/wiki/Hacking_hackerspaces
>
> Alternative society: it's like this :
> https://soundcloud.com/nebulous-nymph
>
> It's like this: https://sudoroom.org/wiki/mesh -
> https://peoplesopen.net/ to get to free wifi for the people
>
> It's like this:
> http://www.ecobusinesslinks.com/communities_and_ecovillages/
>
> On 3/28/14, Phil Wolff <pwolff at gmail.com> wrote:
> > re: Impact Hub.
> >
> > I spent a month there, attended numerous events and spoke with the
> > organizers, room tenants, and members. My observations:
> >
> > It's a business.
> >
> > Like many for-good businesses, the Impact Hub adds a layer of societal
> > benefit to its for-profit bottom line. Others have described this but
> I'll
> > add that the Impact Hub Oakland is just a local component of an
> > international network of such spaces, each culturally adapted to the
> local
> > scene.
> >
> > Their landlord is independent from who they are or what they do (the way
> I
> > hope Sudo Room's is from ours).
> >
> > As to the prices, they are pricy if you make $12/hour. Not so much if you
> > bill $100/hour. They have to find a mix of paying customers that keep
> them
> > liquid. They probably make their monthly nut by renting out the fifteen+
> > private offices (there's a waiting list). For those flying solo, they
> offer
> > differential pricing to maximize revenue subject to capacity (if they
> could
> > fill the floor every day at $1000/day, they would; since they can't, they
> > sell some seats at $400/month, others for less).
> >
> > This is a real estate play. Their competitor is http://www.regus.comwhich
> > rents office space by the hour/day/week/month, no questions asked so long
> > as your corporate check clears. Impact Hub's advantage is that they pick
> > cheaper digs, offer fewer amenities, but still are a step up from
> meetings
> > at Farley's. And they come with a light veneer of social responsibility,
> > which matters to some people.
> >
> > As a place to dock and meet for work, it's a clean, well lighted place
> for
> > (mostly) free agents.
> >
> > Impact Hub is done for the next two years. They're full and now they have
> > to optimize for steady low-cost low-churn operations. They may have new
> > growth opportunity as their block is rebuilt with more retail, office,
> and
> > residential construction. But for now, they are baked.
> >
> > What can Sudo learn from them?
> >
> > *Business models can be put at the service of a higher cause. *
> >
> > For example, we might have (raised the money and built out the space and
> > rented the offices) so ongoing costs were covered. (Playing landlord.)
> But
> > our choices would differ: We'd likely recruit different office tenants,
> > define classes of membership according to our own expectations (full
> > sudoers who subscribe to and affirm our values vs. tenants vs. guests).
> > We'd provision the space differently, of course (more power-tool
> > friendly).
> >
> > *Small teams can run a huge space. *
> >
> > I think they started with three people and now have fewer than eight FTE,
> > including an event coordinator and AV/electrical guy. They are open more
> > than fourteen hours a day, seven days a week.
> >
> > *The External Community Layer is worth money. *
> >
> > They worked their professional, social, religious, and political networks
> > to forge ties between Impact Hub Oakland and hundreds of other groups.
> > Through reciprocity and trust-building they strengthened those ties. So
> > when it came time to Kickstart and then when it came time to move and
> > relaunch Uptown, their community rallied. They rallied because they felt
> > aligned and connected to the people and the cause.
> >
> >
> >
> > *The External Community != Internal Community*They are actively
> cultivating
> > their own in-house community among the people who show up frequently. For
> > now it is mostly social and collegial but it's the natural first step for
> > trust-building within the building.
> >
> > *People like to work at Ikea. *
> >
> > The place feels roomy, spare, very clean, coordinated, well lit, with
> fresh
> > coffee, lots of power outlets, reasonable Wi-Fi, and minimal noise (no
> cafe
> > Muzak). It has lots of nooks and crannies if the main floor doesn't suit
> > you. There are four small quiet "phone booth" rooms for taking noisy
> mobile
> > or video calls away from the quiet work areas. A conversation yurt. A
> > bungee cord hammock. A classroom big enough for thirty. Liberal use of
> > whiteboard paint, markers, and post-its. Two large configurable commons
> > areas; I've seen them rearranged for product launch parties, hackathons,
> > spirtual workshops, birthday parties.
> >
>
>
> --
> Eddie Miller, BU '10
> eddiemill at gmail.com | 440-935-5434
> Facebook.com/eddiemill | Twitter.com/eddiemill
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>
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