[tcmaker-announce] Hack Factory Etiquette

[Mike Hord]

Hello TCMakers-

This is a quick note to remind all of our members of the etiquette of our shared workspace.

Twin Cities Maker is a "do-ocracy".  The board is not here to give or withhold permission for
our members to do things, nor to try and organize events for the group.  Our role is to make
sure the rent gets paid, dues get collected, the calendar gets managed, class fees get
collected, etc.

If you want to see something happen, DO it.  If you want to teach a class, pick a date,
e-mail the board, and start preparing.  If you want to paint a mural on the blank walls in the
shop area, do it.  If something is disorganized and it bothers you, organize it.  We have a
reasonably well organized metalworking area because a couple of people wanted it done
and made it happen.  It's a good example of what we should strive for.

We're all grown-ups here and we all want to see this work.  Use your brain, don't do anything
that can't be undone (holes in walls, etc) or that jeopardizes the safety of others using the
space.  Nothing offensive (if you wouldn't want your grandmother to know you did it...), and
in the interest of peaceable coexistence, nothing political or religious.

The flip side of this, and what precipitated this note, is that we should be respectful of the
things others have done.  Twice now in the past couple of months someone has done
something to add a little character to the Hack Factory- the "Wall of Fame" and the
infamous saw blade in the wall.  Both times, someone came along after the fact and
undid them, removing the saw blade and painting over the Wall of Fame.

I don't know who undid these things and I don't want to know.  I do, however, want to
remind all of you that if this organization is going to work, this sort of passive-aggressive
power struggle must not become the standard way things happen.  If someone
does something or is working on something and it is not generally offensive or
dangerous, LEAVE IT ALONE.  Doing otherwise is going to result in a lot of hurt feelings
and bad blood, which is the sort of thing that could easily destroy our group.

Mike Hord
President, TCMaker