Wallet-Card

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Purpose[edit]

A wallet card given to all newbies, with both sides printed with Noisebridge essential usage guidelines, including cleanliness, conflict-resolution, meeting schedule, noise and music, alcohol, weapons/violence, "Be excellent to each other" at the top.


Most content will be pulled from the Guidelines and Community_Standards pages. For ease, I've embedded those two pages here, to be cut down drastically.


PLEASE HACK THE TEXT BELOW until it's succinct enough to fit on a wallet card. This will involve reducing verbiage to bullet-points, and eliminating all but the most crucial items.


Suggestion: actually, do a half-page version first, to put half-page printouts near front door. So we'd have two versions: half-page, and wallet-card.


"Crucial" should be determined partly by recurring problems in the space.


  • suggestion, give a standard card to everyone, but provide a template for those who want to print one with their name on it (esp for members).
  • vistaprint does NOT allow custom art/layout on free cards, but other free printers do.
  • all services charge shipping (usu $5). would be nice if NB had a working printer. another option is Fed Ex printer, which is $7 for 50 cards (on their printing kiosk)

=

General Intent[edit]

Noisebridge's Vision eschews the use of rules, which is why these are guidelines. Historically, the membership has noticed that certain actions are good for the space and other actions cause problems. This is a list of guidelines to help you determine whether something you're considering is a good idea.

We're not Wikipedia, but many ideas here are explained much more articulately in Wikipedia's list of key policies and guidelines, especially the ideas that it's not a bureaucracy, that it operates on the basis of consensus, and that ultimately, Wikipedia users can ignore rules that don't apply to them.

Antandrus's observations on Wikipedia behavior has some key insights into what makes people tick in a self-organizing group of people like Wikipedia, and many of those insights also apply to the people who are part of the greater Noisebridge community.

The List[edit]

  • Talk to people and make friends. Part of the point of Noisebridge is interpersonal interaction, and we want to meet you and learn about whatever cool project you're working on. It's amazing how often random discussions between people at Noisebridge have turned into things that show up on the world stage.
  • On the other hand, do be sensitive to people's desire to stop talking and start hacking. If someone starts looking away, returning to their laptop or project, or begins walking away, consider that you might be the Nth person to strike up a conversation with them, and they may want to actually get something done.
  • Don't sleep at Noisebridge. It's an anti-pattern. If money is a problem, have a look at our page of starving hacker resources for ways to get around and crash if you're short on cash.
  • Pull your own weight. We don't have housekeeping service, so clean up after yourself and put things away when you're done. In fact, you're going to get a lot of good karma by tidying up twice the amount of space you use on a regular basis.
  • If you find yourself having to explain something in the space more than once, you should probably label it.
  • If you can't throw something away in a full garbage can, you should probably empty it.
  • If you see someone being awesome or something which is awesome, it's awesome in turn to sing its praises. Motivation is a rare commodity among us and a compliment here and there can work wonders in terms of creating more of it. We have a Noticeboard of Excellence by the door which is a good place to leave a semi-permanent thankyou.
  • Bringing minors to Noisebridge might result in them being exposed to ideas outside of your control, and you probably shouldn't bring them if that's going to be a problem.
  • Bringing pets hasn't historically been a serious problem, since we have a pretty big space and allergic folks can usually relocate. You should still ask around and meet people to find out, though!
  • Don't bittorrent from the space, it causes lots of problems for other people trying to use the network. We've also gotten DMCA notices about people snarfing copyrighted content using our links and they're very annoying and unexcellent. Please don't download copyrighted content illegally using our Internet links.
  • If you're going to smoke, smoke on the fire escape ledge or downstairs on the sidewalk. The space isn't really designed with smokers in mind, and it's irritating to some people.
  • At least one Noisebridge member is seriously allergic to marijuana smoke, so please don't smoke it in the space or nearby.
  • Don't talk about politics or religion if you want to avoid conflict. Noisebridge attracts a certain kind of personality that gets irate when they suspect someone thinks they're wrong, and even mentioning you support a different political or religious group than them can really push their buttons if they're having a bad day.
  • Going on the roof is almost certainly a violation of our lease agreement. It also causes leaks, and in the past a leak destroyed some irreplaceable artwork belonging to a member. Don't go up there without talking to someone who knows about the lease details.
  • Taking stuff from the space temporarily without leaving a note with your contact info is a surefire way to cause problems. Taking stuff permanently, even if everyone agrees it needs to go, can cause tax issues which you should bring up at the weekly meetings.
  • Please ask before playing music through the public audio systems, especially if people are quietly enjoying the space.
  • Try to keep infodumps to new acquaintances to under a few minutes. Many people at Noisebridge are walking libraries on their field of expertise, but no one likes being fed a textbook through their ears.
  • Do not do anything at Noisebridge or involving Noisebridge which could affect a political campaign, express or implied, incumbent or not. While not illegal, it is grounds for the IRS to revoke our tax exempt status, no exceptions.
  • Noisebridge must not be involved in anything which could affect federal legislation, with certain limited exemptions. Talk to the officers of the corporation for guidance if you are unsure whether your proposed activities will be exempt or not.

== This page exists to to provide an insight into our shifting morass of community standards. These principles and standards are not the Consensus of Noisebridge, and anyone can edit this page at any time. Hopefully, the community can ensure that this page continues to reflect what we think.

The only hard and fast rule of Noisebridge is be excellent to each other. Everything else is dicta.

Purpose[edit]

  • Noisebridge is a place for hacking, hackers, and learning to hack.
  • Noisebridge operates by do-ocracy and consensus.
  • The Noisebridge Vision describes what we are for, and what we are about.

Disagreement[edit]

  • If you disagree with your fellow hacker it would be excellent to work out your differences with them.
  • If you cannot work out your differences one-on-one, it would be excellent to work out your differences through mediation.

Entrance and Membership[edit]

  • You do not need to be a member to hack at Noisebridge or participate in the community here.
  • It is not excellent to admit someone to Noisebridge unless you are willing to take responsibility for their actions here.
  • It is not excellent to use the resources of Noisebridge unless you are hacking or trying to actively participate in the community
  • You can attempt to become a member of Noisebridge as described on the membership page.

Conflict and Emergency[edit]

  • Conflict_Resolution
  • We want Noisebridge to be a welcoming experience for everyone who visits.
  • Please respect your fellow hackers by not disparaging them based on unfair grounds such as race, gender, sexual orientation, and disability; and by not making uninvited sexual comments toward others.
  • If someone asks you to leave them alone or to otherwise stop a behavior that is directed toward them, please do so. Continued unwanted behavior directed toward another person is Harassment.
  • People who harass others or cause multiple complaints of disrespectful behavior may be asked to leave.
    • It is excellent to do-ocratically remove someone who is disrupting Noisebridge, or dangerous.
      • If someone asks you to leave, it is generally better to leave and return at the next Tuesday meeting than to refuse to leave.
      • If you remove someone like this, you should email noisebridge-discuss, and raise it at the next meeting.
      • If someone is removed from the space like this, they shouldn't return to the space except to work out the issue that resulted in their removal, either through mediation, or by attending the weekly meetings.

Do Not Want[edit]

Why Publish These Standards[edit]

It is important for regular users of the space to be aware of the purpose of Noisebridge. If people want to use the space and have no interest in or respect for hacking, this does not mean they are automatically unwelcome at Noisebridge, but they should thoroughly understand that their use of the space is tangential to its purpose and at the discretion of the membership and other stakeholders.