Hackerspace Design Patterns
From FamiLAB Wiki
Shortened list of hackerspaces.org's list of Design Patterns. Would look better as a list of 'dos' and 'donts'.
Contents
Independence Patterns
- choose a benevolent,but uninterested landlord and cool neighbours
- Guest are fine, but don’t let anyone live there
- that's for a housing co-op. some hackerspace members have been involved in housing coops and it is a valid idea. we are making a lab. if enough people get interested in a housing coop, it could happen.
- smaller, separate rooms. Use curtains or door
- Have a kitchen, and fridge. Nothing brings people together like cooking together.
- couches, sofas, comfortable chairs, tables, ashtrays, ambient light, stereo equipment, a projector, and video game consoles. no plants.
- bathroom with a shower
- Collect fees regularly. Make no exceptions, ever. Discounts for students. Have at least three months of rent on your account, all the time, no exceptions. Elect a totalitarian treasurer.
- Never ever depend your space on external sponsors.
Regularity Patterns
- Weekly meetings, have an agenda, set goals, keep minutes of the meeting
- Meet on Tuesdays.
- OpenChaos - Have a monthly, public, and open lecture, talk or workshop
- Recruit young people through a challenge you set up for them, in form of a course that spans several weeks. Overwhelm them,
- Peak enthusiasm at a hackerspace has the form of a sine curve with a cycle duration of four years. Don't give up.
Conflict Resolution Pattern
- Use the weekly plenum for discussion. Don’t take votes — discuss until everyone agrees.
- Use the weekly plenum for discussion. Do take votes — the strongest minority wins over the weaker minorities.
- Command - order people to do necessary tasks, like taking out trash and doing dishes. Participate yourself.
- Do not have ranks. Use leadership temporarily, like for projects and when you really need it.
- Responsibility - take pride in your volunteer work, if you can't handle it, hand it off to somebody.
- Learn from people with real political work. Learn not to interrupt others.
- Identify pointless discussion and just end them.
- deal with dissenters amicably
Creative Chaos Patterns
- Get rid of old hardware. Create a pile of old hardware. Announce the throwing away / sale of old hardware, three times, escalating.
- Hand out keys. Track who owns a key. Have a good lock. Collect deposit for the key. Or build an electronic system. (mag strip readers are cheep)
- Buy at least one pallet of Club-Mate and sell it in your hackerspace
