Our space is an ever changing work-in-progress so we didn¹t want to spell out too many terms if things could change later. Hours change. Services change. Our tour and interview pretty much lays out the community side of the space and the ³don¹t be an A$$hole² if you want to feel comfortable here part.
We needed some sort of contract per our lease. Later, our insurance company smiled upon it as well. The basics are simply 1. Don¹t do anything illegal here 2. Don¹t fall down the stairs. Or if you do, it¹s not our fault. 3. Don¹t blame us if somebody takes your computer. 4. Confidentiality. There¹s other legalese in there, but those are the main points and nobody has ever cared to argue with us over the fine points. It¹s two pages long. It looks official. Folks sign it. Our lawyer, insurance company, and landlord are happy. They go into a file drawer. Actually, given the work that folks do here, the confidentiality point is quite important to people, and to some organizations we work with, and pointing it out in our master agreement seems to make people more comfortable working here. We frame it in a mutual respect way when explaining why it¹s there. Issues like abuse of network resources, printers, etc. have been dealt with via the member community and settled at happy hour. ³I¹m sorry I hogged the printer. Have another marguerite on me.² It happens. Nobody seems shy about sharing their opinions here. The community grows. I hope this helps. If you have any questions, send them our way. Derek Suite133 Tacoma, WA On 2/21/08 11:59 AM, "Alex Hillman" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > This is a case by case basis. Generally speaking, a "don't be an a$$hole" > clause covers most issues. > > This goes back to the core values of coworking, the pillar of which is > community. A community breeds respect, and when members/users respect one > another as well as the space they spend all of their time in, they simply > *know better*. This is the sort of thing you can sort out in your interview > process as well. > > It's simply my (and others) opinion that keeping things low to the ground and > "casual, but understanding" is mostly in tune with the ethos of what goes on. > > Again. Case by case, and do what makes the most sense for your space and your > members. Just our (IndyHall and my own) 2 cents. > > -Alex, IndyHall, Philadelphia > > On Thu, Feb 21, 2008 at 2:36 PM, davidmoffitt <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >> >> The only stuff I'm spelling out specifically is my contractual >> obligations of what's provided (internet, power, when and where >> stuff). While I _am_ running my membership agreement by a lawyer, >> it's going to be very specific only on things like usage (hours, >> amenities) and vague / loose / flexible / open-to-interpretation on >> the whole ethical deal. I won't spell out "and doing XYZ will result >> in you being asked to leave" but simply reserve the right to make a >> judgement call. It's a common space, but MY space at the end of the >> day. I won't "rule with an iron fist" but I also see no real need for >> "rules" to begin with - common sense will prevail and if not, those >> without it won't be around :) This even extends to the 'net thing - >> people will be asked not to BitTorrent and the defaults blocked, >> doesn't mean they couldn't disobey that or work around it, but on the >> other hand, if it doesn't rack up a huge bandwidth bill or interfere >> with other's usage of the space / network / etc it shouldn't matter. >> If you accidentally left your client downloading something when you >> left home and it pops up when you wake your laptop I'm not gonna come >> running and screaming if you get my drift :) >> >> -dm >> >> On Feb 21, 1:26 pm, J2M <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >>> > I know there was a discussion on this a while ago, but I am trying to >>> > work out what to do here as the numbers grow. >>> > >>> > I think we need to get something in place that acts as an agreement >>> > with our regular coworkers but don't want some onerous legalspeak >>> > document but rather something that embodies the attitude and ethos >>> > whilst ensuring people are clear about things like security and abuse >>> > of wifi etc. >>> > >>> > What do other coworking sites do? >>> > >>> > Thanks >>> > James >> >> > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Coworking" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
