Manual

LVL1 Quickstart

Guide to LVL1 culture

• Fun is the prime directive. Keep things fun.
  • All people like to be around things that are fun.
  • All people tend to avoid things and events that are not fun.
  • Therefore the best way to keep attendance and occupancy up is to keep things fun.
• Fair Warning: Using the collective 'we' can quickly get you deputized.
  • This is meant to be a playful way of avoiding 'diffusion of responsibility'. Sometimes when people say "We should _________!", what they really mean is "Someone besides myself should _________!"
  • Being deputized doesn't mean you have to do it yourself. But, it does mean you should lead the charge, find people to help you, and cajole them as necessary (free beer or home-baked cookies) to make it happen.
• When scheduling something; pick an arbitrary date to start negotiations, thereby avoiding arbitrary non-starting negotiations.
  • Sometimes the hardest part of organizing is finding the 'best' time to do it.
  • There is never a 'best time' that works for everyone.
  • Once a date is set, everything else quickly falls into place.
• The less rules the better. Don't try to solve problems we don't have.
  • We rely on a culture of openness, friendliness and mutual respect.
  • If you have a conflict with some aspect of the space or a member, we expect you to try and resolve it with the member on a personal level first. If that is not achievable, then find a Director to help mediate the conflict. Rule-making is a last resort approach for conflict resolution.
• Be excellent to each other.

Membership

• You don't need to be a LVL1 member to hang out with us at meetings and events! All are welcome to come and geek out with us. There's a common misperception that you should be a member before coming to these meetings. This is not true! At least 50% of these meeting attendees are not dues paying members and all of them are welcome. Most of those non-members have no intention of becoming dues paying members. That's fine! There's no pressure to become an official member! Official membership has some awesome benefits and we'd love to have you, but it's cool if you just want to hang out and geek out.

Becoming a LVL1 member

• Membership is $50 a month through an automatic paypal
• Membership gives you the following rights:
  • Voting Rights (direction and conflict resolution)
  • 24x7 access to space, you get a key
  • Access to all equipment owned, donated or loaned to LVL1
  • Ability to sponsor new members

Eligibility

Any person who has attended 4 LVL1 regular meetings and/or LVL1 workshops in the 3 months prior, if sponsored by an existing member and seconded by an existing member, shall become a member upon:

• Verification of a completed membership form by the Secretary, and
• Timely payment of dues as determined by the board of directors.

A member must also provide government-issued photo identification to at least two members of the board of directors at the time of payment of the first membership fee, and provide an electronic mail address for receiving official notice of members' meetings. Any person who does meet these requirements is a Full Member of LVL1.