[D-Space] Introduction and a few thoughts

[Chris Baxter]

Hi everyone, i'm Chris. I'm a small-time computer programmer, working on a
project called Loaded Reports.

I've been lurking on this list for about a week, trying to get an idea of
how people see this going forward, so i thought i'd pitch in with a few
thoughts.

My first though is that we should be aiming to get more people financially
involved before moving ahead. I think we need to get a bank account and be
actively hassling people to donate, preferably with a weekly automatic
payment. We don't need to be incorporated or a charitable trust at this
stage, all we need is a pledge along the lines of: "Any money donated will
be used for setting up a Space in dunedin, and if it goes pear shaped, then
we'll donate all money in that account to <insert_charity_here>"

There are a number of reasons for this:
1: First off, it'll help make sure we can pay the rent!

2: Secondly, it's one thing to say "Yeah, that's a good idea", but it's
another to actually fork over hard earned cash for it. By asking people to
contribute materially, we get a better idea of the number of people who will
actually be using and contributing to the space once it's opened. Also, by
doing it before we sign up for a lease, we get a better idea of how big a
space we'll actually need.

3: If the idea is to have the Space owned by the members, and therefore,
presumably run democratically, then getting early buy-in from members
is essential to foster that sense of ownership. The trouble with having a
small number of people taking the risks setting up the Space is they can
dominate the decision making process down the track.


My second thought is that there are a heap of community buildings that might
be used. There's community house, which can be used for meetings. The Corso
building on Moray place (although it does smell strongly of weed), and
probably a dozens other buildings that i've never heard of. Not to mention
that we're still in a recession, so there's a heap of buildings for lease
around town that could be used.
If we work at trying to get other community groups involved, or at least
passing the word along to their members, then there's a good chance that
other buildings will show up - like they say, it's not what you know, but
who you know".

anyway, just my 2 cents


--chris