False Profit and community work

In an extremely roundabout way (craft link to laser-cut wedding dress, link to offbeat bride, read an interview, googled the company), I found out about a community organization called False Profit LLC. They have a very simple writeup of their process that I found to be soothing, which is not a common feeling for me when it comes to community work lately. Here's the link: http://www.false-profit.com/

And in case that link ever dies, here's the information:

False Profit, LLC began in 2001 when a group of friends moved into a warehouse in SOMA. The False Profit community sprang to life soon after, and we learned a lot from those who came before us in the quest to have fun at a large scale without needing to pay ourselves. Over the years, we’ve figured out some things that work for us.

Practices

Consensus

Everyone has to agree to go along with a decisions of the group. Otherwise, it’s not a decision of the group. This is time-consuming, but you can get better at it. We ask each other the question, “Can we live with this?”

Meritocracy

The people doing the hard work have more of a say. If you want to call the shots, you have to pull the weight.

Transparency

Document everything (meetings, contact info, budgets, ideas) on wikis. Keep accurate books, and tell everyone involved where the money went.

Eating Together

It’s a basic human bonding thing. Sharing food with people makes you like and trust them more.

Process

1. One or more people have an idea they want to produce
2. They work out some specifics and share the idea with the wider group
3. Individuals take on roles and responsibilities as needed to make it happen
4. These task leaders organize the materials and help they need for their task
5. Along the way, we share and document information using wikis and email lists
6. We produce killer events for the fun of it and reinvest any profits
7. The next time around, different people can take on different roles