Things We’ve Learned #4 and Community Repair Day 5/31
May 29th, 2009 | by Matthew Wettergreen | Published in Caroline Updates, Features, Things We've Learned
Caroline Collective is really big. When we say Big we mean HUGE. The lot is 15,000 square feet, 6,000 square feet of it of are building, a couple thousand square feet of it landscaping and the rest is parking and common space. Bit by bit we’re slowing terraforming every square foot.
In the beginning we used an axe, tearing down walls, building new walls, tearing out carpet, sealing concrete, removing sheds, re-welding gates. Our construction crew worked efficiently and expediently to convert a dark and musty office building abandoned and in disrepair into a blank slate. There’s a wealth of pictures from several stages all completed in record time over the course of two months. Matthew’s set is here, a wealth of shots are available on the Caroline Collective Flickr Group.
The next step and one that continues to be addressed is using a scalpel to convert that blank slate into a functioning coworking space. Every weekend, we plug leaks, tear out fluorescents, garden, shop at IKEA, clean, paint, install fixtures and strategize inexpensive solutions. It’s daunting but over the course of a year in this 7-day-a-week job we’ve learned plumbing, electrical work, demolition, light construction, woodworking, painting, landscaping, horticulture, janitorial services, and interior design. We’re not trying to say that Caroline Collective is the Money Pit but the building is anywhere from 30 to 60 years old depending on where you’re standing.
While the majority of the heavy lifting has been completed by Ned and Matthew we’ve also learned that people love to get their hands dirty. When there’s fun decorating to be done we like to bring people into it. Our first painting day had around fifteen people who came for fun (and lemonade offered by @thebloggess‘ daughter) and were able to get our coworking space and several offices painted. That was also the day The Bloggess broke our shower. Seriously.
Our second Community Repair day will be this weekend, Sunday, May 31st from 11am til 2pm. We will be preparing for our one year anniversary by fixing all our leaks and putting a shine on things. Everyone is invited to stop by as we’ll need help hanging things, moving things, painting things, taking things apart, planting things and putting things together. Stop by between 11 and 2pm on Sunday May 31st. Simply bring your work clothes (and any plants if you have them) and we’ll provide food, drinks, paintbrushes, screwdrivers, hammers, and power tools!
The real lesson learned:
If a community is to use or benefit from a project, a space or an initiative then part ownership should be given to that community. This ownership can be physical or metaphysical and can be offered by incorporating input from the community or by giving the community members the opportunity to physically contribute to the project. The result of this ownership is an increase in the perceived worth of the project in the community’s eyes because of the added input or sweat equity. Additional benefits of opening up the mindshare are that new ideas come from the wisdom of crowds. Projects with large amounts of physical labor benefit from an averaging of the workload across the constituency who will use the space. Ownership bestows a pride in knowing that one’s individual contribution was part of something positive and larger but is also a buy-in to the accountability for the project shared among the faciliators and the members of the community. The community is more likely to use something that was built for them with their contributions than something erected in isolation and then handed the keys.
In the case of Caroline Collective’s maintenance and repairs, inviting the community in to help us complete them is helpful on many levels. First, it gives people the opportunity to indulge their inner handyman or to get crafty. Second, a community improvement day is a great community building exercise as it allows people from disparate backgrounds to share a common narrative. Third, it gives the community a glimpse of the incredible amount of work required to keep Caroline Collective open and functioning as a community resource every week.
