Between Friday 27th and Monday 30th I got some news about the unMonastery final rush. Everything was, unfortunately, in oral form and in Italian. Posting it here in English for the purpose of keeping everyone in the loop.
[antonioelettrico] and his fellow Mimers confirm renovation work is underway in the building, to get new plumbing and a renovated heating system. Bathtubs have been removed and replaced with showers. The plumbing is being put in place for kitchens on both floors. Mimers have promised to post weekly or more frequent updates on how it's all going. The precise form (posts or community calls) is to be agreed with [Ben].
Rossella confirms Comitato Matera 2019 is happy transfering the entire unMonastery budget (save for the money already used up) to Edgeryders for the purpose of paying the unMonasterians' per diems, travel allowances and material allowances. The payment will likely be made in two tranches: one by January 31st, the other by March 31st. I am ok with this as long it is authorized by [AD_admin], who makes sure liability issues are out of the way and we don't get saddled with unduly administrative burden. Please [Ben] get in touch with him and agree on a way to do this. We might need some hack, like opening a separate bank account on which [Ben] is authorized to operate or something like that.
This also means we have clearance to write a letter of commitment to be signed by unMonasterians as we see fit. Rossella only asks that mention of Matera 2019 is made in it. For example, it would make sense to ask unMonasterians to reach out to the city through the MT2019 online community – which makes sense anyway.
There is a remaining issue that no one seems to be clear on: that is insurance. Maybe [Rita O] could investigate before we go live?
I definetely agree that using the Community MT2019 platform would be of great use to start grounding the different projects in Matera: indeed, skills in the Edgeryders community are fundamental for insightful feedback. However, it is as important to start working on ties with the locals starting from now. Language should not be an issue anymore, and I think - if asked nicely - some members of the community might even want to help out in translating selected projects.
If unMonastariens need some help to get around the MT2019 Community, I will be more than glad to show you around!
I agree to use the Community MT 2019 to explain the project and to recive some feedback.
What about some official conference in the beginning with Community MT 2019?
So every unmonk can in a short speach introduce his project and have a first contact with local people.
After that, What about a regular meeting (every 2 weeks or more?)? The unomonk can invite interested matera people to talk about his project, how it is evolved and to get any advices.
It’s like a coffe with the unmonk, maybe in the unmonastery or in some cafè.
[Marilena], this is a good idea. Not sure about a conference, but maybe a small ceremony would be nice. I wonder what [Bembo Davies] thinks about this?
The idea of bi-weekly gatherings to profile some aspect or another of the collective work/interface with the greater community is very much in discussion as our working model. The first one of these can indeed be a presentation of our good intentions. However, we don’t want to overwork the community connection before we have something tangible to offer. I suggest that our first interface meeting have some kind of remarkable form to elevate it above a round table presentation. I also suggest that the power of this first presentation will be amplified by the nature of the unMonkship culture on display – it is therefore such that our initial two week* auto-massage of each other will be the place to define which form this first presentation can take. The more warm, open and relaxed with each other and each other’s precious projects the better…
*the idea of dedicating the first two weeks to internal process has been discussed by Ben, Christiano and me and I think aired on at least one web-meeting. Of course, the inevitable practical things that need solving will occupy much of our initial time. (Sad to hear that the bathtubs are to be removed in favour of boring old showers - this sounds like Scandanavia.)
I’m thinking about it since the first meeting on unMonastery here in Matera. We need to keep in touch with Materani and let them understand the value of this experiment: I mean as more Materani as possible which doesn’t mean the ones that, like me, usually follow this kind of happenings in town.
The ceremony could be a nice idea but I’m afraid that it will attend the same 30-40 persons! Again, I think that the school can be a great way to share the project and make people talk about it. I was figuring out some meetings with students from high schools as well as also meetings with Associations in Matera: they’ll talk to other people about it, those people will talk to others and so on.
[Marilena] thank you for suggestions! Coffee as well as lunchs or dinners are certainly a good way to socialize but we first need to clarify the contents of the projects that will be developed.
Rossella agree with me, I’ll star working on it. what do you think?
