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A note from Ivan
The Company is a community built around curiosity and creativity, and for our first year it was a bit of an experiment. A culture emerged as a result of the practices, rhythms, and people who chose to be involved.
Throughout that time, many of us observed how hard it was to describe this place to other people, often arriving at the conclusion that they just had to experience it for themselves.
That’s still true in many ways, but as we’ve grown, the major elements of our culture feel pretty well-baked, or cured, or settled. There is a way that most of us relate, that we’d like to preserve, and we’d like have more explicit commitments from members toward maintaining that culture.
Additionally, in our first year, we didn’t outline what was considered unacceptable behavior, or our expectations for how to resolve conflict. We are now adding this.
A goal for us with The Company is to accommodate the specific needs and desires of the specific people here. While we are ultimately managed by Livvy, Norton, and me, we want to skew communal, and this carries over into transparency about our decisions and an openness to hear questions and feedback. This place isn’t built from a template—it’s built from the idiosyncrasies of the people in it, and we’re grateful for your support in this.
This document, like this community, is in the making.
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Creative and curious people
The Company is an indie, member-supported gathering place for a close and porous group of people, organized around curiosity and creativity. We host regular events where we create, move, discuss, tell stories, present about fascinations, and share what we’ve been making.
See also: Visions
The following commitments are intended to help us codify our favorite parts of the culture that has emerged here at The Company, while leaving room for growth. These commitments reflect the practices of the people already here, and we will ask new members to agree to them.
We share a space, with shared tools and shared toys. Care for these things as if they belonged to a dear friend, because they do. Put things back where you found them, clean up after yourself, ask questions when you don’t know, and look for ways to help out or areas that could benefit from your applied skills and energy.
Care for the people here. We can’t be a community for everyone, but we can turn our time and attention to the people here with us now. This applies in the moment and over time. We care for each other with kindness and friendship, and also by expressing and respecting boundaries: physical, emotional, and attentional boundaries. Consider how your actions will affect others. Be mindful of your particular relationship with each particular individual: what’s appropriate with one person might not be appropriate with another. We commit to trying to make this space safe, comfortable, and delightful for those who join us.
We want to be close, and not closed. If we have a good thing here, people need a way in. Go out of your way to welcome visitors to the space and help them feel at home. Look for opportunities to let others (visitors and other members) express their views, share their skills, and make contributions.
Welcome eclecticism. We value difference. We believe it is a stronger community when people disagree, when not everybody likes each other, and we stick together anyway.
Be curious about ideas and people, and support other people’s curiosity.
Ask about others and the space. Instead of assuming, be curious about motives, identity, knowledge, experiences, and how things are used and stored. Be curious about helping, about changing things, and if someone expresses a hurt or a need, be curious about why. Be curious when giving and when given feedback.
Conflict is inevitable in a community like ours—where we actively value difference and eclecticism.