We are looking for new members to join our collective space, Varia. If you're here then you will know a bit about us already.
To learn more about the space, read here: <https://varia.zone/en/pages/about.html>.
Would you be curious to be a member of Varia? If so, could you share your interest with the whole Varia group by writing out your thoughts in an email to us.
We would like to know more about you, so could you introduce yourself (briefly) for those who don't know you yet, and respond to the following questions:
* Why would you like to be a Varia member?
* Do you have any activity/ies in mind that you want to develop within Varia?
* Is there any current Varia activity you would like to contribute to, or you have already contributed to?
* What does everyday technology mean to you?
Before writing, it is important to first have a look at some of our membership guidelines. They share expectations, tasks, roles and the ways in which we work together.
Varia members must be active in a workgroup (estimate: 1-2 hours a week, 4-8 hours a month), should be able to attend monthly member meetings (currently 1st Wednesday of the month, 19:30 - 21h), should pay the quarterly membership fees (currently €113.43 EUR), participate in the cleaning rota, and, should be based in Rotterdam or nearby in order to physically attend meetings and worksessions. The workgroups are currently Finance, Space, Infrastructure, Communication and Mediation. The language commonly spoken among members is English.
Members take care of the space, each other and visitors (for more info see our Code of Conduct - <https://varia.zone/en/pages/code-of-conduct.html>) We are committed to fostering a safe environment for people from traditionally under-represented groups. This means being mindful of our modes of interaction, but also to be proactive when unsafe situations arise. Each member has a key, can use the space and organise events, keeping in mind the collective aims of Varia and its surroundings.
The quarterly fee is currently used to pay for rent, bills, infrastructure and other collective needs.
We are currently 9 active members, who have a background in art, design, software studies, programming, music, cooking, teaching, massage, media theory.
New members would be joining in the collaborative running of Varia, developing or maintaining collective infrastructures (broadly understood), and bringing their perspective on everyday technology into play.
We do not accept current students as members.
To write to us, please send us an email by Thursday 1st June with the subject line [membership].
We will convene to make a collective decision on Wednesday 7th June and aim to get back to you within 2 weeks.
For Varia, the current culture of collaboration and sharing of the space is crucial, so full consensus is needed to accept new members.
Once we are in agreement, new members can join for an extended 'getting to know' period.
