[GSBN] GSBN's future structure

Fri Feb 28 17:20:29 UTC 2014

I agree with Derek. 

I have just been made a co-director of Earth Building UK and we are grappling with how to get discussions of substance going among our members. It's very nice to see the photo of the cob oven in the back garden, but I want to know how to convince my building control officer to let my client build a 1500 sq. ft. earthen home.

I have been citing GSBN as a really valuable tool in my working life to the other directors. They want me to show examples of threads on GSBN at our meeting next week. So I find it really interesting that GSBN is questioning the efficacy of the system.

As an aside (and I hope this doesn't hijack your thread - Derek, clarifying that this is the GSBN's Future Structure thread) - there seem to be quite a few earthy experts here. Is there a global earth building network? If not, would people see value in that? 

I have been thinking about why there is so little engagement with forums on the Earth Building UK website and I wonder is it because the British can be quite shy and/or polite. Looking at some of the great GSBN debates - people are not afraid to get stuck in, but the majority seem to be from the US, Canada, down-under and certain parts of Europe. The British seem to keep their thoughts to themselves - or am I completely wrong on that and stereotyping? I apologise if I am.

Anyway - I am thinking that if we get something up and running with Earth Building UK, we may need to invite global stakeholders, 1 - to get a broader pool of expertise and 2 - because you lot are not shy to raise and debate topics. So would any of you be interested (if something doesn't already exist)?

If you want answer the Earth Building side of this email, maybe start a new thread called "Earth Building". If you want to continue Derek's point, stick to this title (GSBN's future structure).

Back to Derek - I like this format, but I have only been on it for about a year or two, so I have not experienced a drop-off. But to be honest, I don't think I could cope with any higher volume of discussion passing through my inbox.

Regards

Féile Butler
MRIAI B.Arch Dip. Arch Conservation Grade III

Assigned Certifier 

Director of Earth Building UK

Mud and Wood

Grange Beg, Skreen, Co. Sligo, Ireland

T:  +353 (0) 71 930 0488 

M: +353 (0) 86 806 8382

E : feile at mudandwood.com

W: www.mudandwood.com

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Derek Stearns Roff 
  To: Global Straw Building Network 
  Sent: Friday, February 28, 2014 4:46 PM
  Subject: [GSBN] GSBN's future structure

  I've changed the subject line, to focus on the specific question of GSBNs future structure.  I'm finding it challenging to follow this topic mixed in with other questions.  

  I favor continuing GSBN as it is.  I think it serves a valuable and unique niche. Our members have differing needs, and GSBN serves some of those needs well.  In my view, we have created an important community on GSBN, that I want to maintain.  The fact that the list is quiet for weeks at a time is a virtue.  It allows important mutual support and high-level discussion on topics when needed, and isn't a burden during the rest of the time.  

  Facebook serves other needs and other forms of use.  The Strawbale list on Facebook has existed for I don't know how long- more than a year.  It has more than 1,100 members.  Some members of GSBN are on the Facebook SB list, and everyone could be, if they wanted to be.  But closing GSBN would not enhance the Facebook group, it would just eliminate the unique community that we have here.  You can't have this kind of community and interaction on a list with Facebook's level of traffic, member quantity, and mix of topics and postings.  Facebook is great for reaching a lot of people in a fairly superficial way.  That is important, but it isn't the only thing that is important.  GSBN is important too.  

  Derek

  On Feb 27, 2014, at 7:51 PM, Bill Christensen wrote:

    On 2/27/14 8:10 PM, Frank Tettemer wrote:

      Tony, that was a wake up for me.  I hadn't even considered Liz might not be on the list. And so I began to consider who else might not be on the list.

      In an effort to leave no stones unturned, I would like to nominate the following:

      Dawn Marie Smith

      Anna Wolfson

      Michael Henry

      Emily Rydell Niehaus

      I'd also like to apologize to any of the people, nominated above, who are reading this right now,

      because, they are already on this list!

      I just didn't know.

    Dawn and Emily are already here.

    Anna, Michael, and Liz Johndrow are not yet (or they're unidentified non-contributors at the moment).

    I'll need their email addresses or better still they can sign up by following the link at the bottom of http://sustainablesources.com/GSBN/, and then let me now and I can make them contributing members.

    Regarding the idea of combining lists:   I definitely support putting the bioenergy and SBRUs lists together.  It seems they've been redundant since shortly after the REPP list cratered for a while, SBRUs was created, and then REPP was reconstituted.

    The original reason for GSBN's existence was that those lists were bale-hammered on a regular basis by well meaning newbies.  Us old codgers (experience-wise, not necessarily chronologically) got tired of repeating the same answers again and again, and a bunch of the really knowledgeable old codgers got too busy working on codes and other big-picture stuff to wade into the fray often, if at all. GSBN became the place for 'higher level' discussions regarding the strawbale movement, techniques, etc.  And it has proven to work very well for that over the many years (since 1998 at least).

    If y'all are of a mind to open GSBN to everyone (and I know some of you have been for a fair while), or to combine it with some new SB überlist I'm cool with that too.  Opening to all just involves a couple clicks of my all-powerful mouse.  Combining lists can be a little more difficult (archive transfers and all that) but is not impossible.

    But I'd want to hear a decisive decision one way or the other from the majority of you.

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  Derek Roff
  derek at unm.edu

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