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Kosplora

Routes What makes a recurring gathering outlive its founder?

What makes a recurring gathering outlive its founder?

understand + organize · 2h30m alone, 60m together · 6 stations · 3 sources, every one dated

For anyone who hosts something, or wants to stop being indispensable to it.

kosplora-route/0.1 · by Bentley Moon

What would change this route

A gathering that has survived two founder departures with no written agreements and no informal center of power would weaken station 1's premise; the route would take it in as a study case rather than argue around it.

The whole route, before you start

  1. 1 · orient · 35mRead the classic argument that groups without formal structure still have structure, just hidden and unaccountable.
  2. 2 · source · 40mRead the design principles drawn from commons that lasted centuries, and mark the three that could apply to a weekly gathering.
  3. 3 · person · 40mSpeak with someone who has hosted a recurring gathering for two years or more, and with someone who let one end.
  4. 4 · counterpoint · 20mState the strongest case that writing the structure down would kill what makes the gathering worth attending.
  5. 5 · make · 45mWrite a one-page continuity plan for a real gathering: what is actually agreed, who else can host, what money or space depends on one person, and what would dissolve it on purpose rather than by neglect.
  6. 6 · reflect · 15mShow the plan to one regular attendee.

Optional study preferences. These stay in this browser and do not change the route’s steps.

Station 1 · orient · 35m

Read the classic argument that groups without formal structure still have structure, just hidden and unaccountable.

The Tyranny of Structurelessness · Jo Freeman · 1972

Station 2 · source · 40m

Read the design principles drawn from commons that lasted centuries, and mark the three that could apply to a weekly gathering.

Governing the Commons, the design principles for long-enduring institutions · Elinor Ostrom · 1990

Station 3 · person · 40m

Speak with someone who has hosted a recurring gathering for two years or more, and with someone who let one end. Ask both what was never written down.

Station 4 · counterpoint · 20m

State the strongest case that writing the structure down would kill what makes the gathering worth attending.

The Utopia of Rules · David Graeber · 2015

Station 5 · make · 45m

Write a one-page continuity plan for a real gathering: what is actually agreed, who else can host, what money or space depends on one person, and what would dissolve it on purpose rather than by neglect.

Station 6 · reflect · 15m

Show the plan to one regular attendee. Record what they corrected and what stays unresolved.

What you leave with

A one-page continuity plan the gathering can adopt, amend, or refuse.

The standard it is checked against

No published standard is named for this route yet. Its finished work is for you to keep and share.

When you are done