Samara's Membership Protocol

Samara is an open and decentralized member organization. There are no bosses and no hierarchies (in a traditional sense), Samara evolves on an evolutionary scale —when the time is right, new people and new ideas will appear. You can step into Samara, join a quest, hold onto a role, adjust your commitment and step out at any time. 

The journey with Samara begins as a Guest, followed by an Apprenticeship, then a Fellowship and cumulates with the Samara Council. Each of these stages is rewarded with a "badge" (link) that members can apply to when the time has come and the criteria have been fulfilled. Criteria for badges are constantly evolving and we encourage new members to check-in with us how you can earn your badge. The opening flower symbolises the journey of unfolding and contributing to Samara's purpose. 

Even before getting to know Samara and becoming a member, you are automatically Guest. Samara welcomes, hosts and honours all Guests. You may decide to only stay for a little while, but we want to embrace you with the resources, conversations and tools you need to sense whether you would like to make a home here. Guests are welcomed, hosted, and honoured. While they may decide to only stay for a little, we want to embrace them with the resources, conversations, and tools they need to sense whether they would like Samara to become their home too. You may also sense a mutually beneficial collaboration which you could frame as a quest once you understand the values and principles of what is expected and celebrated in Samara. They are not official members with the ability to vote in DHO decisions or receive compensation, but they are listened to in open forums and have access to our conversation spaces (Discord, Loomio) and knowledge gardens (Miro, Google Docs, Wiki, etc.). They are welcome to apply for membership via the apprentice badge after an onboarding call. We suggest reading this book and joining a Trunk call as the best first steps when learning about Samara. The Roots and Branches calls can be more demanding and will make more sense when you have learnt more about what we do here. An outsiders perspective once you understand enough of what we're doing is highly valued. 

Apprentices are official Samara Members, with access to the DHO and the ability to vote and propose or participate in quests. As an apprentice you are an official Samara Member, with access to the DHO. You can vote and propose or participate in quests. As newcomers, they will receive their first Samara Voice tokens along with their Apprentice Badge after completing the onboarding process. Relative to longstanding members, they will have little Voice, however they can quickly earn compensation and more voice tokens by participating in trainings (e.g. Scribe Training: taking notes on calls, disseminating notes and content after calls, and tending our knowledge gardens). These trainings are designed to provide them the skills and organizational norms that can help them steward Samara as they consider the best way to contribute.

Really love this way of introducing and framing the training and purposes of it. - BW

Don't have time to do it myself now, but reading this in first person directed at reader and editing for plain english and shorter sentences makes the content even more powerful.  Could get round to it later in the week if you wanted me to, but obviously better from you if it makes sense and you like the idea. Have added a couple of examples ;) - BW

Apprentices can propose quests/roles for acceptance by Samara, or they can apply to join existing quests/roles. Once their commitment is approved by Samara, Apprentices receive their Fellow Badge, along with a Voice bonus. 

New concept added here ^. Seems Samara DHO would want to vote to approve that an Apprentice can join a Quest, right? Wouldn't want someone being able to sign up for any quest/role just because they're an apprentice. - Tyler

Agree with suggested concept 1 could lead to disappointment or assumption otherwise - BW

New concept #2 - Does Fellow Badge come with a Voice Bonus too? Or does voice just come from Apprentice Badge (compensation for Onboarding Call), Council Badge, and then voice earned through contributions? I'd like the former (can be small - but symbolically important) - Tyler 

In truth, while voice is numbered the significance is in how this changes proportions, just like Samara tokens (until the point where they can be traded with a fixed rate currency/much wider distribution of spendable tokens). With this in mind I also prefer the former suggestion of Fellow Badge coming with voice bonus as suggested below with a trial to see effect and a plan to change on review based on observations of what is best for the org - Bongi

Fellows are actively participating in quest(s) or holding role(s), and will often be seen Lamplighting pods/circles, facilitating, and working on immediate deliverables while envisioning future quests and directions for Samara. Fellows may be committed to Samara for just a month or indefinitely. 

Council Members are celebrated by Samara for their wisdom, and thus offered additional voice and recognition after an official acceptance vote in the DHO. They may have been long-term fellows who demonstrated their excellence through previous contributions, or they may be trusted newcomers coming to Samara to play a strategic advising role for a limited time. Council status and its associated Voice bonus can be granted indefinitely or for a specific period of time, subject to renewal. Council Members may or may not hold an active quest commitment or role. 

Alumni are members who have stepped away from actively contributing to Samara. In gratitude for their service, and in open invitation to return if they ever desire, they are kept connected to Samara through regular updates, requests for strategic input, and events. 

If we are awarding Voice Bonus for each Badge, need governance to have that factored in. Seems it would always be a relative value - eg.

Apprentice Voice Bonus = (Median Samara Member Voice) * 1% 

Fellow Voice Bonus = (Median Samara Member Voice) * 5% 

Council Voice Bonus = (Median Samara Member Voice) *25%

(Haven't thought too hard about these formulas, just a structural suggestion) -Tyler

I would propose a series of tests where bonus % are changed within a suggested range and all members observe at the end how the numbers changed relative to the commitment and agreed contributions. Would also suggest a limit on the proportion of the total voice any one member can hold at any one time. Seeds and Hypha have this (0-100) although I don't know exactly how it works yet. As more people join these numbers could do funny things and while value in, value out should be the main principle however welcoming we are if only a small handfull or one person in particular end up having a severely disproportionate chunk of the total voice I see this as a risk which would discourage new members and make Samara suffer disillusionment/apathy due to structure. Added changes above - BW  

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Copied from the previous Contributions to Samara page

How people contribute to Samara seems to be missing. There is a connection to be made with the membership part, maybe add this piece there or keep it separate and reference the membership and the Archetypes. (irina)

Agree - JS

For Tyler: Any thoughts on how to connect this with membership? - irina

Suggested Member Journey

Everyone starts with a Quest before going into a long term typical Contribution!

1. Apply for /design a quest to add value to Samara and execute it.

Samara designs these quests. An individual can also come up with a quest to meet a perceived need and propose it. On application create some Objectives and Key Results (OKR’s) for the quest about what you expect to do. 

1. Claim reward

When the quest is over and you’re seeking compensation, report on the previous OKR’s and what was actually accomplished and claim your reward.