[TheThinkTank] attempting to rouse enthusiasm...

[Urban Bike Project of Wilmington, Inc.]

Hi Stephanie,

I saw that no one else had replied yet so I'll throw my 2 cents in the
collective pot...I don't know if your event has already passed but some
things to think about in the future.

In events that UBP has participated, "buy-in" from other organizations,
communitity groups and businesses is very, very important.  One of the best
ways to accomplish this is to work through existing events, especially if
you don't have a huge draw yourselves.  For example, UBP offers free bike
safety checks and parking at area bicycle races (in Wilmington that number
equals 2, haha) and any community fun day that will have us. Our first event
was offering safety checks at a small sustainability and healthy living fair
right around this time last year.  One year later we are now sharing a space
with one of the other vendors we met at that fair.  We may have only helped
2 people fix a bike all day but we made important contacts and generated a
lot of interest.  Make sure to capitalize on exposure you receive.  Always
have: Something small to hand people.  This should contain 1. what you're
about (bikes! fixing them cheap!) 2. how someone can help (donate a bike or
tools!) 3. contact info, phone number, email address or website.  I've found
that at busy events where you don't have time to chat with everyone simply
putting out an email signup sheet can generate a lot of names/people
interested in learning more.

*-i would love to hear how you introduced you vision of a community bicycle
shop to the people in your city
*We talked to everyone and I do mean everyone.  We talked to people who
couldn't care less about fixing bikes but were more than happy to have us
come pick up their kids' old bikes in the garage.  We talked to people we
were afraid of at the time (the Mayor, councilmen/women, people who run
multi million dollar corporations like our landlord) and people that just
wanted to know when they could come pick out a bike!  What did we say?
"There's a problem when a city of 75,000 doesn't have a bike shop so we're
out to help people get a cheap, reliable ride and increase the numbers and
safety of cyclists in the City.  We're always looking for people to run
workshops or collect donated bicycles, here's some contact info if you're
interested..."  I'm running on here but there is a tipping point in all
things, life, business etc, you may not think like you're getting very far
but one day a person that heard about you through their friends neighbors
cousin wants to offer you a space or donation.
*
how you drew volunteers, and what kind of model i can follow now that i am
starting completely from scratch and attempting to rebuild this collective.

*Our volunteers are mostly between the ages of 22-30.  There are a fair
number of 30-50 year olds as well.  All our volunteers are people who simply
stated that they'd like to help out.  The only thing I can say towards
keeping volunteers is make sure to always have stuff to do!  It seems easy
but when you have 4 people looking at you sometimes it gets confusing
("uhh...i guess we could sort these deraillers...").  As a volunteer myself
I can say that pizza is a deal sweetener for sure :). As far as a model to
follow look toward folks who've been around for a while, SLCBC and
Neighborhood Bike Works in Philly are great examples.

I could keep typing all day and night, but I'll stop for now.  Feel free to
bounce any questions off me directly (prepare for a rambling reply!) or to
the list.  Best of luck!

Brian
UBP


On Nov 14, 2007 4:35 PM, Previc, Stephanie T <stephanie.t.previc at sfcc.edu>
wrote:

> hello bicycle lovers,
> I am attempting to organize a "bike day" here in Gainesville this sunday
> to
> get the idea circulating about forming a community bicycle project.
> earlier
> attempts have failed--the last, our beloved "kickstand", it seems, because
> everyone involved was a student, and therefore too transient to commit to
> the
> project. I am hoping that this event will capture the attention of people
> who
> are a little mroe settled, and who will be able to keep the project
> running
> smoothly, even during the times when gainesville dies--winter break and
> summer
> vacation.
> i am hoping that i can get some ideas from you folks for how to introduce
> this
> project, as it is currently just a concept for free bike repair (and
> community
> building!) rather than an actual thing. i'm not really sure where to
> start,
> but i am hoping to draw a crowd and get them excited about the sort of
> things
> that inspired me when i attended bike!bike! this year. i would love to
> hear
> how you introduced you vision of a community bicycle shop to the people in
> your city, how you drew volunteers, and what kind of model i can follow
> now
> that i am starting completely from scratch and attempting to rebuild this
> collective.
> also!! i wanted to put together a take-home zine for everyone who attends,
> maybe including some vignettes about bicycles, some repair tips, and
> information on other bicycle projects around the country. if you guys
> could
> send a paragraph or two on why your collective is awesome (or if you want
> to
> contribute something else to put in this booklet) i think it might shed
> some
> light on how incredibly vast and varied this free bicycle repair movement
> is.
> thanks so much,
> stephanie (The Kickstand, Gainesville, Florida)
>
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>



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