[TheThinkTank] ***DHSPAM*** Re: bike thieves in the shop?

[Velocipede Bike Project]

At velocipede we are still struggling with the kid issue.  We basically
have banned kid's from the shop unless they have someone with them to
supervise them.  We help kid's sometimes when we can and if they are
respectful....this is not our ideal situation, but it doesn't seem to be
another way with out making ourselves crazy.  We tried having a kid's day
a long time ago but it didn't work out too well.  Hopefully in the future
we can get funding to have a kid's specific day....

However we have gotten good at dealing with "Jockish" volunteers.  What
has really helped with that is...
1. having a greeter and volunteer coordinator so people are met at the
door, given the speil and then sent to someone to get a task or assigned a
stand....I can't stress how helpful this is!!
2.  Making sure that people do volunteer hours before they work on their
own bike
3.  having a women/trans mechanic night.

We do have to occasionally pull people aside and talk to them about when
was the last time they put in some volunteer hours...but if people are met
at the door and start off on the right foot, then there usually isn't
problems....

-beth
velocipede bike project
baltimore, md

> What UBP is doing about similar issues, The Outline:
>
> 1. No EAB's during regular shop hours
> 2. One or two people assigned to work with kids, in a specific area if
> possible.
> 3. Kids with minor repairs get help first, then the bigger projects.
> 4. Volunteers get assigned specific tasks/roles (read: idiot proof) with
> specific guidelines
> 5. Too many cooks in the kitchen? Have excess volunteers sign up for
> another
> day.
>
> What UBP is doing about similar issues, The Ramble:
>
> UBP is just coming off of our youth ban tonight after some thefts.  Before
> the ban we were, like you, struggling to help kids with EAB as well as
> helping adults that come into the shop.  It didn't work. At all.  Adults
> would leave because there were so many rowdy kids and kids would just,
> well,
> be kids.  Putting a number cap on kids didn't work because they wheedled
> their way in anyway (wouldn't you?) and by the end of the night the shop
> was
> overrun.
>
> We like Sopo's idea of having one designated person to work with kids and
> them having their own tool kit and work space.  We also recognize that
> doing
> EAB and open shop at the same time is impossible as each child needs
> constant supervision/guidance and a structured environment to learn
> effectively.  EAB is on hold/stopped until we come up with something more
> meaningful and concrete.
>
> There will be a triage of sorts when youth come to the shop. The first
> bikes
> fixed are the ones that have the best chance of being completed (flats,
> popped chains, bar/brake adjusts) and then with whatever time is left we
> can
> work on the baskets.  No matter how badly the kids NEED to ride their bike
> home that night (which they all do...) we help with the basic repairs
> first.  Kids that aren't working on their bike must wait outside, which
> creates another issue, but at least they're not wandering around the
> shop/building.
>
> As far as "jockish volunteers" we have a hard time with some volunteers
> doing all the work on peoples bikes. There's nothing you can do other than
> constantly stressing that your goal is to teach and their hand shouldn't
> be
> holding the wrench.  Call them out if you must, usually it still goes over
> their heads, try assigning them to other tasks. We also have experienced a
> surge of "volunteers" lately.  The reason that's in quotes is because
> these
> people show up to hang out, work on their own bikes and bring more
> "volunteers" with them.  I've found that these people are
>
> To deal with this we've gotten specific about our volunteer roles.  There
> is
> a Greeter, One Mechanic per workstand, Head Mechanic, Youth Mentor/Helper,
> Back Room Help and Back Room Supervisor.  Each of these positions is
> spelled
> out in great detail.  When people show up to help on open shop days they
> get
> assigned a position that is appropriate.  If they're not needed and the
> shop
> is busy, they're asked to wait outside or to sign up for another day ahead
> of time.  That's the theory anyway....we're working on it.
>
> Good luck, this past couple months have been a wealth of relavent
> information on the Think Tank and I/UBP really appreciate the ability to
> learn and share ideas with other organizations, big and small.
>
> Brian Windle
>
>
> On Thu, Jun 26, 2008 at 3:24 AM, <jirs0004 at umn.edu> wrote:
>
>> Bike theft lead the Grease Pit to close the shop to kids for two weeks
>> the
>> end of last summer. When 15 bikes were stolen by kids who we were
>> helping,
>> but could not identify by name or face later we knew that something
>> needed
>> to change. The week long session of meetings lead to a shop manual to
>> help
>> us understand how to focus and think of ways to earn the respect of
>> these
>> kids.
>>
>> Despite all of our best efforts to learn names, focus our attention for
>> Earn a bike kids onto a special day, and to keep shop security tight, we
>> have had little success. Kids are stealing out of our donations jar and
>> taking bikes from under our noses.
>>
>> Because our space is shared with a theatre, security needs to be tight,
>> but
>> this would leave us with too few collective members in a space that is
>> already over-run with people needing help.
>>
>> While all of this is going on we are also experiencing a mass of
>> volunteers
>> who are bike jock-ish and act as if the shop is theirs. In order to help
>> maximize the shop accessibility and friendliness, we need to figure out
>> a
>> solution and proto.
>>
>> Question 1: How can we give kids the attention they need while not
>> limiting
>> the number of commuters that we are helping? (as they are already
>> discouraged by the lack of assistance and excessive quantity of kids in
>> the
>> shop)
>>
>> Question 2: How can we effectively utilize our volunteers without
>> constantly monitoring them and having to call them out or hear about
>> them
>> later?
>>
>> I would also like to know what success orgs have had with limiting the
>> number of kids in the shop.
>>
>>
>>
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>>
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>>
>
>
>
> --
> Urban Bike Project of Wilmington
> --a 501(c)3 non-profit bike shop--
> 1908 N. Market Street (entrance is in the parking lot behind the building)
> Wilmington, DE 19801
>
> Hours:
> Thursday 6:30-9:00
> Saturday 1:00-4:00
>
> Visit us online at http://urbanbikeproject.org
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