[TheThinkTank] bicycle valet

[james thompson]

Riders,

New to the list and wanted to share a super fun event we did at a
local music venue here in Denton, TX: bicycle valet.  Our community
bike shop volunteers exchanged tickets for bicycles and placed
everyone's ride in a safe place to be retrieved by us at their
liesure.  No locks or dark alleyway telephone poles required for
safety, no fumbling for the right angle on that off-brand U-lock.  The
parking lot was pleasantly unfull until a late hour.

We canvassed at our valet table.  Event promoters supported the
fewer-cars evening by offering free cover and beverages. The
college-age crowd was quite fond of the idea, and I can fairly say we
had a blast.

Show up earlier than you would for a normal music venue (bar staff
graciously helped our solo volunteer through the first rough half
hour).  Folks, this is fun, but it was work.  We valeted seventy
bicycles, dozens more locked up themselves, and this at a venue of
probably no more than two hundred people.  You need at least four
people to do this: one ticketeer, one valet, and one security gaurd
for the bikes, and one to keep the security gaurd company.  Make sure
the venue (bar or not) restricts access to the parking area.  Make a
"map" with ticket numbers and bike locations, no bike without a ticket
or license, and ask each picker-uper to describe their bike in detail.
 And your valet needs to be comfortable on kamikazes (fixies w/no
brakes).

Remember to turn people's lights off, and take tips for your
organization.  Bring a good bicycle pump with presta/schraeder
capabilities and a gauge.

Something we didn't anticipate, the two a. m. crowd produces wobbly
folk.  It was frankly discussed that some of the less experienced
riders might have fared better driving home.  Rather than have this
devil's argument, make sure you're at a venue of a size you can manage
(we were) and that you can get everyone home safely (we did, but I
fretted a bit near the end).  I'll leave it to my colleagues to add
anything else, or make corrections.

In Solidarity,

James Thompson
Shop Manager
Querencia Community Bicycle Shop
Denton, TX