January 2015 - TheThinkTank - lists.bikecollectives.org

In Search of a Speaker
by Justin Smith 15 Jan '15

15 Jan '15

Hello all, Locally, we have a think tank / forum that focuses on community progress and they have asked us for a recommendation on someone who can give a presentation / lecture on active transportation. Of course, we have no shortage of topics in mind. So we'd like your help - who have you heard and think is great or would like to hear speak about what biking and/or walking can do and is doing to help improve quality of life? Or, maybe you're the person we're looking for - if so, let us know! To dig into this a little more, there are a ton of areas we'd love to focus on; however, improving support for and accessibility to biking and walking for people in undeserved and low-income communities is definitely high on our list. Whether it's one particular topic such as community building, bike cooperatives, youth programs, bike clubs, or otherwise, or a combination of many topics, we'd like to find a great speaker who can discuss the importance of biking and/or walking and share what they've done and accomplished in their city. Also, I think we've all heard our fair share of "experts" who, while brilliant and passionate, they just aren't good presenters for whatever reason. We don't need a Winston Churchill or MLK, Jr., but we need someone who can offer great insight and isn't dull. Also, the closer the person is to Erie the better, and we're looking to schedule someone for spring. For some background, Erie is a city of 100,000 and has no bike shop or bike cooperative within city limits. We have fewer than two miles of bike lanes (though a really nice 10 mile multiuse path), we don't have a bike/ped coordinator or bike/ped plan, but we are set up in a wicked awesome grid system and have wide roads with not much congestion. About us - we're a new organization (circa 2012) and there has never been a bike advocacy organization like us. In other words, we all have a long ways to go and providing education opportunities like this to help spark further action, involvement and investment is very important. Thanks for you help and suggestions! -- Justin Smith Bike Erie www.bikeerie.org [1] (814) 580-9108 Follow us on Facebook & Twitter! Links: ------ [1] http://www.bikeerie.org/

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Re: [TheThinkTank] Conflict Resolution - Accountability in an all volunteer run organization
by Jesse Doud 14 Jan '15

14 Jan '15

We recently had an issue like this at Mechanical Tempest. At a fortnightly meeting, it came up that one of our volunteers was behaving in a way that was dismissive to people trying to learn, and generally acting like a know-it-all man (very common problem). We decided that the best way to approach this was 1 - amend our safe space policy so we had something to point to if it happens again in the future, and 2 - reach out to the volunteer and tell him the issue that others were having with his behavior. The mechanic that runs a shift with him put their hand up for this conversation. He took the feedback well. That's a pretty lightweight response in a high-trust group. If he did not take the feedback on, or did not amend his behavior, it would be nice to have a conflict resolution scheme already in place, but we haven't gotten there yet. But at least having an agreed upon policy to point to if the situation escalates is a good start. Jesse On Tue, Jan 13, 2015 at 9:28 AM, momoko saunders <analyst(a)bikefarm.org> wrote: > Hello! > > Accountability is a struggle for Bike Farm. As an all volunteer run > organization, it's difficult to chastise undesirable behaviour. Not > only is it hard to tell someone who is volunteering their time that > they did not do something right, but the negative feedback is not the > kind of environment we're trying to create. > > Still, what happens when someone messes up. To say nothing is nearly > as detrimental. It erodes the quality of the service we provide, and > can lead to an unsafe working environment. > > What do other collectives do? Do you have a accountability agreement? > Something along the lines of, "by volunteering here, I want to be held > accountable to the group in these ways..." or a grievance procedure? > > How do you communicate about your issues? > any feed back would be greatly appreciated. > > Cheers, > -Momoko > ____________________________________ > > The ThinkTank mailing List > <a href=" > http://lists.bikecollectives.org/options.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.o…">Unsubscribe > from this list</a> > >

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Re: [TheThinkTank] Conflict Resolution - Accountability in an all volunteer run organization
by breathingplanet . 14 Jan '15

14 Jan '15

Momoko, I just wanted to say that your questions and comments here resonate for us at Troy Bike Rescue - also a long-time all-volunteer shop. We recently went through a pretty trying situation in which a long-time member was finally held accountable by fellow members after months of nothing being said and other collective members feeling disrespected or ceasing to participate as a result (or things were only being said in smaller/private groups). We do have a conflict resolution clause to our bylaws, and we did have professional mediation on deck in the case that it would be necessary or useful - but either of those only work with full cooperation from all parties.... and before that if grievances are actually voiced and then actually *heard* by the offending party. In the end the member was asked to leave the collective and was banned from the space until they agreed to participate in mediation. We are re-grouping, getting shit done, and hopeful for a fresh re-start as springtime rolls around. What you bring up is a really tough and important area of discussion, but I dont think we have the answer. We dont feel like our dealing with it was in any way exemplary, though our core group feels like a lot was learned, and we will certainly be on guard for red flags in the future..... but could things have been less painful and less drawn-out had something been different on an organizational level? probably? Andrew Troy Bike Rescue On Mon, Jan 12, 2015 at 3:28 PM, momoko saunders <analyst(a)bikefarm.org> wrote: > Hello! > > Accountability is a struggle for Bike Farm. As an all volunteer run > organization, it's difficult to chastise undesirable behaviour. Not > only is it hard to tell someone who is volunteering their time that > they did not do something right, but the negative feedback is not the > kind of environment we're trying to create. > > Still, what happens when someone messes up. To say nothing is nearly > as detrimental. It erodes the quality of the service we provide, and > can lead to an unsafe working environment. > > What do other collectives do? Do you have a accountability agreement? > Something along the lines of, "by volunteering here, I want to be held > accountable to the group in these ways..." or a grievance procedure? > > How do you communicate about your issues? > any feed back would be greatly appreciated. > > Cheers, > -Momoko > ____________________________________ > > The ThinkTank mailing List > <a href=" > http://lists.bikecollectives.org/options.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.o…">Unsubscribe > from this list</a> > > -- ------__o ----_`\<,_ ---(_)/ (_) andrew lynn 518-573-7947

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Re: [TheThinkTank] Conflict Resolution - Accountability in an all volunteer run organization
by Geoffrey Bercarich 14 Jan '15

14 Jan '15

Quaker third party mediations. Following up with conflict res training for all key volunteers. It didnt work for my case but respect in the process needs to be fundemental in order for respect to be gained in the volunteer space. Its also important to do things fast. Taking a year or more to settle a conflict leaves details out and makes all parties in conflict in the lurch adding to tensions in the overall community. On Jan 14, 2015 1:28 AM, "momoko saunders" <analyst(a)bikefarm.org> wrote: > Hello! > > Accountability is a struggle for Bike Farm. As an all volunteer run > organization, it's difficult to chastise undesirable behaviour. Not > only is it hard to tell someone who is volunteering their time that > they did not do something right, but the negative feedback is not the > kind of environment we're trying to create. > > Still, what happens when someone messes up. To say nothing is nearly > as detrimental. It erodes the quality of the service we provide, and > can lead to an unsafe working environment. > > What do other collectives do? Do you have a accountability agreement? > Something along the lines of, "by volunteering here, I want to be held > accountable to the group in these ways..." or a grievance procedure? > > How do you communicate about your issues? > any feed back would be greatly appreciated. > > Cheers, > -Momoko > ____________________________________ > > The ThinkTank mailing List > <a href=" > http://lists.bikecollectives.org/options.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.o…">Unsubscribe > from this list</a> > >

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FW: Want to try crowdfunding and present at the National Bike Summit?
by Darren Flusche 09 Jan '15

09 Jan '15

Reminder about Tuesday’s webinar. Still room to register. Best, Darren *From:* Darren Flusche [mailto:darren@bikeleague.org] *Sent:* Tuesday, December 23, 2014 12:47 PM *To:* people(a)lists.peoplepoweredmovement.org; bike-equity-network(a)googlegroups.com; thethinktank(a)lists.bikecollectives.org *Subject:* Want to try crowdfunding and present at the National Bike Summit? *Do you have a great idea to make your communities more bike friendly? Or looking for new ways to support for your organization’s bike advocacy work? * The League of American Bicyclists is partnering with the crowd-resourcing nonprofit ioby to offer training and one-on-one support for pro-biking projects that would like to run a crowdfunding campaign to raise funds and build support in their communities. ioby <ioby.org> is a national, nonprofit digital engagement platform designed to support community-led, neighbor-funded projects that make neighborhoods healthier and more sustainable. *Join ioby for a webinar on Tuesday, January 13th, 12pm EST, to learn more! **The webinar will cover real-life case studies of successfully funded local biking projects, the ‘seven habits’ of highly successful crowdfunding campaigns, and the details of participating in the ioby crowdfunding partnership. *Register here. <http://ioby.tfaforms.net/4?id=701F0000000mTdI> *Interested groups should share their project idea via the very **brief application at *ioby.org/BikeLeague <ioby.org/bikeleague>* by January 20, 2015.** Selected groups will be notified by Jan 22, and work with ioby in January and February to develop fundraising plans, launch crowdfunding campaigns, and fundraise until mid-March 2015. Selected groups will also have an opportunity to showcase their funded projects at the League’s National Bike Summit <http://bikeleague.org/content/summit-2015> in Washington DC, March 10-12, 2015 – the theme this year is Big Ideas and we want to see yours funded!* No experience in fundraising is required to participate, and ioby’s program is applicable to groups of all sizes and phases of development. However, participating groups should: · be prepared to invest some time in learning about crowdfunding and running a campaign · have more than one individual working on their campaign · be willing to make direct asks for funding from their local networks · fundraise for a specific, concrete project that can be implemented in spring or summer 2015 *Learn more at* ioby.org/BikeLeague <ioby.org/bikeleague>*. * Questions? Contact Darren Flusche at Darren(a)BikeLeague.org *There will be future opportunities to crowdfund on ioby, so for this group, we will be prioritizing groups that have specific projects with a clear funding need and an immediate timeframe. We will chose 3 to 7 projects for this round. * Sincerely, Darren *DARREN FLUSCHE*, *Policy Director, League and Advocacy Advance* *DARREN(a)BIKELEAGUE.ORG* <DARREN(a)BIKELEAGUE.ORG> | *202-621-5456* *THE LEAGUE OF AMERICAN BICYCLISTS* *WWW.BIKELEAGUE.ORG/BIKELAWS <http://bikeleague.org/bikelaws>* TWITTER <https://twitter.com/BikeLeague> | FACEBOOK <http://www.facebook.com/leagueamericanbicyclists> | YOUTUBE <http://www.youtube.com/user/bikeleaguevideo> *Bikes + Strong Partnerships = Big Ideas. Add your voice and help us take bicycling to the next level at the National Bike Summit <http://bikeleague.org/content/summit-2015>, March 10-12, in Washington, D.C.* [image: http://bikeleague.org/sites/default/files/summit%20header%20small.jpg]

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Greetings from Fargo and looking for pedicabs, cycling advocacy, bike share program resources
by Sara Watson Curry 09 Jan '15

09 Jan '15

Hey friends! Sara writing you from chilly, lovely, and friendly Fargo, North Dakota, currently sitting right at 1 degree Fahrenheit! I'm a past member of the Fargo Moorhead Community Bicycle Workshop, most recently was working in the public library as the storytime superhero, and now back in the saddle with a bike-centered non-profit called Great Rides Fargo, which is dedicated to creating healthy individuals and communities with the almighty bike. Great Rides Fargo has been rolling on a small scale for 3 years, doing outreach with bike rodeos, youth programming, and a toting around a trailer of bikes. A number of projects have come together leading to it's growth and to my luck getting the position as the Director of Operations. Things we have going on: we will be launching a *bike share program* (using b-cycles) this spring with 11 stations and 101 bikes, we will be acquiring 2 *pedicabs, *and additionally taking over a roll of helping carry on *open streets community event* (3 to 5 mile loop open to only human powered traffic) . It's a lot of awesome and at the same time I'm feeling a little overwhelmed by all the possibilities and it has been a number of years since I have been in touch with friends in the cycling community! The last Bike! Bike! my partner Joe and I were able to attend was in beautiful Vancouver. If you are involved in the world cycling advocacy, pedicabs, bike share programs, or any large scale community events, please give me an electronic high five and let me know of any blogs, resources, grants, forums, etc that you find helpful. You can connect with me here, tweet me @currywatson, or text me at 701-261-9417 Thanks for your solidarity and safe pedaling! In service, Sara --

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Re: [TheThinkTank] Greetings from Fargo and looking for pedicabs, cycling advocacy, bike share program resources
by Ken Lanteigne 08 Jan '15

08 Jan '15

Brenna, Sara, you guys are amazing and inspiring. Thanks for all you do. Ken Columbus Bike Co-op On Thu, Jan 8, 2015 at 10:42 PM, <yogabrenna(a)hotmail.com> wrote: > Hey Sara and friends, > > I've got an electronic high 5 for you, Sara! Keep up the solid, important, > not-always easy work! Your commitment, passion and creativity will pull > you through the next big projects you're working on, so keep it up! Bike > shares and open streets are HUGE things and it's awesome you're a part of > making these things happen (we need more!) I hope you have a supportive > team behind you and/or the enthusiastic volunteers are on their way.... > > I did some volunteering with the WRENCH in Winnipeg - your northern > neighbour a few hours' drive away. Geoff at mech(a)thewrench.ca could be a > good source of support, ideas, edocuments, resources that may be helpful to > you. He's not always available on email right away but definitely has > always been keen to guide me in the right direction when it comes to > bicycle and community projects. He has a LOT of experience! > > Some cats from the wrench may be on this list.... Anyway, they run a ton > of youth programs, earn-a-bike courses, community bike shop, advocacy. > > This one goes for all of you, but if you have a small project (not a large > ngo) that needs some start up funding, check out The Pollination Project. > They give a $1000 grant every day to projects that need just a little bit > of moola to get something rolling. > > Sara if you're on Facebook, you can connect with me at Brenna Coupland > (page: Beeyond a Bike). i have some friends in guadalajara mexico, > vancouver and south africa that do huge cycle advocacy work and some bike > share initiatives, though they are far, they may be able to help you out > through email. > > Ride on all, > > > Brenna > Sent via my BlackBerry from Vodacom - let your email find you! > > -----Original Message----- > From: Daniel Gulya <daniel.gulya(a)gmail.com> > Sender: "Thethinktank" <thethinktank-bounces(a)lists.bikecollectives.org> > Date: Thu, 8 Jan 2015 16:02:32 > To: The Think Tank<thethinktank(a)lists.bikecollectives.org> > Reply-To: The Think Tank <thethinktank(a)lists.bikecollectives.org> > Cc: Sarah Schaan<sarah.schaan(a)gmail.com>; Jason Tanzman< > jason.tanzman(a)gmail.com>; Cammie, Lamey<camelialamey(a)msn.com> > Subject: Re: [TheThinkTank] Greetings from Fargo and looking for pedicabs, > cycling advocacy, bike share program resources > > ____________________________________ > > The ThinkTank mailing List > <a href=" > http://lists.bikecollectives.org/options.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.o…">Unsubscribe > from this list</a> > > > ____________________________________ > > The ThinkTank mailing List > <a href=" > http://lists.bikecollectives.org/options.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.o…">Unsubscribe > from this list</a> > >

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