December 2023 - TheThinkTank - lists.bikecollectives.org

E-bikes
by Andy Ballentine 01 Dec '25

01 Dec '25

Hi -- How are bike co-ops dealing with e-bikes? We are all-volunteer at the Bicycle Co-Op of Williamsburg (Virginia). We have several very fine mechanics, but none of us is expert in the motors and batteries of e-bikes, and we don't know whether we should accept them as donations or sell them. I'd be interested in others' experience and policies. Thanks -- Andy Ballentine

12 21

Webhosting/domains
by Bike City 24 Mar '25

24 Mar '25

Well, I recently threw together some hand-written HTML and slapped it onto a free (and ad-less) webhost. This seemed great at first, regardless of the weird URL. But after lots of other publicity and potential traffic, I've seen it get hacked twice (by a radical Islamic group after the whole host, nothing personal), and lately it's either painfully slow to load or completely down. So, I haven't done this for about a decade and I'm out of the loop. I'm really not willing to suffer any ads, but since our budgeted is obcenely limited for such fluff, does anyone have recommendations? Are there any more reliable ad-free free hosts? (Probably not, for obvious reasons.) Otherwise, how do you guys handle web hosting? How much does it cost? What's a good balance between reliable and affordable? How much is domain registration nowadays? We don't have our 501(c)(3) status yet so we won't get a deal until later this year, by the way. Anyway, please help. It's rough to find time to FTP an update and find the site's down. Thanks, andrea Bike City Recyclery of Fayetteville, Arkansas http://bikecity.uuuq.com/ (hahaha)

8 10

Next Bike!Bike! ?
by Bayley Vanderpoel 04 Jan '24

04 Jan '24

Does anyone know when the next Bike!Bike! is? Bayley Velocity Bicycle Coop in Alexandria & Arlington , VA. Bayley Vanderpoel Volunteer, Spokesperson, & Board Member Vélocity Bicycle Cooperative http://velocitycoop.org/ | http://www.meetup.com/VeloCity-Bicycle-Cooperative/ | https://www.facebook.com/V%C3%A9loCity-Bicycle-Cooperative-361337181517/tim… | https://twitter.com/velocitycoop | http://www.instagram.com/velocitycoop Phone: tel:7035491108 Del Ray Shop Address: https://goo.gl/maps/h7zenNZ2Ksu9XrVu8?coh=178573&entry=tt Hours: Tues, Thurs, Fri 10-4pm | Wed 10-8pm | Sat 10-4pm Clarendon Shop Address: https://goo.gl/maps/urc4V3Ytn9dc54sPA?coh=178573&entry=tt Hours: Tues, Wed Thurs, Fri, Sat 10-4pm

17 21

Volunteer Call to Action 2024 BBE!
by cardenas.angela＠gmail.com 08 Dec '23

08 Dec '23

Hi everybody, My name is Angie Libertad, an organizer for Bike!Bike! Everywhere! earlier this week I shared this call for volunteers on social media. The call for volunteers hopefully answers some questions about BBE! which I joined last year as a facilitator and this year as an organizer. Planning for this event will only happen with your help as volunteers (like myself) and we´d like to start planning early in 2024 by signing up folks on committees. If you´d like to join the steering committee or a task committee, please send an email to bikebikeverywhere(a)gmail.com. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- FORMAL CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS Hello fellow Biketivists, bike culture promoters, and community bike project organizers! We are planning another Bike!Bike!Everywhere! gathering and to make it happen in 2024 we´re seeking volunteers to help in the steering committee in task/role specific committees (eg. communications and outreach, translating and interpretation, and tech support). Please send us an email to bikebikeeverywhere(a)gmail.com if you´d like to join the steering committee volunteer team or if you´d like to join a specific task committee. To join the steering committee, you should know some Spanish, be able to join a weekly/bimonthly group call and devote at least 3 hours work per week two months leading up to the event. Specific roles and responsibilities in the task committees where we need your help are listed at the end. But first…. What is the Bike!Bike! Everywhere! gathering? Bike!Bike! Everywhere! is an online, international, annual gathering organized by and for community bike projects. The conference is an online space for participants from bike collectives and related advocacy groups to meet over a weekend period to foster and strengthen bike communities, share experiences and resources via workshops. As an extension of the in person Bike!Bike! that's been held since 2004, the first Bike!Bike! Everywhere! was held in 2021 during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. An online gathering ensured a covid risk free event that would also be economically accessible for more participants from wider geographical distances to join, and as an additional benefit eliminated long distance travel related carbon emissions. Just as B!B!E! isn't a replacement for B!B!, B!B! is not a replacement for B!B!E!. B!B! is not meant to replace B!B!E! because there will always be people who don't want to meet because of the ongoing pandemic, people who can't afford to travel, people who don't have the time to travel, and people who don't want to meet in person because of the ongoing climate crisis. B!B!E! fills an ongoing need that was unmet with the beloved in-person B!B! How B!BE! happens and what it is like in the future is up to y'all and the wants and needs of the community, but it was made clear to us in the past B!B!E! that B!BE! fills a previously unaddressed need by people who were left out of in person B!B! events. In between gatherings, Bike!Bike! Everywhere! has taken on the role of friends of the Bike! Bike! community at large which has included website maintenance, financial admin, engaging with bike community networks through social media and listservs, and holding language exchanges alongside language justice efforts. What do we hope to accomplish with a 2024 Bike!Bike! Everywhere! gathering? More diversity in bike project workshops, more space for socializing. Attendees voiced an interest in a wider variety of bike projects to hold workshops/talks. Given that there are far fewer community bike workshops in Latin America than the US and Canada, we would like to invite collectives and individuals leading unique or innovative bike initiatives and projects to join and share their work at the gathering. In the past two B!B!E!s, some attendees said there wasn't enough time set aside for socializing. This will be more of a focus in the next gathering. 2024 B!B!E! will also be a good opportunity to have a conversation about the future of an in-person Bike!Bike! Online discussion about a future B!B! started during the drafting of this call for volunteers. It's available here: https://lists.bikecollectives.org/hyperkitty/list/thethinktank@lists.bikeco… More information about Bike!Bike! and Bike!Bike!Everywhere! can be found here: https://www.bikecollectives.org/es-index.html https://www.bikecollectives.org/acerca-de-colectivos-bici.html Recordings from past gatherings: https://archive.org/details/@bikebikeeverywhere Write to us at bikebikeeverywhere(a)gmail.com if you´d like to join the steering committee team or if you´d like to join a specific committee. Steering Committee (just a few tasks listed ) • Inviting speakers and planning event schedule • Coordinating workshops • Calling for and preparing facilitators • Works alongside task committees Task Committees and Stand Alone Roles Fundraising and Outreach • Send out direct outreach requests to orgs/collectives • Organize in person or online campaigns Communications and Outreach • Email (incl. listserv) management • Social media outreach and management • Graphic design for bikebike.org and social media • Discord channel moderating during event Language justice • Interpreting (stipend available) • Translating docs Tech • Updating bikebike.org and bikecollectives.org • Tech support during workshops • Maintain digital archiving during the gathering Ombuds/Mediator

1 0