- TheThinkTank - lists.bikecollectives.org

Seeking help with volunteer training systems
by Dan Hock 10 Oct '13

10 Oct '13

Hello All, I work at Bike Recycle Vermont<http://www.localmotion.org/programs/bikerecycle/> in Burlington,(you guessed it) Vermont. Our shop structure is all volunteer with the exception of myself. Our program, in short, accepts donated bikes and, with volunteer help, refurbishes them so that they can be sold exclusively to low-income Vermonters. Personally, I have been struggling with training unskilled volunteers that are new to our program. I have many great people coming through the door with great intentions, but limited mechanical aptitude. Our volunteer retention is down because new folks tend to feel helpless and frustrated. In an effort to address this, I am going to start offering structured mechanics training to new volunteers. I am coming to the list with a few questions: - Are there other programs out there that require unskilled volunteers interested in volunteering as mechanics to go through mechanics trainings? If so, shed light on what structure you are using? - If we are investing over 10 hours in each prospective volunteer, is it reasonable to charge participants or ask them to commit a set amount of hours to our program in exchange for the class? If so, how much is fair in either time or money? - Does anyone have any curriculum and/or course materials (diagrams, glossaries, etc) for participants that they would be willing to share? - Are there any lessons to be learned/advice to be given to someone in my position. Thanks in advance for your time! Dan -- Dan Hock Bike Recycle Vermont Program Manager w. 802.264.9687 Bike Recycle Vermont <http://www.localmotion.com/bikerecycle> 664 Riverside Ave. Burlington Learn to ride a bicycle. You will not regret it if you live. ~Mark Twain

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Shop Setup - Taming the Chaos PDF posted on the wiki
by director 10 Oct '13

10 Oct '13

Hey All, It was great to connect with you all at Bike! Bike! in New Orleans this year. I've posted my presentation on the wiki as a big giant pdf 180mb http://www.bikecollectives.org/wiki/index.php?title=Bike!Bike!_2013#Shop_Se… Feel free to write me with any questions or comments you might have. -- Ride On! Rich Points http://communitycycles.org Executive Director (c)303-589-0597 (w)720-565-6019 Community Cycles is Boulder's only bike shop dedicated to bike commuting. Find us on facebook <https://www.facebook.com/CommunityCycles> Subscribe to our monthly e-news <http://eepurl.com/i7SLv>

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Update Wiki With BikeBike! 2013 notes
by momoko saunders 08 Oct '13

08 Oct '13

If you know how to edit the wiki, please add notes to this very basic draft of the workshops held at this years bikebike! http://www.bikecollectives.org/wiki/index.php?title=Bike!Bike!_2013 *If you don't know how, but you have notes on a workshop, pictures, or video, please send me the the info directly to my email - analyst(a)bikefarm.org* * * *If you are eager to help with getting this content up on the wiki, please also email me.* This will be very useful to those who could not make it. Also, it is especially helpful to those who went, who want to relate what they learned to their collectives. Please help out! this is the best way to give back to BikeBike! Thanks! -momoko

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What to Teach When You Only Have 1 Hour...
by Matthew VanSlyke 08 Oct '13

08 Oct '13

Okay Folks, here's the challenge: You've been offered a chance to do a bike related workshop on a college campus. The only direction you have is "we want you to do a bike related workshop on campus. You have 1 hour". So, what do you teach? Basic Bike maintenance? Riding in/as traffic? How to: get yourself to class on time even if you: get a flat, drop the chain, bend the wheel in a pot hole, etc? In your experiences, what has been valuable for adults/college students? The community bike shop is a new concept in our City and we're trying to launch an effort to get students to lease our repurposed bikes. This will be a good "in" for us and a good way to introduce Utica Bike Rescue to the college community. Any thoughts? Thanks a Bunch, Matt VanSlyke Utica Bike Rescue

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Dollar value of Volunteer time at Bike Valet or in general?
by Ryan Kragerud 28 Sep '13

28 Sep '13

We're wrapping up much of our summer programming here in Longmont, CO and I'm trying to determine the "dollar value" of our services. Currently we don't pay our volunteers to do bike parking and we don't charge events for this service either. We struggled to fill many of our bike parking shifts this summer, so, our board will be discussing developing a charge for bike parking and rental of our rack/bike valet in a box program. In order to do so I'm wondering - dear Think Tank members.... What is the per hour value of volunteer time for bike valet/parking at events (or in general) in your area? thx. -- "We all do better when we all do better" - Paul Wellstone

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Bike Infrastructure question - comparable cities??
by Andrew L 27 Sep '13

27 Sep '13

hey ThinkTank, somewhat separate from my work at Troy Bike Rescue, I am part of an appointed citizens committee on alternative transportation (an idea our city is just sort of coming around to). we have 0 bike lanes, few bike racks, and about 11 sharrows (under a year old). our task is primarily research-oriented, and I am searching for comparable cities and hoping the ThinkTank might help me. Do any of you have suggestions of cities with the following characteristics: -population: 50 - 100,000 -small "bike culture" community -sizeable low-income population -investing time/money/energy into bicycles as a way of turning the city around. -demonstrable progress on that front i know they are out there, but most examples are of much bigger cities. I appreciate any suggestions! Thanks!! Andrew

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Hello, Nashville?
by Matthew VanSlyke 27 Sep '13

27 Sep '13

I'm wondering if there is a community bike shop in Nashville. I see Revolution (Memphis) listed as the only shop in TN. Hello, Nashville, do you hear me? If so, please contact me by email off the listserv, for everyone's inbox benefit. Matt VanSlyke Utica Bike Rescue

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Re: [TheThinkTank] Thethinktank Digest, Vol 85, Issue 13
by chris turner 25 Sep '13

25 Sep '13

We're going to bring a pile of stickers for Off the Chain and screen to make shirts at Bike!Bike!. Bring a blank shirt. -chris Off the Chain Bicycle Collective http://offthechainak.org On Wed, Sep 25, 2013 at 12:19 PM, < thethinktank-request(a)lists.bikecollectives.org> wrote: > Send Thethinktank mailing list submissions to > thethinktank(a)lists.bikecollectives.org > > To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit > > http://lists.bikecollectives.org/listinfo.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.… > > or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to > thethinktank-request(a)lists.bikecollectives.org > > You can reach the person managing the list at > thethinktank-owner(a)lists.bikecollectives.org > > When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific > than "Re: Contents of Thethinktank digest..." > > > Today's Topics: > > 1. Bike! Bike! Shirt Swap (director) > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Wed, 25 Sep 2013 12:10:39 -0600 > From: director <director(a)communitycycles.org> > To: The Think Tank <thethinktank(a)lists.bikecollectives.org> > Subject: [TheThinkTank] Bike! Bike! Shirt Swap > Message-ID: > <CAKAQTJ= > NM1fCaqjPZuNUgZFHNzKdBe7+t1wxhTQT-03HM8PwqA(a)mail.gmail.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" > > Hey All, > I'm gonna bring a couple Community Cycles medium shirts and would love to > swap them for a medium shirt from your shop. > > Bring it! > > -- > Ride On! > > Rich Points > http://communitycycles.org > Executive Director > (c)303-589-0597 > (w)720-565-6019 > > Community Cycles is Boulder's only bike shop dedicated to bike commuting. > Find us on facebook <https://www.facebook.com/CommunityCycles> > Subscribe to our monthly e-news <http://eepurl.com/i7SLv> >

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Bike! Bike! Shirt Swap
by director 25 Sep '13

25 Sep '13

Hey All, I'm gonna bring a couple Community Cycles medium shirts and would love to swap them for a medium shirt from your shop. Bring it! -- Ride On! Rich Points http://communitycycles.org Executive Director (c)303-589-0597 (w)720-565-6019 Community Cycles is Boulder's only bike shop dedicated to bike commuting. Find us on facebook <https://www.facebook.com/CommunityCycles> Subscribe to our monthly e-news <http://eepurl.com/i7SLv>

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Re: [TheThinkTank] Floor Pump Recommendation
by christopher＠holisticcycles.com 23 Sep '13

23 Sep '13

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