- TheThinkTank - lists.bikecollectives.org

drugs, alcohol and our mission
by John Boyer 06 Oct '08

06 Oct '08

Now I realize this is not going to win alot of people over but here goes anyways! I am strongly opposed to a slack, go with the flow, biochemical personality run environment for our cause. Let me explain, My collective exploded recently due directly and indirectly to a paranoid environment that split the group into 2 groups and cost us alot of time finance and momentum. "the new reality crew"" banded together with a constant flow of weed use and subsequent … [View More]

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Re: [TheThinkTank] Thethinktank Digest, Vol 26, Issue 8
by burdenistic＠gmail.com 06 Oct '08

06 Oct '08

I think this is an issue of not having a clear vision and agreed upon boundaries on the get go. I brought this up at the Consensus workshop at BikeBike and no one heard me. If the collective is the goal then members should be meticulous and thorough creating clear consensus to establish a vision that eliminates these issues prior to schisms and splits. It takes time given the structure of decision making. There is no short cuts. In an entity that is a decentralized collective the process takes … [View More]as long as it takes for all to be heard, understand and all to make a choice. No one said it was easy. I wish you well and applaud your sharing a real issue. On Mon, Oct 6, 2008 at 1:10 AM, <thethinktank-request(a)bikecollectives.org>wrote: > Send Thethinktank mailing list submissions to > thethinktank(a)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)bikecollectives.org > > You can reach the person managing the list at > thethinktank-owner(a)bikecollectives.org > > When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific > than "Re: Contents of Thethinktank digest..." > > > Today's Topics: > > 1. drugs, alcohol and our mission (John Boyer) > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Mon, 6 Oct 2008 00:10:02 -0700 (PDT) > From: John Boyer <worldbfree2b(a)yahoo.com> > Subject: [TheThinkTank] drugs, alcohol and our mission > To: thethinktank(a)bikecollectives.org > Message-ID: <221816.14863.qm(a)web52811.mail.re2.yahoo.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" > > Now I realize this is not going to win alot of people over but here goes > anyways!?I am strongly opposed to a slack, go with the flow, biochemical > personality run?environment for our cause.? Let me explain,? My collective > exploded recently?due directly and indirectly?to a paranoid environment that > split the group into 2 groups and cost us alot of time finance and > momentum.? "the new reality crew"" banded together with a constant flow of > weed use and subsequent paranoia.? The following attacks on those that didnt > party literally spun off alot of good people. The few that questioned the > devisiveness of this""know best" group were then railroaded out by smear > campaigns induced by the amount of weed smoked on a?daily basis.??I truly > feel we will never? overcome the?barriers ahead of us if we create a place > where drug use is?the common denominator in the collective movement. > > ? This call out is not an anti drug message. Im the first to?open a bottle > of wine after a long day of riding and wrenching.? Its just?a call out that > we can do better when we are all rooted in the reality that we have a lot of > work ahead of us.??Here in the?States the car rules right now?and we will > have to do a better job united and communicating effectively?to change > our?reality to a bike friendly world. > > Be?steadfast in creating an environment friendly to all walks of life and > ability?and we all win. > > Thanks for your time reading this.?????? > [View Less]

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bike bike
by tom emm 04 Oct '08

04 Oct '08

Nary a word on the recent bike convention held in san francisco. Somebody please say something, Like can you get a decent slice of pizza in the city by the bay?

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Unsubscibe
by wind＠riseup.net 04 Oct '08

04 Oct '08

Please unsubscribe me from the list. thanx Justin

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Cranksgiving
by Patrick VDT 04 Oct '08

04 Oct '08

We have found Cranksgiving to be a great project. Cranksgiving equals Teaching the kids about giving back to the community. Volunteers get a chance to relax and have fun Chance to show the shop off to people who otherwise would not stop by. Lots of media PR Another Interaction with other Non-profits So we have multiple routes for different abilities and separate out the race portion to a completely different day, this allows everyone to come hang out, not just the urban hipsters. http:/… [View More]

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Last call for bikebike Tshirts
by troy neiman 03 Oct '08

03 Oct '08

We are going to do a small run of bikebike t-shirts for anyone that is interested. They will be 2 color prints on new, 100% cotton, USA union made shirts and mailed to you at a cost of $18. Available in black, red, or grey. If you are interested please e-mail Dwight directly at orders(a)peacesupplies.org no later that Oct. 10th with the size and color that you would like. Printed by Peace Supplies in Tucson, AZ lots of other great bike swag available at peacesupplies.org love peace … [View More]

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Starting a coop bike shop
by Tony DiLorenzo 03 Oct '08

03 Oct '08

I'm considering starting a coop shop here in San Diego. Is there a document out there that gives steps on how to get one setup? Thanks -- Tony DiLorenzo Executive Director Forward Motion Foundation 858-345-2327 www.forwardmotionfoundation.org

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meeting protocal and questions about programming
by maintenence collective 03 Oct '08

03 Oct '08

Hey from Bike Farm in PDX, We recently had our first meeting back from Bike!bike! and it was incredibly successful. At meetings we usually allow beer-drinking, and its not a huge deal, though has been in the past. This last meeting I noticed someone passing around a pipe. Though that doesn't bother me as an individual, it was slightly distracting and could be a little off-putting to new volunteers (we had 4 newbies at the meeting). What do other shops have as policies surrounding illegal … [View More]

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Re: [TheThinkTank] Thethinktank Digest, Vol 26, Issue 3
by burdenistic＠gmail.com 02 Oct '08

02 Oct '08

BikeBike, Was fabulous and real! I am teeming with ideas and energy from being there. I applaud the organizers who worked their asses off to make it great on a very human level; people who are doers and clear thinkers! Bravo to you all! The world improves one bike at a time! Cheers, Gary On Thu, Oct 2, 2008 at 4:49 PM, <thethinktank-request(a)bikecollectives.org>wrote: > Send Thethinktank mailing list submissions to > thethinktank(a)bikecollectives.… [View More]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)bikecollectives.org > > You can reach the person managing the list at > thethinktank-owner(a)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 (tom emm) > 2. Re: bike bike (veganboyjosh(a)gmail.com) > 3. Re: bike bike - Advocacy (Rich Points) > 4. Re: meeting protocal and questions about programming > (Macho Philipovich) > 5. Re: bike bike (Forrest Cutrer) > 6. Re: bike bike (Bruce Lien) > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Thu, 2 Oct 2008 16:30:41 -0400 > From: "tom emm" <tom48236(a)gmail.com> > Subject: [TheThinkTank] bike bike > To: "The Think Tank" <thethinktank(a)bikecollectives.org> > Message-ID: > <ff627a300810021330l3fe419f7sfcba97eae7d783a(a)mail.gmail.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 > > Nary a word on the recent bike convention held in san francisco. > Somebody please say something, Like can you get a decent slice of > pizza in the city by the bay? > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 2 > Date: Thu, 2 Oct 2008 14:36:55 -0600 > From: veganboyjosh(a)gmail.com > Subject: Re: [TheThinkTank] bike bike > To: "The Think Tank" <thethinktank(a)bikecollectives.org> > Message-ID: > <53e5a1720810021336j324ed48dt15f48fffc3e382c3(a)mail.gmail.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" > > i dunno about the rest of you, but i'm still waiting for my voice to get > back from san francisco... > > in the best way possible, of course. > > josh. > > > On Thu, Oct 2, 2008 at 2:30 PM, tom emm <tom48236(a)gmail.com> wrote: > > > Nary a word on the recent bike convention held in san francisco. > > Somebody please say something, Like can you get a decent slice of > > pizza in the city by the bay? > > _______________________________________________ > > Thethinktank mailing list > > Thethinktank(a)bikecollectives.org > > > > > http://lists.bikecollectives.org/listinfo.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.… > > > [View Less]

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Starting your own?
by Mark Rehder 01 Oct '08

01 Oct '08

I was asked off-list for advice in getting a bike collective started and keeping it going, and after sending I thought it might be helpful to post it to the list. Mark +++++++++++ Getting one started can be tough. Our shop had some problems getting going, and a similar shop opened this year in another part of town and we've been helping them keep their spirits up while they struggle. The big challenges are: - finding an affordable space (you'll need lots of room for all the … [View More]bikes and parts) - ability to pay rent while getting things ramped up and income happening - getting insurance For our shop, we started out in donated spaces, but those got taken away as the landlords found paying tenants. After losing our second such space we realized we needed to pay rent and stay in the same location, otherwise it's hard to attract volunteers and customers when they can't trust that you'll stay open. But then the money thing comes in. And landlords don't always like to rent to one person for some vague bicycle collective. We lucked out by approaching a public interest research group (PIRG) on one of the campuses here and became one of their working groups. So they signed the lease for us, and after much wrangling let us have our own bank account. Affiliating with them turned us into a legal entity, so we could get both that bank account as well as insurance. But we still needed some funding to tide us over. We filed a grant application with a local funding org. and were able to get a two-year operating grant, with the provision that we be self-sustaining at the end of the two years. Once again being part of the PIRG made this happen, as there was no way the funder would just give our little collective money without someone taking legal responsibility. So the PIRG got the money and disbursed it to us at regular intervals. In the end it worked out great for us. The PIRG more or less left us alone, especially once they saw how hard we worked, and that we had achieved the self-sustainability within the first year (that made the 2nd year's grant money just extra cash in the band for us). We're still affiliated with them, and have not had to ask anyone for money since that first grant (grant applications, and then the follow- up reports, are a big pain in the butt). We've built up (and maintain) a year's operating expense in the bank in case anything goes wrong, and in terms of our various numbers we've grown each year. One thing we had to do with the grant was track some numbers, since they'd want to see some "results". So we kept track of the number of bikes sold and recycled (scrapped), number of people served, volunteer hours, that sort of thing. And we kept that up after the grant was done, and this has been very useful in helping us identify how the shop gets used. Each year a report is produced and we see how the numbers may have changed, specially if we'd implemented a policy or changed an old one. For instance in 2004 we had approx. 630 people use our shop, and we processed about 150 bikes. In 2005 we moved to a larger room in the same building and those numbers jumped to 1000 and 200 respectively, and by 2007 it was 1500 and 400! If nothing else it showed us that we were on the right track with our operations. About our shop: - We have only one paid person (me) and at that I only get a monthly honourarium (and I worked as Director for four years on a volunteer basis before requesting it). - We sell two different levels of bikes. Fully overhauled, from around $100 to $200, and As Is, meaning safety checked and all systems working but not rebuilt, for $40 and up. Bare frames for projects go from free on up. - Most parts aside from wheels are $1 to $10, but of course the really nice goodies (and we don't get a lot of those) are kept in a locked display case and priced accordingly. My personal opinion is that you should somehow find some funding to get you started, but avoid it after that if at all possible. This way you don't have to answer to anyone beyond your landlord. If you wish to run programs that cannot be self-sustaining just keep in mind that time and energy will have to be spent finding the ongoing funding and maintaining it, and you'll be at the whims of the funding orgs. If you start making a profit (your income exceeds your expenses) then perhaps that would be a good time to look into such projects. [View Less]

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