- TheThinkTank - lists.bikecollectives.org

management and decision making, living wage
by weogo＠liveedge.net 18 Apr '25

18 Apr '25

Hi Folks, For our new bike collective, I would like to see a more bottom-up approach than a top-down Board managing everything. Anybody here doing management as a Worker Self-Directed Nonprofit? https://www.theselc.org/worker_selfdirected_nonprofits Rather than majority or consensus decision making, how about Dynamic Governance / Sociocracy: https://communitydevelopment.ces.ncsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/What-i… While we are starting as an all-volunteer effort, I see much room for growth, and paid employees receiving a living wage. Does your shop make enough money to pay any employees? Thanks and good health, Weogo

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MEMT 2025 Ejercicio de ciencia ciudadana con potencial de impacto social / Citizen science exercise with social impact potential
by Angie Libertad 25 Mar '25

25 Mar '25

El año pasado se amplió a Norte América la Medición de Eficacia en Modos de Transporte, un ejercicio de ciencia ciudadana con mucho potencial de impacto en cambiar la priorización de vialidades locales, con participación de ciudades en Canada, Estados Unidos y México. Este año se esta repitiendo y lxs impulsorxs desde Chile están convocando hoy mismo a una sesión informativa. ¡Súmate para conocer más sobre la Medición de Eficiencia en Modos de Transporte (MEMT 2025)! La cita en línea es: Hoy martes 25 de marzo 19 hrs Chile/Argentina 16 hrs México : https://meet.google.com/kpa-tmex-fvi --------------------------------------------------------------------- Last year the MEMT, a citizen science exercise with great potential for impact on changing local road mobility priorities, expanded to North America with the participation of cities in Canada, US, and Mexico. This year it is being repeated and the promoters from Chile are calling for an informationalsession today. Join us to learn about the measurement of efficient modes of transporation (MEMT 2025)! The online meet is: Today Tuesday March 25th 19 hrs Chile/Argentina 16 hrs México : https://meet.google.com/kpa-tmex-fvi

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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)

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Renaming the Think Tank
by Josh Bisker 21 Mar '25

21 Mar '25

Hi buds, let's talk about renaming the Think Tank in order to increase its value as a communal resource. *español abajo* As we talked about during our Bike!Bike! meetings last autumn, the Think Tank is an incredible resource but a clunky and imperfect tool. A main challenge is participation: many collectives do not participate in the Think Tank, and it's hard to bring new collectives on board, so its reach, impact, and value are limited (and maybe even decreasing). The name is one barrier we identified to participation: "The Think Tank" is a confusingly generic name for a listserv about bike collectives, and organizers with limited time and capacity are unlikely to engage with a resource that doesn't seem clearly relevant to their needs and objcetives. So: - Can we rename the Think Tank without losing the backlog of listserv messages? - Who is in a position to actually institute such a change? - What are the practical steps involved in doing so, and the consequences? - What would be a better name? "BikeCollectives" seems like perhaps the easiest, and although it's in English I imagine it's a fairly accessible phrase. "Bike Collectives Think Tank," while fun, is pretty long, and probably less linguistically accessible for non-English-speakers. - While we're at it, is anyone knowledgable about (or interested in looking into) migrating the Think Tank's archive and users from its ancient listserv platform to a more up-to-date, user-friendly replacement, like groups.io or something? I imagine there could be great tools around, like maybe even automatic translation for messages. Ok, what's your thoughts? Josh / he/him / Brooklyn *** Hola amigos, hablemos de cambiar el nombre del Think Tank para aumentar su valor como un recurso comunitario. Como comentamos durante nuestras reuniones de Bike!Bike! el otoño pasado, el Think Tank es un recurso increíble, pero una herramienta torpe e imperfecta. Uno de los principales retos es la participación: muchos colectivos no participan en el Think Tank, y es difícil conseguir que se unan nuevos, por lo que su alcance, impacto y valor son limitados (e incluso podrían estar disminuyendo). El nombre es una barrera que identificamos para la participación: "The Think Tank" es un nombre genérico y confuso para una lista de correo sobre colectivos de bicicletas, y es poco probable que los organizadores con tiempo y capacidad limitados interactúen con un recurso que no parece claramente relevante para sus necesidades y objetivos. Entonces: - ¿Podemos cambiar el nombre del Think Tank sin perder la acumulación de mensajes en la lista de correo? - ¿Quién está en condiciones de implementar realmente dicho cambio? - ¿Cuáles son los pasos prácticos para hacerlo y las consecuencias? - ¿Cuál sería un nombre mejor? "BikeCollectives" parece quizás la frase más fácil, y aunque está en inglés, imagino que es bastante accesible. "Bike Collectives Think Tank", aunque divertido, es bastante largo y probablemente menos accesible lingüísticamente para quienes no hablan inglés. - Y ya que estamos, ¿alguien sabe (o está interesado en) migrar el archivo y los usuarios del Think Tank de su antigua plataforma de listas de correo a una alternativa más moderna y fácil de usar, como groups.io o algo similar? Imagino que podría haber herramientas geniales, como incluso la traducción automática de mensajes. Bueno, ¿qué opinan? Josh / él / Brooklyn Josh Bisker | 914-500-9890 <http://voice.google.com/calls?a=nc,%2B19145009890>

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power tools at the Co-op
by weogo＠liveedge.net 20 Mar '25

20 Mar '25

Hi Folks, We currently have a 5" side grinder, 6" wheel grinder and corded and cordless drills at the Co-op. When we get back in to a larger space, we'll get the drill press out of storage. We have access to lots of construction tools when we need to build something. What power tools do you use at your Co-op? Anybody using other big tools, like a bearing press, or arbor press? Thanks and good health, Weogo

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When is Bike!?Bike!?
by bikebikesmtx2025＠gmail.com 05 Mar '25

05 Mar '25

I've had a few folks in the community reach out to me over the past few weeks asking about when Bike!Bike! Is this year and I've got nothing to tell them and that doesn't sit right with me. I checked the Facebook page the Bike!Bike! Website and here on this thinktank but there's only been one post (a post I'm incredibly excited by) in the month and a half plus since the meeting. I know a some people myself included need to request off well in advance if they want to make it or time to budget save and plan. Is there somewhere else I should be looking for an official announcement? Does anybody have any information? Let me know! En las últimas semanas, algunas personas de la comunidad se han comunicado conmigo para preguntarme cuándo se celebrará Bike!Bike! este año, pero no tengo nada que decirles y eso no me parece bien. Revisé la página de Facebook, el sitio web de Bike!Bike! y aquí, en este grupo de expertos, pero solo ha habido una publicación (una publicación que me entusiasma muchísimo) en el mes y medio que ha pasado desde la reunión. Sé que algunas personas, incluido yo mismo, deben solicitar una cita con bastante anticipación si quieren asistir o si necesitan tiempo para ahorrar y planificar. ¿Hay algún otro lugar donde deba buscar un anuncio oficial? ¿Alguien tiene alguna información? ¡Avísenme!

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Asheville Recyclery page
by weogo＠liveedge.net 04 Mar '25

04 Mar '25

Hi Folks, I'm a mechanic with the Asheville Recyclery. I tried to edit the page for the Asheville Recyclery and it would not work for me, kept getting messages that there were newer edits since I tried to update, but there isn't anything there. How do I make this work? Thanks and good health, Weogo

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Organizing a Bike!Bike! : organisational guidelines and up-to-date financial cues
by martin_labrosse.gabriel＠courrier.uqam.ca 01 Mar '25

01 Mar '25

Hello fellow CBS organizers and volunteers, I won't beat around the bush, there is a good chance a Montreal bid will be proposed at B!B!CDMX '25. Alain Deschamps and I wanted to propose in Tijuana but we stepped down seing the already great bids placed and the big conversation that ensued. We already had some sort of idea of how a B!B! is organized but I would like to see org charts, sheets and docs used for preping this wonderfull event- I've seen the docs from the B!B! in Colorado on here, but would love to see other ones. Would also like to know how much we can expect to pay to organize the B!B! in 2026. Is there any money left if the fund to help the orgarnizers or it's empty? Thanks and hopefully we see eachother in August! Gabriel ML, BQAM-E

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Bike!Bike! 2025 Announcement + Meeting Recap
by Josh Bisker 05 Jan '25

05 Jan '25

Hello pals, and happy new year! Español abajo. This message follows our Bike!Bike! Assembly on December 11, 2024, with a recap on what happened and what's coming up. Here's the headline though: *Resiste Pedál in Mexico City will host Bike!Bike! 2025!* *Resiste Pedál in Mexico City will host Bike!Bike! 2025!* *Resiste Pedál in Mexico City will host Bike!Bike! 2025!* The dates will be sometime in August. Future updates will come from the organizers. I think it was a pretty healing, invigorating, and community-building meeting. The CDMX organizers had an opportunity to reintroduce themselves to the greater gathering, demonstrate their collective's many strengths, and restate their vision for hosting the conference. Alongside them, an organizer from Bogotá presented a separate compelling pitch for hosting B!B! in Colombia, showcasing a different vision of how the conference could thrive there. The many people in the assembly had opportunities to ask detailed questions, share lingering grievances, and talk with both each other and the presenters about how to work through the challenges of restarting Bike!Bike! as an in-person conference. Ultimately, we voted to move ahead with Mexico City. Speaking personally, I'm really proud of and grateful to everyone who showed up to the assembly and the previous meetings. Many people invested a lot of time, skill, and vulnerability to this delicate and sometimes frustrating process. Thanks to your love, skill, and dedication, we're able to come back together in this movement for justice. I'd like to reflect too that I believe this has been a meaningful moment for our community—one where we used trust, skill, and communication to overcome a challenging transition in the way we work together internationally. I think that we've done really fine work for ourselves, and that we can look forward to more healing, collaboration, and adventure as we push for the revolution. Great job, everyone. Below are the meeting's tldr highlights. You can find the full notes here <https://pad.riseup.net/p/Notas_asamblea_BB2025>. * Oh! And a really sincere special thanks to everyone who interpreted, took notes, and kibbitzed with me on a back-channel with both facilitation support and moral support throughout the meeting. Thank you. * - 26 to 31 people joined the discussion - There were two comprehensive and compelling pitches: - Daniela, Dandy, and Valeria from Resiste Pedál in Mexico City, Mexico. - Armando from EMBYMAC in Bogotá, Colombia. - People asked questions about the proposals, the collectives involved, the cities and circumstances, and more. - People discussed each proposal's strengths and challenges, aired reservations, and also heard responses from the presenters in light of these discussions. - Eventually, we took a "temperature check" vote that showed 16 to 5 for CDMX over Bogotá. - Subsequently, we took a "more real" vote that showed only 2 for Bogotá, and the rest for CDMX. - Full notes here. <https://pad.riseup.net/p/Notas_asamblea_BB2025> ******** ¡Hola amigos y feliz año nuevo! Este mensaje sigue a nuestra Asamblea Bike!Bike! del 11 de diciembre de 2024, con un resumen de lo que sucedió y lo que viene. Sin embargo, este es el titular: *Resiste Pedál en la Ciudad de Mexico City será anfitrión de Bike!Bike! 2025!* *Resiste Pedál en la Ciudad de Mexico City será anfitrión de Bike!Bike! 2025!* *Resiste Pedál en la Ciudad de Mexico City será anfitrión de Bike!Bike! 2025!* Las fechas serán en algún momento de agosto. Las futuras actualizaciones vendrán de los organizadores. Creo que fue una reunión bastante sanadora, vigorizante y de construcción de comunidad. Los organizadores de CDMX tuvieron la oportunidad de volver a presentarse a la reunión más grande, demostrar las muchas fortalezas de su colectivo y reafirmar su visión para albergar la conferencia. Junto a ellos, un organizador de Bogotá presentó un discurso convincente por separado para albergar B!B! en Colombia, mostrando una visión diferente de cómo la conferencia podría prosperar allí. Las muchas personas en la asamblea tuvieron oportunidades de hacer preguntas detalladas, compartir quejas persistentes y hablar entre sí y con los presentadores sobre cómo superar los desafíos de reiniciar Bike!Bike! como una conferencia en persona. Finalmente, votamos para seguir adelante con la Ciudad de México. Hablando personalmente, estoy muy orgulloso y agradecido con todos los que se presentaron a la asamblea y las reuniones anteriores. Muchas personas invirtieron mucho tiempo, habilidad y vulnerabilidad en este proceso delicado y a veces frustrante. Gracias a su amor, habilidad y dedicación, podemos volver a unirnos en este movimiento por la justicia. También me gustaría reflexionar que creo que este ha sido un momento significativo para nuestra comunidad, uno en el que usamos la confianza, la habilidad y la comunicación para superar una transición desafiante en la forma en que trabajamos juntos a nivel internacional. Creo que hemos hecho un trabajo realmente bueno para nosotros mismos, y que podemos esperar más sanación, colaboración y aventura a medida que impulsamos la revolución. Buen trabajo, todos. A continuación, se muestran los puntos destacados de la reunión. Puede encontrar las notas completas aquí. <https://pad.riseup.net/p/Notas_asamblea_BB2025> * ¡Ah! Y un agradecimiento especial muy sincero a todos los que interpretaron, tomaron notas y charlaron conmigo en un canal secundario con apoyo de facilitación y apoyo moral durante toda la reunión. Gracias. * - De 26 a 31 personas se unieron a la discusión - Hubo dos presentaciones completas y convincentes: - Daniela, Dandy y Valeria de Resiste Pedál en la Ciudad de México, México. - Armando de EMBYMAC en Bogotá, Colombia. - La gente hizo preguntas sobre las propuestas, los colectivos involucrados, las ciudades y circunstancias, y más. - La gente discutió las fortalezas y desafíos de cada propuesta, expresó reservas y también escuchó las respuestas de los presentadores a la luz de estas discusiones. - Finalmente, tomamos una votación de "control de temperatura" que mostró 16 a 5 para CDMX sobre Bogotá. - Posteriormente, tomamos una votación "más real" que mostró solo 2 para Bogotá y el resto para CDMX. - Notas completas aquí. <https://pad.riseup.net/p/Notas_asamblea_BB2025> Josh Bisker | 914-500-9890 <http://voice.google.com/calls?a=nc,%2B19145009890>

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Liability insurance for volunteers
by Andy Ballentine 18 Dec '24

18 Dec '24

Hello, all -- What is your experience with liability insurance coverage for volunteers? At the Bicycle Co-Op of Williamsburg (VA) we have posted "at your own risk" signs, but wonder if there's a better way to handle this. Thanks! Andy

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