- TheThinkTank - lists.bikecollectives.org

Chicago's Blackstone Bicycle Works Youth Education Program Featured In Great Article
by Matthew Searle 16 Feb '18

16 Feb '18

Chicago's *Blackstone Bicycle Works* youth education program was featured in a great online article from Bittersweet Monthly. Take a look at it here: https://bittersweetmonthly.com/stories/blackstone-bicycle-works#chapter-nav *Mission: Blackstone Bicycle Works (BBW) is a youth education program of the Experimental Station. It’s a full-service bike shop dedicated to promoting ecological practices and empowering youth—teaching mechanical skills, job skills, and business literacy to youths ages 8-18.* ______________ Matthew T. Searle Assistant Director Experimental Station 6100 S. Blackstone Ave. Chicago, IL 60637 USA matthew(a)experimentalstation.org office: 773.241.6044; alt: 773.270.2502 experimentalstation.org <http://www.experimentalstation.org>

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Seen any good videos lately on bike traffic safety? (Good enough to teach with?)
by Jim Sheehan 15 Feb '18

15 Feb '18

Dear Think Tank; Do you use a video to teach bike traffic safety? Which one? Who do you teach with it? Is it part of a course that includes actual riding, or is the video all they get? Here's why we want to know: Everyone who gets a bike from OCBC is offered a free Traffic Skills Intro class , but less than 5% of them take it. (It's three hours split evenly between a slideshow/discussion, rodeo drills, and a group ride in city traffic -- the shortest we could make the LAB's 9-hour curriculum) Earn A Bike youth must take this class as part of earning their bike. Most of our other students pay a $25 fee since they didn't buy a bike from us. We get frustrated cancelling classes on these folks when we have less than three students (but a class of two is less educational, not efficient, and just kind of weird). For a long time we asked bike purchasers to take an online quiz on safe cycling (with answer feedback) while we final-checked their bikes. Almost everyone took it, and most said they appreciated the info. But it had no video, so did not demonstrate good technique, or, obviously, give them any guided practice on their bikes. So we want to give better information with a video on the basics of riding in traffic they can watch in the shop (or anytime online) and bring more of them back in with a shorter class that still covers the same "need to knows" -- since they will have seen good practice modeled in a standardized, visual way. (I'm picturing a video version of How to Not Get Hit By Cars). *We'd **also **like to use this video as the first station in community bike rodeos.* Is this a tall order? If you haven't found a video you can stand either, what do you do to teach good bicycle traffic skills? Is it effective? Please leave your answers in this google form <https://goo.gl/forms/P1MVez5bvoFKRmX32>, and for an ironic reward, see this video <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prhQixo0sFI> (if you can stand it) for all the production and pedagogical choices we want to avoid at all costs. Thanks, Jim Sheehan Executive Director Ohio City Bicycle Co-op 1840 Columbus Rd Cleveland, Ohio 44113 216 830 2667 OhioCityCycles.org jim(a)ohiocitycycles.org

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Web Developer
by Tigre Bici 14 Feb '18

14 Feb '18

Hello everyone We are looking for a web developer that can help us building our webpage with an online store. We have some ideas on what we need and will love that our page is built from a cyclist developer. If this is your thing please send us and email and we will be in contact Saludos R.

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Re: [TheThinkTank] Board Member "Job" Descriptions
by judith.feist＠gmail.com 12 Feb '18

12 Feb '18

I concur on this request...also director job descriptions...please and thank you. (: Sent from my LG K10, an AT&T 4G LTE smartphone ------ Original message------From: Alix AylenDate: Wed, Feb 7, 2018 12:32 PMTo: thethinktank(a)lists.bikecollectives.org;Cc: Subject:[TheThinkTank] Board Member "Job" Descriptions Hi all, I'm wondering if any collectives might be able to share examples of Board Member "Job Descriptions with me/Charlie's? We have very brief lists of tasks/areas of focus for our members, but I'm hoping to draft something that is a better indication of the time commitments for each member and potential tasks associated with each role. While also keeping in mind that these are volunteer roles. We have 2-3 staff and 9 board members, so I'm just hoping to have something to work off of to assist with articulating roles and managing the board. thank you! -- Alix AylenExecutive Director242.5 Queen Street E. M5A 1S3 Toronto, Ontario t. 416-856-5510 www.charliesfreewheels.ca Charlie's FreeWheels Inspiring a spirit of exploration in youth Sign up for our newsletter Get more young people on bikes! Click the gear to donate to Charlies' FreeWheels.

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Re: [TheThinkTank] recording the benefits of a community bike project
by Ulick O'Beirne 10 Feb '18

10 Feb '18

Re: recording the benefits of a community bike project Hey there, I'm really enjoying being a part of this mailing list. We're trying to get a project off the ground here in West Cork in Ireland. More anon. I'm applying for funding for various bike related projects: Earn A Bike, Fun Cycle Rides encouraging fitness and participation, Recycled Bike Projects, specific school and migrant centre projects. How do you equate your data? How do you record your victories? Or your projects that could have gone better? How do you relate these numbers next time you look for funding to show progress? Thanks a million! Ulick

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Receiving Emails
by lori newton 07 Feb '18

07 Feb '18

Hi there, our bike mechanic ‘joined’ the think tank but isn’t receiving emails yet. Can you hook him up? His name is Oliver Swainson oliver.swainson(a)gmail.com Cheers! lori newton, executive director bike windsor essex <http://bikewindsoressex.com/> 101 university avenue west www.bikewindsoressex.com 519.980.4849

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Board Member "Job" Descriptions
by Alix Aylen 07 Feb '18

07 Feb '18

Hi all, I'm wondering if any collectives might be able to share examples of Board Member "Job Descriptions with me/Charlie's? We have very brief lists of tasks/areas of focus for our members, but I'm hoping to draft something that is a better indication of the time commitments for each member and potential tasks associated with each role. While also keeping in mind that these are volunteer roles. We have 2-3 staff and 9 board members, so I'm just hoping to have something to work off of to assist with articulating roles and managing the board. thank you! -- *Alix Aylen* Executive Director 242.5 Queen Street E. M5A 1S3 Toronto, Ontario t. 416-856-5510 www.charliesfreewheels.ca Charlie's FreeWheels *Inspiring a spirit of exploration in youth* Sign up for our newsletter <http://charliesfreewheels.us3.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=796baa6919ab0f3b6…> Get more young people on bikes! Click the gear to donate to Charlies' FreeWheels <https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=NTHJ4G…> . [image: http://www.charliesfreewheels.ca/donate/] <http://www.charliesfreewheels.ca/donate/>

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Community Bike Shop Exchange Web Prototype (NEW LINK)
by rob＠robertgrossmandesign.com 03 Feb '18

03 Feb '18

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JOB OPPORTUNITY: Ride Program Coordinator, Charlie's FreeWheels (Toronto, Canada)
by Alix Aylen 02 Feb '18

02 Feb '18

Charlie's is hiring a Ride Program Coordinator! Do you LOVE to ride your bike? Do you have experience working with youth? Join the Charlie's FreeWheels team! Help us to grow our ride program and get more kids and youth on bikes! Application deadline: February 16, 2018 See the full posting here: https://www.charliesfreewheels.ca/jobs/ <https://www.charliesfreewheels.ca/jobs/> -- *Alix Aylen* Executive Director 242.5 Queen Street E. M5A 1S3 Toronto, Ontario t. 416-856-5510 www.charliesfreewheels.ca Charlie's FreeWheels *Inspiring a spirit of exploration in youth* Sign up for our newsletter <http://charliesfreewheels.us3.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=796baa6919ab0f3b6…> Get more young people on bikes! Click the gear to donate to Charlies' FreeWheels <https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=NTHJ4G…> . [image: http://www.charliesfreewheels.ca/donate/] <http://www.charliesfreewheels.ca/donate/>

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Your Most Go-To-est Small and Medium Parts
by Josh Bisker 02 Feb '18

02 Feb '18

Pals, we've got a bunch of long skinny red u-line bins (like 4" x 18") on a couple long shelves now that are BALLING. They're super easy access for people to get their hands on small and medium sized parts. What are your like, top ten or top twenty small or medium sized things that people need to get ahold of? What would I not think of, but you're like "oh folks actually need XYZ like all the damn time"? Or do you have cautionary tales, like "don't put fifteen pounds of M5 bolts in one of those, they will get mixed up immediately with other things and it will suck"? Also check it: we're going to take a tip from Kickstand in Vancouver and hot-glue the part itself to the front of the bin, so that no one needs to remember just what a thing is called to have access to the magic. Josh Bisker 914-500-9890 New York Mechanical Gardens Bike Co-op <http://bikecoop.nyc/> 596 Acres <http://596acres.org/> Bindlestiff Family Cirkus <http://bindlestiff.org/>

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