- TheThinkTank - lists.bikecollectives.org

Please help if you can.
by Plan B 24 Jul '12

24 Jul '12

Okay y'all, here's the deal. http://outdoors.maker.good.is/projects/bikeproject We're in the running for a $5,000 vote based grant. If we get it, we're giving away 100 re-cycled bikes along with lights, patch kits, and a basic maintenance class. We're teaming up with our local advocacy group ( www.bikeasy.org )for the selection process to make sure it goes to the needy and underserved of New Orleans. We have been fluctuating between #1 and #4 out of 115 entries. The grant is supposed to be for "Social justice in the outdoors". Not to shit talk, but currently in first place is "The Epitome Project", which is noble, BUT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE OUTDOORS. I really don't mind if the garden project or the rock climbing project win, but the fact that project to fund musicians on the other side of the planet is in a dead heat with projects that do work with much larger local impact (and actually fit the grant competition category) is a little bothersome. Could you vote for us (or whoever you think will do the most good with the money?) The easiest way is with facebook. Doing it with email is fine too, but you have to confirm your vote afterwards. Here's the link again. http://outdoors.maker.good.is/projects/bikeproject Their website can be a little sluggish at times. Please be patient. Also, if you could spread the word, I'd really, really love y'all for it! Just cut and paste on your Facebook platform! See you at BikeBikeX in New Orleans 2013!!!!!!!! Thanks so much for reading this!!!! <http://outdoors.maker.good.is/projects/bikeproject> -- Victor Pizarro Project Organizer Plan B, The New Orleans Community Bike Project

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Bike Valet/Bike Parking services hourly rates?
by Ryan Kragerud 18 Jul '12

18 Jul '12

Bicycle Longmont jumped into the Bike Valet service field in 2010. Last year it really took off and this year is no exception. We are currently being asked to provide this service (previously for free) at many special events. We currently offer this service for free at Longmont's Farmers' Market where we park upwards to 175 bikes every saturday between 7am & 1pm. We don't have the volunteer capacity to handle all the events that are requesting our highly successful service. Also since providing the service it appears bike parking is becoming a "communitywide value". At any rate, like you, we're a cash strapped 501c3 and wondered who of the ThinkTank are charging for this service and what are your rates? Afterall it takes time and money to do good in the neighborhood! BTW we'd continue providing the Farmers' Market for free but would require anyone wanting to work a special event to have prior experience volunteering with our Farmers' Market, first. Thanks, Ryan Kragerud - President Bicycle Longmont

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Re: [TheThinkTank] Shop software
by christopher＠holisticcycles.com 16 Jul '12

16 Jul '12

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The true test of society is how well it treats its prisoners and old people.
by Jonathan Morrison 13 Jul '12

13 Jul '12

"By pedaling the prison's stationary bikes, the inmates charge a battery that's used to power 10 street lamps along the town's riverside promenade. For every three eight-hour days they spend on the bikes, [they] get one day shaved off their sentences." http://news.yahoo.com/inmates-brazilian-jail-cycle-freedom-165006870.html Sincerely, Jonathan Morrison c: 801-688-0183

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Two Job Openings @ Sopo Bike Coop!
by tito ＠ sopo bike co-op 05 Jul '12

05 Jul '12

Contact: Tito Sands 678.907.3892 tito(a)sopobikes.org July 5, 2012 – Sopo is looking to hire a Part time Volunteer Coordinator and a Full time Executive Director. Job descriptions are in the body of this message. Individuals who are interested should email their resume plus cover letter, as well as any inquiries, to tito(a)sopobikes.org. Applications are due on July 27th for the Volunteer Coordinator position and on August 24th for the Executive Director position. Sopo Bicycle Cooperative is now located in Grant Park at 586 Woodward Avenue SE, Atlanta, GA 30312. Sopo Bicycle Cooperative is a 501(c)3 nonprofit bicycle repair workshop. Sopo's mission is to create equitable access to bicycling by providing affordable bicycle maintenance services and education. All donations to Sopo are tax deductible. The shop is located at 586 Woodward Avenue SE, Atlanta, GA 30312. Operating hours are Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday nights from 7 pm until 10 pm and Saturday and Sunday afternoons from 2 pm until 5 pm. Visit www.sopobikes.org for more information. Title: Status: Salary: The Program Coordinator of Sopo Bicycle Cooperative reports to the Board of Directors, and is responsible for the organization's consistent functioning of its shop and various educational, outreach, and bicycle repair activities conducted throughout the year. The volunteer coordinator’s responsibilities are as follows: Develops and implements methods for coordination and retention of volunteers; Ensures all programs are fully staffed with volunteers: Open Shop Hours, Volunteer Coordinator Part-Time [(average 20-25 hours/week)] $14,000 Summer Youth program, Bike There!, Charity Bikes, Bike 101 classes; Schedules and advertises Bike 101 classes and other classes; Recruits and screens volunteers for appropriate role placement; Identifies key volunteer roles and places volunteers in these roles; Identifies strong volunteers for shop manager role and other roles; Organizes and facilitates monthly new volunteer orientations; Creates and maintains relative volunteer signage and documents; Provides leadership in volunteer opportunity development; Bikes 201; Volunteer Orientation 2.0; Publicizes volunteer needs for special events; Organizes and supervises volunteers for special events (i.e., Artbikes, BHBP); Ensures that expenditures are within budget guidelines (created by board) and reflect sound financial practices; Manages and resolves conflicts as needed; Removes problem visitors as appropriate and consistent with Sopo policies and principles; Maintains regular and timely communication with volunteers, Board and the Executive Director; Maintains volunteer sign-in book, volunteer newsletter, volunteer information data base (contact, skills, commitment, etc.); Develops and hosts volunteer appreciation activities; Maintains a climate in the Shop and at Sopo events that attracts, keeps, and motivates a diverse crew of top quality staff and volunteers (shared with ED); and Sees that an effective shop management team, with appropriate provision for succession, is in place (shared with ED). Required skills and experience: Bicycle maintenance skills, 2 years of significant volunteer experience at Sopo, excellent communication skills, experience in conflict resolution, experience in personnel management, and a deep commitment to Sopo's values. Bilingual Spanish/English is a plus. Title: Status: Salary: The Executive Director is the Chief Executive Officer of Sopo Bicycle Cooperative. The Executive Director reports to the Board of Directors, and is responsible for the organization's consistent achievement of its mission and financial objectives. Sopo’s Executive Director’s responsibilities are as follows: Serve as the public face of the organization along with Board members; attend local community meetings, participate in local bike politics, represent organization at regional and national conferences; Work with the staff, Finance Committee, and the board in preparing a budget; see Executive Director Full-Time $28,000 (+ stipend for benefits) that the organization operates within budget guidelines; Be responsible for developing and maintaining sound financial practices ; Assure that the organization effectively implements its long-range strategy which achieves its mission, and toward which it makes consistent and timely progress; Develop and implement fundraising regime; engage funds providers and sustain beneficial partnerships, organize fundraising events; submit grants; ensure that adequate funds are available to permit the organization to carry out its work (in coordination w/ Board); Maintain program oversight; provide support for Volunteer Coordinator, ensure programs are sustainable by providing organizational support for Programs; Provide leadership in program development; explore means to better provide equitable, practical and affordable [bicycle repair and education] services; Demonstrate continuity of community engagement through internal and external communication; participate in monthly meetings; keep Board informed on a timely basis of all information relevant to the governance of Sopo; publicize events and programs; Provide organizational stability by maintaining official records and documents, and ensure compliance with federal, state and local regulations; create bi-annual reports for Board; Jointly, with the president and secretary of the board of directors, conduct official correspondence of the organization, and jointly, with designated officers, execute legal documents; Maintain a climate in the Shop and at Sopo events that attracts, keeps, and motivates a diverse crew of top quality staff and volunteers (shared with Volunteer Coordinator); and See that an effective shop management team, with appropriate provision for succession, is in place (shared with Volunteer Coordinator). Required skills and experience: Basic bicycle maintenance skills, 2 years of significant volunteer experience at Sopo or another local focused nonprofit service based organization, excellent communication skills, social media skills, intermediate computer skills, experience in conflict resolution, experience in personnel management, budgeting skills, fundraising experience, grant writing experience and a deep commitment to Sopo's values. Bilingual Spanish/English is a plus. END tito @ SOPO Bikes 1270 Caroline St NE Ste D120-392 Atlanta, GA 30307 cell. 678.907.3892 www.sopobikes.org Our mission is to create equitable access to cycling by providing affordable bicycle maintenance, services and education.

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Re: [TheThinkTank] Shop software
by Godwin ! 05 Jul '12

05 Jul '12

I’ve also had reservations about going with a web-based system but in the end I think it’s the most adaptable solution. I’m not worrying about hardware integration for now, I’m pretty sure anything is possible but I think that would be far down the list of requirements for most shops that need free software. It will be open source and modular, so there won’t be a single point person for the entire system, I’ll do my best to set up a good environment for users to interact with the developers and for developers to provide documentation. This is a bit of an experiment but I have far more faith in open and crowd sourcing technologies than I do having a long term individual or group in charge (including myself). Thanks! .g From: Jonathan Morrison Sent: Monday, July 02, 2012 3:49:13 PM To: The Think Tank Subject: Re: [TheThinkTank] Shop software Godwin, Will it be able to swipe credit card? Interface with a cash drawer? Or scan a UPC? My concern with any web-based system is that you don't have access to the necessary lower level hardware of a useful POS system. Also, how much will you be charging for tech support, or what level of on-going support can users expect? Or will use be at your own risk with no implied support? Name Suggestion: PIF - Pedaling/Paying It Forward Sincerely, Jonathan Morrison c: 801-688-0183 On Mon, Jul 2, 2012 at 2:33 PM, Ryan Sharpe <sharpe(a)sacbikekitchen.org> wrote: At the risk of being too family-unfriendly, gratuitously offensive to Godwin's herculean task, and over-aware of the cobbled-together nature of some of our various operations, I'd be tickled if it were named "That POS". --Ryan S. On Mon, Jul 2, 2012 at 1:13 PM, summitcyclingcenter(a)yahoo.com <summitcyclingcenter(a)yahoo.com> wrote: I Appreciate what you are doing. Name-I suggest Velocomp POS. Sent from my HTC EVO Design™ 4G from Boost Mobile ----- Reply message ----- From: "Godwin !" <goodgodwin(a)hotmail.com> To: "The Think Tank" <thethinktank(a)bikecollectives.org> Subject: [TheThinkTank] Shop software Date: Sun, Jul 1, 2012 6:50 pm Trying to squeeze in the extra time this week to open up to developers soon but first: Non-technical Nominate a name! Right now the code name I'm using is 'Samara' after the fruit that a maple tree produces but I'd like to hear better ideas if anyone has them (and maybe get some sort of consensus) Will my shop / organization be able to use it? Yes. The intention is to make everything completely customizable so that it can work with the way your organization does, although I'm not going to promote it over any of the other options It will be web-based and (if required) compatible with Wordpress, Joomla, and Drupal and eventually hopefully IPad and Android. Setting it up to work offline will also be possible. What will it do? The focus at the beginning is to create a point of sale system, after that I'd like to implement other features from news feeds to keep everyone informed to budget planning and audit modules (everything will be optional) Whatever else you can dream of and find someone to help build Why are you doing this? To create a common tool that will work for everyone's needs, so that we can combine our efforts where we can and diverge when we need to Because I like software development and especially interesting projects Not to overshadow other people's efforts such as freehub When will it be ready? No clue. I've made a number of promises in the past but I realized that I really need to stop making them, we all know what volunteering is like Don't wait for it if you need something now, there's lots of other tools out there and if you eventually want to switch we may be able to work together to get that done. Check out: http://erply.com/, http://www.merchantos.com/, and of course https://github.com/asalant/freehub/wiki/ How to get involved GIVE IT A NAME! - It's likely that your shop name will be more prominent (if this name is even visible at all) but it would be nice to have something to call it when downloading or when talking amongst ourselves Design a logo - You might want to wait for the name Otherwise wait for my next email (but don't hold your breath), I'll be setting up a development environment so that people can jump on as they can. We'll be more in need of experienced PHP developers in the beginning stages to round out the framework, less experienced developers can hop on in the later stages to build modules and themes. Feel free to send questions or feedback (critical or otherwise) directly to me if you'd like, .godwin _______________________________________________ Thethinktank mailing list Thethinktank(a)lists.bikecollectives.org To unsubscribe, send a blank email to TheThinkTank-leave(a)bikecollectives.org To manage your subscription, plase visit: http://lists.bikecollectives.org/listinfo.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.… -- Sacramento Bicycle Kitchen http://sacbikekitchen.org/ 1915 I Street, Midtown Sacramento Open Tu 6-9p, We 6-9p, Th 6-9p, Fr 10a-2p (kids 6-8p), Sa 12-4p _______________________________________________ Thethinktank mailing list Thethinktank(a)lists.bikecollectives.org To unsubscribe, send a blank email to TheThinkTank-leave(a)bikecollectives.org To manage your subscription, plase visit: http://lists.bikecollectives.org/listinfo.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.…

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Re: [TheThinkTank] Thethinktank Digest, Vol 71, Issue 3
by Jenna Johns-Yu 03 Jul '12

03 Jul '12

Recycle-A-Bike, Providence, uses a system to track volunteer contact info, time volunteering in the shop, points, cash flow and program info. We designed it from file maker. We would be happy to make a copy of the file for anyone who is interested in using it in their community shop. You would need to purchase filemaker. It is backed up with carbonite so if our computer crashes we can resave it into the system. It isn't connected with any credit card machine.

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Re: [TheThinkTank] Shop software
by summitcyclingcenter＠yahoo.com 02 Jul '12

02 Jul '12

I Appreciate what you are doing. Name-I suggest Velocomp POS. Sent from my HTC EVO Design™ 4G from Boost Mobile ----- Reply message ----- From: "Godwin !" <goodgodwin(a)hotmail.com> To: "The Think Tank" <thethinktank(a)bikecollectives.org> Subject: [TheThinkTank] Shop software Date: Sun, Jul 1, 2012 6:50 pm Trying to squeeze in the extra time this week to open up to developers soon but first: Non-technicalNominate a name!Right now the code name I'm using is 'Samara' after the fruit that a maple tree produces but I'd like to hear better ideas if anyone has them (and maybe get some sort of consensus)Will my shop / organization be able to use it?Yes. The intention is to make everything completely customizable so that it can work with the way your organization does, although I'm not going to promote it over any of the other options It will be web-based and (if required) compatible with Wordpress, Joomla, and Drupal and eventually hopefully IPad and Android. Setting it up to work offline will also be possible.What will it do?The focus at the beginning is to create a point of sale system, after that I'd like to implement other features from news feeds to keep everyone informed to budget planning and audit modules (everything will be optional)Whatever else you can dream of and find someone to help buildWhy are you doing this?To create a common tool that will work for everyone's needs, so that we can combine our efforts where we can and diverge when we need toBecause I like software development and especially interesting projectsNot to overshadow other people's efforts such as freehubWhen will it be ready?No clue. I've made a number of promises in the past but I realized that I really need to stop making them, we all know what volunteering is likeDon't wait for it if you need something now, there's lots of other tools out there and if you eventually want to switch we may be able to work together to get that done.Check out: http://erply.com/, http://www.merchantos.com/, and of course https://github.com/asalant/freehub/wiki/ How to get involved GIVE IT A NAME! - It's likely that your shop name will be more prominent (if this name is even visible at all) but it would be nice to have something to call it when downloading or when talking amongst ourselvesDesign a logo - You might want to wait for the name Otherwise wait for my next email (but don't hold your breath), I'll be setting up a development environment so that people can jump on as they can. We'll be more in need of experienced PHP developers in the beginning stages to round out the framework, less experienced developers can hop on in the later stages to build modules and themes. Feel free to send questions or feedback (critical or otherwise) directly to me if you'd like,.godwin

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Re: [TheThinkTank] Shop software
by Godwin ! 02 Jul '12

02 Jul '12

I think this is hilarious and I’m not offended, however I would personally lean towards not calling it a point of sale system since it should be able to act as more of an overall management tool for organizations that want it, but I will not stand in the way of the crowd if we start leaning towards that direction for names. .g From: Ryan Sharpe Sent: Monday, July 02, 2012 2:33:54 PM To: The Think Tank Subject: Re: [TheThinkTank] Shop software At the risk of being too family-unfriendly, gratuitously offensive to Godwin's herculean task, and over-aware of the cobbled-together nature of some of our various operations, I'd be tickled if it were named "That POS". --Ryan S. On Mon, Jul 2, 2012 at 1:13 PM, summitcyclingcenter(a)yahoo.com <summitcyclingcenter(a)yahoo.com> wrote: I Appreciate what you are doing. Name-I suggest Velocomp POS. Sent from my HTC EVO Design™ 4G from Boost Mobile ----- Reply message ----- From: "Godwin !" <goodgodwin(a)hotmail.com> To: "The Think Tank" <thethinktank(a)bikecollectives.org> Subject: [TheThinkTank] Shop software Date: Sun, Jul 1, 2012 6:50 pm Trying to squeeze in the extra time this week to open up to developers soon but first: Non-technical Nominate a name! Right now the code name I'm using is 'Samara' after the fruit that a maple tree produces but I'd like to hear better ideas if anyone has them (and maybe get some sort of consensus) Will my shop / organization be able to use it? Yes. The intention is to make everything completely customizable so that it can work with the way your organization does, although I'm not going to promote it over any of the other options It will be web-based and (if required) compatible with Wordpress, Joomla, and Drupal and eventually hopefully IPad and Android. Setting it up to work offline will also be possible. What will it do? The focus at the beginning is to create a point of sale system, after that I'd like to implement other features from news feeds to keep everyone informed to budget planning and audit modules (everything will be optional) Whatever else you can dream of and find someone to help build Why are you doing this? To create a common tool that will work for everyone's needs, so that we can combine our efforts where we can and diverge when we need to Because I like software development and especially interesting projects Not to overshadow other people's efforts such as freehub When will it be ready? No clue. I've made a number of promises in the past but I realized that I really need to stop making them, we all know what volunteering is like Don't wait for it if you need something now, there's lots of other tools out there and if you eventually want to switch we may be able to work together to get that done. Check out: http://erply.com/, http://www.merchantos.com/, and of course https://github.com/asalant/freehub/wiki/ How to get involved GIVE IT A NAME! - It's likely that your shop name will be more prominent (if this name is even visible at all) but it would be nice to have something to call it when downloading or when talking amongst ourselves Design a logo - You might want to wait for the name Otherwise wait for my next email (but don't hold your breath), I'll be setting up a development environment so that people can jump on as they can. We'll be more in need of experienced PHP developers in the beginning stages to round out the framework, less experienced developers can hop on in the later stages to build modules and themes. Feel free to send questions or feedback (critical or otherwise) directly to me if you'd like, .godwin _______________________________________________ Thethinktank mailing list Thethinktank(a)lists.bikecollectives.org To unsubscribe, send a blank email to TheThinkTank-leave(a)bikecollectives.org To manage your subscription, plase visit: http://lists.bikecollectives.org/listinfo.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.… -- Sacramento Bicycle Kitchen http://sacbikekitchen.org/ 1915 I Street, Midtown Sacramento Open Tu 6-9p, We 6-9p, Th 6-9p, Fr 10a-2p (kids 6-8p), Sa 12-4p

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Shop software
by Godwin ! 01 Jul '12

01 Jul '12

Trying to squeeze in the extra time this week to open up to developers soon but first: Non-technicalNominate a name!Right now the code name I'm using is 'Samara' after the fruit that a maple tree produces but I'd like to hear better ideas if anyone has them (and maybe get some sort of consensus)Will my shop / organization be able to use it?Yes. The intention is to make everything completely customizable so that it can work with the way your organization does, although I'm not going to promote it over any of the other options It will be web-based and (if required) compatible with Wordpress, Joomla, and Drupal and eventually hopefully IPad and Android. Setting it up to work offline will also be possible.What will it do?The focus at the beginning is to create a point of sale system, after that I'd like to implement other features from news feeds to keep everyone informed to budget planning and audit modules (everything will be optional)Whatever else you can dream of and find someone to help buildWhy are you doing this?To create a common tool that will work for everyone's needs, so that we can combine our efforts where we can and diverge when we need toBecause I like software development and especially interesting projectsNot to overshadow other people's efforts such as freehubWhen will it be ready?No clue. I've made a number of promises in the past but I realized that I really need to stop making them, we all know what volunteering is likeDon't wait for it if you need something now, there's lots of other tools out there and if you eventually want to switch we may be able to work together to get that done.Check out: http://erply.com/, http://www.merchantos.com/, and of course https://github.com/asalant/freehub/wiki/ How to get involved GIVE IT A NAME! - It's likely that your shop name will be more prominent (if this name is even visible at all) but it would be nice to have something to call it when downloading or when talking amongst ourselvesDesign a logo - You might want to wait for the name Otherwise wait for my next email (but don't hold your breath), I'll be setting up a development environment so that people can jump on as they can. We'll be more in need of experienced PHP developers in the beginning stages to round out the framework, less experienced developers can hop on in the later stages to build modules and themes. Feel free to send questions or feedback (critical or otherwise) directly to me if you'd like,.godwin

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Woman with 2 years experience seeking work in non-profit bike shop
by Christine Hill 28 Jun '12

28 Jun '12

Hi all! My name is Christine Hill, and in August I'll wrap up two years of Americorps service at Bike Recycle Vermont<http://www.localmotion.org/programs/bikerecycle/>, a non-profit bike shop in Burlington, Vermont that accepts donated bikes, refurbishes them, and provides them to low-income Vermonters. I've learned so much as the assistant manager of our shop in the past two years and I've continuously drawn energy and inspiration from the work we do here. After 5 years in Vermont, I'm looking for a change in scenery but would love to work in a similar setting. My job responsibilities at Bike Recycle Vermont run the gamut of small, non-profit bike shop management: bike repair and maintenance, volunteer recruitment and management, long-term project planning, event planning, project management, communications and marketing, safety education, program development, running an Earn-A-Bike program, hosting Women and Trans nights, hosting Community Shop Nights, organizing bike rides, and more. My resume and references are available upon request. Just wanted to put the feelers out there. If you know your organization will be hiring in the fall or winter, shoot me a line, I'd love to chat with you! Take care, Christine Hill christine(a)localmotion.org (339)223-0722

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Bike ambassador program
by Neil Walker 25 Jun '12

25 Jun '12

We are about to launch our Bike Ambassador program for Youth. I am looking for "best practices" , Advice or suggestion for the program. I had the pleasure of seeing the program in action in Minnesota. Any and all with experience, please contribute through the collective or send an email to neil(a)atlantabike.org. Neil Walker Bicycle Education League Certified Instructor #2935 678.200.2182 Join today to support Atlanta's voice for better biking. www.atlantabike.org Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

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Re: [TheThinkTank] 'Youth Mechanics' analytical thinking skills program
by christopher＠holisticcycles.com 25 Jun '12

25 Jun '12

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Re: [TheThinkTank] (Physically) small bike shops/spaces?
by christopher＠holisticcycles.com 22 Jun '12

22 Jun '12

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Bike!Bike! Northeast - September 28-29-30
by Andrew L 22 Jun '12

22 Jun '12

Hi ThinkTank It's official.... SAVE THE DATE SEPTEMBER 28-30, 2012 BIKE!BIKE! NORTHEAST TROY, NY We put out some feelers and got positive feedback from shops in Providence, Worcester, Ontario, Burlington, and Pennsylvania... that is enough to commence the work of creating another awesome northeast US community bike gathering. in the coming months we will keep reaching out..... we hope to get: Ithaca Syracuse Montpelier Keene Lewiston, ME Rochester Coatesville, PA Philadelphia NYC Burlington New Haven Worcester Boston if you know individuals in this state who might not be in touch, please send them our way. http://troybikerescue.org/bikebikene

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(Physically) small bike shops/spaces?
by veganboyjosh＠gmail.com 21 Jun '12

21 Jun '12

hey all, a friend of mine is doing a story on bike shops that are under 500 square feet. he's primarily focused on retail oriented shops, but when he put the call out on facebook, of course i thought some of you and your lots of things happening in space that shouldn't physically be possible. of course he can't cover every small shop, but i'm looking for suggestions from you all for shops who have been around a while (longer than a couple years, i'd say) and are tiny physical spaces. borrowed space (ie, from a school or church, etc) is fine, as long as it's small. so, any ideas? thanks, and everyone who's at bike!bike! this weekend, give each other big hugs from me.

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Bike!Bike! Northeast 2012 ?
by Andrew L 16 Jun '12

16 Jun '12

Hey guys, girls and other bicycle enthusiasts. The people here at Troy Bike Rescue (Troy, NY (near Albany)) Have been itching for a Bike!Bike! in the Northeast. We are thinking of hosting one this coming September 28-30th. If we host it, will they come ? --- that is the question. Do you rep a shop in the Northeast? Would YOU come? Our last B!B!NE was in April 2010, and it was a great success... Worcester, Ithaca, Montpelier, Burlington, Providence, Plattsburgh, and others were all in attendance.... New shops have popped up since then, and we have a new awesome space too, plus great partners to help host. If you are interested in attending, please contact: dylan.thies(a)lostorienteerer.net You can learn more about us at: http://troybikerescue.org or you can contact one of us by phone at (518) EAT-4TBR (518-328-4827) BBNE could include: Troy night out (monthly 'art crawl') Troy Critical Mass (not associated but you will see similar faces) film screenings live music Good Food! WORKZHOPZ!!! shirt printing. bike rides Whaddya think?? we hope we are not stepping on any toes, but we haven't heard any peeps on the subject. We are sad not to be headed to Vancouver, but have a great time all!!! -- ------__o ----_`\<,_ ---(_)/ (_) andrew lynn 518-573-7947

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Re: [TheThinkTank] Thethinktank Digest, Vol 70, Issue 14
by Jenna Johns-Yu 13 Jun '12

13 Jun '12

Recycle-A-Bike <http://www.recycleabike.org/>, Providence will be there! Jenna Yu, Program Director

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Help Community Bicycle Center raise $1,000
by Andy Greif 12 Jun '12

12 Jun '12

Hi Think Tank Friends Please help the Community Bicycle Center with your vote described below and if possible put a posting on your respective FaceBook pages. As always you are welcome to visit us in Maine. We will have the kids take you on a tandem ride to the ocean or make you a milkshake on our bike powered blender. Thanks for your help!!!! You are one click away from helping CBC win $1,000 for our community's Bike Doctor Outreach program. To support National Bike Month, GOOD and Clif Bar are teaming up to reward one organization $1,000 for their idea of how promote biking and get their neighbors on bikes. Through CBC's Bike Doctor program, kids are "paying it forward" by pedaling into neighborhoods and fixing their neighbors' bikes for free. CLICK HERE: http://clifbarbikes.maker.good.is/projects/bikedoctor to watch a short, and endearing video about Bike Doctor and the kids who are involved.and, of course, to VOTE. VOTE, PLEASE! It takes seconds. Forward to your friends, family members, anyone and everyone you know who supports kids, and fellow-cycling enthusiast! <http://clifbarbikes.maker.good.is/projects/bikedoctor> http://clifbarbikes.maker.good.is/projects/bikedoctor You can also vote via the link on our CBC Facebook page: www.facebook.com/CommunityBicycleCenter **A big THANK YOU to At Your Service Video Production, LLC for donating talent and time for this contest and many other CBC video projects!** Andy Greif, Executive Director Mailing: P.O. Box 783, Biddeford, ME 04005 Shop: 284 Hill Street, Biddeford Shop Phone: 207-282-9700 Cell Phone: 207-229-8199 Website: www.communitybike.net <http://www.communitybike.net/> "Providing Opportunities for Youth to Grow"

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'Youth Mechanics' analytical thinking skills program
by Tom Martin 11 Jun '12

11 Jun '12

Hello all, I've recently finished a 10-week pilot for an analytical thinking skills program using bicycle repair as a teaching medium. In short, the program supposes that the subjects taught in school -- math, literature, etc -- are just arbitrary avenues to the same sort of cognitive processes that could be reached though handskills and mechanicship. In other words, bike repair to become a critical, thinking person. I'd love feedback on the program, which is outlined here: http://www.martincommatom.com/youth-mechanics ...with program notes, lesson plans and other written material. I'm also looking to expand the program, so if anyone has any leads on young people to work with (or funding!) here in London, let me know. Thanks! Tom Youth Mechanics, London

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Pedal-Powered Composting Project
by Andrew L 11 Jun '12

11 Jun '12

hey think tank! We are almost there but need the help of your networks to make FoodCylce a reality. Please excuse the shameless plug, but we are trying to rock a kickstarter campaign and time is dwindling at 9 days to go!! Our project is to build a small fleet of compost hauling cargo bikes and kickstart a local compost pick up route for our collaboration between our Troy Bike Rescue and a nearby vacant-lot gardening project, Collard City Growers.... you can read all about it in the words of my friend and food blogger, Amy: http://fromscratchclub.com/2012/06/11/kickstarter-campaign-food-cycle-build… you can also find the video there. Sure we would love support from you, but also we if this project sounds interesting to you, PLEASE take a moment and post it on Facebook, Twitter, or send an email to your personal or community networks. -- ------__o ----_`\<,_ ---(_)/ (_) andrew lynn 518-573-7947

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Kitchen Start-UP in Pasadena, CA
by Juan Diego Ashton 11 Jun '12

11 Jun '12

Hello, I am a student at Pasadena City College and developer of a new, student-led program called iBike PCC. The intent of our program is to encourage our students to choose cycling as a means of transportation. We are currently looking to establish a bicycle "kitchen" on campus for both student and community use. We want to provide essential tools, assisted maintenance, and a low cost supply of parts to students, and members of the community. It is nearing the end of our semester, and we have until the 15th of June to spend 12,000 dollars left in our budget. We are looking to purchase the right kind of equipment for a space about 30ft x 20ft or smaller, and would like to have at least four work stations. We do not currently have a wholesale license, but we do have the ability to pay an invoice made out to our Associated Students Pasadena City College, Sustainability Committee. Any help or suggestions in terms of what to purchase or anyone with a purchasing license (in the Los Angeles Area) willing to put out an order out for equipment, please feel free to reply via this message board or by contacting me personally at juanashton(a)gmail.com | mobile 626-203-8134. We really appreciate the help getting started! Juan Diego Ashton Sustainability Committee - ASPCC juanashton(a)gmail.com 626.203.8134 | Mobile

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New Bike Co-op in Martin, TN
by Ken 10 Jun '12

10 Jun '12

I started the Martin Bike Co-op and Repair in a detached garage 5 months ago. Martin is a small town with a population of 10,000 residents, and has the University of Tennessee at Martin with a student population of 8,000 students. The Co-op is a hybrid concept run out of my garage as both a bike repair shop and a bike co-op. So far, the bike repair business has been about 80% of the work. The population here is just not large enough to support a free standing bike co-op. My bike co-op is fairly well equipped with bike tools I accumulated before moving to Martin last Sept. My bike shop is the only bike repair service in town, and so I have had a good volume of bike repairs this past spring. I am a community partner with the UTM campus Institute for Civic Engagement, and the GEARS (Green Energy and Renewables Society). GEARS is interested in getting a bike share program started on campus, and I will support them in any way I can to get that started. UT at Knoxville has started a bike share program and they have some electric assist bikes in their fleet of bikes. I am a do it all sort of Co-op/Bike Shop..I do repairs, community programs, organize bike rides, work with UTM faculty and students on any bike issues, repair bikes for the UTM campus police, ride in parades..anything bike related I do. I get bikes donated from the UTM Recycling program and I buy low cost bikes for parts to use on department store bike repairs. The only place in town to buy a new bike is at WalMart, and I am the only place in town to do repairs to bikes. I do get some higher end bikes to repair from UTM faculty that go out of town to buy a new bike. The area is one of the poorer areas in the U.S. It is not the poorest, as that would be further south of us. So my market is focused on the lower cost bikes and used bikes, although there are a good number of people riding hybrid bikes that they purchased out of town at a bike shop about 60 miles away. I would be interested in attending any gatherings of Bike Co-op folks in the mid-south, if there are any. Currently I buy my new bike parts and supplies from a bike shop 60 miles away. I am wondering if there are any online bike parts dealers that sell to Bike co-ops. I don't buy enough to be able to use QBP or any of the other larger wholesalers. Thanks. Ken Leibold Martin, TN, Small Town USA. On the web at: www.BikeBarn.biz

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Assessing Value of Donated Bikes
by Marissa Pherson 09 Jun '12

09 Jun '12

Hi all, I'm new to the list, from Columbus, IN's community bike co-op. We just launched a new website: www.bikeco-op.org I come to you seeking any policies and procedures you may have in place at your local bike collective regarding determining the value of a bicycle. We have an Earn-a-Bike program and a shop bike program and would like to standardize the values. At the moment, we don't have a checklist or chart to determine how much time an Earn-a-Biker needs to work to earn a donated Raleigh hybrid, or how much to suggest a donor provide for us to have that same Raleigh hybrid fixed up and ready to go. Before re-inventing the wheel, I wanted to come to you all and get some input or some info on what is used elsewhere to keep bike values somewhat consistent. Thanks in advance! Marissa Pherson

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Liability/waiver/assumption of risk form?
by Campus Bike Project 08 Jun '12

08 Jun '12

Hello Erin - Our location is a member run teaching & educational shop and we currently do not have a "Bike Library<http://www.fcbikelibrary.org/policies.php>" or lease or rent bikes. All members sign a liability waiver when they join. Several campus units within the University manage their own small fleets for inter-campus trips. There are additional resources available for your information from the think-tank Please visit: <http://www.bikecollectives.org/wiki/index.php?title=Insurance > You might also join that list sever and post your inquiry, there are a broad range of ideas on the subject. Good luck - carl volunteer mechanic the Bike Project of Urbana-Champaign On Fri, Jun 8, 2012 at 1:22 PM, Erin Gurley <egurley(a)students.pitzer.edu> wrote: > Hi Campus Bike Project, > > I am a student at Pitzer College in Claremont, CA and I help run our on > campus bicycle co-op. We are in the process of drafting a > liability/waiver/assumption of risk to inform people of the risks associated > with using shop equipment/bikes and has them agree to the said risk. I was > wondering if your bicycle program does any bike loans/rents or allows people > to borrow equipment and whether you have a liability/waiver/assumption of > risk form that I would be able to see. It would be great to get a sense of > what other bicycle co-ops/shops/programs do before drafting our own. > > If you are able to send me any materials it would be much appreciated! > > Thank you! > Erin Gurley and the Pitzer Green Bike Program

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