- TheThinkTank - lists.bikecollectives.org

mobile bike shops?
by adam schwartz 26 Mar '10

26 Mar '10

We recently lost our physical workshop/classroom/storage space due to the economy and are considering the concept of going mobile. We already developed a mobile bike shop based out of a landscaping trailer (photos attached), however due to a conflict with our previous partner organization (the Univ of Maryland) and our main funder our mobile bike shop was siezed and its future is currently being negotiated by lawyers. Its really sad and ugly but we are committed to moving forward despite the loss. We have now formed our own 501c3 in incredible time and have fully terminated our partnership with the university. Anyway, I wanted to hear about anyone who has had success with a mobile bike program. We are currently considering using a biodiesel school bus to house our operations as cheap space is very hard to come by in the Washington DC area. Thanks for your input and ideas. -- Adam Schwartz The Renaissance Youth Bike Shop, ECO Inc. rideyourbicycle(a)gmail.com

2 1

mobile bike shops?
by Bob Giordano 26 Mar '10

26 Mar '10

I do think every shop/program should be prepared to go mobile if money or politics does not allow a rentable/buyable space. The streets/trails/parks are _public space_, ideal for public bicycle activity. You can go to the area in need, and post a schedule. Bio bus is understandable, bike power ideal (then no license, registration, fuel and the demo power of biking a small shop has huge positive ripple effects). Parking a bikable rig on the street overnight brings up interesting 'legal' issues. In missoula, a trailer or vehicle must be registered to be left on the street- I'd fight that restriction if it arose though, since bikes have almost zero negative impact. We have parked haywagons full of bikes on the streets for a few days with free parts and instructions for trailer building. -Bob g, free cycles missoula --- adam schwartz wrote: > We recently lost our physical workshop/classroom/storage space due to the > economy and are considering the concept of going mobile. We already developed a mobile bike shop based out of a landscaping trailer (photos attached), however due to a conflict with our previous partner > organization > (the Univ of Maryland) and our main funder our mobile bike shop was siezed > and its future is currently being negotiated by lawyers. Its really sad and > ugly but we are committed to moving forward despite the loss. We have now > formed our own 501c3 in incredible time and have fully terminated our partnership with the university. Anyway, I wanted to hear about anyone who > has had success with a mobile bike program. We are currently considering > using a biodiesel school bus to house our operations as cheap space is very > hard to come by in the Washington DC area. Thanks for your input and ideas. > > -- > Adam Schwartz > The Renaissance Youth Bike Shop, ECO Inc. > rideyourbicycle(a)gmail.com

2 1

Abandoned Bike Collection partnerships with campuses and municipalities
by Erik Stockmeier 25 Mar '10

25 Mar '10

Are there any groups out there with strong partnerships with local municipalities or campuses to collect abandoned bicycles? I know the Recyclery (Chicago) and many other groups certainly pick up donations from police departments and the like, but we have a number of volunteers and a campus environmental group working on setting up a structured collection program and are looking for ways to proceed. Do you, for example, have a specific notice or flyer you attach to bikes? We are thinking of something that says "hello, this bike looks abandoned. if it is yours, you can fix it up at the recyclery. Otherwise it will be removed..." Anyhow, just wondering if anyone has already done this. Thanks for your help! Erik @ The Recyclery (Chicago)

11 14

Accounting for Collectives.
by Jonathan Morrison 22 Mar '10

22 Mar '10

This was started at Mountain States Bike! Bike! but I am hoping it can continue... http://www.bikecollectives.org/wiki/index.php?title=Accounting Sincerely, Jonathan Morrison Executive Director Salt Lake City Bicycle Collective 2312 S. West Temple Salt Lake City, UT 84115 w: 801-328-2453 c: 801-688-0183 f: 801-466-3856 www.slcbikecollective.org The mission of the Salt Lake City Bicycle Collective is to promote cycling as an effective and sustainable form of transportation and as a cornerstone of a cleaner, healthier, and safer society. The Bicycle Collective provides refurbished bicycles and educational programs to the community, focusing on children and lower income households.

1 0

collective vs non-profit
by Liza Mattana 19 Mar '10

19 Mar '10

Hey, Can someone lay out a simple list of pros and cons for each please? Right now we're a 501c3, with a 5 member board of directors, 2 part time employees, and several committed volunteers. We came across some issues with the gambling commission when we were trying to get a fundraiser/raffle together. Basically, we need a 15 member voting-member body that votes on the board, which sounds like a collective to me. I don't know, maybe it's not. I'm confused. Thanks, liza -- Liza Mattana president www.pedals2people.org Spokane, WA

2 1

Good luck, louisville!
by veganboyjosh＠gmail.com 18 Mar '10

18 Mar '10

Good luck tomorrow and this weekend Louisville. We're rooting for you and thinking about you kids. Looks like Colorado may get a foot of snow tonight...yay for our out of town guests on bikes, huh? Hope everything goes well. There should be some good bike energy happening this weekend. Love you all. Be safe. josh.

1 0

Suggestions for finding a good shop manager
by Rich Points 17 Mar '10

17 Mar '10

Hey All, We've started looking for a new shop manager. After a week or so of resume submissions nothing stands out. We had the same experience last time we hired a shop manager. I wanted to ask the shops who've sought out and hired a shop manager what their experience has been like. Do you have any suggestions about where to find qualified bike mechanics with non profit backgrounds? Ride On! -- Rich Points Community Cycles Executive Director http://CommunityCycles.org Rich(a)CommunityCycles.org 720-565-6019 (W) 303-589-0597 (C) Donate your old car to Community Cycles http://communitycycles.org/get-involved/donatecar.html

7 7

Re: [TheThinkTank] Suggestions for finding a good shop manager (John Carlson)
by John Carlson 16 Mar '10

16 Mar '10

We also changed our model from having one shop manager to creating multiple job positions with defined descriptions. We have two paid mechanics and a volunteer coordinator and a youth coordinator. We also have set up teams with different responsibilities that can be shared with volunteers. This also leads the way to having a more community run organization. We are still working on it, but our new model is proving more successful in eliminating bottlenecks, staff overload and getting more volunteers involved. John http://www.sibleybikedepot.org St. Paul, MN On Tue, Mar 16, 2010 at 11:47 PM, <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. Re: Suggestions for finding a good shop manager (joshua muir) > 2. Re: Suggestions for finding a good shop manager (andrew lynn) > 3. Re: Suggestions for finding a good shop manager (joshua muir) > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Tue, 16 Mar 2010 20:40:04 -0700 > From: joshua muir <muirjoshua(a)gmail.com> > To: The Think Tank <thethinktank(a)bikecollectives.org> > Subject: Re: [TheThinkTank] Suggestions for finding a good shop > manager > Message-ID: > <8ab5b3a81003162040w50e95f65q3c73ffef72813c1e(a)mail.gmail.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" > > >From the collective perspective, I say "open up". Give collective members > responsibilities, understand that sometimes you'll all have to take up some > slack, and find managers within your community and organization. Coming > from the Bike Church in Santa Cruz with the clerkship model, that's where > my > heart lies. management jobs are open to the whole collective and they > rotate. If you truly give the responsibilities over, the folks who love > your org will take it on as their own and really come through. I know, > sounds hard to believe, but it works. > > And it works in a way that creates a shop space that actually represents > the > collective personalities (yes this includes faults as well as excellences). > > This model also takes time to develop the job descriptions (clerkships) in > a > way that is acccessible to more than one individual (so that they can > rotate, and still be performed well.) > > It sounds like this might be a large leap for some other shops, but it has > many benefits. > > And if you need qualified mechanics, offer a series of master mechanics > classes to your volunteers and go thru some manuals start to finish. In my > mind the point of the community bike project is to dispell the myth that > you > have to hire out to find someone knowledgable enough to do the job. > > best of luck > > josh > > On Tue, Mar 16, 2010 at 9:02 AM, Rich Points <rich(a)communitycycles.org > >wrote: > > > Hey All, > > We've started looking for a new shop manager. After a week or so of > resume > > submissions nothing stands out. We had the same experience last time we > > hired a shop manager. > > I wanted to ask the shops who've sought out and hired a shop manager what > > their experience has been like. Do you have any suggestions about where > to > > find qualified bike mechanics with non profit backgrounds? > > Ride On! > > > > -- > > Rich Points > > Community Cycles Executive Director > > http://CommunityCycles.org > > Rich(a)CommunityCycles.org > > 720-565-6019 (W) > > 303-589-0597 (C) > > Donate your old car to Community Cycles > > http://communitycycles.org/get-involved/donatecar.html > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Thethinktank mailing list > > Thethinktank(a)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.… > > > > > > -- > Joshua Muir > muirjoshua(a)gmail.com > > Frances Cycles -- www.francescycles.com > Handbuilt cycling framesets > Touring, Track, Road,Cross, and Cycletrucks for hauling any distance > (831) 469-3369 > > The Bicycle Church Collective > Community Self-Service Cycle Repair > 3pm to 7pm everyday except Sunday > 703 Pacific Ave (enter on Spruce St) > Santa Cruz, CA 95060 > (831) 425-2453 >

1 0

Speaking of Bike!Bike!
by Ainsley Naylor 13 Mar '10

13 Mar '10

We're putting photo galleries up on the Bike!Bike! history page! If you have a flickr account, just add your photos and tag then "bikebike2008" or whatever year, and they will automatically get added to the photo pool. Who has the family photos we took at the end of the weekend in San Fran? It was so great to get most of us together for some pictures, but I've never seen them. I'm going to make sure we do that again this year! ainsley pirate.

2 1

Addresses of Far-Flung Projects
by Ainsley Naylor 11 Mar '10

11 Mar '10

A Message from Bike!Bike! Toronto We are hoping to finish compiling our list of addresses and contact info for projects to invite to this year's International Bike!Bike! Conference, but we need some help collecting addresses of groups outside of Canada and the U.S. If you have a contact, website or even a city and Project Name (even vaguely), please pass it along to us so we can look them up and send them an invitation. Also! Registration is now open for the conference. If you feel like it, please head on over to bikebike.org and check it out. We haven't updated all of the pages - we are still waiting for some help from y'all on writing a history page - but it is up and running. Any questions can be passed along to us at bikebike2010(a)gmail.com Have a great time at the regionals! Ainsley and the Pirates.

2 1