- TheThinkTank - lists.bikecollectives.org

insurance for mechanical work outside the shop?
by veganboyjosh＠gmail.com 07 Feb '09

07 Feb '09

howdy all. hope the winter season is treating you all well. we at community cycles in boulder are planning a series of what we've dubbed "rolling bike clinics", where we ride to a neighborhood park on a saturday, set up some stands, and start working on bikes, at no charge. kids generally play a big part in getting the word out and bringing bikes, and it's a great way to meet folks you might not have, and get the name of your organization out, as well as what you do, who you are, etc. we've done a few of these in the past, in one neighborhood specifically. it's a neighborhood in which we have another established program, so we know a lot of the youth that live there already, and when they see us, they come running. we're wondering if insurance should be a source of concern for us. if we work on a bike, and a kid's riding it and gets hurt, could we be liable? that kind of situation. i'm not naive enough to expect full on legal advice from any of you, but if anyone has any experience with a similar situation, i'd appreciate hearing about it. thanks! josh.

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insurance for tooling on bikes out in the field?
by veganboyjosh＠gmail.com 07 Feb '09

07 Feb '09

howdy folks. community cycles is putting together what we've dubbed "Rolling Bike Clinics", where we organize with a neighborhood, and show up on a certain day with stands and tools, and fix bikes. Typically, we've done this in lower income neighborhoods. It's a great way to meet your neighbors, and get their bikes working. It's amazing how many bikes aren't being ridden because they're "broken" with nothing more than a flat tire, or a disengaged brake cable or something equally innocuous. we're looking to do abuot 8 of these events this summer, in different neighborhoods in Boulder. one of the questions we had come up in our planning meeting was that of insurance/liability. do any of you have any experience with in-the-field tune ups or repairs becoming a problem? do we have participants sign waivers? a lot of the visitors to our stands/tables are younger than 18, with a lot of parents both at work, or unable to be present to sign a waiver on the spot. also, the idea of introducing a waiver can put some parents off when they don't fully understand why we're there working on bikes for free... any ideas or guidance from the list would be greatly appreciated.

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glueing inner tubes together?
by veganboyjosh＠gmail.com 06 Feb '09

06 Feb '09

does anyone know what a good glue or cement would be for gluing inner tubes together? i'm working on a diy design for waterproof shoe covers, but can't find any glue that will bond the rubber like a patch kit seems to...i'd like them to be as bomber as possible, as i'm pretty sure they'll get used and abused. thanks! josh.

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Federal Bike Commuter Benefit?
by Rigel Christian 03 Feb '09

03 Feb '09

Are there any co-op shops out there that have cleared the legal hurdles to accept vouchers for this already?

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BICAS is hiring for three positions in Tucson, AZ
by Erik Ryberg 02 Feb '09

02 Feb '09

Hello all, BICAS is hiring for three positions: an administrative coordinator, education coordinator, and shop coordinator. The job descriptions are below. Please feel free to distribute this widely! For those of you who have never heard of BICAS, we are Tucson's Bicycle Inter-City Arts and Salvage, or maybe Bicycle Inter-City Action and Salvage, depending who you ask. We have been promoting bicycling, DIY bicycle repair, and art for all people for nearly two decades. We are a non-profit organization with a small, active board and a staff of about ten people. We do a lot of awesome things, but community-tools, art, and education are our biggest programs. Come check us out in person in Tucson or on the web at www.bicas.org. Thank you. -------------------------- ADMINISTRATIVE COORDINATOR BICAS, a non-profit bike recycling, education, and art collective, is hiring an administrative coordinator in our lively Tucson, Arizona shop. The position entails overseeing the finer points of keeping our organization running smoothly as well as more ambitious projects that you will develop with staff support. It will include office management duties, such as filing taxes, managing payroll and basic accounting, as well as the more interesting tasks of promoting what we do and growing our organization in a healthful and fun fashion. We anticipate this to be a 3/4 to full-time position. Salary will depend on experience. Spanish speakers are especially encouraged to apply. For more information about BICAS, see www.bicas.org or even better, come visit the shop. BICAS is an equal opportunity employer. This position is open until filled. Please direct inquiries and applications to board(a)bicas.org, with the words "administrative coordinator" in the subject heading. To apply send us a cover letter and resume along with whatever else you feel we need to have. No phone calls. -------------------------- EDUCATION COORDINATOR BICAS, a non-profit bike recycling, education, and art collective, is hiring an education coordinator in our lively Tucson, Arizona shop. The position entails overseeing our robust education program which is geared toward youth, refugees, under-served communities, and the public at large. We currently have several educational programs including an eight-week build-a-bike course, but are looking to build this part of what we do even more. The job will include all aspects of running and promoting these programs, as well as teaching the classes with staff support. We anticipate this to be a 1/2 to 3/4-time position. Salary will depend on experience. Spanish speakers are especially encouraged to apply. For more information about BICAS, see www.bicas.org, or even better, come visit the shop. BICAS is an equal opportunity employer. This position is open until filled. Please direct inquiries and applications to board(a)bicas.org, with the words "education coordinator" in the subject heading. To apply send us a cover letter and resume along with whatever else you feel we need to have. No phone calls. ---------------------------------- SHOP COORDINATOR BICAS, a non-profit bike recycling, education, and art collective, is hiring a shop coordinator in our lively Tucson, Arizona shop. The position entails overseeing our robust community tools program, which caters to all members of the public with a focus on youth and under-served communities. The community tools aspect of our shop is probably the most utilized and most hectic thing that we do, and we are excited about the possibilities of serving our communities even better than we do now. The job will include all aspects of running and promoting the community tools program, with considerable staff support. Applicants should be ready to work in a somewhat frenzied environment and should have a strong work ethic, a strong commitment to this program, and a subtle, unoffensive leadership style. We anticipate this to be a 1/2 to full-time position. The applicant should have a strong imagination for improving our ability to serve our communities. Salary will depend on experience. Spanish speakers are especially encouraged to apply. For more information about BICAS, see www.bicas.org, or even better, come visit the shop. BICAS is an equal opportunity employer. This position is open until filled. Please direct inquiries and applications to board(a)bicas.org, with the words "shop coordinator" in the subject heading. To apply send us a cover letter and resume along with whatever else you feel we need to have. No phone calls. -- Erik B. Ryberg Attorney at Law 312 South Convent Avenue Tucson, AZ 85701 phone: (520) 622-3333 fax: (520) 622-2406

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Re: [TheThinkTank] your org's policy on working with kids?
by veganboyjosh＠gmail.com 01 Feb '09

01 Feb '09

no worries. if you found it helpful, perhaps someone else out there might as well. another option that we explored but abandoned after the "the more we do, the more we're liable" talk was looking into what the local school district's policy is, and following that, but most school districts do have pretty strict guidelines, in addition to record keeping guidelines, which some shops may find too much oversight for not a lot of return in security. On Sun, Feb 1, 2009 at 6:56 PM, Steve Klassen <sklassen(a)mac.com> wrote: > Wow, that is actually quite helpful advice. We never thought of the angle > of 2:1 but it makes sense once you said it.Steve > p.s. might be worth posting to the listserve but since it is your answer I > will leave that to your discretion > > On 1-Feb-09, at 7:12 PM, veganboyjosh(a)gmail.com wrote: > > hi steve, > > my original email got a few general responses, but i think the thread ended > up officially hijacked. > > we've got an attorney on our board, and some of the best advice he's > brought to the table has been when he points out in cases like this that the > more we try to cover ourselves, the worse things will be for us if something > bad does end up happening. > > for now, our policy is something to the effect of "youth involved in any > activities hosted by or at community cycles shall be chaperoned by no less > than two adults at all times." this is in addition to staff youth workers > all being subject to a background check prior to working with any youth. > > that's about as tight as we can make it without getting into background > checks for every volunteer, or everyone comes into the shop, etc... > > hope that helps. > > josh. > > > > On Sun, Feb 1, 2009 at 1:27 PM, Steve Klassen <sklassen(a)mac.com> wrote: > >> HI, Josh, did you get any responses to your query?We have had lots of >> challenges >> Our plan is to involve some interested people form Big Brothers to help us >> create a better setup for young volunteers >> Steve >> >> >> Steve Klassen >> Bicycles for Humanity >> c/o Klassen Family Practice >> 303-1265 Arthur St. E. >> Thunder Bay, ON P7E 6E7 >> CANADA >> >> work (807) 622-3737 >> fax- (807) 623-1969 >> paging (807) 623-7451 >> tbaybikes(a)mac.com >> >> www.b4hthunderbay.org >> >> "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can >> change the world. Indeed it is the only thing that ever has." >> --Margaret Mead >> >> >> >> On 16-Jan-09, at 12:22 AM, veganboyjosh(a)gmail.com wrote: >> >> we're hard at work on Community Cycles' shop manual, and we're wondering >> if any of you have any formal policies for shop volunteers and/or staff that >> you'd feel like sharing. i'm imagining something to the effect of "at least >> two staff must be present when kids are around..." or something like that. >> >> on a somewhat related note, have any of you had any experience with >> someone--staff, volunteer, customer, etc--being inappropriate around kids, >> (aside from normal bad language..) that you had to deal with a parent for? >> i'd be interested in hearing about that experience... >> >> thanks! >> >> josh. >> _______________________________________________ >> 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.… >> >> >> > >

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interview of bike collective in lyon france on bike talk
by Cascadian Fox 01 Feb '09

01 Feb '09

Hello, I was interviewed on bike talk, give it a listen at ; http://archive.kpfk.org/parchive/mp3/kpfk_090124_100000biketalk.mp3 vélorutionnairement, Fox

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tomorrow's bike talk!, 10am-noon on killradio.org:8000
by bike talk 31 Jan '09

31 Jan '09

killradio's been hacked. there's a bunch of gibberish at the web page. you can go to killradio.org:8000 and listen to the show by clicking "click to listen." you wont regret it, hopefully. there's a tandem dating game, the winner of which will go together on a tandem ride with our guest dater, Alesa. Then there is an interview by Jim C that you've got to hear. and Steven Bowers, Larry Hoffman, and an interview with Ryan Bowen, who's decompressing from the inauguration ride. good stuff, give it a listen. Nick -- please let me know if you want to be taken off this list. See Bike Talk! on kpfk: http://www.kpfk.org/programs/170-bike-talk.html

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merch for your shop...what works and doesn't work?
by veganboyjosh＠gmail.com 30 Jan '09

30 Jan '09

a few of us at community cycles are looking into getting some items professionally printed. shirts, bike/skull caps, stickers... what kinds of items have you all found are popular, or not so popular? we'll be in touch with peacesupplies, as i know he's friends with and does the printing for bicas. any leads or suggestions you all can make as far as things that have worked well or weren't worth your time or money? if the person from freeride who worked on the bikebike!08 merch reads this, where did you get the hats to print onto? does anyone else have a source for blank screenable hats? thanks! josh.

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Money! Autonomy! Ethics! Oh my?
by Alex Rosenblatt 30 Jan '09

30 Jan '09

Hello all! Alright, so I'm sure this has been posted to the list 54 times over. But: How do y'all make money? More specifically: Our bike co-op has traditionally been, on the front end, a completely volunteer based earn-a-bike program. We have paid staff but aside from that money is not exchanged. We are considering selling bicycles, charging a per hour rate, and selling parts but we are afraid of alienating a large part of our population. How do you balance retaining your goals, ethics, ideologies - like promoting bicycle access, providing (largely) free transportation, anti-capitalist leanings, skill empowerment - with keeping your shop autonomous and self sustaining? Thanks all! Apologies if this is an all to often repeated topic and feel free to ask for clarification. Alex Recycle Ithaca's Bicycles. (RIBS)

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