- TheThinkTank - lists.bikecollectives.org

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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Smaller Critical Masses
by 1304bikes 29 Jan '09

29 Jan '09

Doug here from 1304bikes in Raleigh, NC. I was wondering what some of you folks from smaller towns who host critical mass rides do to make them more fun and to attract poeple to come ride in them. We usually only have anywhere from 10-30 poeple in our rides, which i feel is small for a city with a population of 300k. We have a small handful of regulars who always show, but then we get a lot of folks who will come once or twice, but then we'll never see them again. I think maybe a lot people are turned off by the slow pace and lack of excitement at the rides. Maybe we just don't advertise well enough. Either way, hoping for some suggesting as to what other cities without the excitement of a super large mass do to draw people out to their rides. I feel if we can grow the ride large enough, it will become fun in itself, but our mass isn't large enough yet for that appeal. Thanks for all the input! -- 1304bikes 2419 Mayview Rd. Raleigh, NC 1304bikes.org

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Tax Questions regarding volunteer hours.
by Boson Au 26 Jan '09

26 Jan '09

Hi everyone.... Boson from Baltimore's Velocipede bike project here. we're in the midst of calculating our taxes (for the first time........) and we do have an accountant who is graciously helping us out for next to nothing. anyways, he asked about how much profit we make and we got a little caught off guard; besides the random part/bike we sell (for peanuts) we really don't make profit. We are entirely volunteer-run, so we don't need to pay wages. Our landlord is letting us use the place for a song, so beyond utilities and some non-recyclable parts (ie: brake cables) we don't really have much "costs" as for profits: While we do sell some used parts and bikes (of which we def. have records of) the primary way our bikes leave the shop is via the build-a-bike program. A volunteer gives us 3 hrs, and we give them a bike/frame in need of work. they then spend time at the shop fixing it. no money is exchanged. The accountant, not accustomed to this sort of "business" suggest that we consider coming up with something to represent the volunteer hours people give to enroll in the build-a-bike program, after all, they do get a bike out of it. I wanna ask the other collectives out there, how do you handle this?

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potential resource for all of you...
by veganboyjosh＠gmail.com 26 Jan '09

26 Jan '09

hey everyone in thinktank world. we've been thinking about making some spoke cards for our youth earn-a-bike program, and it occurred to me that with the right materials, we could make them reflective. this way, we're making the bike visible, but with less of a dork factor that kids (and some adults) think come with reflectors. i asked around at many local paint shops, and about the closest they had was some glitter-y spray paint. until friday. one of the old-timers suggested i contact our county's sign shop. the place that makes the road signs, street signs, etc. of course, many of these, like stop signs and one way signs, are made elsewhere and shipped in. but street names, custom "this road under construction until may of 2012" type signs are all done in house. which means they have cutoffs of various colors of sign material. i called and approached them from the angle of running the kids program, and wanting to make the kids bikes more visible and safe. they were super into it. i have yet to get my hands on any, but they said they'd keep a box open for me, and when it gets close to full, they'll call and i can go pick up as much as i want. i don't know how often i'll be making the trip, but i am excited about this stuff. like i said, i have yet to hold it, but from the description i got, it's self-adhesive on one side, UBER

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Killradio.org hacked! listen to biketalk! at killradio.org:8000
by bike talk 23 Jan '09

23 Jan '09

listen 10am-noon at www.killradio.org:8000; the regular site's messed up, but we'll be there tomorrow interviewing guests. call in! -- 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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Collective Insight
by Chloé Rose 22 Jan '09

22 Jan '09

Hi everybody. At the Community Bicycle Network (Toronto) we're looking at moving from a top-down management model (one co-ordinator, three paid staff) to a more collective-based model. Question is, who among you are collectives? How are you structured and organized? What advice would you have for me? Thanks Chloé

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