- TheThinkTank - lists.bikecollectives.org

Participants needed for research project!
by Aaron Shaw 07 Jan '24

07 Jan '24

Hello Bike Collectives Network! Some friends and I are entering a project design competition and we need as much feedback as we can get in the next week or so. The idea involves improving the financial sustainability of community bike projects. Would you be willing to take a few minutes to fill out this form <https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfB5Qc1YTiqsFZ-4aZ3YkFlwvGEQay9Mmi…> to help us with the project? Thank you! We also are looking to set up a few 20-30 min interviews to ask questions and understand the needs of your organization. Sign-up to give us an interview using the form. Thanks ya'll! Aaron

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Next Bike!Bike! ?
by Bayley Vanderpoel 04 Jan '24

04 Jan '24

Does anyone know when the next Bike!Bike! is? Bayley Velocity Bicycle Coop in Alexandria & Arlington , VA. Bayley Vanderpoel Volunteer, Spokesperson, & Board Member Vélocity Bicycle Cooperative http://velocitycoop.org/ | http://www.meetup.com/VeloCity-Bicycle-Cooperative/ | https://www.facebook.com/V%C3%A9loCity-Bicycle-Cooperative-361337181517/tim… | https://twitter.com/velocitycoop | http://www.instagram.com/velocitycoop Phone: tel:7035491108 Del Ray Shop Address: https://goo.gl/maps/h7zenNZ2Ksu9XrVu8?coh=178573&entry=tt Hours: Tues, Thurs, Fri 10-4pm | Wed 10-8pm | Sat 10-4pm Clarendon Shop Address: https://goo.gl/maps/urc4V3Ytn9dc54sPA?coh=178573&entry=tt Hours: Tues, Wed Thurs, Fri, Sat 10-4pm

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Volunteer Call to Action 2024 BBE!
by cardenas.angela＠gmail.com 08 Dec '23

08 Dec '23

Hi everybody, My name is Angie Libertad, an organizer for Bike!Bike! Everywhere! earlier this week I shared this call for volunteers on social media. The call for volunteers hopefully answers some questions about BBE! which I joined last year as a facilitator and this year as an organizer. Planning for this event will only happen with your help as volunteers (like myself) and we´d like to start planning early in 2024 by signing up folks on committees. If you´d like to join the steering committee or a task committee, please send an email to bikebikeverywhere(a)gmail.com. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- FORMAL CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS Hello fellow Biketivists, bike culture promoters, and community bike project organizers! We are planning another Bike!Bike!Everywhere! gathering and to make it happen in 2024 we´re seeking volunteers to help in the steering committee in task/role specific committees (eg. communications and outreach, translating and interpretation, and tech support). Please send us an email to bikebikeeverywhere(a)gmail.com if you´d like to join the steering committee volunteer team or if you´d like to join a specific task committee. To join the steering committee, you should know some Spanish, be able to join a weekly/bimonthly group call and devote at least 3 hours work per week two months leading up to the event. Specific roles and responsibilities in the task committees where we need your help are listed at the end. But first…. What is the Bike!Bike! Everywhere! gathering? Bike!Bike! Everywhere! is an online, international, annual gathering organized by and for community bike projects. The conference is an online space for participants from bike collectives and related advocacy groups to meet over a weekend period to foster and strengthen bike communities, share experiences and resources via workshops. As an extension of the in person Bike!Bike! that's been held since 2004, the first Bike!Bike! Everywhere! was held in 2021 during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. An online gathering ensured a covid risk free event that would also be economically accessible for more participants from wider geographical distances to join, and as an additional benefit eliminated long distance travel related carbon emissions. Just as B!B!E! isn't a replacement for B!B!, B!B! is not a replacement for B!B!E!. B!B! is not meant to replace B!B!E! because there will always be people who don't want to meet because of the ongoing pandemic, people who can't afford to travel, people who don't have the time to travel, and people who don't want to meet in person because of the ongoing climate crisis. B!B!E! fills an ongoing need that was unmet with the beloved in-person B!B! How B!BE! happens and what it is like in the future is up to y'all and the wants and needs of the community, but it was made clear to us in the past B!B!E! that B!BE! fills a previously unaddressed need by people who were left out of in person B!B! events. In between gatherings, Bike!Bike! Everywhere! has taken on the role of friends of the Bike! Bike! community at large which has included website maintenance, financial admin, engaging with bike community networks through social media and listservs, and holding language exchanges alongside language justice efforts. What do we hope to accomplish with a 2024 Bike!Bike! Everywhere! gathering? More diversity in bike project workshops, more space for socializing. Attendees voiced an interest in a wider variety of bike projects to hold workshops/talks. Given that there are far fewer community bike workshops in Latin America than the US and Canada, we would like to invite collectives and individuals leading unique or innovative bike initiatives and projects to join and share their work at the gathering. In the past two B!B!E!s, some attendees said there wasn't enough time set aside for socializing. This will be more of a focus in the next gathering. 2024 B!B!E! will also be a good opportunity to have a conversation about the future of an in-person Bike!Bike! Online discussion about a future B!B! started during the drafting of this call for volunteers. It's available here: https://lists.bikecollectives.org/hyperkitty/list/thethinktank@lists.bikeco… More information about Bike!Bike! and Bike!Bike!Everywhere! can be found here: https://www.bikecollectives.org/es-index.html https://www.bikecollectives.org/acerca-de-colectivos-bici.html Recordings from past gatherings: https://archive.org/details/@bikebikeeverywhere Write to us at bikebikeeverywhere(a)gmail.com if you´d like to join the steering committee team or if you´d like to join a specific committee. Steering Committee (just a few tasks listed ) • Inviting speakers and planning event schedule • Coordinating workshops • Calling for and preparing facilitators • Works alongside task committees Task Committees and Stand Alone Roles Fundraising and Outreach • Send out direct outreach requests to orgs/collectives • Organize in person or online campaigns Communications and Outreach • Email (incl. listserv) management • Social media outreach and management • Graphic design for bikebike.org and social media • Discord channel moderating during event Language justice • Interpreting (stipend available) • Translating docs Tech • Updating bikebike.org and bikecollectives.org • Tech support during workshops • Maintain digital archiving during the gathering Ombuds/Mediator

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Liability
by Bike Cave 02 Nov '23

02 Nov '23

Hi All, Chelsea here from the Bike Cave in Duluth, MN. We're a pretty informal community bike shop that is open two days a week from April-October and we are 100% volunteer and donation operated. We use the basement and backyard of a Catholic Worker house. We recently received an email from someone who is interested in donating bikes that have been returned to their business but they are concerned about liability. This has sparked some conversation around the need for a release of liability that folks sign before they adopt a bike here. Because we are not formally incorporated we don't have any sort of coverage outside of homeowners insurance. I don't really even know who would be liable if there ever was an incident involving one of the bikes that we fixed up. Anyone have any experience or recommendations around this? Thanks in advance! Peace, Chelsea for all of us at the Bike Cave https://www.loavesandfishesduluth.com/bike-cave https://www.facebook.com/BikeCaveDuluth

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POS systems
by Molly Miksa 18 Oct '23

18 Oct '23

Hi everyone, I'm looking for advice on point-of sale-systems. Anyone have something you really like? We're a DIY bike repair shop, with 1-2 employees plus sometimes volunteers on cash. We sell used bikes, new and used parts, merch, stand time, memberships, and sometimes event tickets. We've been using Square, and find it clunky and insufficient. Some specific issues we'd love to rectify: - No option for layaways - Cost-price inputting is not versatile - No multiple login options (so we can recall who rang through a particular sale) - No easy way to remove tax for Indigenous customers (we're Canadian) - Gift cards are a pain Any advice much appreciated! Molly Molly Miksa Executive Director [image: londoncyclelink.ca] <https://www.londoncyclelink.ca/>

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Fwd: There's a Fediverse group now, hay un grupo de Fediverse ahora!
by Bike!Bike! Everywhere! 18 Oct '23

18 Oct '23

Forwarding this because it looks like there was a delivery issue and it didn't actually come through to the Think Tank: ---------- Forwarded message --------- From: angel york <bike(a)angelyork.com> Date: Mon, Jul 10, 2023 at 8:39 PM Subject: There's a Fediverse group now, hay un grupo de Fediverse ahora! To: The Think Tank <thethinktank(a)lists.bikecollectives.org> Cc: Bike!Bike! Everywhere! <bikebikeeverywhere(a)gmail.com> Hi all, 1. You can now follow *https://climatejustice.global/@bbe* <https://climatejustice.global/@bbe> from anywhere on the Fediverse (Mastodon, PixelFed, etc.) for news about B!B!E!. We will cross-post any big announcements to the Fediverse using this account. 2. Anyone can post to and/or follow the Guppe group *BikeCollectives_TalleresCommunitarios(a)a.gup.pe <BikeCollectives_TalleresCommunitarios(a)a.gup.pe>* from anywhere on the Fediverse (Mastodon, PixelFed, etc.) for general bike collectives stuff. (Moderation is done by reporting things to your local instance.) 3. We will need a volunteer or volunteers to post announcements for the planning and tech teams and relay questions from the fediverse to the people not keeping up with the fediverse who can answer those questions. Bilingual en/es preferred. Thanks, Angel Traducido por deepl y yo: Hola a todos, 1. Ahora puedes seguir *https://climatejustice.global/@bbe* <https://climatejustice.global/@bbe> desde cualquier lugar de Fediverse (Mastodon, PixelFed, etc.) para obtener noticias sobre B!B!E!. Publicaremos cualquier anuncio importante en esta cuenta. 2. Cualquiera puede publicar y/o seguir al grupo Guppe *BikeCollectives_TalleresCommunitarios(a)a.gup.pe* <BikeCollectives_TalleresCommunitarios(a)a.gup.pe> desde cualquier lugar del Fediverso (Mastodon, PixelFed, etc.) para asuntos generales de colectivos de ciclistas. (La moderación se hace reportando cosas a tu instancia local). 3. Necesitaremos uno o varios voluntarixs que publiquen anuncios para los equipos de planificación y tecnología y que transmitan las preguntas del fediverso a las personas que no están en el fediverso y que pueden responder a esas preguntas. Preferiblemente bilingües es/en. Gracias, Angel

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What to do about signs of drugs, alcohol, and mental illness?
by wade＠bikeconnector.org 12 Oct '23

12 Oct '23

The Bike Connector is a non-profit, volunteer-run, community-based program that collaborates with community partners to distribute and maintain free bikes. We've been serving the community for five years and have traditionally worked with schools and social service agencies. Most of our customers are referred to us through partner organizations. Recently, we've been seeing an uptick in unaffiliated adults walking into our shop looking for bikes. Many of these folks have heard of us through word of mouth. News of "free" bikes spreads fast. We do not know the stories of the people we serve, nor do we care. We treat everyone that walks in the door with dignity. Occasionally we get people that walk in the door that appear drunk or high. There is a prevalent opioid use problem in our community. People often smell like they've consumed alcohol and/or weed. I recently noticed an adult visitor discreetly drinking a nip. He did not behave drunk and I did not intervene. I'd like to have an understanding of how best to deal with these individuals in a respectful manner. When someone comes into the shop smoking a cigarette, I don't hesitate to let them know that smoking is prohibited and to take the cigarette outside. When they smell of alcohol or weed, what do we do? When they exhibit signs of drug abuse or mental illness (stumbling, slurred speech, anger, confusion), what do we do? We have policies in place for minors. With regards to adults, things get a bit more complicated. Suggestions and resources are welcome.

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Critical mass & music
by Claude Ferron 09 Oct '23

09 Oct '23

I'd like to ear from the community about your technical solutions when it comes to play music in a critical mass. We in Trois-Rivières are starting to built the habit of having a critical mass each month. Music is kind of great during those events. Having a DJ on a trailer is our ultimate goal, but in the meantime we can simply play music with our bluetooth speaker. Having only one person playing music cannot make it heard from the mass. Any software of ideas to have the entire mass play the music in sync? Are you using a special app? It be great if we could have one "master" and many "slaves" to make the music travel throught the mass. Any cues? Thanks Claude Long life to critical mass Trois-Rivières, QC, Canada

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Question re community bike shops
by Emory Shaw 20 Sep '23

20 Sep '23

HI all, I'm just doing a bit of research and I figured this would be a good place to ask a question: does anyone know of a case where community bike shops have united together to form some kind of federation or coalition ? Many cities are dotted with such shops that tend to share a similar social mission: are there any examples of cities or regions where they have come together to better address shared challenges (re volunteers, suppliers, financing etc.)? It would be great to get some insight on this, as there are talks of doing this kind of thing in the city I'm in (Montreal). I'm curious to know if and how other places might have succeeded or not at achieving this. Any thoughts or leads would be greatly appreciated. Thanks! Emory

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Re: Question re community bike shops
by Claude Ferron 20 Sep '23

20 Sep '23

Emory, We are based in Trois-Rivières, QC and would like to start such a mouvement. Can you get in touch with me at claude<at>lacyclerie.ca Hope you get this message. As for progress in our endeavour, I will post an update here when something new happens. Thanks Claude -- <http://www.lacyclerie.ca> Claude Ferron Co-coordonnateur La Cyclerie [image: FB_LaCyclerie] <https://www.facebook.com/LaCyclerie3R/> [image: Insta_LaCyclerie] <https://www.instagram.com/lacyclerie3r/>

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