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@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@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.bikecol...
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@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