community cycles was faced with very few master mechanics a year or two ago, and we let that fact hold us back. we avoided doing programs that involved teaching advanced skills for lack of a single teacher who could do it all. i'm not talking about non-male teachers/programs, i mean in general.
 we eventually came to the conclusion that as long as we had enough instructors/faciltators/volunteers present at whatever program it was who could collectively do most repairs, (ie, one master mechanic between all of us), then it worked out ok.

1. people who knew little to nothing about mechanics didn't mind that there was more than one person teaching, depending on the question/problem raised.
2. staff/volunteers who didn't have the answer would switch roles for a moment, and become the student. the next time the question came up, the staff then knew the answer or had at least heard the answer and was more suited to figuring it out without breaking something.

i'll also echo what kathleen said about knowing limits. it's much better and easier to say "i'm sorry, this is outside the bounds of what we can do here" than "gee, i'm really sorry i fscked up your bike. i'm sure one of the other local bike shops can help..." not only in the short term but in the long term as well, as the first encounter may bring the person back, but the second will likely not.

 

On Fri, Apr 3, 2009 at 6:36 AM, Kathleen Banville <kathleenmachine@gmail.com> wrote:
Hi James

yes its true sometimes its harder to find the volunteers to make the W&T hours possible.  the org can ask itself why so few women are involved in the shop.  obviously you need to bring more in.  a way to do this could be get some of the core female mechanics to have a bike mechanic workshop night for women only.  train some new volunteers to do basic repairs. 

also we had a discussion about how we don't have to be able to fix every thing that comes into the shop.  if we don't know how to do it, we can look it up in the bike mechanic handbook.  if we still don't feel comfortable approaching the problem, we should reject it rather than make mistakes.  that's a smart move, not a failure. 

recruiting is also a good idea.  approach other women or trans organizations, offer for them to fix their members bikes for free (if you usually charge) or some other trade.

since we've introduced women and trans hours, we've advertised it but mostly its spread word of mouth.  we've had many many new volunteers and customers as a result of it.  do you usually have trouble staffing Bike Farm, or is it only for W&T hours?

good luck!
kathleen


On Fri, Apr 3, 2009 at 12:45 AM, James Moore <jam@bikefarm.org> wrote:
At the Bike Farm we're actually struggling to find volunteer mechanics
for our meager 2-hour every other week W&T night. We want to have that
night so bad but can't get an experienced mechanic to commit to it.

How have y'all managed to find folks to staff those nights? Did you
have to recruit or did they approach you?

On Thu, Apr 2, 2009 at 6:12 AM, Kathleen Banville
<kathleenmachine@gmail.com> wrote:
> also people who are asking "why should there be a women and trans only
> space, excluding men?" should ask themselves these questions before putting
> the responsibility on the people using that space/time to explain.  think of
> how many times we are asked to explain this.  yes discussion is very
> important, but the conversation can happen between boys only or a mix of
> genders or anyone really.  i feel, as a woman who uses women & trans only
> time at bike shops, that we are asked the same questions over and over.  the
> answers are out there, please be an ally and do some research before
> expecting us to have the hour and a half discussion with you.
>
> thanks Josh for scanning the zine and sharing it!  it was Bike Bike! last
> year that gave Bike Pirates the final push to put women and trans only hours
> into effect and we just extended our hours from 4 to 6 hours every week.  we
> have definitely increased the scope of new participants and created some
> much needed dialogue around oppression.  we have now founded an
> anti-oppression committee, are drafting a policy around this, and planning a
> volunteer retreat in order to have workshops on important issues other than
> the bike mechanic side of our group.  looking forward to sharing the results
> with everyone at Bike Bike! this year.
>
> peace, kathleen
> bike pirates/ community bicycle network
> toronto canada
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