getting and holding onto volunteers?
hiya, folks.
something sopo's always struggled with is finding volunteers and convincing them to stay. many people who visit our shop would rather have a hands on demonstration than look up how to do repairs in our manuals. we tried having a few bike maintenance 101 classes to get people feeling like they have the capacity to help others with basic repairs, but that didn't stick. does anyone have ideas or experience in this department? or is it sufficient for us to tell people that reading about repairs in our manuals is part of their process at our shop? i tend to doubt the success rate of the last one. i'm thinking food incentives might be a good idea.
love/peace/bicyclegrease, rachael
we've been having a similar experience at the bike dump. a few folks stuck around from our volunteer workshop series this spring, but not as many as i'd hoped. volunteer pot lucks and special events have worked all right at getting new folks feeling comfortable in the space, in getting older volunteers to come back who haven't been around for a while, and generally helping volunteers to feel appreciated and like the shop is a fun space. but all in all, i think we also need more and better strategies. i'd be really interested in hearing in things others have tried, or even ideas about what else might work.
macho http://bike-dump.ca
rachael spiewak wrote:
hiya, folks.
something sopo's always struggled with is finding volunteers and convincing them to stay. many people who visit our shop would rather have a hands on demonstration than look up how to do repairs in our manuals. we tried having a few bike maintenance 101 classes to get people feeling like they have the capacity to help others with basic repairs, but that didn't stick. does anyone have ideas or experience in this department? or is it sufficient for us to tell people that reading about repairs in our manuals is part of their process at our shop? i tend to doubt the success rate of the last one. i'm thinking food incentives might be a good idea.
love/peace/bicyclegrease, rachael
thethinktank mailing list thethinktank@lists.bikecollectives.org http://lists.bikecollectives.org/listinfo.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.o...
sounds like a good idea for a workshop at bike!bike! I bet it would be a great discussion if different groups all offered their suggestions & experience. Anyone want to coordinate?
-Jessica (Free Ride)
--- Macho Philipovich macho@resist.ca wrote:
we've been having a similar experience at the bike dump. a few folks stuck around from our volunteer workshop series this spring, but not as many as i'd hoped. volunteer pot lucks and special events have worked all right at getting new folks feeling comfortable in the space, in getting older volunteers to come back who haven't been around for a while, and generally helping volunteers to feel appreciated and like the shop is a fun space. but all in all, i think we also need more and better strategies. i'd be really interested in hearing in things others have tried, or even ideas about what else might work.
macho http://bike-dump.ca
rachael spiewak wrote:
hiya, folks.
something sopo's always struggled with is finding
volunteers and
convincing them to stay. many people who visit
our shop would rather
have a hands on demonstration than look up how to
do repairs in our
manuals. we tried having a few bike maintenance
101 classes to get
people feeling like they have the capacity to help
others with basic
repairs, but that didn't stick. does anyone have
ideas or experience
in this department? or is it sufficient for us to
tell people that
reading about repairs in our manuals is part of
their process at our
shop? i tend to doubt the success rate of the
last one. i'm thinking
food incentives might be a good idea.
love/peace/bicyclegrease, rachael
thethinktank mailing list thethinktank@lists.bikecollectives.org
http://lists.bikecollectives.org/listinfo.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.o...
thethinktank mailing list thethinktank@lists.bikecollectives.org
http://lists.bikecollectives.org/listinfo.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.o...
____________________________________________________________________________________Got a little couch potato? Check out fun summer activities for kids. http://search.yahoo.com/search?fr=oni_on_mail&p=summer+activities+for+ki...
I can coordinate this and get it to be mostly sharing, brainstorming and writing up lists of ideas, discussing what does and does not work. I'll post it on the bike!bike! website. Meanwhile, let's start a list somewhere on the bikecollectives website where we can gather ideas for keeping volunteers. Simple personpower is always one of our biggest problems at The Recyclery as well.
We've mostly done hands-on teaching to try and get people feeling comfortable with the tools, but we combine it with food and fun times (bike-in movies are on the way) and a new "secret" time to use the shop for regular volunteers so they feel like they get a kick-back for their hard work. (This also functions as a casual party-ish time in the shop when we can all hang out and work on our own bikes.)
On another note: can I ask people for more suggestions on where to get bikes? Right now we have a shortage. Our usual avenues are police confiscations, individual donors, apartment buildings storage rooms getting cleaned out. Sometimes we get them from alleyways or scrappers. Do others have ideas for regular avenues of bike donations?
Thanks all! Looking forward to seeing you again/meeting you at Bikebike!, Sharlyn
On 5/15/07, Jessica McPherson jessica_mcp@yahoo.com wrote:
sounds like a good idea for a workshop at bike!bike! I bet it would be a great discussion if different groups all offered their suggestions & experience. Anyone want to coordinate?
-Jessica (Free Ride)
--- Macho Philipovich macho@resist.ca wrote:
we've been having a similar experience at the bike dump. a few folks stuck around from our volunteer workshop series this spring, but not as many as i'd hoped. volunteer pot lucks and special events have worked all right at getting new folks feeling comfortable in the space, in getting older volunteers to come back who haven't been around for a while, and generally helping volunteers to feel appreciated and like the shop is a fun space. but all in all, i think we also need more and better strategies. i'd be really interested in hearing in things others have tried, or even ideas about what else might work.
macho http://bike-dump.ca
rachael spiewak wrote:
hiya, folks.
something sopo's always struggled with is finding
volunteers and
convincing them to stay. many people who visit
our shop would rather
have a hands on demonstration than look up how to
do repairs in our
manuals. we tried having a few bike maintenance
101 classes to get
people feeling like they have the capacity to help
others with basic
repairs, but that didn't stick. does anyone have
ideas or experience
in this department? or is it sufficient for us to
tell people that
reading about repairs in our manuals is part of
their process at our
shop? i tend to doubt the success rate of the
last one. i'm thinking
food incentives might be a good idea.
love/peace/bicyclegrease, rachael
thethinktank mailing list thethinktank@lists.bikecollectives.org
http://lists.bikecollectives.org/listinfo.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.o...
thethinktank mailing list thethinktank@lists.bikecollectives.org
http://lists.bikecollectives.org/listinfo.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.o...
____________________________________________________________________________________Got a little couch potato? Check out fun summer activities for kids.
http://search.yahoo.com/search?fr=oni_on_mail&p=summer+activities+for+ki... _______________________________________________ thethinktank mailing list thethinktank@lists.bikecollectives.org
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If there is a college in the area, Hurry, it is the end of the semester and prime bike collecting season!!! Many students throw away all sorts of things, including their(often rather nice) bicycles. Go to the security office and ask that any bikes left at the campus be collected for you. Also put up some fliers around campus asking students to donate bikes instead of throwing them away.
Also you might try organizing a drive in conjunction with a local church or community group. If you hit a well off neighorhood most of them have bikes sitting in their garage they would love to get rid of.
At Velocipede getting bikes is the least of our troubles!!! We do have trouble getting them built fast enough though, if anyone can give me advice on that it would be appreciated. I'm glad to actually have soemthing to offer to the list, because mostly i just lap up what everyone else has to say. i'm excited for Bike Bike, I hope to come with a contingent from Baltimore and lots of questions!!
-beth Velocipede bike Project baltimore, md
I can coordinate this and get it to be mostly sharing, brainstorming and writing up lists of ideas, discussing what does and does not work. I'll post it on the bike!bike! website. Meanwhile, let's start a list somewhere on the bikecollectives website where we can gather ideas for keeping volunteers. Simple personpower is always one of our biggest problems at The Recyclery as well.
We've mostly done hands-on teaching to try and get people feeling comfortable with the tools, but we combine it with food and fun times (bike-in movies are on the way) and a new "secret" time to use the shop for regular volunteers so they feel like they get a kick-back for their hard work. (This also functions as a casual party-ish time in the shop when we can all hang out and work on our own bikes.)
On another note: can I ask people for more suggestions on where to get bikes? Right now we have a shortage. Our usual avenues are police confiscations, individual donors, apartment buildings storage rooms getting cleaned out. Sometimes we get them from alleyways or scrappers. Do others have ideas for regular avenues of bike donations?
Thanks all! Looking forward to seeing you again/meeting you at Bikebike!, Sharlyn
On 5/15/07, Jessica McPherson jessica_mcp@yahoo.com wrote:
sounds like a good idea for a workshop at bike!bike! I bet it would be a great discussion if different groups all offered their suggestions & experience. Anyone want to coordinate?
-Jessica (Free Ride)
--- Macho Philipovich macho@resist.ca wrote:
we've been having a similar experience at the bike dump. a few folks stuck around from our volunteer workshop series this spring, but not as many as i'd hoped. volunteer pot lucks and special events have worked all right at getting new folks feeling comfortable in the space, in getting older volunteers to come back who haven't been around for a while, and generally helping volunteers to feel appreciated and like the shop is a fun space. but all in all, i think we also need more and better strategies. i'd be really interested in hearing in things others have tried, or even ideas about what else might work.
macho http://bike-dump.ca
rachael spiewak wrote:
hiya, folks.
something sopo's always struggled with is finding
volunteers and
convincing them to stay. many people who visit
our shop would rather
have a hands on demonstration than look up how to
do repairs in our
manuals. we tried having a few bike maintenance
101 classes to get
people feeling like they have the capacity to help
others with basic
repairs, but that didn't stick. does anyone have
ideas or experience
in this department? or is it sufficient for us to
tell people that
reading about repairs in our manuals is part of
their process at our
shop? i tend to doubt the success rate of the
last one. i'm thinking
food incentives might be a good idea.
love/peace/bicyclegrease, rachael
thethinktank mailing list thethinktank@lists.bikecollectives.org
http://lists.bikecollectives.org/listinfo.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.o...
thethinktank mailing list thethinktank@lists.bikecollectives.org
http://lists.bikecollectives.org/listinfo.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.o...
____________________________________________________________________________________Got a little couch potato? Check out fun summer activities for kids.
http://search.yahoo.com/search?fr=oni_on_mail&p=summer+activities+for+ki... _______________________________________________ thethinktank mailing list thethinktank@lists.bikecollectives.org
http://lists.bikecollectives.org/listinfo.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.o...
thethinktank mailing list thethinktank@lists.bikecollectives.org http://lists.bikecollectives.org/listinfo.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.o...
Just like any non-profit -- the reason people stay is community, not bikes. Sadly I don't think there is a formula for that, it just happens or it doesn't. Like the old Cheers TV show we all want, "a place where everybody knows your name." I think I can say that has happened in Salt Lake.
Have a non-mechanic socialite run your shop. I run our shop. While I consider myself a good wrench and a fast learner -- I am not a pro and I have never worked in a commercial bike store. I am not afraid to admit that to anyone. As a result the real pros come out of the wood work to fill the gap and I am never alone.
When anyone comes into our shop, I introduce myself, answer any questions, and then try to find out as much about that person as if I were trying to chat them up at the bar. If I know of a party, I invite them, if there isn't one, I tell them I will invite them when there is one. If they come into the shop again, I remember their name and ask them about something they had going on last we talked. If I don't see them I call to see if everything is alright, and to let them know they were missed. No matter how small a task they complete I always thank them up and down.
But more importantly I do these things because I am genuinely interested in the person. The people that come to our shop come from such a wide spectrum, that I have so much to learn from them, and so many great stories to hear.
Invest in your volunteers and they will invest in you.
"Have a non-mechanic socialite run your shop."
HA! that's pretty much my official title! :) it works for us.. how do you think we get so much free stuff donated? perhaps another topic of discussion.. forms of leadership and the leadership collective.. what kind of crew it takes to make it all work.
thanks for responding, everyone. keep the ideas coming if you've got 'em.. otherwise, i'm looking forward to talking about this in real life at bikebike.
-rachael
I like that idea of a discussion on forms of leadership and various organizational structures; it seems there are different ways an individual can contribute "leadership", which is interesting (what can leadership mean?)
Also interesting is the interplay between division of labor, decision-making process, information-sharing, and "power" in the bike shop. I think there were some posts about this a few months back. Some shops are collectively organized, some are not. We are a collective, but have still experienced a tendency for power to accumulate rather accidentally with a few people who are very involved, leading to discouragement of new volunteers. We are looking at how to structure communications, decision-making, and job rotation to counteract this satisfactorily without creating an unmanageable amount of additional work. I'd like to hear about other groups' experiences and whatever strategies they've developed in these areas.
I'm interested! Anyone want to help plan a discussion at bike!bike! ?
-Jessica
--- rachael spiewak rachael@sopobikes.org wrote:
"Have a non-mechanic socialite run your shop."
HA! that's pretty much my official title! :) it works for us.. how do you think we get so much free stuff donated? perhaps another topic of discussion.. forms of leadership and the leadership collective.. what kind of crew it takes to make it all work.
thanks for responding, everyone. keep the ideas coming if you've got 'em.. otherwise, i'm looking forward to talking about this in real life at bikebike.
-rachael
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http://lists.bikecollectives.org/listinfo.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.o...
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Hi Sharlyn,
Jessica from the Bike Bike workshop organizing committee here... (a fancy name for the two of us doing this!)
I'm trying to firm up our workshop schedule, so I'm wondering if you are definitely coming, and definitely still into doing this workshop (which sounds awesome, I personally will be in attendance).
If so- can you write a short description up for the program? And, let me know if you have any time constraints (leaving early, arriving late, really hate mornings, whatever). Right now the workshop slots are 1 hr 30 mins long, two in the morning and two in the afternoon on Saturday and on Sunday, roughly 9 am - 5 pm. We can also do a 45 minute slot if you'd like, although I think this topic would be one people could easily engage for an hour and a half.
thanks! -Jessica
--- Sharlyn Grace sharlyngrace@gmail.com wrote:
I can coordinate this and get it to be mostly sharing, brainstorming and writing up lists of ideas, discussing what does and does not work. I'll post it on the bike!bike! website. Meanwhile, let's start a list somewhere on the bikecollectives website where we can gather ideas for keeping volunteers. Simple personpower is always one of our biggest problems at The Recyclery as well.
We've mostly done hands-on teaching to try and get people feeling comfortable with the tools, but we combine it with food and fun times (bike-in movies are on the way) and a new "secret" time to use the shop for regular volunteers so they feel like they get a kick-back for their hard work. (This also functions as a casual party-ish time in the shop when we can all hang out and work on our own bikes.)
On another note: can I ask people for more suggestions on where to get bikes? Right now we have a shortage. Our usual avenues are police confiscations, individual donors, apartment buildings storage rooms getting cleaned out. Sometimes we get them from alleyways or scrappers. Do others have ideas for regular avenues of bike donations?
Thanks all! Looking forward to seeing you again/meeting you at Bikebike!, Sharlyn
On 5/15/07, Jessica McPherson jessica_mcp@yahoo.com wrote:
sounds like a good idea for a workshop at
bike!bike!
I bet it would be a great discussion if different groups all offered their suggestions & experience. Anyone want to coordinate?
-Jessica (Free Ride)
--- Macho Philipovich macho@resist.ca wrote:
we've been having a similar experience at the
bike
dump. a few folks stuck around from our volunteer workshop series
this
spring, but not as many as i'd hoped. volunteer pot lucks and
special
events have worked all right at getting new folks feeling
comfortable
in the space, in getting older volunteers to come back who
haven't
been around for a while, and generally helping volunteers to feel appreciated and like the shop is a fun space. but all in all, i think we also need more and better strategies. i'd be really interested in hearing in things others have tried, or even ideas about what else might work.
macho http://bike-dump.ca
rachael spiewak wrote:
hiya, folks.
something sopo's always struggled with is
finding
volunteers and
convincing them to stay. many people who
visit
our shop would rather
have a hands on demonstration than look up how
to
do repairs in our
manuals. we tried having a few bike
maintenance
101 classes to get
people feeling like they have the capacity to
help
others with basic
repairs, but that didn't stick. does anyone
have
ideas or experience
in this department? or is it sufficient for
us to
tell people that
reading about repairs in our manuals is part
of
their process at our
shop? i tend to doubt the success rate of the
last one. i'm thinking
food incentives might be a good idea.
love/peace/bicyclegrease, rachael
thethinktank mailing list thethinktank@lists.bikecollectives.org
http://lists.bikecollectives.org/listinfo.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.o...
thethinktank mailing list thethinktank@lists.bikecollectives.org
http://lists.bikecollectives.org/listinfo.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.o...
____________________________________________________________________________________Got
a little couch potato? Check out fun summer activities for kids.
http://search.yahoo.com/search?fr=oni_on_mail&p=summer+activities+for+ki...
thethinktank mailing list thethinktank@lists.bikecollectives.org
http://lists.bikecollectives.org/listinfo.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.o...
thethinktank mailing list thethinktank@lists.bikecollectives.org
http://lists.bikecollectives.org/listinfo.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.o...
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Hi Jessica!
I'm sorry to not have responded to all the calls you put out for workshop descriptions. I've been traveling and haven't had regular access to a computer. I will definitely be there and certainly would like to facilitate this workshop. 1.5 hours sounds fine, and I get in Friday morning and am not leaving until Tuesday night, so whenever you'd like to schedule it is okay by me. I don't have time to write a description right now, but I will write one this week and get it back to you ASAP (I'm visiting family in Canada now, but I do have free internet access again!) I'm really looking forward to Bike!Bike! this year and can't wait to meet you all at free Ride. Thanks for all your hard work organizing it (and in the middle of biking season to boot!)
Thanks!, Sharlyn
On 7/17/07, Jessica McPherson jessica_mcp@yahoo.com wrote:
Hi Sharlyn,
Jessica from the Bike Bike workshop organizing committee here... (a fancy name for the two of us doing this!)
I'm trying to firm up our workshop schedule, so I'm wondering if you are definitely coming, and definitely still into doing this workshop (which sounds awesome, I personally will be in attendance).
If so- can you write a short description up for the program? And, let me know if you have any time constraints (leaving early, arriving late, really hate mornings, whatever). Right now the workshop slots are 1 hr 30 mins long, two in the morning and two in the afternoon on Saturday and on Sunday, roughly 9 am - 5 pm. We can also do a 45 minute slot if you'd like, although I think this topic would be one people could easily engage for an hour and a half.
thanks! -Jessica
--- Sharlyn Grace sharlyngrace@gmail.com wrote:
I can coordinate this and get it to be mostly sharing, brainstorming and writing up lists of ideas, discussing what does and does not work. I'll post it on the bike!bike! website. Meanwhile, let's start a list somewhere on the bikecollectives website where we can gather ideas for keeping volunteers. Simple personpower is always one of our biggest problems at The Recyclery as well.
We've mostly done hands-on teaching to try and get people feeling comfortable with the tools, but we combine it with food and fun times (bike-in movies are on the way) and a new "secret" time to use the shop for regular volunteers so they feel like they get a kick-back for their hard work. (This also functions as a casual party-ish time in the shop when we can all hang out and work on our own bikes.)
On another note: can I ask people for more suggestions on where to get bikes? Right now we have a shortage. Our usual avenues are police confiscations, individual donors, apartment buildings storage rooms getting cleaned out. Sometimes we get them from alleyways or scrappers. Do others have ideas for regular avenues of bike donations?
Thanks all! Looking forward to seeing you again/meeting you at Bikebike!, Sharlyn
On 5/15/07, Jessica McPherson jessica_mcp@yahoo.com wrote:
sounds like a good idea for a workshop at
bike!bike!
I bet it would be a great discussion if different groups all offered their suggestions & experience. Anyone want to coordinate?
-Jessica (Free Ride)
--- Macho Philipovich macho@resist.ca wrote:
we've been having a similar experience at the
bike
dump. a few folks stuck around from our volunteer workshop series
this
spring, but not as many as i'd hoped. volunteer pot lucks and
special
events have worked all right at getting new folks feeling
comfortable
in the space, in getting older volunteers to come back who
haven't
been around for a while, and generally helping volunteers to feel appreciated and like the shop is a fun space. but all in all, i think we also need more and better strategies. i'd be really interested in hearing in things others have tried, or even ideas about what else might work.
macho http://bike-dump.ca
rachael spiewak wrote:
hiya, folks.
something sopo's always struggled with is
finding
volunteers and
convincing them to stay. many people who
visit
our shop would rather
have a hands on demonstration than look up how
to
do repairs in our
manuals. we tried having a few bike
maintenance
101 classes to get
people feeling like they have the capacity to
help
others with basic
repairs, but that didn't stick. does anyone
have
ideas or experience
in this department? or is it sufficient for
us to
tell people that
reading about repairs in our manuals is part
of
their process at our
shop? i tend to doubt the success rate of the
last one. i'm thinking
food incentives might be a good idea.
love/peace/bicyclegrease, rachael
thethinktank mailing list thethinktank@lists.bikecollectives.org
http://lists.bikecollectives.org/listinfo.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.o...
thethinktank mailing list thethinktank@lists.bikecollectives.org
http://lists.bikecollectives.org/listinfo.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.o...
____________________________________________________________________________________Got
a little couch potato? Check out fun summer activities for kids.
http://search.yahoo.com/search?fr=oni_on_mail&p=summer+activities+for+ki...
thethinktank mailing list thethinktank@lists.bikecollectives.org
http://lists.bikecollectives.org/listinfo.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.o...
thethinktank mailing list thethinktank@lists.bikecollectives.org
http://lists.bikecollectives.org/listinfo.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.o...
Sick sense of humor? Visit Yahoo! TV's Comedy with an Edge to see what's on, when. http://tv.yahoo.com/collections/222 _______________________________________________ thethinktank mailing list thethinktank@lists.bikecollectives.org http://lists.bikecollectives.org/listinfo.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.o...
participants (6)
-
Jessica McPherson -
Jonathan Morrison -
Macho Philipovich -
rachael spiewak -
Sharlyn Grace -
Velocipede Bike Project