Bike!Bike! 2010

Bike!Bike! 2010 was hosted in Toronto, Ontario by Bike Pirates in the summer of 2010.

Workshops

In the overview, please make mention of the facilitators, format of the workshop, and whatever other information you might think helpful. The overview should contain a description of the topic but no record of what happened in the workshop. Feedback is meant to be a constructive aid for those who ran the workshop; keep in mind many of the facilitators had no prior experience with this type of workshop before this conference.

Don't be afraid to make changes to someone else's work if you can make any improvements.

Grant writing and Government Contracts

Notes

Earned Income

• Inconsistent for some
  • (Vancouver says their shop has fairly consistent income flow)
• Some question making profit from donations (bikes) but it can easily be worded to show its positive side
• Adopt-a-bike idea is another way to earn money, bikes are paid by suggested donation
• Money can be earned though bike sharing, if only though late fees
• Repairs:
  • Some shops do them, some don't
  • Some shops that do, do not guarantee a return time, in fact warn customers that they may not get their bikes back for a long time but many customers support the idea enough to be okay with that

Private Funding

• Lots of potential sources
• Create partnerships with similar organizations
• Do some research and find out what an organization funds
  • Often listed on their website
  • Some organizations only put funding into very specific areas of interest but you can often find one part of your organization that fits into one of these areas
  • For example, Norco will put finding into parts but not into non-tangible items
• Call an organizations personally and create a relationship with the person/people who actually have a say in who gets funding
• Start by writing small proposals and work up to larger ones
• Many organizations with not be the sole funders, they want to see that your organization is sustainable and seeing that you have multiple funding sources puts them at ease
  • Usually 50% or less
• Full support from private funders should not be relied on for the long-haul as it cannot be counted on from year to year
• Have a set of written rules or constitution to abide by as to what concessions your organization is willing to make for funding
  • Ex: We will not include an advertisement or logo on our shop front
  • These rules should be agreed on and followed by everyone but can be changed as needed
• Having a volunteer or employee that is dedicated to writing grants can be key

Government Grants and Contracts

• Generally not lenient with deadlines and working outside of the agreement as private organizations
• Often do not pay upfront but your organization must first have the money to fund itself for a few months until it applies to be refunded
  • Requires that you have some money in the first place or that you take out a loan

Volunteer Retention and Burnout

Overview

A discussion of common problems and possible solutions for lack of volunteer retention and volunteer burnout. This workshop was facilitated by Zoe of the Brick City Bike Collective and Godwin of The Bike Root. It was divided in half by both topics and on each half, a go around was done to identify the most common problems then a brainstorming session was done to see if possible solutions could be found to many of the problems. Approximately 40 people turned out.

Notes

Retention

Why do we lose volunteers?

• Sometimes the work they do starts to feel meaningless
• Volunteers may not get the help needed and may get frustrated
• Organizing meetings can be very long
• Don't feel qualified
• Don't feel empowered or welcome to start organizing
• May leave once the weather turns foul

Solutions:

• Volunteer nights
  • approximately 3 hours long
  • one every week or two weeks
• Talk to volunteers, see what they want to do
  • Have one-on-one meetings to ensure that volunteers are interested in what they are doing
  • Keep occasional volunteers interested and you'll get more long-term volunteers and mechanics
• Develop a volunteer structure
  • Create a tiered setup with specific volunteer levels and rewards
  • Have dedicated roles with written job descriptions
• Identify what the boring tasks are
• Make a task list or binder
• Make it Social

Burnout

Causes:

• Not resolving problems
• Feeling like no one else will do it
• Loss of interest

Solutions:

• Behind the scenes work
  • Burnout notice
  • Talk with the volunteers
  • Offer a sabbatical
  • Plan a group retreat to talk about issues
• Have more honesty in meetings
  • Have meetings to only discuss and vent volunteer issues
• Don't plan long-term putting out fires
• Rotate tasks
  • Write out tasks in a book
• Make a policy that when only one volunteer shows up, close the shop and walk away

Winter Riding Skill-share

Overview

This workshop covered safety issues and how to deal with the winter fashion police (i.e. how to dress appropriately!). As a group we discussed different ideas to get more people to ride during the winter months.

Notes

• Winter Riding workshop handout: Gives a quick overview of safety issues, bike modifications and dress tips.

• Ideas to get more people to ride in winter
  • Coldest day of the year ride & January 1st rides
  • A box with donated winter riding clothes (e.g. extra gloves, sweaters, waterproofs etc.)
  • Ice polo / Ice races
  • Taking kids/others to parking lots (or other secluded / car-free spaces) to show them how much fun winter riding is!
  • Pledge signing / peer pressure: "I swear to not use a car for the duration of the winter"

Women and Trans Hours: Policies, Politics, Allies

Notes

In Davis, Women/Trans/Femme Night allows men who are core volunteers to attend one meeting with permission in advance only, to give them a sense of what happens/how it works when they aren't around. We also found that putting out large, painted signs has helped significantly for passers-by to understand that this isn't open shop.