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== Mechanics == | == Mechanics == | ||
Revision as of 09:08, 7 January 2009
b6ougvdze1za60b9
b6ougvdze1za60b9
Contents
Mechanics
Becoming a mechanic
Anyone can come in and work as a mechanic at the bike kitchen as long as they have a basic knowledge of bike repair and a willingness to teach people. You don't have to be an ace mechanic, but you do have to know what you can do and what you can't. A general guideline is that you should feel comfortable building a bike from parts at the bike kitchen.
Within a month of putting on an apron or regularly giving advice, all mechanics should attend a mechanic's orientation. After attending the orientation, the mechanic will be 'shadowed' by a head mechanic (someone responsible for running a shift) while helping one customer. The head mechanic will then designate the person a 'mechanic' or advise the person what they need to work on.
We have new mechanics orientations on the first tuesday of every month at 7:00. The orientation covers:
- a tour of the bike kitchen
- location of parts and frames
- how the eab program works
- prices for parts and membership
- how to help people at the bike kitchen
- teach people, don't do the work
- be sure to give estimates of time
- let people know other options
- if you don't know how to do something, ask another mechanic
- sign in table and program
- mechanic priveleges and responsibilities
Staying a mechanic
Once designated a mechanic, you are welcome to come and put on an apron and help people whenever you wish. If you want to be able to order parts through wholesale catalogs, take parts for personal use, or vote at meetings, you need to volunteer for a specific 2 hour shift once per week (e.g. saturdays: 12-2)
Mechanic benefits
Once you attend an orientation and volunteer for 4 shifts as a mechanic or a greeter or manages a critical task (website, membership, finance, etc):
- order parts at cost +15% from wholesale catalogs for personal use
- take used parts at no cost for your own personal use
- vote at mechanic's meetings
People who volunteer regularly may run a shift (see Open Hours) and become keyholders. Anyone with a key is welcome to use the shop during times when the bike kitchen is closed, and may open the shop for 'random' open hours.
Anyone who volunteers an average of 12 hours/month can vote at meetings.
Greeter and Volunteers
Greeters
The greeter serves as both the gatekeeper to the shop and as a welcoming position. It's a position that's often neglected in a busy shop, but it's important to give people their orientation to the shop and first steps in solving their problems -- and it's very important in terms of collecting the fees that keep the shop going. Without a greeter, many people won't bother signing in or paying, especially because a lot of them don't even know where to go.
A greeter is a good role for a first-time volunteer or earn-a-biker, because it doesn't strictly require any technical knowledge, or intimate knowledge of how the shop functions. They can just punt questions to mechanics on the floor.
The greeter role is also surprisingly interesting for experienced mechanics. It gives you a broader view of what kind of problems come into the shop, with a chance to answer a lot of short technical questions before referring people to other mechanics. People feel more free to come up to you with questions after they've learned your name, so it's never really a boring job.
Other Volunteer Roles
We often have a steady stream of people coming in asking to volunteer, whether to put hours towards a membership, the earn-a-bike program, or just to help out. Feel free to assign them tasks from the Task List in order to help them become more engaged with the shop and community.
Parts and Sales
Accounting
Receipts
In all cases....
- If you can't tell from the receipt, write down what it was for. Also say what 'department' it's for - shop supplies, fundraising, etc
- If you can't read the dollar amount, write that down too.
If you took cash out of the register....
- Put the reciept and the change in the register.
If you need to get reimbursed....
- Write your name and that you need to get reimbursed on the receipt.
- Put the receipt in the Accounting In Box folder.
If you used a BK card....
- Write that you used a BK card on the receipt.
- Put the receipt in the Accounting In Box folder.
Classes
The Bike Kitchen usually holds a monthly class of some kind, often of one of the following types:
This is by no means an exhaustive list, and we wholeheartedly encourage new, off-the-wall, so-crazy-it-just-might-work approaches to cycling skills education.
Since classes are a significant source of income for the Bike Kitchen, we try and have at least one every month. If you would like to teach a class you should mention it at the bimonthly mechanic's meeting or express your intention to teach one on the Yahoogroups email list.
Forms
Email List
The SFBK email list is hosted by Yahoo Groups at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bikekitchen/. All staff should be on the mailing list to keep up to date on announcements and discussion. Members and patrons may be on the mailing list if they want to stay in tune with the daily activity at the Bike Kitchen.
There is a fair amount of activity on the list. In order to avoid being buried by email, we have a few rules.
Subject Prefixes
Use subject prefixes if your email does not need to be ready by everyone on the list. Be aware of your audience and respect their precious time.
A few recommended prefixes are:
- ATTN = Attention, use this only if everyone should read your message
- ED = Education, related to classes
- OT = Off Topic, use this generously for emails not directly related to running the BK
- WEB = Pertaining the the www.bikekitchen.org web site
For example:
ATTN: Shop closed Tues for election
WEB: please post the fundraising party info
OT: anyone have a good herbal remedy for saddle sores?
Be Constructive
As one mechanic posted to the list:
- Negative reviews are helpful for avoiding poor experiences but not nearly so as alternative suggestions.
If you have a criticism or complaint, it will be more readily received and substantially more helpful when coupled with a suggestion or alternate solution.
Freehub
Freehub is the system we use to track people, the services they have access to and their visits to the shop.
See the Freehub project wiki for details on Freehub.
