GOT PARTS? Open call for vendor tables at the February 6 Bike Winter Swap and Urban Bike Expo


This Winter, Chicago Bike Winter is presenting the first annual Bike Winter Swap Meet and Urban Bicycle Expo on Saturday February 6, 2010 at Jak's Tap at 901 West Jackson Boulevard in Chicago's West Loop.

Individuals, clubs, non-profits, frame-builders, powder coaters, stores and shops, and bike fiends and friends of every flavor are welcome and encouraged to rent a table. It's cheap, it's fun and it goes to a good cause....keeping Chicagoans on their bikes year-round. Something you don't need or have too many of may be just the ticket for someone else's build. You win, they win, Bike Winter wins, the people of Chicago win, etc.

Here is the price structure:

Non-profit groups including bike clubs, locally based Individuals or companies with 3 or less employees - $25
Locally based companies with 4 to 12 employees - $50
All other companies and individuals - $100

To rent a table please send an email to expo@bikewinter.org and we will get you signed up.

Thanks and look forward to seeing you all there.

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Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on February 8, 2010 at 5:20am
Three cheers for everyone who helped make it happen! Thanks again, Howard.

H3N3 said:
I ended up being more of the mouthpiece for the event but it wouldn't have happened without the help of many others-- it literally wouldn't have happened at all without Kevin Monahan's help with the locale and Lee Diamond's partnership on the planning and structure and publicity; Ethan Spotts took care of major logistical pieces, and Mario stepped in late in the game to run with the presentation piece and free me up for other last minute things. I'm told Willow and Pierogi John helped with postering and flyering but I don't know details. Willow additionally added a lot to the event by showing up with all sorts of printed materials and free balaclavas and baked goods.
Martin helped with some outreach to potential vendors and tracking down and transporting a few payments and items; the CCC helped out with their projector and Alex W with the screen, and his sound system for sound for the presentations. Kathy S. canceled her plans to get the check-in table up and running in the morning (and then returned later for her presentation piece) and also contributed needed items like the cash box, starter change, office items.
Of course the folks who prepared excellent presentations should be credited,
and the close to 20 people committed to various volunteer roles for the day of, and I'm afraid to name names out of fear of forgetting someone . . . and then there were the presenters who also served as volunteers when not presenting, and the folks I grabbed last minute to help with the auction.
Who did I forget?



Anne Alt said:
Three cheers for Howard! It turned out well, and attendance was amazing. Being able to walk right across the hall for a beer and a bite was excellent. Thanks for putting together a great event!

H3N3 said:
Thanks for being there, Ron!
The majority of vendors seemed pleased with the bank they'd made.
My biggest satisfaction of the day was with how well-received the presentations were.
The dilemna now is how to grow the event without sacrificing the great ambiance we had at Jak's. Someone had jokingly suggested growing upwards by building lofts and having a second level :-)


mike w. said:
Good time, good folks, well run, fun and -for me at least- reasonably profitable. Thank you to all concerned! Glad i got to meet some of my fellow CLinkers in person.

Next year? Let's go!
Permalink Reply by dan brown on February 8, 2010 at 5:54am
I agree : for an inaugrural event - I think it was a huge success. Especially given the crummy weather.

it was cozy and intimate and really cool too see all the folks and cool stuff (and great deals too).

well done everyone...


Dan

H3N3 said:
I ended up being more of the mouthpiece for the event but it wouldn't have happened without the help of many others-- it literally wouldn't have happened at all without Kevin Monahan's help with the locale and Lee Diamond's partnership on the planning and structure and publicity; Ethan Spotts took care of major logistical pieces, and Mario stepped in late in the game to run with the presentation piece and free me up for other last minute things. I'm told Willow and Pierogi John helped with postering and flyering but I don't know details. Willow additionally added a lot to the event by showing up with all sorts of printed materials and free balaclavas and baked goods.
Martin helped with some outreach to potential vendors and tracking down and transporting a few payments and items; the CCC helped out with their projector and Alex W with the screen, and his sound system for sound for the presentations. Kathy S. canceled her plans to get the check-in table up and running in the morning (and then returned later for her presentation piece) and also contributed needed items like the cash box, starter change, office items.
Of course the folks who prepared excellent presentations should be credited,
and the close to 20 people committed to various volunteer roles for the day of, and I'm afraid to name names out of fear of forgetting someone . . . and then there were the presenters who also served as volunteers when not presenting, and the folks I grabbed last minute to help with the auction.
Who did I forget?



Anne Alt said:
Three cheers for Howard! It turned out well, and attendance was amazing. Being able to walk right across the hall for a beer and a bite was excellent. Thanks for putting together a great event!

H3N3 said:
Thanks for being there, Ron!
The majority of vendors seemed pleased with the bank they'd made.
My biggest satisfaction of the day was with how well-received the presentations were.
The dilemna now is how to grow the event without sacrificing the great ambiance we had at Jak's. Someone had jokingly suggested growing upwards by building lofts and having a second level :-)


mike w. said:
Good time, good folks, well run, fun and -for me at least- reasonably profitable. Thank you to all concerned! Glad i got to meet some of my fellow CLinkers in person.

Next year? Let's go!
Permalink Reply by Kevin Mulcky on February 8, 2010 at 7:12am
I picked up a few great items; randonneur style rear rack, shimano 600 levers, and thought the event was pretty good.

At the check-in table the volunteers asked if we would consider donating any additional money to support Bike Winter. I understand that this was just a standard point of sale up-selling strategy. But, one volunteer asked me for $20, and the other asked my girlfriend if she would consider donating $100 to bike winter. After the event my girlfriend and I talked about this for quite a while over a beer. Neither one of us knew that the other had been asked at the time and we agreed that it was really quite an unusual and borderline offensive sales strategy, especially for this type of organization.

Did this happen to anyone else?
Permalink Reply by Kevin Mulcky on February 8, 2010 at 7:49am
Yea, that was the weird part, i didn't interpret in humor in the upsell. And i always get a little bummed out when I go to an event and "donations" seem a little more mandatory than voluntary.

I think that volunteers do indeed deserve credit, but not exactly in a monetary way. Thats not what volunteering is about. When I give to, lets say, a political organization, i give because i agree with the mission, not because i recognize that there are volunteers who work for that mission.
Permalink Reply by Active Transportation Alliance on February 8, 2010 at 8:04am
Thanks again to all the volunteers, vendors and participants...fantastic day! Active Trans was honored to be involved (we also signed up 18 members!).

Thanks especially to Howard Kaplan, Lee Diamond, Kevin Monaghan and Mario Perez, my co-organizers who were incredible to work with. Say it with me...next year!

Ethan, with Active Trans

PS: I worked the registration table for an hour and half or so and had a couple of people say that they didn't want to donate because it was suggested and we let them right in. Sorry to hear that Kelvin had a challenging registration experience but glad the rest of the swap worked for him.
Permalink Reply by igz on February 8, 2010 at 8:04am
when i walked up to the donation table, i was asked how much i could donate. i pulled the cash out of my pocket which contained a few $100 bills...and the gentleman next to Lauren said...jokingly..or how bout that $100. again...jokingly...to which i smiled...and handed over a $5...to which he smiled and said Thanks. i hope i didnt start the idea...but either way...it was in good fun. im sure they werent trying to intimidate or bully anyone into forcing anything at all.

if i could spare the hundo...i would offer it.
Permalink Reply by Kevin Mulcky on February 8, 2010 at 8:19am
I don't see what's so funny. To pay a volunteer, for a reason other than reimbursement, would sort of negate the whole concept of volunteering.

willow naeco said:
"I think that volunteers do indeed deserve credit, but not exactly in a monetary way."

Thanks for making me laugh orange juice out of my nose. You are kidding, right?
Permalink Reply by Kevin Mulcky on February 8, 2010 at 8:44am
Ok willow, i think we're just misunderstanding each other. I'm not trying to start rumors.

When you wrote that when I'm being asked for a donation, i need to think about all the time and money that volunteers put into their organization, i thought that was a little out of wack. I interpreted that as you saying that i should basically compensate volunteers for their time.

I was trying to say that i don't think that's right, to think of volunteers when giving to an organization, because they don't need the money for compensation. I was trying to say that people should think of the mission and products that an organization creates when giving.

I'll just leave it at that.
Permalink Reply by Gin on February 8, 2010 at 9:21am
Just chiming in here on the $$ issue. Just to add to Willow's comments, lots of folks put countless hours and $$$ into projects like making/distributing balaclavas. All done with love and generosity. BW is a grassroots effort w/o a formal organizational structure. It happens b/c people give their time, money, time and heart. It's always appreciated when people make donations to help pay for materials. To my knowledge, no one has ever asked for a donation to compensate for time. It's unfortunate that Kelvin felt pressured to donate. However, i do hope the bigger picture is that support is always needed and appreciated. Thanks!
Permalink Reply by T.C. O'Rourke on February 8, 2010 at 3:14pm
Dude: the $ did not go to the volunteers.

They asked you for more than the $5. You said no. Hardly a traumatic experience. I know of no other bike show/swap/event that collects less.

Why let this sully an outstanding event?



Kelvin Mulcky said:
Ok willow, i think we're just misunderstanding each other. I'm not trying to start rumors.

When you wrote that when I'm being asked for a donation, i need to think about all the time and money that volunteers put into their organization, i thought that was a little out of wack. I interpreted that as you saying that i should basically compensate volunteers for their time.

I was trying to say that i don't think that's right, to think of volunteers when giving to an organization, because they don't need the money for compensation. I was trying to say that people should think of the mission and products that an organization creates when giving.

I'll just leave it at that.
Permalink Reply by Todd Allen on February 8, 2010 at 5:40pm
Not to mention that if somebody only donated $5 and picked up one of the free balaclavas or scarves then they got one hell of a deal. I got one of the balaclavas at the film fest and it is awesome. I like it better than my fairly expensive silk balaclavas for really cold weather. It stays warm even when pulled over my face and I mouth breath. It doesn't get soggy.
Permalink Reply by Jane Healy on February 9, 2010 at 4:57pm
As far as I know (and I've been involved with BW since at least 2002), no volunteer has ever been paid for doing Bike Winter work. Far from. I know that I've spent at least $100 on supplies over the years for workshops (not even touching the cost of commuting to events in far-flung locales for this far southside gal), and haven't recouped a cent of that. Nor was I planning or expecting to.

BikeWinter stickers, organizing classes, covering room rentals, advertising and printing costs, 'gifts' and handouts to get people to come, fleece for balaclavas, reflective gear, lights... all that costs money. Asking people for donations only makes sense. Of course not all of us have deep pockets to cover the cost of this stuff. Those people who have more often need only to be asked to give generously.

The volunteers give of their time, their ideas, their cash, and their knowledge to get more people on bikes. They don't do it to get paid. 'Nuff said.

Jane

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