Yesterday, I woke up early to make my way down to Werkendam for 2moso's 4th annual Bikes & Business Social Club. An open house for Dutch & Belgian dealers to meet 2moso and their partner distributors Duho & ICC, browse current and upcoming products, attend talks, network and literally talk shop!
I had the honour of sharing the stage with Michael Velkeneers of Kaffix, a bike shop in Belgium, and Rob Schoof of Maats.cc on a panel about creating, sustaining & growing community, specifically for the attending shop owners.
Our panel format followed a deck of prepared questions that attending shop owners could vote on via QR codes. The audience participation aspect was pretty awesome, actually!
On my train & bus ride down, I took notes for my thoughts on community building:
- 🔑 Variety is key: not just road, gravel, etc. Make space for niches to bring people together.
- We do BMX events, courier alleycats, an annual Pride Ride, film evenings, group rides, concerts and more. Aspire to serve the entire scene.
- 🎨 Colour outside the lines: Involve other partners, even beyond of the usual suspects:
- We do a regular jazz series with a local jazz label. Dox Records' founder Bart loves bikes too. In three years, we’ve done 14 editions!
- 🔄 Consistency is better for everybody: not one & done. Have a schedule so people can plan, but also for you to stick to!
- ✴️ Gewoon doen (just do it): even if you're concerned about attendance. Always better not to cancel! Don't break the chain!
- 𐦂𖨆𐀪𖠋 Brands 2nd, people first: Expand your demographic; just ideal customers from a certain income bracket. If you're not helping the older and younger riders in your community, is it really helping the community?
- For example, Kids are always welcome at Workspace 6. Even during the week, neighbourhood kids borrow bikes & ramps from us
- 🤝 Sharing is caring: it’s not all about likes, but it is about hearts & eyes. Share regularly on social media, and your newsletter and old-school word of mouth will follow!
- 🌐 Become a hub: people see our office as a welcoming, approachable and fun location to join events and meet new people.
- 🎟️ Last but not least: Being the host isn't always the most: putting on events is tiring! You can build community by attending others' events, too!
- In fact, showing up elsewhere is arguably more important than even hosting your own!
- It shows you give a damn & you can invite people to your next event too!
Hardly exhaustive but pretty good for a bus ride pre-talk presentation prep! ; )
Thank you for reading & wishing you a nice week ahead,
Jon
p.s.
This week's subject line is an homage to issue nº279 that had the same theme!
p.p.s.
🎵 Some tracks on deck over the past few week: Pinback's 1st 3 albums, Underoath's debut album & Floating Points' Corner Of My Eye, James Nixon's new album & lots of (older) Interpol!
October
- 🇳🇱 11 Fearless 5k
- 🇳🇱 12-13 International Cargo Bike Festival
- 🇹🇷 14-24 Taurus Mountain Race
- 🇳🇱 18 AMS Cross Comp | Big Spotter's Hill
- 🇳🇱 25 AMS Cross Comp | HSC DE BATAAF
- 🇯🇵 23-25 Bespoked Osaka
November
- 🇳🇱 1 AMS Cross Comp | UWTC – UITHOORN
- 🇳🇱 3-5 ISPO
- 🇳🇱 8 AMS Cross Comp | HSV DE KAMPIOEN
- 🇬🇧 12-14 Rouleur London
- 🇳🇱 14 Lowlands Fixed Gear 2 Year Bday
- 🇳🇱 15 AMS Cross Comp | WV DE AMSTEL
- 🇳🇱 22 AMS Cross Comp | FC TRAPPIST – ‘T TWISKE
December
- 🇳🇱 4 Twotone Turns 12! Live Music, Great Food, Refreshing Drinks, & Permanent Tattoos!
- 🇳🇱 5 Cyclezirkus & Twotone Hangover Ride
- 🇳🇱 6 AMS Cross Comp | ASC Olympia Sloten
- 🇳🇱 13 AMS Cross Comp | ARC Ulysses
- 🇳🇱 19 AMS Cross Comp | Avondcross ZWC DTS
- 🇳🇱 31 AMS Cross Comp | Oliebollencross
Bikes
Remco Tools Goes Higher and Lower With $1,500 Hi-lo Electric Bike Lift & Expands European Reach with SEMC.pro as New French Distributor
Initially only available in the USA, Remco Tools' Hi-lo Bike Lift will make its way to Europe in the new year. Celebrating their new partnership with SEMC.pro, catch Remco Tools at the 42nd annual Roc d’Azur this weekend as well!
JobRad® Loop Teams Up With Guuru for Crowdsourced Expert Advice
Weeks of Travel on The Moustache Dimanche 29 Gravel
Jon Woodroof
"Whether you'd prefer to tour old-school or with a bit of battery-fueled tailwind, your downtube is kinda like the decision of chain wax or classic lube; details are determined by each individual rider, and it's our shared sense of adventure that inspires us to go where we've never been before and keep coming back for more." Read the entire write-up here.
Ideas
Shift Cycling Culture on Escape Collective's Overnight Success & Their Next Barcamp
"Shift Cycling Culture has spent seven years working to make the cycling industry take sustainability seriously. Founders Lian van Leeuwen and Erik Bronsvoort, and executive director Sandra Brandt, join Suvi Loponen to talk about where Shift came from, why the industry so often stays silent on sustainability, what pro racing could do better, and what it would actually take to change things."
The Flowerbikeman says, “Goodbye, Amsterdam”
Eric Suesz
I first met Warren – aka Flowerbikeman – at the Roze Tanker DIY skatepark with my kids. It really was an enchanting moment. Years later, once my kids ended up in Florida and I ran into Flowerbikeman again, I learned that he, too, was from Florida. Now he will also be taken against his will. Different circumstances, and I certainly do have a lot of sympathy for his plight; you can sign this petition to keep up the fight!
The Problems We Stop Seeing: What Giro Taught Me About Culture and Change
Friends
At Home by J.R. Nixon
Pre-Order Jody Barton's Dirty Filthy Bikepacking Patch Kit
John McFaul. On Practice
John McFaul. On Practice
"I began to understand what happened when creativity became separated from instinct, when the language around an idea grew larger as the idea itself became smaller, and when people became so consumed by maintaining the system that there was little space left to question what the system was producing." A long read to get lost in. Thank you for publishing it, John! : )
Radness
The Pathfinder Giro
Thank you for reading!
Here's fostering community this week!