Word on the Streets

Welcome Kevin: Volunteer @Open Streets

Kevin Kalligher has been hired to coordinate volunteers for Open Streets 2013 and to assist us in building our volunteer infrastructure as an organization. Passionate about riding his bike, Kevin has been an active volunteer with the Minneapolis Bicycle Coalition this year, including playing a leading role in the JoyRide Presents: Bikes and Brewvies held in late March with 100+ attendees.

A recent U of M grad, Kevin served as the Student Neighborhood Liaison, building stronger relationships between students and homeowners in neighborhoods surrounding the U. This included providing resources and opportunities for community engagement in the neighborhood. He also has experience planning events, from promoting them to raising sponsorships to booking programming.

To volunteer for Open Streets, contact Kevin at [email protected]. Kevin's contract runs through the end of 2013.

posted by | May 06, 2013

Safety on the Greenway Happy Hour Q&A

Who: Soren Jensen, executive director of the Midtown Greenway Coalition

What: A happy hour Q&A

Where: Tiger Sushi 2, 2841 Lyndale Ave S

When: 5:30 pm, Wednesday, May 8th

There are 1.5 million trips made on the Midtown Greenway every year, and no more than five violent events occur in that time. Soren will give a brief presentation at 6:00 pm about safety on the greenway and then answer questions from the audience. Please arrive early to grab a drink and chat! The greenway is an invaluable resource for cyclists and pedestrians in South Minneapolis, but we'll also consider ways make the trail even better. This event is free and open to the public. Please RSVP via Facebook.

posted by | May 04, 2013

Events/Outreach Meeting 4/24/13

On Wednesday, April 24th, Events and Outreach volunteers of the Minneapolis Bicycle Coalition met to discuss recent events and the planning of upcoming events.

Volunteers who planned the Happy Hour with Shaun Murphy and the Bikes and Brewvies Joyride events that took place in March discussed the successes of (great turnouts, lots of enthusiasm from participants, positive feedback) and potential improvements for planning future events (putting up a Coalition banner at the event, ensuring that all materials such as sign in sheets are at the event early, providing maps for group rides). Potential Happy Hour topics were proposed, including a presentation on women riding bicycles. The Happy Hour work group will meet on Tuesday, April 30th to discuss topics and to finalize plans for the May 8th Happy Hour: Safety on the Greenway with Soren Jensen, head of the Midtown Greenway Coalition.

The Group Rides work group shared ideas for potential rides, including an Uptown coffee shop tour, Bikes and a Bonfire/BBQ, and a tour of the Lakes followed by brunch. A tour of businesses on Washington Avenue downtown to drum up support for a cycletrack was also put forth. A poll on Facebook was proposed to gauge public interest in the different ride ideas.

The Tabling work group focused on the MBC table at the upcoming May Day celebration on Sunday, May 5th, and emphasized the need for volunteers to staff the Coalition table. As of the group’s final planning meeting on April 29th, more volunteers are still needed. If you would like to help, please sign up here.

Additional events discussed at this meeting were a Dinner and Bikes event potentially in September and a Member Party, also in the fall. More info will be gathered regarding the Dinner and Bikes event, and the next Member Party planning meeting will be held around May 22. Contact Lisa Nelson ([email protected]) to help plan the 2013 Member Party.

posted by | April 30, 2013