Collaboration Resources

What are these email lists and calendars I keep hearing about!?!

This page serves as a place for you to find the calendars, email lists, and documentation wiki used by Free Ride volunteers to collaborate.

Staff Resources

When you are staffing open shop, volunteer night, or any other event at Free Ride, you can view the staff resources page to access helpful information and resources.

The first step in staffing is to check out the staffing calendar. See below for more information.

Calendars

Public Hours Calendar

We use the public calendar to list times when the shop is open to the public and to list general events.

Staffing Calendar

Do you plan to staff open shop or shadow as a trainee? Are you the instructor for a specific drop-in class? Put your name on the day and give a time on the Staffing Calendar when you will staff open shop, staff volunteering days, or when you will teach classes. Shadow trainees can also to put their name on the staffing calendar.

NOTE: Ask for help before using the staffing calendar if it has not been explained to you or if you are unsure about the calendar use.

Meetings calendar on the Kiva

Use the Kiva calendar to schedule meetings. Include important details including meeting topic, agenda and location.

Specify group to ensure that people will be informed of meeting schedule and updates. NOTE: this calendar provides group notifications, so scheduling via the kiva is strongly encouraged!

You need access to the kiva to view this calendar. See the section about the kiva below for more information.Check with other group members if the kiva is being used to schedule a meeting.

Discussion and Documentation

Crabgrass Wiki for documentation

The crabgrass wiki (https://we.riseup.net/freeride_council) is the main tool used by Free Ride volunteers to share meeting notes, hold discussions and post general documentation. While staffing, you may need to consult the staffing resources page. To learn more, please see the detailed explanation about Crabgrass.

Staffing Manual for specifics on staffing the shop

The staffing manual is a comprehensive reference for new volunteers who are interested in helping staff at Free Ride. It describes shop procedures in detail.

Email Lists for notifications

Join our email list to take part in discussions. We have more than one list, so be sure to read about each one to see which list is applicable for you.

The Kiva for online discussions

Online discussions take place on the Free Ride Kiva. The Kiva is organized in groups and provides email updates to group subscribers when new topics or replies to topics are posted.

Access to the kiva

Collective council members are administrators for the kiva. Speak to a council member for an account to log on. If you joint the council, your account can be re-configured as an administrator so that you can help newcomers with accounts too

Recovering user names and passwords for the kiva

If you are having trouble with your kiva password or account, speak to a council member. Each council member should have administrative rights.

Administrators can help with the following:

  • View a list of kiva members to determine your user name.
  • Give you a new password (and then tell you via word of mouth; you should change it immediately after logging in!)
  • Create a new account if yours is lost forever or if you are new to the kiva

The idea for using the kiva is that if you want to know what is going on, you can log in and read through discussions. If you are not as interested, you don’t need to read through everything. That way, group members can carry on discussions and not worry as much about including the right/wrong people along the way.

If you have questions about any of the internet communication or documentation tools used, feel free to ask for help the next time you are in the shop.