Building on our first Bike Advocacy Boot Camp in 2016, we're pleased to announce the return of this one day seminar on February 10th, 2018 in Somerville, MA.

MassBike will assemble leaders in DIY activism, advocacy, education, and more for a day of panels and discussion.

When: February 10th, 2018

Tickets are $55 until February 2nd, after which the price will increase to $65.

All tickets to include entry to all seminars and discussions, coffee, lunch, and happy hour.

5 Scholarships will be offered in exchange for volunteer efforts. Please contact Rob Cant at [email protected] for details and to apply.

Schedule and panel participants below:

• 8am - Doors Open, coffee served
• 9am - Mass Mobilization: Working Within the System - Historically, cycling advocates’ pleas have fallen on deaf ears at many government levels. In the words of the immortal Bob Dylan, though, “Times, they are a changin.” From the local town engineer to the Massachusetts Department of Transportation and Beacon Hill, a shift is happening, away from a car-centric focus on our roads to a more inclusive one. We will kick off the day hearing from state, regional and municipal players about how to best engage with them to help this shift happen.
  Speakers:
  Joel Barrera, Deputy Chief of Staff to Governor Charlie Baker
  Price Armstrong, Senior Transit Operations Analyst, Pioneer Valley Transit Authority
  Pete Sutton, Bicycle and Pedestrian Program Coordinator, MassDOT
  Maureen Pollock, Associate Planner, Town of Amherst
• 10:15am - Mass Mobilization II: DIY Without the System - While engaging with your local and state government and having your voice heard is important, it’s equally critical to engage the community and build a base of support for your efforts. Admit it, nobody signed up for this cause with dreams of endless town meetings. But we all like to have a good time out on our bikes. In this second session you’ll hear about ways to pump up the cycling vibe in your community to better help those elected leaders understand why cycling is so important in so many ways.
  Speakers:
  Bekka Wright, Community Advocate
  Ari Ofsevit, Shadow Transit Agent, Cambridge
  Peter Cheung, Co-founder, Boston Bike Party 
  
• 11:30am Lunch Served - Charlie Komanoff, Keynote Address
• 12:45pm - What Complete Streets Can Do for your Community - In the past few years, the concept of “Complete Streets” has taken hold across the country. Roads aren’t only the domain of cars anymore. This prioritization of addressing the needs of multi-modalities has been embraced at the state level at MassDOT, and with it have come funds for communities eager to implement Complete Streets in their planning. Learn about how Complete Streets can help in your community.
  Speakers: 
  Tom DiPaolo, Assistant Chief Engineer, MassDOT
  Eileen Gunn, Complete Streets Program Administrator, MassDOT
  Nicholas Bosonetto, City Engineer, Lowell
  Michelle Chase, Town Engineer, Agawam
  
• 2pm - When You Teach 'Em How to Bike...Education, Empowerment and Community Shops - Many know about the Catch-22 of cycling: the more of us out there on the streets cycling, the safer it is for all, but while 60 percent of people polled want to ride bikes, their fears keep them off the road due to a lack of skills or a bike. Community cycling programs have blossomed around the state in an effort to scale these hurdles. Listen to several program organizers talk about how they’ve created spaces where community members and budding cyclists earn, learn, and thrive.
  Speakers: 
  Galen Mook, Founder, Commonwheels
  Alex Weck, Co-director, RAD Springfield
  Patrick Goguen, Shop Manager, Worcester Earn-A-Bike
• 3:15pm - Disruption: Three Things That Will Rock the Bike World - Ah, the ubiquitous 10-speed; the first thing that pops into many peoples’ heads when they think of a “bike.” News flash: today’s bikes have gone a lot further than that, taking forms and creating spaces in our culture that weren’t there 10 or even five years ago! Bike share programs, cargo bikes, electric bikes (e-bikes) - these are what the bikes of today are starting to look like, and believe us, they are going to change the face of cycling in many ways. Look forward to a glimpse of the future in this final panel of speakers for the day.
  Speakers:
  Jon Terbush, Communication Manager, Zagster
  Randy Neufeld, Director, SRAM Cycling Fund
  Carice Reddien, Founder, Bicycle Belle 
  Jon O'Toole, Director of Community, Superpedestrian
• 4:30pm - Call to Action: What to do now? - What to do tomorrow when you get back to your community - You’ve made it through a day of inspiration and you’re thinking, “Cycling utopia is right around the corner! But...how can I help make it happen in my community?” MassBike Executive Director Richard Fries will tie the day’s threads together for you and provide some guidance on concrete, practical actions that you can do to help this vision come true.
  Speaker:
  Richard Fries, Executive Director, MassBike