recap of events...about time hey?

first here is a little reflection on planning this massive and overwhelming event:

planning the ballyhoo was really neat and (sometimes) fun because i've
never attempted to do anything like it before. i've never planned a
single event, let alone four days full of events. so, i had lots of
meetings with big fancy community members (i would lure them to hang
out with me with offers of free breakfast, very sneaky) that i admired
a lot. mostly people who planned free local events that were also
really silly and fun. lots of bicycle folks. reverend phil was my
favorite. he didn't have much direct advice, but it was really neat to get
a glimpse into the world of portland's most famous bike community
member. he, as a single person, best represents portland bike
culture, and lots of people acknowledge this. he's 'the rev'.

preparation entailed talking to people about spaces. going to
meetings and pitching my project to non-profits. city repair accepted
the project and posed as my non-profit, which i'm sure helped. asking
companies for donations. this was the most fun. i have never been
given so many free things in my entire life. dozens, upon dozens of
free donuts, free movie rentals, 200 people's worth of free tofurky,
free snacks from the co-op, free coffee, free produce, free pizza
dough, and the list goes on.

pooling resources from my new community
was cool too. i posted my needs to lots of list serves and recieved a
ton of offers. i was lent a giant 4-foot long utility trailer for my
bike, without which i wouldn't have been able to make the festival
happen at all. thank you matt phillips. people were so generous and
excited about my idea that they offered anything i needed really.

getting time commitments/rounding up volunteers was really
hard because summer in portland is pretty much jam packed with too
much already, another event to help with just makes people groan.
lots of people sent emails of praise and encouragement, which i really
needed during the last month. the month before i learned SO MUCH,
it's incredible.

next post:

on to the fun! the event!