Altwheels needs you!

As many of you know, Altwheels, the alternative transportation
festival, is coming to Boston's City Hall Plaza on Sept. 28
and 29 [yes, Friday and Saturday]. However, quite a bit of
work is needed on the preceding two days, Sept. 26 and 27,
mostly the Thursday, decorating the Plaza and readying it for
incoming exhibitors. Lots of lifting and carrying, painting a
large colorful wheel in the middle, setting up props, deploying
tables/chairs and signage, and helping coordinate and implement
many other parts of load-in. People are also needed on-site
to help run things during the show itself, and of course
there's the teardown on the other end, late Saturday afternoon.
.
Since none of this REALLY happens by means of magic gnomes,
it means that Altwheels needs plenty of clueful hands! Please
come help out with one of the major shows right in your own
backyard -- visit http://altwheels.org/volunteer.html to sign
up and describe your skills, and Maxine and the rest of the
crew will be eternally grateful. And you'll be part of a
highly visible, large-scale effort to bring much-needed change
to the ways we get around.
.
_H*

 

As many of you know, Altwheels, the alternative transportation
festival, is coming to Boston's City Hall Plaza on Sept. 28
and 29 [yes, Friday and Saturday]. However, quite a bit of
work is needed on the preceding two days, Sept. 26 and 27,
mostly the Thursday, decorating the Plaza and readying it for
incoming exhibitors. Lots of lifting and carrying, painting a
large colorful wheel in the middle, setting up props, deploying
tables/chairs and signage, and helping coordinate and implement
many other parts of load-in. People are also needed on-site
to help run things during the show itself, and of course
there's the teardown on the other end, late Saturday afternoon.
.
Since none of this REALLY happens by means of magic gnomes,
it means that Altwheels needs plenty of clueful hands! Please
come help out with one of the major shows right in your own
backyard -- visit http://altwheels.org/volunteer.html to sign
up and describe your skills, and Maxine and the rest of the
crew will be eternally grateful. And you'll be part of a
highly visible, large-scale effort to bring much-needed change
to the ways we get around.
.
_H*

 

Update on the volunteer situation. I was at the final general
planning meeting this morning, and there is a definite gap between
"needed" and "grim reality" right now in terms of committed people
for the show. They've got about 35 signed up, and the show needs
closer to 150 people staffing it to run successfully. So if you're
boston-local and within the sound of my keyboard and especially if
you can get any of Sept 26 - 28 free, please consider coming down to
help the show assemble and run.
.
As a "burbs boy" I'll be the first to say that City Hall Plaza is a
pain in the tuchus to get to from out of town, you either pay six
bucks at the far-flung commuter centers or get lucky enough to find
cheap/free parking near a T station or bus line ... part of the thrust
of the show is alternatives to driving, especially for in-town or
near-town folks. But once you're there, there will be plenty to do.
Large spaces need to be painted [headed up by our very own Sidewalk
Sam], a 35-foot steel globe needs to be erected along with several
25-foot high "gates" to offset the space, booth spaces marked out,
plants and other decor placed, etc. CHP is a large space, and it's
a challenge to transform it and "green" it as the Altwheels leaders
envision. But by Thursday afternoon when exhibitors start arriving,
we're really hoping to give the place a whole different look, and
then make the whole show run smoothly for them.
.
Major setup times are morning of Wednesday, Sep 26, and most of the
day Thursday Sep 27. Maxine would love to hear from you!
.
_H*

 

Reminder bump -- Altwheels setup begins this week. They are still in
somewhat desperate need of more people, especially for setup since
there's a lot of stuff to move onto the Plaza and set up. I am
trying to get more information about transportation options to the
location, especially during normal weekdays.
.
_H*