Today we’d like to introduce you to Meghan Sinnott.
Hi Meghan, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
In August 2002, Portland hosted Bike Summer, a month-long celebration of bicycles and bike culture that drew more than 5,000 participants to events including bike-in movies, family rides, bike-repair workshops and more. A combination of the overwhelming community response to the month’s activities and the strong feelings of camaraderie and energy among the primary Bike Summer organizers led to the formation of Shift which hosts our community’s online calendar of events. For many years we went by the name Pedalpalooza, but when our festival expanded to three months, we embraced our original name Bike Summer. Now there are over 1,000 different events that happen every June-August in the Portland Metro Area. Every ride is led by a community member. Rides vary from wild to mild.
I joined as a volunteer leading up to the original Bike Summer, but didn’t get to enjoy the summer rides until I graduated. From 2005 on I have taken a variety of roles from volunteer coordinator, vendor coordinator for an annual bike fair, lead wrangler for one of our largest rides (with 10,000 attendees!), purveyor of merch, ride instructor, and more.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
The work we do is 100% community led, open source (any one can lead a ride and anyone can access the code to our online calendar – it’s free to use on GitHub!), and totally volunteer-run, so… there are of course challenges, but I often find that working with dedicated volunteers is often more rewarding and successful than with people paid to care.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Vibes DIY?
The work I do for Bike Summer and all of the other work I do in the bike community is volunteer work. My day job is Director of Community for Vibes DIY, a local start up that makes it possible for anyone to build an app. Truly ANYONE can build an app at https://vibes.diy. Software is currently built to serve everyone and therefore serves no one. I’m excited to see what the next wave of personal software looks like when people realize they now have the power to make an app specific to their needs.
I made myself an app using Vibes DIY for a local festival I love called Pickathon, for example, because they couldn’t afford to make one and I felt like I would enjoy the weekend more if I could schedule what I wanted to see. The app I made ended up getting picked up by the festival and shared with the entire community! pickathon.com/picker
Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
Volunteering allows you to build the skills and experience for the work you love to do. Over time it may help get you noticed professionally, as well (https://www.macslist.org/success-stories/becoming-known-to-uncover-new-career-avenues-meghan-sinnotts-job-search-success-story).
And burnout is real – always be on the look out for new people to bring into the fold.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.bike-summer.org/
- Instagram: @pedalpaloozapdx
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/meghansinnott/
- Other: https://vibes.diy
