Cyclocamp2011:Experiences
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Here might be a place to collect experiences from the Cyclocamp 2011 at Ottensheim. Maybe some of these might be helpful for people hosting further similar events.
Inhaltsverzeichnis |
venue
We got the camp area for free. We only had to pay for electricity supply (makes the connections plus electrity we consumed). But it was important to make the application for using the area early enough: Means six month before the CC(!) That´s because areas for free are very often used by other associations etc. too.
Most important point in the application were the expected numbers of visitors, the sound level and some extra toilets. Of course they want to know what happens in that week - feel free to write anything like a program:)
Requirements differ depending on the number of visitors: in our case it was below 300 people and rather easy going.
toilets, showers
We had the condition from the local authority to have a toilet trailer which we rented. Costs were ca. 350 €/week and that was still called "not expensive". Thats because we rented the cheapest one in the region more than half a year earlier - a few weeks later and we would have been forced to rent a more expensive one
Regarding showers: The area was right next to the river danube ; ) But I guess most of the people used the 2 to 4 showers which were already present on the venue (open air showers safe from glances by tarps).
electricity
we bought 16A 400V connection from the local electricity grid. The cables, distributors and the high-professional installation came from the Fahrradküche Graz. due to the long distance and small diameter of the cable the some electricity was lost. We used 2x16A for the workshop during the day (one for each weldingmachine) and the third for the kitchen. During the night we used one for light only to make sure some malfunction in the workshop cannot kill the light on the whole area. Generally the community wanted an acceptance from an electrician but I don´t now if they ever asked for it.
insurance
We took out a policy (can't remember for what risks exactly - but it was good enough for the most worse cases). It also was the municipality's condition. It costed something between 80 and 120€ for more than a week. Luckily we did not have to lay any claims. Still it is wise to make an insurance: If there happens any shit - for example in the workspace - it can´t fall back on you or your (bikekitchen-)community. It is also wise to contact the police a few days/weeks before the cc starts to give them a nice picture of it and to have a few names for police- or community-contact. These contact-people should of course always have back-up from their bikekitchens or other communities.
food
Luckily a committed group of experienced VoKue (food not bombs) people offered to cook for us quite early in the organizing phase. In praxis it turned out, that they underestimated the amount of people and the principle of CC-chaos a bit.
What they only needed to know was quite simple: When do the people want to eat? Do they want some Breakfast?
As we weren´t able to make really fix times for the daily gathering - which was thought to be before the meal - and as we thought, we would have another breakfast ability we ended with no really fix eating-time and worse: no breakfast. Don´t risk that! Coffee is essential for a CC! But the VoKue did best. I´m still impressed of their hot-water heater which was actually a wood stove. They blowed it in the second day and checked another one (for free) the next day. Still impressed from their contacts to the local farmers.
finances
Before the camp the Bikekitchen consented to take the risk of up to 1000 euros. (I do not know what would have happened if the camp made more loss than that).
Luckily we did not need this. We spend 2000 euros all together - so much more than we expected- but got it all back in with the donations for the drinks. The whole thing was more or less balanced.
We covered the costs (power, insurance, toilets, various materials) mainly by the donations beverages (though also donation based we suggested recommended donations for the various drinks, e.g.: beer 0,5 liters: 2 euros).
donations for food covered the expenses for the food not bombs group. the food part was financially seperated from the rest.
networking for support
The festival area was quite far away from vienna, so we had the fortune to get support by a local culture initiative, which hosts an annual music festival at the same place.
We benefited from their experiences in terms of the necessary cooperation with local authorities. They knew where to purchase needful things (e.g. fire wood, etc.), supported us with technical knowledge and provided us with a fully equipped music stage. They were also helpful in getting in contact with local individuals for additional support. Addresses of farmers can be very helpful if it gets to questions of food or heavy transports.
Alltogether cooperation, and the general acceptance by the local community and the local authorities was essential for the cyclocamp in ottensheim.
what the bikekitchen vienna can offer to the next group
the homepage www.cyclocamp.org is a blog and rather easy to use. we pass this on to the next group(s)! contact us via cyclocamp@bikekitchen.net for the data you need to continue!