volunteers needed for bespoked this weekend!

Bespoked need volunteers for Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Lea Valley Velodrome, Stratford.
Volunteers will be fed, watered and recieve high end goody bag. So if you'd like to see the fruits of the best frame Builders labour's for free and be part of an amazing event...
Here's the link:-

https://bespoked.cc/volunteer/

Do a skid

enter code here

Seems odd that a place that is charging for tickets is asking for volunteers.

from the site, front of house section:
*including working on our box office*

The verb used is quite crucial; if it was a narrow role, a couple of hours and all the other benefits, maybe, but all of this can be avoided by just paying people for a few hours of work?

Or is that revisionist/20th century of me?

I think it costs a fortune to put on Arvy.

Good people of cyclebothering, ignore arvy’s (albeit salient) point and help out if you can. It’s a great thing to see handmade bike builders show their work, a general support from lfgss should be relied on, no? See you Saturday if that’s your bag

I've signed up. But have to admit that I do feel a bit weird about giving my time to help sell bikes that I'll never be able to afford myself.

Well put. But I’ve had some plans fall through so will be able to lend a hand putting the stands up on Thursday and probably taking them down Sunday depending on time.

I’m guessing there will be secure biek lockup Thursday?

My friend had her phone snatched from her hand* right outside the Velodrome so I'm a bit anxious about locking my own bike outside..

*she was wearing one of those lanyard phone cases and they actually pulled her along by the neck until the cord snapped. pretty grim.

Yeah fair that is not something you want happening. The prospect of getting the tube there to help definitely sucks a bit of the fun out of it, I’ve never been, no idea what the bike lockup situation is like

I can go and take some photos tomorrow if you want. There are bike stands, and there is a scaffold pole to hang your bike on inside the reception area, but I've never left anything locked up outside.

I own a ‘bespoked type bicycle’ not that i could afford another one right now. if i had the spare time i would rather help with a grass roots cycling event or marshall at my local parkrun (i dont even do running!)
Unpaid volunteers at a ticked event for £2-5k bike baubles is fucking dire.

Given it’s only a week away, I’d say you’re about right it must be a pretty dire situation for volunteers to be needed. I’m going anyway so it makes no difference to me if they need a hand.

Bike lockups area is promised to be supervised so I’m not too fussed, won’t bring a bauble though.

would rather help with a grass roots cycling event or marshall at my local parkrun

Absolutely right

Frames may well cost more if they are hand-built. In my experience this does not equate to frame Builders pulling in riches. The investment in equipping a workshop, learning a complex trade and crafting beautiful machines is only done by extremely driven people.
I think it would be mistaken to imagine that those building cycle frames are doing so primarily from a profit motive.
My opinion is that the show is a wonderful opportunity to see the best that there is in hand crafted frames.
My father was lucky enough to get his frame built at the start of the post war light weight continental style era by what was one of the most innovative builders. But it cost him a packet and the frame builder wasn't paid much and the shop owners didn't become rich.
I think that even with what seem high prices nowadays it would represent a smaller proportion of one's income than it would have been in nineteen fifty one to my dad as an electrical engineering apprentice.
I've watched the frame building trade die out almost completely and then re-emerge in the last fifteen years. I regard it as one of the good things in the World today.
Sorry to rant
I agree that businesses should not be structured on free labour, of course I do, I'm appalled that so many jobs require some sort of internship. This makes them only accessible to the moneyed classes. I think the show is barely a business, I think it's a celebration of something that was once lost and is now found.
This is Digger's opinion and is not presented to contend or offend.
Do a skid

Oops, posted twice.

And then didn't know how to delete.
Old people...

Frames may well cost more if they are hand-built. In my experience this does not equate to frame Builders pulling in riches. The investment in equipping a workshop, learning a complex trade and crafting beautiful machines is only done by extremely driven people.
I think it would be mistaken to imagine that those building cycle frames are doing so primarily from a profit motive.
My opinion is that the show is a wonderful opportunity to see the best that there is in hand crafted frames.
My father was lucky enough to get his frame built at the start of the post war light weight continental style era by what was one of the most innovative builders. But it cost him a packet and the frame builder wasn't paid much and the shop owners didn't become rich.
I think that even with what seem high prices nowadays it would represent a smaller proportion of one's income than it would have been in nineteen fifty one to my dad as an electrical engineering apprentice.
I've watched the frame building trade die out almost completely and then re-emerge in the last fifteen years. I regard it as one of the good things in the World today.
Sorry to rant
I agree that businesses should not be structured on free labour, of course I do, I'm appalled that so many jobs require some sort of internship. This makes them only accessible to the moneyed classes. I think the show is barely a business, I think it's a celebration of something that was once lost and is now found.
This is Digger's opinion and is not presented to contend or offend.
Do a skid

Literally this

I agree that businesses should not be structured on free labour, of course I do, I'm appalled that so many jobs require some sort of internship. This makes them only accessible to the moneyed classes. I think the show is barely a business, I think it's a celebration of something that was once lost and is now found.

Special mention for this bit

Not sure about this. I'm all up for encouraging the craft of framebuilding, but this isn't some sort of cooperative. It looks like a commercial endeavour to me. Its being run through a limited company. Presumably, they charge the exhibitors as well as visitors, pay their costs and hope to make a turn. By getting volunteers to run the day they are just increasing their profits (or reducing their losses). Also, as @Skülly says it must be pretty dire if they are looking for volunteers at this stage, which is bad news for the framebuilders. Also, its illegal to get people to work for free

Doing anything at LVV costs a fortune, I dread to think how much it is to rent the whole thing for 3 days

If its on such a shoestring that they cant afford to pay their employees then they should probably re-think the business plan

It’s the Velodrome thing that confuses me. I’ve been involved in a number of events there. It’s a really expensive space to operate in.

If you want to engage with people, maybe do the event at Herne Hill and pay your stafff?

Well done all the helpers

Hi Sumo!

Long time. Hope you're keeping on

Yeah, doing stuff, ya know.