The owners of Bell Street Tattoo in Shawnee, OK, had this idea for an event – Bikes on Bell.
They wanted to close the street in front of their shop downtown and invite bikers and anyone else to come and meet each other, eat from the food trucks, listen to live music, and have some fun.
On my onsite visit there they asked me what I thought about it. I had three pieces of advice:
1. Do it!
2. Don’t do it alone.
3. Make it your own.
They used the Idea Friendly Method.
Gather Your Crowd
- They gathered up a few friends and figured out how to make it happen.
Build Connections
- They worked with the city to close the street and make sure there was a police presence.
- They found food trucks and live music.
- They let their senior citizen neighbors know it was coming.
Take Small Steps
- They figured out how to promote it to this unique group of people.
- They didn’t form committees; they just got to work.
Results:
They had a lot of fun in the planning because it was a group of friends who loved the idea! This event was made possible by a group of people, not the city, a non-profit organization, or an official organization, just some friends who liked bikes.
The inaugural event in June had 300 attendees! In July, they doubled that number. The city had no complaints, and the cops enjoyed the events, too.
In August, they are adding a Bikini Bike Wash and a bike detail special. They’ve asked on Facebook what folks think about mini bike drag races and stereo sound-offs. It is also a family-friendly event.
Links:
SaveYour.Town is working with Shawnee on an Intensive Idea Friendly Action Package. It’s one of our favorite things we do. We get to tell stories like this one and share them with you!