OK, it was super short notice, but some of us met last Friday evening to discuss the bike-powered movie project. About 8 people attended. Following are my rough notes on what was discussed. If it’s not clear from reading through them, the consensus of those present was that it’s not only a project worth doing, but one that might actually work.

• We need a name for this thing, a logo, and a website where we can keep people posted on our progress. Maybe something with “people powered” or “off-grid” in the name. How about “Ypsi Off-Grid,” or the “Ypsi Off-Grid Film Series"? And maybe, if we don’t accept money from the DTE Foundation, we can even use Brackache’s line about telling the power companies to “kiss our gyrating, well-toned asses” in our marketing materials. That, I think, would look damn good on a poster. (Will someone remind me to delete this if we decide to go to DTE for funding?)

• Kurt A, who does the great Prospect Park website, was the first to bring up light pollution. He suggested that we choose a moonless night. And, at that point, local solar guru Dave Strenski reminded everyone that new lights had just been installed in the park. He wondered if they might be shut off somehow. My suggestion, that we smash them, was rightly shouted down. Dave seemed to think that we might be able to get black hood over them, if there weren’t a way to get them shut off. I have to think there’s a central way to shut them off, but, if not, I suppose the sight of us all marching in wearing black cloaks, which are then ceremoniously hoisted up to cover the lights, could be pretty cool.

• It was the feeling of those attending that we could do it with ten bikes, assuming we had sufficient battery storage so that we could begin charging prior to the screening.

•A decision was made, I believe, to divide our ten people-powered charging stations into two general types. Five would be fully built-out, using salvaged bike frames welded permanently to bases. A few of these could even use office chairs instead of bike seats. I haven’t spoken with him yet, but word is that we have a welder willing to donate his time. In addition to these five permanent but portable power stations, we’ll also have five “ride-up” stations where people can pull their own bikes in, hook up to a generator, and start pumping out power. It’s undecided exactly how this will be done. Either the back tires can run on conveyer belt rollers that power a generator, or the back wheel can be removed and a chain run directly to a generator. (In that scenario, we’d have to also figure out a way to keep tension in the chain.)

• Bikes. I’ve got one to contribute. Andy Claydon from Flying Bomb Records also has one to contribute. I suspect we can find a few more here in the MM.com audience. If not, we can go to the police department, or perhaps Detroit’s Back Alley Bikes. It shouldn’t be that hard to find bikes to scrap, though. [Speaking of local bikes, does anyone know the deal behind Bikes In Town moving from Ypsi to Canton? Is there any chance that we might get another shop, or a bike co-op to fill the void?]

• I’m probably going to get the job of marketing and fundraising. Right now, I don’t have a plan. I may look for some grants, if we can do it without being an official 501c3 non-profit. And, if not, I may look for an established non-profit with a complimentary agenda, to join forces with. And, outside of grants, I’m sure there are local businesses and individuals who might want to support something like this. (A few of them have already contacted me.) I’m also thinking that maybe, if we’ve got a cool logo, we might be able to sell t-shirts at the July 19 Shadow Art Fair to raise some money.

• We kicked around various alternatives for handling sound. One of the ideas was that we broadcast the signal somehow and ask people to come with their transistor radios and boom boxes. Andy is taking the lead one this. I just talked with him, and he thinks that it’s doable. We have some concerns about how it might sound with dozens of radios playing, but we’ll at least give it a shot. If we have to, we’ll go with some big PA (public address system), but we really like the idea of having a distributed system with a lot of people contributing. I don’t know if we’d make it a rule, but we discussed that it might be cool if everyone came prepared to help in some way, whether it be by bringing a bike, a radio, or a huge bag of popcorn.

• Where to put the screen… It was pointed out that we could probably get the best image by shooting against the back of the building at the entrance of the park, but we all agreed that it would be a hell of a lot cooler to have the screen set up right at the water’s edge, so that we’d be looking toward the river. We just need to figure out how big of a screen we can use, what material would give us the best image, and how to hang it. (A sheet hoisted up between two trees might work, but the angle and movement of the screen could detract from the experience.)

• The first time out, we’ll keep things relatively short and simple. We’ll just show Night of the Hunter. If we pull it off, we’ll get more ambitious next time, perhaps starting with a cartoon and including trailers for upcoming films. (If we get this first one done early enough, we might even be able to have a few screenings this year before cold weather comes.)

• We need storage space. I have to think that there’s a landlord out there somewhere in Ypsi with a piece of industrial property sitting vacant. Or, what about the old 555 building that the City owns on Water Street? I wonder if they’d allow us to store things there. One would think they’d be anxious to put the Water Street property to good use, but you never know.

• It’s still not certain what positions we’ll all end up taking, but, assuming he’s into the idea, I think that all of us, at least all of us at the first meeting, would very much like to have Dave Strenski in charge of the engineering. He seems to have a really good handle on it. A lot of people there had a much better understanding than I did concerning the science of it, but I think everyone would agree that Dave knew the most. And, as he built the solar system at the Co-op, he’s got real hands-on experience with batteries and DC to AC inverters. (In other words, I think he’s the best chance we’ve got not to be electrocuted.)

• I don’t enjoy fundraising, but, at the very least, we’re going to need to bring in several hundred dollars for the generators. There’s a chance that we might be able to get away with not having a DC to AC inverter (if we find a projector, VCR and sound system that run on DC), but it’s unlikely. There’s also the possibility that we might be able to borrow an inverter, but, from what I’m told, they tend to be big, expensive things. Dave has priced them out recently and says that they could be as much as $1 for every watt they handle. That means an inverter that would handle 1,500 watts might cost about $1,500. Hopefully, someone will cut us a break though.

• As for the generators, we’d need to have one to attach to each bike. (We did discuss the possibility of using car alternators, but I believe the consensus was that generators would be a better solution.) I’m not sure where we got the number, but we seem to think they would cost about $150 each. If we’re running 10 bikes, that’s another $1,500. The cool thing is, however, once we bought them, we’d have them forever. As long as they kept working and we had the energy to pedal, we’d always be able to make power for community events. (We did also discuss scenarios where several bikes would sit side-by-side, driving one generator. The problem there, however, if I’m remembering correctly, is that everyone would have to be pedaling at the same speed.)

• I thought briefly about applying for a Shadow Art Fair grant, but, after talking it over with some friends, I’m thinking that I won’t. Even though I think it’s exactly the kind of thing we as an organization would love to support, I don’t want for there to be an appearance of impropriety. (I was planning to excuse myself from judging, but, even then, if I got some of the grant money, people could suggest that I used my influence, etc. So, I dropped the idea.)

• As far as next steps, we need to build one each of the power stations - one complete system and one “ride-up” unit - so that we can measure how many watts are output. (I didn’t clear it with the family yet, but I can probably find a way to front the money for the first two generators.) And, while the production team takes care of that, I need to locate a projector, determine how many watts it requires, and how large of a focused image it can produce. I also need to start looking for grant money. And, as I mentioned at the outset, we need to get going with a name, logo and website. We also need to pick a date for the first event, get the City’s approval, and setup a Paypal account so that we can accept contributions online… Oh, and we need to secure a place to store the bikes temporarily, and a line up a few folks with trucks who wouldn’t might hauling them out on event days… And that’s just what we have to do first. There’s a lot more that needs to be done if we want to actually pull it off.

OK, I hope that made some sense. The bottom line is that it was a damned good meeting. Jim from Café Luwak was there and he said it was like being a part of the Apollo 13 mission, which I think is an awesome analogy. Sitting around the table, trying to figure out how we were going to make this thing fly, it really did feel like we were out there somewhere, all by ourselves, completely cut off from society. It was really cool, and I’d like to thank all of the folks who came out for the first meeting. As for the rest of you, I’m sure there will be opportunities to be involved in the future. Just let me know if you’d like to join the team and I’ll add your name to the email group.