Community Relations Efforts y Tuesday October 8, 2013 7:00-8:15pm CDT
� Shawnee Trail Cycling Club ◦ 501(c)3 non-profit focused on the education and promotion of cycling ◦ 4 years old & one of five largest memberships in DFW � DFW Metro Stats ◦ 9 000 square miles ◦ 9,000 square miles � larger than Rhode Island and Connecticut combined ◦ Region has one of the highest concentration of cyclists ◦ Focus area for our club consists of more than 20 major F f l b i t f th 20 j municipalities
� You can’t work without a goal. � Shawnee Trail Cycling Club ◦ Be the ones that communities and organizations h h d call on when help is needed ◦ Don’t be that organization that is only seen rushing g y g to “save the day” for cyclists when there’s an issue
� Develop established relationships � Focus on communities where you have a � Focus on communities where you have a presence ◦ Look at your membership and determine where you can make a difference. make a difference. ◦ Not just your base, not just where your rides start ◦ Where do your rides go – who could you be affecting? – can you promote cycling in those communities? � Try not to overlap where a strong presence exists l h ◦ Its not a competition to show how good you are, but is about building relationships. ◦ You will get in the way of getting things done and will ◦ You will get in the way of getting things done and will likely harm the reputation of the cycling community as a whole
� Its about Giving ◦ “Getting” is just icing on the cake and will come ◦ Make this about the community – not you ◦ Look at things from the communities perspective ◦ Look at things from the communities perspective (pressures, priorities). Work with them to meet their goals and become part of those. � Multi-Pronged approach M l i P d h ◦ Parks, Council, Mayor, Fire, Streets, Schools ◦ Local law enforcement can’t emphasize this Local law enforcement, can t emphasize this enough
� If you have members that are residents of the community get them involved and put them up front community, get them involved and put them up front. ◦ Communities are much more willing to listen to their constituents � Involve your state organization assuming one exists � Involve your state organization, assuming one exists ◦ These state-level organizations, if positioned properly, add credibility to your presence and give you a point of escalation, if necessary , y � Always include reference to LAB ◦ Demonstrates efforts and strategy are consistent local to national � Draw in your sponsors ◦ They may have contacts or insight related to issues and/or potential programs
� Stick to your objective ◦ Be the ones that communities and organizations call when ◦ Be the ones that communities and organizations call when help is needed � Meet regularly, not just when there’s a problem ◦ There’s so much benefit to a meeting without problems where you can spend time building personal relationships h d i b ildi l l i hi � Hold events, start rides and give the communities you’ve listed some personal attention ◦ Bike rodeos, novice rides, trail building, bike rack ◦ Bike rodeos novice rides trail building bike rack donations, meetings with citizens � Draw the communities into your events ◦ Eg. Individual recognition of the communities by the club g g y through Bike Month proclamations and activities) � Use Social Media for recognition and to get the message out!
Joel Hoback oel Hoback President President, Shawnee Trail Cycling Club Chair Chair, Frisco Bicycle Advisory Committee Email: jhhoback@yahoo.com
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