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Alliance
Launches People Powered Movement Photo Contest
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Grand
Prize: 10-Day Bike Tour of Tuscany
Support
grassroots advocacy by submitting your best biking and walking photos to the
Alliance for Biking & Walking's People Powered Movement Photo Contest and
enter to win an all-expense-paid 10-day bike tour of Tuscany (airfare, meals,
and bicycle included courtesy of VBT Biking and Walking Vacations) and a year's supply of
CLIF BARs. Additionally, the grand prize winner will choose a local biking or
walking advocacy organization to receive a $1,000 Communications Grant.
Two
runners-up will win a new commuter bike - a Breezer Uptown 8 or a Dahon folding
commuter. First, second, and third place winners in each of the seven
categories will receive prizes including Rickshaw bags, Planet Bike gear, and
CLIF BARs. Winning photos will be published in the 2010 March/April issue of
Momentum Magazine.
The
contest, which runs from September 1st - December 11th 2009, is seeking high
quality and creative photos of biking and walking. Individuals can submit up to
20 photos. Public voting on all photos submitted to the contest will take place
from November 1st - December 31st, 2009. The finalists (the top 10 photos from
each category) will go to a panel of expert judges who will determine the
contest winners.
Photos
submitted will benefit the Alliance's new Biking and Walking Advocacy Photo
Library, a valuable resource that will provide free high quality images of
biking and walking to grassroots bicycle and pedestrian advocacy organizations.
The
contest is made possible by 42 Below, Momentum Magazine, CLIF BAR, VBT Biking and Walking Vacations, Planet Bike, Rickshaw Bagworks, Bicycle Times, Breezer, Dahon,
Cycle California! Magazine, Bicycle Retailer and Industry News, Funes Design,
and JPG Magazine.
To view the contest video, for full contest
rules, and to enter, visit www.PeoplePoweredMovement.org/PhotoContest
Also, please help us spread the word!
Cut and paste this article into your organization's e-newsletter!
Please support our sponsors who make this contest possible!           |
Alliance Meets $42K Challenge
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Thanks to the over 20,000 people who signed up to follow the 42RIDE on Twitter, the Alliance for Biking & Walking received a $42,000 contribution
from 42BELOW Vodka. Matt Djokovic presented the check on behalf of 42BELOW in
front of a crowd of nearly 200 people who came to celebrate the conclusion of
the 42RIDE in Los Angeles's Bicycle District on August 22nd. Earlier
this summer, 42BELOW asked cycling supporters to follow the cross-country
42RIDE on Twitter promising $42,000 to the Alliance if the challenge was met.
"This support is just incredible and we thank the 42RIDE cyclists
and everyone who followed and supported the ride," says Jeffrey Miller,
president and CEO of the Alliance. He added, "We hope that the awareness 42RIDE
has generated will inspire other companies across America to become partners
for better bicycling and walking."
 Jeffrey Miller with the $42,000 check from 42BELOW Vodka
The L.A. event was hosted by the Alliance to celebrate the conclusion
of 42RIDE,
which kicked off in New York City in June. Forty-two riders headed
westwards for their 4,017-mile, 58-day adventure across the United States, half
touring across the northern U.S. and the other touring the southern U.S.. Along
the way, the 42 riders promoted bicycling as a fun, sustainable, and healthy
means of transportation.
Special thanks also goes out to LACBC for providing Bike Valet Parking for the
event, Orange 20 Bikes for hosting the event, and Burrito Project LA for handling the food.
An even bigger thanks is extended to all of the Alliance organizations
who helped pull the 42RIDE together and promote the riders as they visited your
community. Thank you! |
Winning Campaigns Training Comes to Richmond, VA
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This November 13-15, the Alliance is partnering with Virginia Bicycle Federation, and other local Alliance organizations, to bring our signature
Winning Campaigns Training to Richmond, VA. Join your fellow bicycle and
pedestrian advocacy leaders to learn from expert coaches and each other through
the Alliance's proven curriculum on choosing, directing, and winning campaigns
to increase bicycling and walking. After three days, you will have a detailed
campaign blueprint that will assure a victorious campaign and set up your
organization for greater victories in the future.
Registration includes all meals during the training, a chance to
network with other local advocates in the area, and an opportunity to see some
of Richmond's latest innovations.
Early registration ends October 13th. Don't
miss the early registration price- Register Today!
In addition to the Alliance Membership Training in San Francisco, the
Winning Campaigns Training is also coming to Denver and North Little Rock this
fall. For all the details including registration, click here. |
Reminder: Membership Development Training in San Francisco
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The Alliance's Membership Development Training is coming up in just over two weeks in San Francisco, CA. Over 50 leaders and membership directors from organizations across North
America are attending. If you haven't registered yet, there is still
room for a few more - sign up TODAY on the Alliance website. Thanks to our sponsors who are making this training possible! |
Join the Safe Routes to School "Dear Congress" Campaign |
The Safe Routes to School National Partnership has launched a "Dear Congress: Why Safe Routes to School is Important" campaign. They are looking for help in generating hundreds or thousands of letters from parents, children, program staff and volunteers, and school and city leaders about why Safe Routes to School matters to individuals and their communities. The Partnership will be bundling letters and delivering them to Congress to energize the fight to strengthen and expand Safe Routes to School in the transportation bill. For more information on how you can join the letter-writing campaign, please visit http://www.saferoutespartnership.org/national/299443 and look for the link on the homepage. Please also pass this message along to your own state and local list-servs and partners to encourage them to join the effort. The deadline for the campaign is September 24, 2009. |
How Alliance
Members are Using Facebook and Twitter
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Biking
and walking advocacy organizations are increasingly turning to social media
tools to help reach new and existing supporters. As of July, 55% of Alliance
organizations are on Facebook, 15% on Twitter, and 12% on both sites. Mark
Wyatt of the Iowa Bicycle Coalition has had success with both sites, he says,
"We use the heck out of Facebook. We have a fan page with 500 members that we
can connect with via an email...We twitter, but we have our blog, twitter, and
Facebook status connected. That means if we change one, they all change." Of
the Alliance organizations on Facebook, 66% have a group Page, 54% a fan page,
and 23% have both pages for maximum exposure.
With
 social networking sites, you can quickly reach a large audience and stay
connected. Toronto Cyclists Union (1,640), Queen City Bike (576) and the Iowa
Bicycle Coalition (536) had the highest number of members on their group page.
For Fan Pages, San Francisco Bicycle Coalition (2,036), Cascade Bicycle Club
(1,497) and the Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin (813) had strong followings. A
popular Facebook feature is the ability to post events, with 57% of Alliance
members posting at least one event on their page. It is an easy way to let
people know that you are planning a group bike ride, fundraiser, rally, etc.
Piep
van Heuven of BikeDenver feels that Facebook provides a different outlet than
your regular website in order to keep in touch, she says, "We love Facebook. We
started in April and have over 300 followers. We use our website to post what I
would call more 'static' or 'newsy' stories. We use Facebook to help build a
sense of connection to bike culture in Denver and the bike community as a
whole. Facebook posts have brought us new volunteers and members, a younger
demographic, and given us the opportunity to play a more central role in the
diverse Denver bike community as an information source for interesting national
or local news or events."
Twitter
is a newer social media tool that allows users to follow  "tweets," brief status
updates. For the 15% of Alliance members on Twitter, organizations are
averaging 200 followers and following 84. Cascade Bicycle Club (1,429), San
Francisco Bicycle Coalition (856) and Walk/Bike Nashville (619) had the highest
number of followers. If you're on Twitter, be sure to link to your twitter page from your organization's web site since a username is typically abbreviated, making it hard to find.
The
Alliance has also jumped on board the social networking bandwagon. Follow us on
Twitter and become our fan on Facebook!
Check
out the Alliance Member Resource Library for easy instructions on how to get
started on Facebook and Twitter. |
Thanks to Our Summer Interns!
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This
summer the Alliance was extremely lucky to have three talented and motivated
interns. Lindsay Cummings, our Member Services
Intern, assisted with coordinating a review of the Alliance's training
curriculum, assisted with extensive improvements to the Alliance's databases, and took an active role in member services
outreach. Jordan Laney, our Media Development Intern, added dozens of
new resources to the Alliance's Online Resource Library, published weekly
updates to our Member News Blog, wrote for and compiled Streetside, and worked
on research and development of our upcoming Guide to Winning Proposals for
Biking & Walking. And lastly, Emily Eisenhart, our Marketing &
Communications Intern, helped coordinate the first People Powered Movement
Photo Contest, including developing a promo video for the contest, wrote for
Streetside, and reformatted and updated our Guide to Complete Streets
Campaigns. All three made significant contributions to forwarding the work of
the Alliance for Biking & Walking and will be greatly missed. Thank you to
Lindsay, Jordan, and Emily for your hard work and lasting contributions!
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Advocacy Meet & Greet at Interbike |
Going to Interbike? - Join industry and bicycle advocacy leaders to meet, share ideas, and relax. This is an ideal opportunity to network and discuss bicycle advocacy best practices. Join the conversation that makes our communities bicycle friendly and our industry stronger. This event is presented by Planet Bike, Bikes Belong, and Interbike. Refreshments will be served. Date: Wednesday, September 23 Time: 3:30 pm - 5:30 pm Location: Planet Bike booth #1425
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Planet Bike Scholarships Boost Grassroots Advocacy
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The
Alliance is pleased to announce that Planet Bike is providing up to $25,000 in scholarships for Advocacy Advance Grant start-up finalists, who were not awarded grants in the first round of the selection
process. The scholarships will cover the cost of training registrations and
provide modest travel stipends for up to two advocacy leaders from each
organization to attend the Alliance's Membership Development Training and a Winning Campaigns Training.
The
organizations that will benefit from this support include the Central
Connecticut Bicycle Alliance, Trips for Kids Metro DC, Tulsa Hub Syndicate,
Walk-Bike Memphis, Positive Spin, Inc. (WV), New Orleans Metro Bicycle
Coalition, BikeSage, California Bicycle Coalition, and Twin Cities Streets for
People.
Each
recipient is a new or growing advocacy organization needing capacity-building
assistance to take their work to the next level. Their active projects include
advocating for the implementation of a statewide complete streets policy,
advocating for the inclusion of bike infrastructure in a major community
reconstruction project, and advocating for a Better Bicycling Bill in the state
legislature.
For
more information about our upcoming trainings, please visit:
www.PeoplePoweredMovement.org/events |
The No-Impact Challenge
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Colin
Beavan, celebrated green blogger, author, and
subject of the No Impact Man documentary spent a
year living with zero net environmental impact right in the heart of Manhattan.
His family of three lived without creating trash or using electricity. They primarily traveled by walking, bicycling or using a scooter. They discovered that
living simply was not only better for the environment but also created a much
higher quality of living. Now it's your turn! The No Impact Project
is challenging others to try and live no impact for one-week. They'll put
you on a team and guide you through the steps day-by-day. They guarantee
you'll discover for yourself that less really is more. If you're interested in
taking the challenge, or sharing the challenge with your members and
supporters, you can sign up or learn more at www.noimpactproject.org
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| Alliance Member News |
Be sure to check out what Alliance members have been up to in the right column of this e-newsletter and on our Member News Blog. | |
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BikeTexas
and BCGP Organize National Bipartisan Bike Ride
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On July 23, state legislators from across the
U.S. took part in the 6th National
Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) Bipartisan Bike Ride,
organized by BikeTexas and the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia. The 100 participants,
including 14 state senators and 21 state representatives from 23 states, rode
eight miles through scenic downtown Philadelphia. BikeTexas coordinates this
annual ride in partnership with the local advocacy organization. According to
Robin Stallings of BikeTexas, "dollar for dollar, this is the most effective
lobbying activity we do to advance the state-level legislative bicycle agenda."
To learn more about the event and view photos visit www.biketexas.org
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Omaha's Bicycle Route
System Opens
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According to
Activate Omaha, Omaha Mayor Jim Suttle ceremoniously opened the first segment
of Omaha's on-street bicycle route system on August 10th with the
shredding of a ribbon. Activate Omaha and the Bicycle Pedestrian Advisory
Committee to the Mayor performed the ribbon cutting ceremony to mark the
completion of the first segment of the Bike Omaha system, a planned 20 miles of
on street bicycle facilities.
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Missouri Bicycle & Pedestrian Coalition Dead Red
Bill Becomes Law
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The Missouri Bicycle & Pedestrian Coalition, formally known as the Missouri Bicycle Federation, wrapped up their 2009 legislative season with some successes, and
some issues to come back to. Among the successes is the Dead Red Bill, sponsored by Senator Bill Stouffer, which allows bicyclists & motorcyclists to proceed through a red
light if the actuator failed to detect the vehicle. The Dead Red bill was
signed by Missouri Governor Jay Nixon and became law on August 28th.
For more related news from
Missouri's 2009 legislative season, click here.
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NYC's "Budnick Bikeway" Inaugurated
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 According
to New York City's Transportation Alternatives's (T.A.), "The completion of
Brooklyn's new Sands Street protected bike lane makes getting on and off the
Manhattan Bridge as easy as pedaling. It also closes a painful chapter in the
history of New York City bike advocacy." In 2005, Noah Budnick, T.A.'s Senior
Policy Advisor, was seriously injured when he hit a pothole while biking on
Sands Street and crashed. After four years of hard work, T.A. celebrated the
opening Sands Street Bike lane (aka "Budnick Bikeway") on August 7th.
For more info on T.A., visit www.transalt.org.
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LA Bike Lane Saved
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The Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition (LACBC) and local residents
successfully saved the Reseda Boulevard bike lane from being removed.
About 60 people attended the August 11th Northridge West Neighborhood
Council meeting to protest the proposal to remove the bike lane in
order to install peak hour traffic lanes on Reseda Boulevard. Their
voices, along with others who wrote letters to Councilmember Zine's
office and to West Valley DOT, resulted in the proposal being
unanimously voted down. According the LACBC, "The implementation of
peak hour lanes would make it impossible to install the already
approved bike lane extension and would also have resulted in the
partial removal of some of the existing lane." To read about the Los Angeles DOT's reaction that they were never planning these peak hour lanes, click here. |
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Comprehensive Bicycle Plan in the works for Door County
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The Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin is working with the Door County
Silent Sports Alliance towards better bicycle planning and facilities
throughout the Door County, a popular Midwest vacation area. According
to the Bike Fed, they are "developing the first Comprehensive Bicycle Plan for Door County's Town of Gibraltar. This plan will steer the
development of bicycle facilities throughout the area and will help
make Gibraltar safer and more accessible to cyclists for recreation and
transportation."
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Walk+Roll Benefits from Giving Grill
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Walk+Roll is benefiting today, August 6th, from the Whole Foods Market weekly Giving Grill in University Heights, Ohio. Every Thursday this
summer, for a $5 donation, customers will receive a grilled meal pack
from Whole Foods. According to Whole Foods, "100% of the proceeds are
donated to a community group whose mission is tied to Whole Foods
Market core values. Walk+Roll will also host a guided bicycle tour from
Cleveland's Public Square and University Circle to Giving Grill."
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Bicycle Safety Act goes into Effect in Colorado
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Colorado bicyclists are excited about the new Bicycle Safety Act, which
went into effect August 5th. The Bicycle Safety Act was made possible
through the supportive grassroots efforts of Bicycle Colorado members.
The new laws, including a requirement that cars give a minimum of 3
feet of space when passing bicyclists, are meant to improve safety for
bicyclists and motorists. The new law also allows bicyclists to ride
side-by-side when the road is clear of other traffic.
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