With nearly 100 nominations coming in from across the continent, we know you're on the edge of your seat wondering who will take home the Alliance's 2011 Advocacy Awards.

Well, the wait is almost over. Kick off the National Bike Summit in style by joining us at the Advocacy Awards Reception the evening of March 8. Meet us at Harriet's (432 11th St NW, Washington, DC) where we'll be announcing the winners and celebrating their successes from 8:30 p.m to 10:30 p.m. (The event will start immediately following the conclusion of the Opening Plenary of the Summit.) 

We'll be handing out one-of-a-kind plaques to individuals and organizations in the following categories:

• Advocate of the Year
• Advocacy Organization of the Year
• Business Advocate of the Year
• Susie Stephens Joyful Enthusiasm Award
• Best Practices Award
• Innovation Award
• Winning Campaign of the Year

This is your chance to mingle with 200 bike-ped advocates and industry leaders. Plus, we'll have an open bar, so swing by to raise a glass to top-notch advocates from across North America!

Reception:

Date: March 8, 2011
Time: 8:30-10:30 p.m. 
Location: Harriet's (432 11th St NW, Washington, DC)

See you there!

Are you attending the National Bike Summit? We are!

The Alliance is excited to be a Steel sponsor of the Summit, a key annual event hosted by our partners at the League of American Bicyclists . If you're coming to DC, be sure to stop by our table to say hello.

Pick up new Alliance materials that will be hot off the presses, like our 2010 Annual Report, 2011 Calendar Cards and Safe Routes to School Activity Books. Swing by to meet our new Advocacy Advance Program Manager, Brighid O'Keane, and chat with the rest of the Alliance crew about campaigns, programs and initiatives you're working on in your community.  

Plus, we'll have a guest star joining us. Mia Birk, principle at Alta Planning + Design , will be hanging out with us Wednesday morning and the first 100 folks who stop by will get a free copy of her book "Joyride." If you're not familiar with Birk or her book, click here or here to read a review and interview Alliance communications coordinator, Carolyn Szczepanski, recently wrote for Momentum magazine.

For more information about the Summit, click here.

Last month, the Alliance hosted the first calls of our 2011 Mutual Aid series. Thanks to our expert panelists and a great turnout, both of these calls generated excellent conversation and gave us some key takeaway points. We're continuing that momentum with three more calls in March that you won't want to miss.    

• March 16, 2011 - Countering Resistance Once we start making some progress, it isn't uncommon to meet some resistance. Whether it's the squeaky wheel, a challenging policy maker, or a well-organized group, we will discuss tactics to address, confront, or work around obstacles and opposition.

• March 23, 2011 - Planning Effective Bike to Work Day Events Are you organizing a Bike to Work Day event in your state, region, city, or neighborhood? Do you want to know how to work most effectively with local government agencies and businesses to make your Bike to Work Day event a success? Looking for fresh ideas and examples of how to promote your event to get more people to participate? Come hear how some Alliance leaders have made Bike to Work Day a successful annual event in their community. Bring your questions and ideas to the call to share.

• March 30, 2011 Parkets- How to Quickly Reprogram Your Streets: If your organization has been involved in Park(ing) Day, you know that using temporary materials to reimagine the use of a single parking space or stretch of pavement can be a creative, fun and effective way to reprogram your streets. Well, "parklets" are essentially Park(ing) Day made permanent. Kit Hodge, from the San Francisco Bike Coalition's Great Streets Project, is soliciting questions to inform a best practices guide on parklets that will be applicable to cities across the country. If you're interested in getting a parklet program going in your community, dial in with your questions and ideas.  

All calls start at 2 p.m. EST and run for one hour. As always, be sure to register, so you'll receive the memo, including agenda and speakers' talking points, before you dial in. Registering also ensures you receive a follow-up e-mail with links to the helpful Tip Sheets we generate from the live discussion.  

Unable to attend the to calls in February? Click here for the "Working with Congressional Delegates" tip sheet and  here for "Lobbying: Do's and Don'ts for Advocacy Organizations."

A powerful campaign to increase biking and walking takes time, research and plenty of knowledge about grassroots organizing. Unfortunately, there aren't any shortcuts in transforming your community. But there is one way to get your campaign on the fast track to victory.

The Alliance's Winning Campaigns Training gives you the skills, strategies and advice you need to kickstart and turbocharge campaigns to improve biking and walking. What better way to start your spring than attending an Alliance training in...

•  April 1-3 - Davenport, IA (Early registration ends March 8)
• May 13-15  - Baltimore, MD (Early registration ends April 13)

Led by longtime advocates and national experts, the training will teach you how to focus in on a winnable campaign, identify key decision makers, rally community members and the media, fundraise for the effort and much more. With guidance from facilitators and your peers, you'll leave the training with a detailed Campaign Blueprint that outlines each step to your ultimate victory.

But the Winning Campaigns Training is more than a workshop. It's a fun, interactive, inspiring experience that fosters collaboration and connection among your region's advocates.

Register for the  Iowa training by March 8 or the Baltimore training by April 13 to get the early-bird rate of just $75 for Alliance members and $125 for the general public. That's 25 percent off the regular rate, so sign up today! 

In January, we announced our 2011 Membership Development Training. However, to accommodate as many advocates as possible, we're changing the date of the training.   

Please mark your calendars for July 20-22, 2011.

This three-day workshop, hosted by the Active Transportation Alliance, will give advocates and organizations of all sizes a chance to learn from the top experts in the field of membership development, including author and consultant Ellis Robinson.

Registration for this training will open on March 21. Visit  www.PeoplePoweredMovement.org/events at that time for all the details on this can't-miss workshop.

Last month, we all breathed a collective sigh of relief when the first rounds of budget cuts in the U.S. House of Representatives did not affect biking and walking programs.

Thank you again for all your hard work over the past several months. We know from our contacts on Capitol Hill that the organized voice of the bike-ped movement is making a different in DC. But a victory on the House amendments doesn't mean we can stand down and rest on a single victory.

During our most recent Federal Policy Call, our partners at America Bikes gave us key updates from Congress. (Click here to read detailed notes from that call.) As they made clear, the "March Forth" campaign continues - and your efforts at the grassroots are still critical.

As lawmakers continue to work on the budget and look to the next federal transportation bill, building relationships with members of Congress remains an important part of the March Forth campaign. A number of Alliance member organizations have stepped up in recent weeks to organize in-district meetings with their members of Congress, including BikeTexas, New York Bicycling Coalition, League of Illinois Bicyclists, and Bike-Walk Alliance of New Hampshire.

Though the urgency of potential cuts in the House budget has receded, these meetings are key in shoring up allies on our issues and educating new and veteran members of the importance of biking and walking in their communities. If you have any questions or need tips on conducting an effective meeting, please contact Mike Samuelson (Mike@PeoplePoweredMovement.org).

If you live in certain regions, there's another way you can help. As you've read on the People Powered Blog, John Mica, chair of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, recently held a number of listening sessions to hear constituents' priorities for the next federal transportation bill. If you live in one of the cities or areas where these hearings were held, get in touch with Brendan McEntee (Brendan@AmericaBikes.org) at America Bikes if you'd like to submit testimony or if you know of bike-ped testimony that was presented at your area's hearing.

Once again, thank you for your efforts. Stay tuned for important updates on how you can stay involved in the coming weeks and months. 

Now is the time to stay tuned in to the latest developments in Washington, DC. The easiest way to stay in the loop is to join the Alliance's next Federal Policy Call on March 24 at 2 p.m. EST.

We'll host America Bikes to discuss the latest issues and updates from Capitol Hill. Bring your news and ideas, too. Our federal policy call is a two-way discussion about how advocates can best coordinate to make an impact in Washington, DC.

Remember to register for the call here, so you'll receive the briefing memo with helpful information that will guide the discussion.

The Saris Cycling Group recently launched a nationwide poster contest to promote bicycling among children. To boost this effort, the company is looking for a few good advocates to serve as state liaisons for the contest.

Open to submissions from fifth graders, the contest centers around the theme "Bicycling is fun...and healthy too!" and aims to encourage kids to think about the roles bicycles play in their lives. Winners from each state will be selected to compete for the national prize, which includes an all-expense-paid trip to the 2012 National Bike Summit.

State liaisons will be responsible for communicating to elementary school principals, fifth grade teachers and parents about the contest. The responsibilities will also include collecting the winning posters, determining the top three posters and sending in the state winner for National Award consideration.

Check out Saris' Poster Contest page to learn more about the contest. Contact Heather Fortune, Saris' advocacy coordinator, at hfortune@saris.com if you're interested in volunteering as a state liaison.

It's no secret Pittsburgh is transforming into a great place to be on a bicycle. At their annual membership meeting last month, Bike Pittsburgh recognized 11 Pittsburgh-area companies that have aided in this transformation, presenting the organizations with inaugural Bike Friendly Employer awards. Backed by the Sprout Fund and the Benter Foundation, BikePGH established the BFE program with goals of facilitating the creation of bike-friendly workplaces, helping bike enthusiasts inform employers of the importance of installing bike amenities, and promoting Pittsburgh as a great place to bike commute. To read more, click here.