Day 2 of the Local Association Summit

Monday, 10 November 2008

Local Association Summit Sunday, Nov. 9, 2008 Colorado Springs, Colo. How to Run An Effective Board, Create Involvement And Raise Money Breakout Session No. 1 Presented by Steven J. Hansen, Illinois Cycling Association Running an Association is not about the bike. It is about managing, organizing, creating, hosting, etc., It’s a wonder you have time to ride your bike at all. What does it takes to run an effective board? Leadership, management and organizational skills. In the leadership department, you need to be a good listener. You’ll hear the good and the bad. So it’s important to be patient (particularly when it comes to listening to complaints). Use team building to create an atmosphere that emphasizes delegating of responsibilities. As for management, you need excellent strategy planning, goal setting and strong follow-up. Your goals should be measurable. Perhaps it is increasing your membership. Make sure you are able to track and measure something adequately. In the organizational skills department, you must have effective communication. Synch your databases (contacts, etc.) so you are keeping everyone in the loop all the time. Prioritize and use best time management practices. Most of us also have 9-to-5 jobs. Be transparent: One local association prints its financial statements on its website in the interest of full disclosure. Mission Statement Does your organization have a mission statement that is appealing, memorable, simple and flexible? Remember that you are appealing to a number of constituents: athletes, promoters, sponsors, spectators, bike shops, coaches and communities. Strategic Planning Key on your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) in mind when doing strategic planning. Identify what your needs are. Then, in the area of solutions, determine, implement and evaluate that those solutions might be. The McKinsey 7-S Framework (created by Tom Peters and Robert Waterman, authors of the book, “In Search of Excellence”) is a good model for strategic planning. It consists of seven “S” words: Strategy, Structure, Systems, Shared Values, Skills, Staff and Style. What kind of tools can you keep in mind to help you structure your organization for success? This is one of them. Running An Effective Board By following Robert’s Rules of Order, you stay with the agenda, complete tasks and have a good meeting. By assigning times to each agenda item – and sticking to those times – you become more efficient. A good chairman allows the pros and cons arguments to be balanced. The soft cover edition of this book costs $12.60. The “in brief” version on Amazon.com is $6.95. How to Create Involvement In Illinois, they have more than 1,000 licensed members. In their meeting a year ago, they had fewer than 12 people. At this year’s annual meeting, they had doubled that number. How did they do it? They offered incentives, reached out to non-racers, hosted an awards banquet, made it prestigious to participate and listened to the clubs’ needs. They are also doing a membership forum to offer clubs a number of options: either host a race, clinic or non-competitive event, get involved in a committee the local association has going, or, – if necessary – pay a membership fee. Make participation count. Reach out to non-racers: In Illinois, there are two groups who are non-racing clubs. Both are much larger than the racing clubs. Look at them as an equal. Exchange ideas. Perhaps reach out to them for potential officials. Empower people by sharing budget responsibility: If someone is interested in improving junior racing, have that person design a budget to use that money to accomplish their goal. Make it prestigious: A rider of the year series is good – particularly when it is “owned” by the local association. Try to give out as many awards and trophies as possible. They always do call-ups at every race for the leaders in their respective categories. How to Raise Money Membership: Institute a membership policy for your member clubs (see above). Surcharges to the Promoters: Don’t add a fee unless they are getting something in return. Franchise Feeds: In Illinois, the local association owns the state championships. They get to say who hosts those events (which typically draw the most participants). Those same championships often carry a higher entry fee (another benefit for the promoter). By developing a concrete application process and criteria and instituting a “winning bid” fee (that promoter is paying between $400 and $800 for the championship jerseys), the local association is protecting one of its franchises. Sponsorships: They are putting together an incentive program to fly two people out to Interbike next year. This program will reward people who have done a good job in the local association. Their job at Interbike is to bring back sponsorships, whether it is for banner ads on the local association website or looking for sponsors for the Illinois Cup series, the championships jerseys, etc. Program Guide: Illinois is producing a 50-page guide (printing $3,000 of them at $2/copy each) that will be a comprehensive guide. They are looking to get 10 sponsors to take out full page advertisements to cover the cost. Each promoter will get 150 copies that they can sell at $2/each (to yield up to $300). Each club in the Illinois Cycling Association is getting a page in the booklet that has their information, officers, website, etc. There will be a page on the history of Illinois bicycle racing for archival purposes. Another page will have an “Intro. To Bike Racing” for fans who might purchase one of these booklets at the race. Co-Op Leverage: All online registration providers want to work with the association. Up to this point, the promoters were dealing with these people one-on-one. To make it easier to manage results, they wanted all the promoters to use a single results provider. Like a farm co-op, these promoters can agree to use one provider. But what will that provider do for them in return? SportsBaseOnline has a revenue-sharing program. Another results service is offering the use of a pop-up tent. If you can consolidate everyone into a single service, it makes it much more user-friendly for the competitor and the association. Fundraising Ride: The Illinois Cycling Association is getting member clubs to agree to promote and produce a fundraising ride that is fun and will benefit the association, which, in turn, is helping promote the member clubs. Endowments: Like a church, people will give money either annually or as a one-time donation. Set up a program to ask for donations for specific projects (sending juniors to nationals, etc.). If you have a good cause, people will give money to it. Consider asking people to live money in their wills for your local association. Grants: You must normally be a non-profit organization. Look for grants that seek to boost tourism. If you are running a coaching camp or a clinic, you might be able to qualify for an educational grant. Note: SRAM offers a $500 grant for local associations. Recommended Reading The Ultimate Board Members Book, by Kay Sprinkel Grace Managing the Nonprofit Organization, by Peter Drucker Strategic Planning for Nonprofit Organizations, by Michael Allison and Jude Kaye The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, by Stephen R. Covey Socratic Selling, by Kevin Daley Forces for Good: The Six practices of High-Impact Nonprofits, by Leslie Crutchfield Promoters: How to Get Them, Keep Them and Grow Them Breakout Session No. 2 Presented by Todd Scheseke, New York State Bicycle Racing Association and Michael Norton, New England Bicycle Racing Association What does it take to be a race promoter? The best promoter is a racer, an official, a coach and a promoter. They will understand the needs of every party. You will also have to keep everyone happy. Regardless of your experience, you will wear a lot of hats (from executive to janitor). At Mike Norton’s races, he pays everyone; there are no volunteers. He pays non-profit organizations to run various aspects of his race. He has been promoting races for 21 years. On the flip side, if you work with a non-paid staff of race volunteers, treat them well, feed them, provide them with the clothing and tools they need, etc. If you are using a group from a single organization, offer them banner space at your race. The National Guard is a good resource (and one race has even used Hummers as its lead vehicles). When he starts budgeting a race, he does it on entry fees only. When you run a good race (offering post-race shower and restroom facilities, proper lead, wheel and follow cars, motorcycle officials, proper course control), people will come back. Find good people to delegate to and then turn them loose. Club members are often good for the supervision of the non-cycling staffers. Club members also help take care of bicycle-related needs by answering questions, providing a pleasant experience, trouble-shooting, etc. Don’t forget to keep the lower category riders happy. Putting all your prize money into the Pro-I-II category isn’t going to leave your larger categories (Cat. IV, Masters, etc.) feeling satisfied. Encourage your local bike shop to provide a mechanic (and vehicle for promotional purposes) to provide pre-race neutral support. That person can later jump into the wheel car and serve as the neutral service mechanic. It’s a good experience for anyone who aspires to be a pro mechanic. The Difference Between A Good Race and A Great Race What level can you take care of the riders? How can I make it a memorable experience? Sometimes, this will be more important than a prize list. Some ideas: No yellow-line rule (rolling enclosure) allowing multiple fields to start at one-minute intervals. Fully-closed race circuits (Pennsylvania is doing a lot of this). Bar-code scanner for pre-event, on-site license and waiver processing. Shower facilities or an air-conditioned building for post-race awards. Provide them with some schwag. One race in Vermont gave each of their participants apples and maple syrup. Offer chip timing (add $5 to the entry fee) to speed the results and prize distribution. Have an awards ceremony, with podium and backdrop and introductions. Give out medals and trophies and inscribe them with the event name, date and category. Only 10 percent of the people who come to your race are actually going to leave with something. What are you doing to satisfy the other 90 percent? Todd utilizes a chip service company that charges $75 plus $2/chip. They are a two-person operation, one handling results – the other handling chip service distribution and collection. However, he no longer offers day-of-race registration. Share information and resources with other promoters, when possible. Some promoters are buying safety pins from clothing supply companies. One economical (generic) bib number supplier is: www.nfhs.com Why Do We Lose Promoters? High stress and low rewards equal burnout for race promoters. When they receive minimal support from above or minimal support from below, it can be overwhelming. Chip Timing Presentation: Winning Time Breakout Session No. 3 Presented by Julia Vitarello One of the first companies to produce chip timing, they are an Italian company. They had been using a passive timing system (that used mats), but have recently upgraded to a new system using a wire or a mat. Four main components: Controller box Activator wire Receiver module Transponder (chip) – placed on the fork of the bicycle System highlights: The activator wire is taped to the pavement, across the finish line. There is also the option to use a 12-meter wide, 10-pound rubberized mat (in case of rain or other wet situations). There are built-in batteries for the controller box and receiver module (no power is necessary). The system will store information from hundreds of races. It has USB-Ethernet connections. The controller box case itself is not waterproof, but there is a cover that can be purchased. However, all connections and plugs are water-safe. An announcer screen allows you to see the real-time results as laps are completed or races are finished. Third-party software can help fine-tune the results. The receiver module can be mounted at three-feet or six-feet (for cross country or running races) height. There is also a web-based component that allows people to go online and see real-time race results. Each chip contains a battery. Replacement caps and batteries are standard. The battery ($3) is designed to last a year. The chip is expected to last at least a year-and-a-half. It has been used at ski races with temperatures of 15 below zero Fahrenheit. For point-to-point races, you would only need two controller boxes if you needed to know who started, as well as their total elapsed time. They will come in and do a full day of training to customize and integrate the software to your needs. They do work with SportsBaseOnline. This system was used in 2008 at the Univest Grand Prix, the USA Crits Finals in Las Vegas and the San Francisco Twilight Criterium. Cost: Stand-alone with no computer is $18,000. The chips are $47 (list price). Website: www.winningtime.com Chip Timing Presentation: AMB Breakout Session No. 3 (Continued) Presented by Bas Van Rends, CEO The AMBC ChipX Timing System merged with ChampionChip a week ago. The Dutch company employs around 70 employees in four offices worldwide. Its systems are being used at most motorsports tracks (including Formula 1). ChampionChip handles many national-level active events, including several marathons (New York City, Chicago). The system in place right now has been used since 2004 and was utilized at several events at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing (including cycling). Current cycling races using this system include the Giro d’Italia and the Vuelta Espana. The Tour de France used AMB in 2004. System components include: ChipX Decoder (with headphones) Computer (not included) Power supply Detection loop Transponder (Chip) Track Side Box (Optional) The transponder is monitored on the front fork or chainstay – in a uniform position that makes it more accurate than a photo-finish camera. The system can be integrated with a finish camera to identify riders AND their chips. The website offers comprehensive event data information that is provided by the individual race promoters/users. Personal information can be viewed anytime. In Europe, some cities are embedding the system into running tracks, skating rinks, etc., for members of the public to track their activity. You pay for the use of the transponder hardware, not for the transponder itself. The cost can be broken down by low-cost localized, multi-year or global (multi-sport) use version. It can be used for 100,000 passings. They have at least an eight-year lifespan (the battery is not replaceable). The Dutch skating federation is currently on a one-year contractor for 2,000 transponders. They are looking into offering a system that can measure RPM, as well as heart rate, not just finish times. Another aspect is text messaging – which would send you your result in a text message. In a survey done through an AMB trial event for the Illinois Cycling Association, the majority of respondents said they would pay between $80 and $100 for chip timing. For nearly all races (excluding cyclocross), the chip would be placed on the front fork. If the chip is placed on the chainstay, the officials would have to pre-measure its placement. The uniform distance for chainstay placement in those cases is one meter and 40 centimeters. So the transponder loop is placed 1 meter and 40 centimeters behind the finish line. Cost: The decoder with loop is $4,500 The pro chip is $109 (with 10 percent off for USA Cycling members) Website: www.mylaps.com Integrated Cycling Event Management System: Florida Cycling Association Breakout Session No. 3 (Continued) Presented by Tim Molyneaux The Florida Cycling Association has made chip timing mandatory for all racers. Those riders who do not elect to purchase a chip do not get scored or placed in any results. (This may be contrary to USA Cycling policies and procedures, he pointed out.) “Event” is a Windows SQL (software package) that automates registration, scoring and results into a single system. It can handle on-site sale/rental of chips, as well as automating the import of registration information from services like SportsBaseOnline, BikeReg.com, etc. All results can be input into any web application and tallied in any points systems without further manipulation from race setup. The Florida Cycling Association owns one decoder box, which it ships or takes around to the race promoters. The promoter arranges for his/her own rental chips through AMB. There are a couple “authorized operators” who are capable of operating the system. Rule Changes Race announcements will include a notation of the existence of any fees, including fees for online entry. The size and number of race bib numbers has been completely revised, to include a table that will outline height, length and digit height and digit weight. The cyclocross rule on barriers has been nearly completely re-written. It will specific that a single section of temporary artificial barriers shall consist of two barriers of wood or other non-metallic barriers – as well as additional wording that specified. A proposal to increase the Cat. V men’s field limit to 75 riders failed. Proposed Category A requirements for cyclocross races did not pass. A proposed cyclocross Elite/Masters rule requiring a competitor to choose one race or the other at nationals did not pass. The state time trial distance for men can be between 30 and 50 km and for women between 20 and 30 km. A table of all possible combinations of state championships was proposed for future rulebooks. It might actually be produced and posted on the USA Cycling website. New Jersey proposed allowing one-day license holders to win state championships. The trustees do not agree that non-members should be allowed to win state titles. New Jersey also asked for further clarification of the free lap rule to identify the things that could or could not be used as an excuse (being caught behind a crash, for example). The Trustees do not agree that the rule needs to be expanded. The rulebook is also being re-organized to make it more user-friendly and searchable. A USCF committee is also working on drafting a new mission statement, as well as providing new riders with a welcoming introduction and on-going support. Officials Program Presented by Shawn Farrell A new process for advancements from a Category C official to a Category B official is being studied for implementation. It will be more performance-based, rather than just taking a long exam. There will be a transition period, but once it is rolled out, new officials will be required to complete these modules before being considered for upgrade. An evaluation system that has previously only been applied to the very top-level officials at national championships is also being studied. If someone has already progressed to officiate on that level, it may be too late to correct any problems. Future evaluations may be done by stakeholders in the sport: race promoters, team managers, officials who are not working the event, etc. A survey for the officials who manage the officials in their local associations is also being worked on. USA Cycling would like to know things like who is assigning crews to which races, whether they are entire crews, whether the race promoter is gathering crew assignments, etc. National and International Commissaries and NRC race officials are being well-managed (Category A officials). However, USA Cycling wants to do a better job of educating and training Category B officials or even Category C officials. Feeding in cyclocross is (by default) under the jurisdiction of the chief referee. So there is always the option of allowing it (particularly in early-season races). An on-line officials course was judged to be too expensive. However, a DVD of a Category C officials clinic was produced in Colorado Springs and can be sent out for viewing. Once it has been viewed, Shawn sends out a specific, online test that is then graded by him and feedback is shared through e-mail communication. About 100 officials obtained their licenses in this manner in 2008. This same system will be rolled out for licensing new BMX officials. A webinar might be available for Category A upgrades. More officials clothing and specialty items will be available for purchase later in 2009. Affinity Program Presented by Nick Adams, Director of Sponsorship & Business Development and Mercedes Hickey, Affinity Program Manager The number of Gold, Silver and Bronze level affinity member partners grew considerably in 2008. In order to access the discounts, you do need a code. It begins with logging in under your “My USA Cycling” account page. On that page is the “Member Benefits” tab. From this page, you only need to scroll down to check out all the affinity partners and read what discounts are available. A secondary area to access this information is through the “Shop USA Cycling and Partners” button on the home page of USACycling.com. Hampton Hotels offer a great rate promoters if you first negotiate with the manager to line up a block of rooms. You can also do this through the website. USA Cycling receives royalties when members book and receive their discount. The supplier program partners are also available online. A branding campaign has been rolled out that includes public service announcements. The more recognizable the brand is, the more easier it is for USA Cycling to get more affinity partners. Shopusaycling.org will be changing (before Thanksgiving). Many more items will be offered to member clubs, local associations, officials, coaches, etc. Clocks, blankets, coffee mugs, custom calendars, wind shirts, etc., will be available to put your event logo on the item, as well as the USA Cycling logo. Collegiate Program Presented by Daniel Matheny, Collegiate Program Manager Feedback from the local associations is crucial to the collegiate program. The fall and spring seasons are already pretty well defined with road and mountain biking. Cyclocross and track events are looking to piggyback onto existing events to help competitors qualify for their national championships. As for high school programs, they are encouraging schools to join together to compete in a regional program until enough competitors are fielded to fill out individual school programs. There is also the idea that a high school racing license might be developed. Collegiate categories have been placed on licenses now (Categories run A, B, C and D) and the move toward a numerical ability category might be considered (Categories I, II, III and IV). There will be categorization upgrade charts published soon. Closing Remarks Steve Johnson, Chief Executive Officer The sport is evolving. How we adapt and meet the challenges is how the organization will shape itself for the future. Thank you for your commitment and passion and perseverance. The progress the organization has made is due in great part by the work of the local associations.

Last Updated ( Monday, 10 November 2008 )