[*BCM*] Opinions on move by Mass Bike

[turtle]

goannego at yahoo.com,
> I was rebuffed.  I turned up, with plenty of experience and enthusiasm, and was
> first underutilized, and then just generally blown off.  

I'm sorry you found the experience so disappointing.  I'm still
wondering why you felt "rebuffed", and by whom, though...  I know that
I held a few volunteer parties before I left, and we got a lot done
(though many people may not feel that stuffing envelopes is important,
it is when you are a very small organization!), and I hoped people
enjoyed helping out and maybe made a few friends.  As for other
volunteer jobs, I always wanted to have more people take on more
indepth tasks, but I always had a hard time finding the time to help
people get started.  I hope the people who I couldn't give "serious"
assignments to weren't offended by that.  It certainly wasn't any
reflection on them!  I just had too much to do, myself, to manage many
volunteers.  If MassBike had a full time volunteer and outreach
coordinator, I think that might go a long way towards bringing in more
volunteers.

On the subject of the suggestions you mentioned, I agree with you on
pretty much everything you said!  But I would also note that I think
the main problem is MassBike's PR.  We do so much, but much of it is
unglamorous and unsexy behind the scenes stuff.  And a lot of the news
never reaches the public or members.  We did get the Safe Routes to
School legislation passes, and are in the middle of a deal to actually
develop and run a statewide program for biking and walking to school. 
And we had a very successful MassBike Kids Club poster contest (see the
winners here: http://www.massbike.org/kidsclub/contest.html ) and all
the entrants got copies of a nifty Kids Club newsletter with stories,
art, bike safety tips, Safe Routes to School, and even an article about
writing to legislators.

And again I'll tout the merits of the really huge achievement of
developing a nationally recognised curriculum for educating the police
about the rights of cyclists on the roads (a MAJOR problem in
Massachusetts!).  Once the Feds put the finishing touches on the
program, you can be absolutely sure that MassBike will be pushing it
hard in Massachusetts police departments.

And I would hesitate to discount the major accomplishment of getting
more accurate bicycling information into the RMV's book and test.  Now
EVERY person who wants to get a car driver's license in Massachusetts
will essentially HAVE to learn about bicyclists' rights to the road. 
No, that's not reaching everyone, but since that's the baseline
standard for learning to operate a motor vehicle, it goes a long way to
making safer and more respectful roadways in the future (and even
today).  

If you have specific ideas on projects that would make transportational
biking better, I urge you to either send them to MassBike, or, better
yet, appoint yourself to do it and offer MassBike (or BNB or LAB or
your local bicycle committee, etc.) the results.  Writing letters is
great.  Posting those letters as a sample template on a website for the
general public to use is even better!

As for liking the events, I'm sorry you don't.  MassBike gets a lot of
people who ask for more events, and they do a lot to bring people
together, and bring in more members.  I think more events would tax the
organization, but I think we need at least a few high profile ones to
keep people's interest.  (Imagine if the Fall Rally was as big as the
Walk for Hunger!)

Anyway, the most important thing I wanted to say is... Thanks for caring
about bicyclists!  Even if we all disagree and may have very different
tactics, the more people care, the more the world will see bicycling as
being an integral part of a healthy, productive society!

Peace, Love, and Bicycles,
Turtle