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Subaru VIP Partners Program |
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IMBA-SORBA Joint Membership |
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IMBA-SORBA Board Meeting November 21, 2009 |
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Friday, 04 December 2009 |
 IMBA-SORBA convened its board meeting at the Elachee Science and Nature Center on Saturday, November 21 for a full day of business, workshops, socializing, and, of course, bike riding. Tom Sauret, IMBA-SORBA Executive Director, and Bob Grieco, President, co-chaired the meeting, which was attended by chapter leaders, staff, and several members.
On the business side, IMBA-SORBA granted provisional chapter status to Cape Fear SORBA, a dedicated group of mountain bikers based in Wilmington, North Carolina. The newest IMBA-SORBA chapter will enjoy the benefits of chapter status, except that they will not have voting powers until they achieve full chapter status, possibly at the next board meeting in March 2010. The chapter will spend the next few months growing their membership, creating by-laws, electing their officers, and growing their relationships with local land managers. Join IMBA-SORBA in offering a warm welcome to our newest chapter!
The 2009 Executive Board was re-elected to serve in 2010. The following officers will serve in their current capacities: Bob Grieco, President, Darryl Glascock, Vice President, Angela Allen, Treasurer, and , Secretary. Our board graces us with sound leadership, and I urge you to show your appreciation to them for volunteering their time and guidance to make mountain biking better for us all.
In an effort to make chapters stronger and more vital, the Board voted to change the minimum number of members required for a new chapter. Instead of 15 members, new chapters will have to recruit 50 members before receiving chapter status. Experience has taught us that the more members a chapter has, the more stable and effective the chapter, so this change puts our chapters in a better position to further IMBA-SORBA’s mission.
IMBA’s Executive Director, Mike Van Abel, who was not able to attend the meeting in person, joined the group via Skype. Mike thanked the presidents for their successes, and urged them to keep doing what they were doing. He reminded attendees how effective grass-roots advocacy is in opening new trails and keeping existing trails open. He also underlined the importance of hosting the IMBA World Mountain Bike Summit in 2010 in Augusta, GA, and how we can showcase our region, our trails, and educate the world’s advocates on how we have achieved our success.
Tom Sauret then presented the SORBIE, IMBA-SORBA’s highest recognition of volunteerism, to Jay and Judy Franklin for their long years of dedicated service. Jay, a former President of SORBA and IMBA Board member, was present to accept the award. Humbled and grateful, Jay thanked the organization warmly for remembering his wife, as she made it all possible.
The day’s first workshop, led by Robin Allen, IMBA-SORBA’s Communications and Development Director, was focused on gaining and retaining members in 2010. Chapters were challenged to bring their membership levels up to 50, or, if they already had 50 members, to add 50 new members. Attendees broke up into small groups of 6, and each group was asked to consider different aspects of membership recruitment: messaging, membership drives, retention, bike shop membership recruitment, events as recruitment opportunities, long-range vision, and how to get affiliate clubs in our region to become IMBA-SORBA members. Great ideas came out of the session, and each group shared their conclusions with the group. Chapter leaders were energized by working together to address common challenges, and couldn’t wait to go home and ramp up their efforts to recruit and retain members.
The other workshop of the day got attendees to work on selecting topics for the upcoming World Summit. Attendees brainstormed, suggesting ideas for Summit sessions, the topics were captured, and then the topics were categorized as topics that our own leaders could address and those that would require development by outside experts. The ideas will be passed on to IMBA staff in Boulder, and they’ll continue to work with us on developing the summit offerings.
The Board then turned their attention to setting the dates and locations for the 2010 meetings. The Board will next meet on March 20th at the Nantahala Outdoor Center in Bryson City, N.C. IMBA-SORBA’s Regional Leadership Advisory Council, formed in 2009, will participate in the March meeting, which will include activities that run Friday, March 19th through Sunday morning. The Board will meet again on November 20th, and the Northwest Georgia SORBA chapter will host the meeting in Dalton, GA. Details concerning these meetings will be posted on sorba.org.
The meeting was adjourned, and the attendees rode off to enjoy the Chicopee Woods Mountain Bike Trails System. After tearing up the trail, they enjoyed pizza and refreshments before finally leaving Elachee with tired legs, happy faces, full heads, bellies, too, but fortified to face the challenges ahead of them.
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Last Updated ( Friday, 04 December 2009 )
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