Author Topic: publicity?  (Read 3244 times)

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Lauren

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publicity?
« on: September 21, 2010, 07:26:26 AM »
I thought after last night that I would probably be interested in helping with publicity stuff in terms of posting flyers or just telling people about your events, so maybe I could just help whoever gets the race event position because that is probably a big job.........?

Offline Sal Atticum

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Re: publicity?
« Reply #1 on: September 21, 2010, 05:13:11 PM »
It is a big job, and hopefully whoever gets elected will welcome the help.  You can help out more than just with the big events though--if you want to post stuff up on Facebook, go ahead with it, if you want to talk to people about rides, go for it.

One of the problems with cycling club is that the majority of campus thinks we're in it to go fast and race bikes, and that we don't want to talk to anyone else.  That's not true, and the more people we have out there letting people know, the less of a big deal going out for a ride will be.  At the same time, we do want people to come to events, so there ends up being a fine line between us downplaying cycling (telling everyone they can do it, and that it's not a big deal, so come ride) and trying to sell it as something worth putting in extra effort to come out and do (doing alleycats, or going down to Fargo this weekend, or playing bike polo, or even joining the racing team and traveling to represent UND).  Like I said before, the more people we have out there talking up the club (or the team, depending on your audience), the more people become okay with riding, and the more people we get in the club to help out with stuff.

Talking with different groups of people is why we have the message board, Facebook, and now the email list.  Some people (myself included) don't do Facebook, so the message board is there to let them participate.  Some people need to get all their information by email, and we're trying to accommodate that this year.  Some people probably spend all their time on Twitter, in which case we should have a Twitter account.  After all of this technology though, word of mouth still works the best at getting people to show up and ride, or show up and help, or show up and run for an officer position, so anything you can do in that vein would be most helpful.
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Offline Plantains

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Re: publicity?
« Reply #2 on: September 21, 2010, 08:09:35 PM »
It is a big job, and hopefully whoever gets elected will welcome the help.  You can help out more than just with the big events though--if you want to post stuff up on Facebook, go ahead with it, if you want to talk to people about rides, go for it.

One of the problems with cycling club is that the majority of campus thinks we're in it to go fast and race bikes, and that we don't want to talk to anyone else.  That's not true, and the more people we have out there letting people know, the less of a big deal going out for a ride will be.  At the same time, we do want people to come to events, so there ends up being a fine line between us downplaying cycling (telling everyone they can do it, and that it's not a big deal, so come ride) and trying to sell it as something worth putting in extra effort to come out and do (doing alleycats, or going down to Fargo this weekend, or playing bike polo, or even joining the racing team and traveling to represent UND).  Like I said before, the more people we have out there talking up the club (or the team, depending on your audience), the more people become okay with riding, and the more people we get in the club to help out with stuff.

Talking with different groups of people is why we have the message board, Facebook, and now the email list.  Some people (myself included) don't do Facebook, so the message board is there to let them participate.  Some people need to get all their information by email, and we're trying to accommodate that this year.  Some people probably spend all their time on Twitter, in which case we should have a Twitter account.  After all of this technology though, word of mouth still works the best at getting people to show up and ride, or show up and help, or show up and run for an officer position, so anything you can do in that vein would be most helpful.

Well said. Some clarifications.

1. We don't need people doing group rides willy nilly. We need people to COORDINATE group rides. That is to say that we can't have one thing happening on facebook and another happening on the message board and another via email. The club is too small for that. We can certainly have different things happening at the same time (unless there's a conflict of interest obviously) but they need to be coordinated so it doesn't seem as though group A doesn't like group B or what have you.

2. Please god can we not add twitter? lol... Unless twitter is better than facebook or something, we have too many lines of communication open currently.
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lauren

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Re: publicity?
« Reply #3 on: September 22, 2010, 09:59:39 PM »
I had another question......... I had actually thought about starting something for women only because there really isn't much in GF and then you guys mentioned it, so I had a few questions. I know probably a few girls who would be interested in starting something. I doubt I can really do very much before the season is kind of over and since I currently don't have a road bike, but if I did want to start a women's only ride.......you guys want it posted here right obviously, and then meet at the Union and wear helmets. That's basically it?

Offline Plantains

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Re: publicity?
« Reply #4 on: September 22, 2010, 10:27:38 PM »
Haha... Lauren you make us sound like dictators!

Really... you're free to start a womens club/group at will. I think it would ultimately be beneficial if the many, very small cycling factions in the Grand Forks community functioned as one. I also think that there should certainly be that awareness for lady cyclists in a community that enables them to feel like it is a safe and non-threatening environment and if there needs to be a womens specific group for that to happen, then I say that's fine.

In saying that, I think it might be detrimental to the cycling community to have a well run public face, cycling club that is for women only when there really isn't another cycling club (aside from us) really as it then alienates men.

My point in all of this is that you are welcome to associate yourself with UNDCC in the form of a womens ride or group, though I really sort of dislike the idea of group since it insinuates separation.

I also think people should want to wear helmets because its a smart thing to do (see a post I made a few threads down about helmet use) and not because someone is forcing them. As a rule for UNDCC, primarily for liability and because it will ALWAYS be a regulation in this day and age, any ride associated directly or casually with us requires the use of a helmet.

As for posting on the message board, I think it's a great way for you to have a centralized meeting spot for individuals. Many cycling forums have a ladies only section that has controlled access so there are no creepers in there seeing what you're doing and we can provide that if you deem it necessary (though users would have to register for that). Another reason is because we use this to generate sponsor traffic and for a general sort of "unification" of the cycling community. In short... I suspect it would create more separation than unification by utilizing alternate contact means. But it depends on what your motives are for running a club.

That all said, we have a host of contacts that we can make available to you when you're ready for more details. And don't let not having the "right bike" stop you. This is all too often the case and frankly its a shame. If you wanted to get a casual ride going, there are many women that would more than likely just like to know that they're represented among the community than to get out on a specific "type" of ride. Cycling is cycling and there's no need for segregation. Plus, you may pique someone's interest in the whole shebang, which would help offset your workload, expand the club's general interests, and they might have the (dare I say it) "right bike" for a specific type of ride.

The reason we meet at the union is because it is a nerve center for campus and the community. People know where it is, it's in one of the most bicycle friendly areas of town. It's also a fantastic way for us to raise cycling awareness because we are directly in the public eye, so the next time a car wants to make a crazy turn they might say "hey, I'm going to check for a cyclist" or someone walking on by might say "oh wow, there's a whole group of lady cyclists". Also, since we're a sponsored club and the University is our target advertising market, we want the most possible exposure. Remember, the cycling club is a business of sorts.

tl;dr
1. Post if you'd like, though I think it will help more than it hurts.
2. Meeting at the Union is EXCELLENT for campus publicity.
3. Helmet's are generally very smart.

I'm pretty excited about this whole jazz. So keep those questions coming!
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Lauren

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women's ride
« Reply #5 on: September 24, 2010, 08:13:50 AM »
Thanks for the response! No I am definitely not interested in starting my own club, nor my own group! A girl's cycling club would be kick ass, but I just was wanting a weekly bike ride for women that would be just part of the already established cycling club. Nothing fancy just once a week till the weather is too bad. I am going to try for this Sunday at 5:30 starting from the Union going out for 15 miles and messaged some people who might be interested. I don't know how it will fly, but if anything it will just be my friend and I going, which is totally fine. I end up running most of the time because without other people on a ride, I can never motivate myself to go very far. So if anyone knows anyone interested feel free to tell them. They can call me at 817 239 2744. As for a private message board, I guess I'm not worried about getting creeped on......I'll post it on the group ride board etc.   

Offline Plantains

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Re: publicity?
« Reply #6 on: September 24, 2010, 04:13:00 PM »
Hey Lauren thats great!

Don't let the weather stop you though, helping out those in the community by offering advice for how to safely get around via bicycle year round is another thing we do. But on top of that, we have hosted nightlife spin classes in the past years and we can also accommodate that concept into your ladies group rides. Since many ladies love to spin but may be intimidated by the likes of "the cycling team"...

We'll talk.

Nice work!
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