Bike Calgary AGM

Submitted by Bike Calgary on

The 2012 Annual General Meeting of the Bicycle Commuter Bike Calgary Association will be held:

Thursday, October 25, 2012  6:30 pm

Mountain Equipment Coop Boardroom
830 10 Avenue SW
Calgary, AB T2R 0A9

Bike Calgary would like to invite you to join us for our 2012 Annual General Meeting, to be held from 6:30 to 8:30pm in the Community Room on the second floor at Mountain Equipment Co-op.

A lot of change has happened in the City’s cycling scene and at Bike Calgary in the last year.  We will give you a short presentation on how Bike Calgary has changed to become a more effective organization in fulfilling our vision of “connecting Calgary communities through cycling” as well as a review some of the projects we have been involved in over the year and discussion of some of the challenges, and opportunities, moving forward.

Following our presentation, we will pause for the official business including a brief review of our financial statements and the membership vote for the election of new Directors.  If you are a member of Bike Calgary and interested in becoming a Director, you may put your name forth, as a nominee, to the organization no later than the end of day Monday, October 22nd, 2012.  If the organization does not have a full slate of candidates (7) by nomination close, we may accept nominations from the floor during the official portion of the Annual General Meeting.

Following the official business, we will take a short break prior to reconvening for a special guest presentation by Calgary’s Cycling Coordinator Tom Thivener, who will speak to some of the cycling improvements we can look forward to as well as discuss building Calgary's bike culture.

AGENDA

6:30 to 6:35    Welcome remarks, introductions and “housekeeping” (exits, washrooms, etc.)
6:35 to 6:50    Bike Calgary Presentation
6:50 to 7:00    Question and Answer
7:00 to 7:15    Official Meeting (reading of financial statements, election of Directors)
7:15 to 7:30    Break
7:30 to 8:00    Tom Thivener Presentation



Date: 

Thursday, October 25, 2012 - 18:30

Comments

Me too!

Submitted by DarrenB on

Me too! What kind of shoddy organization are you guys running here? 

 

LOL

 

Seriously, thanks Al for all your hard work on the board over the years and for all the passion, insight, and good humour you have poured into the Calgary cycling scene.

minutes?

Submitted by Julie Gregg on

I was unable to attend last evening - is there somewhere I can read the highlights of the event?? Or anyone want to sum up on here?

highlights

Submitted by 2wheeler on

My take away from the AGM:

Bike Calgary has a $13 000 budget surplus but someone decided they shouldn't bring beer to the meeting.  Who's running this #%? show ?Wink

I dunno about that.

Submitted by mercator on

The coverage was good to have I suppose, but I'd recommend that next time the news guys show up with cameras, Bike Calgary insist that someone from the board gets to do the cyclist on the street interview.  

They showed up and were allowed to film but I didn't hear any of BC's well stated advocacy positions mentioned by anyone but the reporter.  If they insist on only interviewing the strident guy, then the cameras should have been left off.   

While I'm making recommendations, I'll nominate Brent for the interview.

CBC Reporters

Submitted by DarrenB on

Actually, CBC did interview Bike Calgary President, Brent Clark at the meeting. On their way out of the MEC building, they must have somehow met up with Calgary Tour de Nuit Society's Gary Beaton, who had some strong opinions to express that I don't think were necessarily shared by Bike Calgary. I guess the CBC thought his comments would generate more interest with their viewers than the 'well stated advocacy positions' of Bike Calgary.  Such is the media.  Im' not sure how the Board could 'insist' that reporters used one interview rather another.

Regardless, the reporters that attended the meeting and the story they delivered were both respectful, and such media attention really helps to get cycling in the mainstream of the public eye. That's another big win for cycling advocacy in Calgary.  The more times the public hears about all the cyclists in downtown Calgary, the easier and easier it becomes to demonstrate the need for cycling accommodations.

My point

Submitted by mercator on

While I agree that the reporting was respectful and all, my point is that the news segment showed (a) Mr. Thivener presenting the current plans, (b) the reporter showing the current state of the bike lanes, and (c) an anonymous cyclist who was clearly unhappy with the pace of developments.  

The takeaway for me was that local cyclists won't be happy with anything the city does, which I think is not representative of Bike Calgary or its members attitudes.  I know lots of non-cyclists that would watch that piece and conclude that we're a bunch of whiners.  That would be followed by a sentiment along the lines of: 'so screw them'.

I thought that Bike Calgary was an advocacy group, and as such it would be eager to ensure its message is presented to the public when media opportunities occur.   Dealing with the media is a two way street.  They showed up at BC's meeting and were permitted to film.  That permission did not have to be given, it was a favour.  I think it would have been reasonable to ask for a favour in return, such as them including a few words from someone who represents Bike Calgary.

Bike Calgary AGM Summary

Submitted by Bike Calgary on

I fully admit, I should have done a bit of a blurb on the AGM about a week ago at least.  Appologies, life has been busy!  Here goes.

This year's AGM was a well attended event, with the MEC community room looking to be filled to capacity.  Given that it was definitely not one of those "lovely warm fall days" this was encouraging and showed that there is significant interest in the cycling community to either hear what is going on at Bike Calgary or listen to, and discuss, what cycling improvements are planned for the City as a whole in the next year or two.

We decided to break the AGM into three parts this year.  First off, a presentation by Bike Calgary intended to reintroduce the cycling community to the organization and how we are working towards "Connecting Calgary Communities through Cycling" (you can check out slides from the presentation in Richard's previous post).  This was followed up by the formal business; a review of the financial statements and election of a new Board of Directors.  The final portion was a presentation by Calgary's cycling coordinator Tom Thivener (thanks Tom for attending!), looking at some of the plans the City has for cycling in coming years as well as offering some insight into building a stronger cycling community.  Not only did this portion generate some lively discussion, it also caught the attention of CBC.

For those of you unable to attend, I'd just like to say a very big thank-you to everyone who served on the Board of Directors this past year, particularly our outgoing Directors, Jeff Gruttz, Al Fedoruk and Cate Hydeman.  I'd also like to welcome our incoming Directors, Kimberly Nelson, Stephanie Shewchuk and Dan Godin, who will be joining myself, Richard Zach, Darren Bender and Frans Hettinga on this year's Board of Directors.  I would also like to thank all of the volunteers serving on the various Task Forces and in the Community Engagement Program. We look forward to your continued enthusiasm in the coming year.  

Thanks to everyone for your support!

Brent

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