Cyclists in Suits Texas Bike Lobby Day will be April 20, 2009. Mark your calendars!
[If you were planning to make the trek to Austin for our biennial Cyclists in Suits lobby day, consider getting a few – or more than a few – friends to join you! BikeTexas member Michelle Holcomb did this in 2007, and here she shares with us how she did it.]
Step One:
4 to 6 months out (that’s now) – Call bus company you have chosen and reserve the estimated number of seats, driver and other things (for instance we have reserved 2 buses, 2 drivers and a hotel room for each of the drivers during the 8 hour split – the bus company has handled all of this just by virtue of us calling them and telling them what we needed).
The bus company we use is very flexible and will add or drop buses based on event demand right up the week of the trip. You want a bus company who will work with you! A local company is more likely to do this. Pick one with a good safety record and verifiable insurance.
Step Two:
Set up ticket sales – online, in person or by any means you choose. We use Eventbrite to process the ticket sales so that people can pay online by Google, Paypal or electronic check. Prices were set to cover the cost of the bus, the cost of registration service fees and then a little extra.
Step Three:
Promote the event to your group and the public at large.
Step Four:
Finalize arrangements and payment with bus company.
Notes:
– Stop ticket sales one week prior to the event.
– Get one of your sponsors to sponsor things like bagels and coffee and such for the trip to Austin. Our bus company allowed us to bring wine and beer on board in ice chests for the trip home. We also had videos and games that we brought along. We could have stopped for dinner on the way home but chose not to.
– Offer MS 150 riders the opportunity to ride back with you from Austin – there is room under the bus for the bikes and luggage.
– Note that you can pull a bus company’s safety and insurance data on the Federal Highway Transportation website and from the state of Texas. It is not secret information!
Click here to see our event registration. We have 114 seats reserved – we hope to fill them all and add a 3rd or even 4th bus. Good luck everyone and see you at the Capitol!
-Michelle
