vonEck
February 20th, 2005, 11:46 PM
<img src="http://www.more-mtb.org/galleries/gal_imgs//1/5/dsc_0043.jpg " width="130" border="1" hspace="5" align="left">Last week was a marathon day for some of us with MORE. No, not out on the freezing trail, but ensconced in the warm luxury of the Embassy Row Westin. Thanks to club member and hotelier Stuart Robinson and the kind support of the Westin Hotel, MORE was privileged to hold both our annual transition board meeting and the first annual trail liaison dinner at the Westin this year.
It was great to see all of our dedicated liaisons come out for this event. Some of MORE's liaisons have been hard at it for many years now, and every single one of them has made a huge difference in our relations with the parks, and ultimately in the quantity and quality of trails open to bikes, so this dinner is a small way for the club to say thanks for all the hard work!
Speaking of trails, our transition meeting covered a lot of ground as well, and it's clear that we've got a great board this year that is dedicated to continuing the club on its successful track. At the meeting, each member of the new board presented goals and plans for this year in their areas of responsibility. The Virginia and Maryland Advocacy Directors took us through plans for expanding our contacts in the management ranks of the park authorities as well as at the critical level. Others presented plans for our annual camping trips, partnerships and sponsorships, and club management. One key area we focused on this year is starting to build a long-range trail development plan. Austin Steo led a session where a group of liaisons began to work on prioritizing where we should focus our financial and political capital to build more trails. With the prospect of increased grant funding from a variety of sources, and strong interest in developing new trail, this will be an important tool to make sure we make maximum use of these resources.
Another exciting development coming down the pike will be a new web site design with enhanced functionality. Martin Ferndandez, Joe Foley, and Mark Wigfield have been working hard as members of the web committee to plan and develop these new features, and we hope to start rolling the improvements out shortly.
We have some other ideas that we'll be working over the coming months, but the core things that the club does--ride, build, maintain, lobby--will be our main focus. In the meantime, if you have any ideas or suggestions on how we can make the club better, or projects that we should do as a club, camping trip ideas... anything at all, pls don't hesitate to contact me or any of the other board members. You can always reach us via the Contact MORE page on the web site.
Eric von Eckartsberg
MORE President
It was great to see all of our dedicated liaisons come out for this event. Some of MORE's liaisons have been hard at it for many years now, and every single one of them has made a huge difference in our relations with the parks, and ultimately in the quantity and quality of trails open to bikes, so this dinner is a small way for the club to say thanks for all the hard work!
Speaking of trails, our transition meeting covered a lot of ground as well, and it's clear that we've got a great board this year that is dedicated to continuing the club on its successful track. At the meeting, each member of the new board presented goals and plans for this year in their areas of responsibility. The Virginia and Maryland Advocacy Directors took us through plans for expanding our contacts in the management ranks of the park authorities as well as at the critical level. Others presented plans for our annual camping trips, partnerships and sponsorships, and club management. One key area we focused on this year is starting to build a long-range trail development plan. Austin Steo led a session where a group of liaisons began to work on prioritizing where we should focus our financial and political capital to build more trails. With the prospect of increased grant funding from a variety of sources, and strong interest in developing new trail, this will be an important tool to make sure we make maximum use of these resources.
Another exciting development coming down the pike will be a new web site design with enhanced functionality. Martin Ferndandez, Joe Foley, and Mark Wigfield have been working hard as members of the web committee to plan and develop these new features, and we hope to start rolling the improvements out shortly.
We have some other ideas that we'll be working over the coming months, but the core things that the club does--ride, build, maintain, lobby--will be our main focus. In the meantime, if you have any ideas or suggestions on how we can make the club better, or projects that we should do as a club, camping trip ideas... anything at all, pls don't hesitate to contact me or any of the other board members. You can always reach us via the Contact MORE page on the web site.
Eric von Eckartsberg
MORE President