Can you believe it is already March? I don't know what happened to last year. And this year is already flying along. There are so many opportunities that we have before us as an organization. I don't know where the time is going but I do know that if we set some goals and just do one thing at a time we can achieve a great deal. 

I'm sure you've seen that things have been different over the last few months. We're taking a new approach. With a strong Legislative Officer now we can concentrate our energies on building up the organization so that our political efforts will be successful. There are many items that need attention by the charters in the next few months. All of these items will help us reach our goal of becoming a strong political organization capable of presenting any reasonable bill and getting it through the legislature. 

I have spoken to many of you about these items individually and have been able to attend many of your charter meetings. I am looking forward to attending meetings for the rest of the charters as well. I've been running wheels off the truck recently during this cold snap to get to most of you. These gatherings are great places to get ideas and meet the members but I just can't seem to find the time and resources to implement everything that has been discussed alone. However, with your help and the committees we are forming we can implement a bunch of them. 

We are going to be challenging the charters to look at many things differently this year. As I said, we have a strong legislative officer now and of course will always rely on help from the legislative representatives from the charters to achieve our ultimate goals. However, the best way to do that is to be a viable and financially stable organization that serves the needs of all Tennessee motorcyclists. To do this we need membership, participation and money. Of course, I'm not telling you anything you don't already know. But, we are going to try a few new things. Not all of this will succeed. But some will and we'll learn and grow from all that we do. 
Legislative Efforts
Bills are being written and potential sponsors are being contacted. At this time we are looking at filing a Helmet Modification Bill, a Red Light Bill, and a Proclamation for May being Motorcycle Awareness Month. We will have bill numbers up on the website shortly. YOU must call your legislator and find out if they will support our efforts. Ask them the following: Will they sponsor one or more of these bills? Which bills will they Co-Sponsor? Do they have any major problems with any of the following bills? If so, what? (We can supply the supporting information if they have questions. Just let us know.)

There are many other bills we want to do in the future but it takes time and a great deal of effort to find sponsors and get the bills just right. These include an Anti Discrimination Bill (may still be proposed by the COC), Two Bikes in One Parking Space, Increased Motorcycle Awareness Training in Drivers Education Courses, Construction Signage for Motorcycles, Increase Vehicular Manslaughter Penalties, Specialty Plates, and Stiffer Covered Load Laws
Call Them! Then Call Us! We need to know how they feel!
Right now the most important thing is to build a relationship with your Representative and Senator. Don't know who they are? Look on the CMT/ABATE website or call the office and we'll tell you. But now is THE TIME TO CALL! Build a relationship. Get to know them and let them know you. When the tough time on the bills come up they won't avoid you. They'll listen. THIS IS WHAT WE'RE HERE FOR. CALL!
We are challenging every one of you to personally contact your legislators. Find out how they feel about these bills and let Wayne (615-377-6222), Steve (615-491-6768) or Nancy (615-683-6608) know. 
State Wide Poker Run
As you can see from the flyers we have included in the paper we are resurrecting the statewide poker run for 2003. The flyer is pretty self-explanatory. You'll get a chance to win thousands of dollars and see the great state of Tennessee! We're talking real money here. But, this will only happen if we get 100 vendors signed up across the state. This event will bring in thousands of dollars to the state coffers as well as offer additional thousands as prizes and help build a state spring event for all Tennessee bikers. This effort is very important.

At this time the focus is to sign up vendors. We only need 100 from across the state. Your director has mock-ups of the books that we will be selling to the participants showing how the vendors will be presented. Feel free to use these to show potential vendors what the individual vendor ads/pages will look like. We can show them in their best light. This is a great way for them to attract a lot of people for only $25.00! Ask them what other kind of marketing they can get for that price that last for a full year.

Remember these points as you send your people out to sell to the vendors:
· They will be attracting hundreds if not thousands of motorcyclists to their business for only $25.00!
· Be sure to write down their hours of operation. We don't want people showing up when they aren't open. Leave the bottom of the Vendor Form with them as a reminder of the event and the great cause they are supporting.
· They will be supporting individual liberties and biker's rights.
· Encourage them to come up with a special that we can publish in the book just for the bikers - for example, a percentage off or 2 for 1. We will publish their special in the book like the examples shown. 
· We can use their logo if they send it electronically in a JPEG or GIF format to us at webmaster@cmtabate.com 

So, now we just need you to get creative. Find the general stores, bars, restaurants, bike shops, tourist establishments, coffee shops, ice cream parlors and other interesting places that bikers would like to see in this beautiful state. Let's get the best bar-b-que joints, the strange tourist attractions, supporting bike shops, fascinating stores, great bars, and other interesting places in our state and show them that bikers are wonderful customers. These are the types of places that we need to build long-term relationship with for this as well as other events. We already have a church and an insurance agency signed up. Get to the small towns and the little crossroads. Let's spread these out across the state. We need stops from Bristol to Memphis. We need them in Sweetwater, Only and Tallassee. We need them in Memphis, Chattanooga, Nashville, and Knoxville. We need them spread out and all over the state. 

We are challenging every charter to sign up at least 12 vendors in the cities, small towns and on country back roads. Get creative! Send this information as soon as you have it to Nancy at the sate office.
Trifolds and Holders
Membership is a critical issue for us. Look at the one published on the website. Notice the back panel with the customized information just for YOUR charter. E can put your events, officers and other information on this panel. These are great little items for every charter member to carry with them and use when talking to other bikers. When asked what CMT/ABATE is all about, this little piece of literature can answer the questions. In addition it has a complete membership application on it. So, you can sign people up on the spot. 

They also work great when left behind at places of business where bikers gather. Please see the enclosed description of the Trifold Program then read the challenge below.

We are challenging every charter to 1.) get a trifold designed for 2003 and 2.) designate 20 places to put out holders and trifolds in order to spread the word about CMT/ABATE and the benefits of membership, 3.) use the Trifold holders to display these items at these locations. These are the same places that would work great as vendors in the StateWide Poker Run!
Membership Goals 
At the last BOD meeting your charter was given a status of your charter both financially as well as for membership for the past year. In my November column I listed goals for the organization. Some of them have to do with membership. Obviously, membership is a charter issue and each charter should have membership goals they hope to attain in 2003. 

We want every charter to look at where they are now and set a goal for where they plan to be at the end of the year when the next charter audit is done. Obviously, if you plan on raising membership you have to have a plan to get there, events to raise interest and ways of increasing the numbers. Setting the goal is just the way of starting that ball rolling and working through ha creative process.

We are challenging every charter to set membership goals for the total number of paid members they will have at the end of the year. Please send these charter membership goals to Dale Carroll as soon as possible. 
Charitable Giving Versus Political Action
As I stated in a recent column, we don't need to out charity the charitable organizations. Yes, we need to be involved with charitable organizations and give of ourselves. But, we are not here to be a charitable organization - we are a political organization. Please don't stop giving or caring. Keep doing the things that you are doing but for one year keep track of the money (or value of donated items) that is given to charitable organizations versus what is kept within the organization and used for political and legislative purposes. 

We challenge you to keep a running total of the money (or value of items) given to charity versus what is sent to the state for legislative action. This will be turned in at the December BOD meeting. 
State Committees
During the summer BOD meeting we approved the formation of standing committees to handle Activities, Membership, Public Relations, Safety and Education, Products and Fiscal Oversight. Enclosed is a description of the committees and the reasons we need them. 

We are asking for one volunteer from your charter to serve on one of the committees - not one for each of the committees. We just need one person - more if they want to volunteer - to help us move CMT/ABATE to the next level - the level achieved by Kentucky, Florida, Texas, Arkansas and Louisiana. 

We challenge you to designate a volunteer to serve on one of the state committees. Please notify Nancy of this person (or persons) by 2/15/03.
MRF and NCOM
There are two organizations that work for motorcycle rights nationally. They are the National Coalition of Motorcyclists (NCOM) and the Motorcycle Riders Foundation (MRF). Both of these organizations do good work on national issues that we can't address at the state level like the EPA and the HIPAA law that allows your health insurance company or employer to deny you coverage. Last year I went to both national conventions and quickly found out that we need to have a lot of people from Tennessee at these events. The information, contacts and energy available from these events is absolutely amazing. You meet the people who are doing what we are doing and you meet people who have already done it. They have achieved the goals we are trying to. There is information available that we can use in our state battles. There are also wonderful contacts that can be made with other freedom fighters who can supply ideas, input and energy to our fight. The social events are great. Every organization brings items from their regions for auctions and silent auctions. There are awards banquets recognizing those who have gone above and beyond and the parties are legendary. But, most of all these are tremendous gatherings of true freedom fighters from all over the country. 

We need to be at these conventions. They have special room rates for us and the agendas are set. The NCOM convention is May 8 - 10, 2003 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I will be leading a ride up there on Wednesday, May 7th. You can get more information from http://www.aimncom.com/. 

The MRF convention is September 18-21, 2003 in Green Bay, WI. John Pierce, the State MRF Representative and Director of the Wheels of Thunder Charter will be coordinating a ride to that event. You can contact him through his phone number in the paper.

But, the point is that we need to learn from those who have gone before us. We need to gather ideas, information and materials that will help us in our fight. We need to compare notes, strategies and plans with other states. We need to work smarter - not just harder. 

We challenge you to designate someone from your charter like your legislative representative to go to these events. Hold fundraisers to send both your rep and state officers to these events. Let me and John know who is planning on going. There are registration deadlines and motel room considerations that must be accounted for.
Other Organizations
In my travels recently I've seen a lot of people showing up at charter meetings who also happen to belong or have contact with other rider organizations in the state. These include patch holder clubs, HOG, the Christian Motorcycle Association, Southern Cruisers Riding Club and the Gold Wing Road Riders Association. There are many, many more as well. These are great sources of members, information and contacts for your charter. People within these organizations probably aren't even aware of the threats to their sport. You can help them and CMT/ABATE. Be the liaison to the group. Show up at their meetings. Bring extra newsletters. Answer their questions. Recruit members. Get a CMT/ABATE booth set up at their events. Work at their events. Find out who the people are in their group - they may be able to supply goods, services or important political muscle for our fight. We need them and they need us to be successful. We are in the battle together whether they know it or not. So, let's make sure they are informed. (Take them some newsletters and trifolds.)

We challenge you to designate a different individual for each riding group in your area to be a liaison with your charter. Work with these groups, invite them to your chapter meetings, attend their meetings, supply information and report the relationship within your chapter report each month so that the world can see we are working together for a common purpose. 

Well, that's about it for now. I realize we are asking a lot. Having been a charter director I also know that this is a thankless and often frustrating job. Many times I wanted to just 'chuck it' and walk away. No one cared and no one was stepping up. You should see it from where I sit now. 

Well, now some people are stepping up and changes are happening. New energy and focus are showing themselves. We need to get some additional momentum and success going both financially as well as politically. You and your charter are vital to success in our future. Don't be thinking that the 'other guy' will do it. You see, he's thinking the same thing. If we all do that, nothing gets done. Feel free to call me directly any time to ask questions about any of these challenges. My number is 615-491-6768. Good luck and let's build CMT/ABATE for the future.

Until later, just ride…

Steve