U of U Eccles school of business auction

[greg]

So, here are the 3 lucky racers thast will be representing Rad Canyon BMX in the U of U Eccles school of business Auction. They are receiving the local season of racing paid for, in return they will be the faces of Utah BMX racing to the business community leaders for the year. I have high hopes that we will be able to show the business leaders of our community how benificial BMX racing is to the families and individuals that participate, and get them more involved in furthering our goals to be the top track in the nation.

[b2]

Cool photos, but, I don't seem to know anything about the program of which you speak. Was something mentioned previously that maybe I missed? Can you elaborate?

[thebmxlife]

The only thing I ever heard about this was the day the names were drawn. I was sitting on the East side and didn't hear the anouncement at all. I only heard about it from another rider.

I thought to be eligible, a rider could not aleady have a sponser/team. I must have gotten the wrong info.

[JAlvey]

Same here. We heard it was something to give a season pass to new riders in the Novice classes. Seems like a good program though.

[b2]

I remember an announcement for a drawing for 1 girl and 2 experts--which I think is a good audience to win a season pass. Aren't girls and experts most likely to get "bored" with it? I dunno, just a thought.

Other than that and the actual drawing, that's all I know. Interested in hearing more, however.

[bnd]

I have no idea what this is about, from what Iv'e read though it's pretty cool. How did this come about?

b.

[greg]

Well, I guess this should be 'splained a bit better.

The Eccles School of Business at the U of U holds a fund raiser auction every year to help with scholarships, expenses, etc. They hold the auction up at the La Caille Restaurant with about 200 local business leaders in attendance.
Ron was aproached by the Eccles school of business to possibly donate something to the auction. He subsequantly asked me to see what I could come up with.

Well, I thought about it for a day or two, milled it over, tried to think of what Rad had to offer business leaders, what exactly did Rad provide in the way of goods or services that made sense to donate. What I came up with was the realization that the one thing Rad Canyon does provide is a place for all of us to ride our bikes. Probably not too big a hit for the intended audience at the auction. But, how about providing the business leaders a chance to become a "sponsor" to a lucky few riders, and have the chance to advertise at the track (banners/signs), and maybe open up a new avenue for THEIR products or services. It'd be a win/win/win scenario. The "sponsoring" business would have access to the BMX market in Utah, the riders would get a season of racing for free, and Rad Canyon has the opportunity to expose the local business leaders to BMX racing (hopefully leading to an influx of outside interest in the sport). I am going to provide a monthly news letter to the sponsor with updates on how their riders have done recently, big races coming up, happenings in the sport, etc. I'll also provide framed pictures for them to hang in the store/office, and just generally use the riders to put a face on our sport and keep them involved throughout the season.

So, with that in mind, I wanted to get the cream of the crop to represent the BMX community, thus the desire for expert or girl level riders. At the initial anouncement, I tried to explain the program without getting into much detail over the mic. I didn't do a good job, but I did say to come over and talk to me to get the full details on the program. I had ONE girl and ONE expert come over and put their name in. Not the sort of response I was hoping for. So, I had Roland announce a couple more times to come over and talk to me to get the details. Still nobody. I then started to talk to Mike Kelley about it, and he worked some magic with the people in attendance, and suddenly right before the mains (when I had said I was going to draw the names) I had 30-40 people coming up to me to get their names in. I tried to explain that it was GIRLS class and EXPERT class only, but I think it didn't get to allot of people. Anyway, the names were drawn, and the riders were selected.

Anyway, I'm sorry for all the confusion. I only had a couple of days to get the program together and all of the exact details were still being worked out as we sellected riders. I had to get them selected on that race day, get some pictures taken, put together the material for the auction, and get it to them so they could have time to do what they need to do.

I hope that this has a positive response from the auction attendees, and even more so from the racing community. If we can get the leaders of our community interested or at least aware of BMX racing, then that could only lead to bigger and better things in the future. I hope that this can become a yearly tradition, and something that gets riders motivated to move into the girl and expert ranks to get a chance at becoming the faces of Rad Canyon.

I hope this sheds some light on what is going on.

[J Gallo]

greg,

If there is anything I can do with the UtahBMX.com website to help your efforts with this program, or any other, please let me know. I'd be more than happy to add on some sponsor logo's to the site for any company that is giving back to the Utah BMX community.

This sounds like a great program, good on ya for helping to make this happen!!

[b2]

yes, what Mr Gallo says. Neat program. I hope it helps to further the reach of what BMX racing is to corporate Utah. Cool! Way to go Greg, always pimpin' the scene!