It's almost here! In just a few weeks, advocates from all around North America will gather at the Antiochian Village Conference Center for the 2014 Alliance Leadership Retreat. (If you're coming, here's almost everything you need to know. If you're not coming but you want to, register here – registration closes tomorrow.)
The schedule is packed with an awesome array of peer learning sessions that follow the principles of popular education. This agenda reflects feedback from the 2012 Retreat evaluations and the Alliance's 2013 member survey. Thanks to the Leadership Retreat Planning Committee and consultant Celia Kutz from Training for Change for their strong assists in planning.
Let's take a look! (Note: this agenda may be subject to change.)
Friday 9/5
All day: Shuttles arrive
9:00a - 4:00p: Alliance Board meeting
11:00a - 6:00p: Registration opens; Optional games and activities
2:30 - 5:45: Advocacy Advance grantee convening
6:00 - 7:00: Dinner - Cafeteria
7:00 - 8:00: Large group session: Introductions - Auditorium
8:00 - 11:00: Social time
Saturday 9/6
8:00a - 9:00: Breakfast - Cafeteria
9:00 - 10:00: Large group session: Setting the stage - Auditorium
10:00 - 10:30: Large group session: Moneyball for (bike) advocacy - Auditorium
- Caron Whitaker, Vice President of Government Relations, League of American Bicyclists
10:30 - 10:45: Break
10:45 - 12:00p: Topic breakout #1 (Click here to see sessions)
12:00p - 1:00: Lunch - Location to be announced
1:00 - 1:45: Open time
1:45 - 3:00: Topic breakout #2 (Click here to see sessions)
3:00 - 3:15: Break
3:15 - 4:00: Introduce unconference - Auditorium
4:00 - 4:45: Unconference session #1
4:45 - 5:15: Debrief and plan unconference session #2 - Auditorium
5:15 - 6:00: Unconference session #2
6:00 - 7:00: Dinner - Location to be announced
7:00 - 8:00: Pecha kucha - Auditorium
8:00 - 11:00: Social time and campfire
Sunday 9/7
8:00a - 9:00: Breakfast - Cafeteria
9:00 - 10:30: Large group discussion: Gender, diversity, and inclusion - Auditorium
- Keith Holt, Executive Director, Milwaukee Bike Works
- Adonia Lugo, Equity Initiative Manager, League of American Bicyclists
- Naomi Doerner, Executive Director, Bike Easy
- Renee Rivera, Executive Director, Bike East Bay
10:30 - 10:45: Break
10:45 - 12:00p: Topic breakout #3 (Click here to see sessions)
12:00p - 1:00: Lunch - Cafeteria
1:00 - 1:45: Open time
1:45 - 3:00: Topic breakout #4 (Click here to see sessions)
3:00 - 3:15: Break
3:15 - 3:45: Introduce tracks - Auditorium
3:45 - 4:45: Track #1: Organization type
4:45 - 5:00: Break
5:00 - 6:00: Track #2: Role in organization
6:00 - 7:00: Dinner - Cafeteria
7:00 - 8:00: Talent show / improv - Auditorium
8:00 - 11:00: Social time and campfire
Monday 9/8
8:00a - 9:00: Breakfast - Cafeteria
9:00 - 10:30: Large group session: Leading the movement forward - Auditorium
10:30 - 12:00p: Susie tree planting - Outdoors
12:00p - 3:00: Shuttles to downtown Pittsburgh and airport. Boxed lunches will be provided.
Afternoon: Start of Pro Walk / Pro Bike / Pro Place
Topic Breakout Sessions
Topic Breakout #1, Saturday 10:45-12:00
Bikeshare: An advocate's dream scheme - Rooms 1, 2 combined
We all know that bikeshare can have a profound impact on biking in communities. In this session, we will discuss how advocates have leveraged bikeshare to grow their organization through partnerships, encouragement, and engaging a broader spectrum of the public in bicycling.
Topic: Advocacy
With:
- Jeff Miller, President / CEO, Alliance for Biking & Walking
- Dani Simons, Director of Marketing & External Affairs, NYC Bike Share
- Bob Burns, President, B-Cycle
- Katie Monroe, Bike Share Outreach Manager, Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia
Making public speaking more effective (and fun) - Room 3
This workshop covers tips and tactics for feeling more comfortable, looking more confident, and expressing your message more effectively when speaking to groups and to media. We'll cover how you can better engage audiences, communicate your point, and provide value. Participants will be asked to create their own sound bites and will help each other craft and refine messaging and delivery.
Topic: Leadership development
With:
- Erin O’Melinn, Executive Director, HUB Cycling
Getting to the ask: Conversations with major donors - Room 4
In this peer-to-peer workshop, participants will learn from each other the tricks of the trade to cultivate major donors. The facilitator will lead the discussion through the following topics: how to qualify a prospect, how to get a meeting, what happens during a major donor meeting, creating your case, and getting to "Yes". Participants will leave the meeting with handouts on each of the above topics as well as a draft script for their next face-to-face major donor solicitation.
Topic: Organizational development
With:
- Tarrell Wright, Development Director, Cascade Bicycle Club
Promoting Diversity in Bicycle Education and Encouragement - Auditorium
There are a hundred different reasons why a person might want or need to ride a bicycle, but also just as many barriers keeping that person from doing so. Even when improved infrastructure is slow to develop, bicycle education and training programs can assist individuals in getting past barriers and onto two wheels. In this panel discussion, we will investigate how successful programs have served the needs of diverse communities.
Topic: Movement building; Programs
With:
- Robert Prinz, Education Director, Bike East Bay
- Kylie Walzak, Cyclovia Tucson Coordinator, Living Streets Alliance
Topic Breakout #2, Saturday 1:45-3:00
(Re)branding your organization: It’s not (just) about the logo - Rooms 1, 2 combined
Your brand is the face you present to the world. We will hear from four groups working at the federal, state and local level who have recently rebranded their organization with an eye to increasing and diversifying their audience. Panelists will share tools, tips, and best practices from their rebrand, and will lead discussion on brand identity and how it influences your audiences. Lessons from this session will be useful whether or not you are considering a brand refresh.
Topic: Organizational development
With:
- Renee Rivera, Executive Director, Bike East Bay
- Barb Chamberlain, Executive Director, Washington Bikes
- Naomi Doerner, Executive Director, Bike Easy
- Carolyn Szczepanski, Director of Communications, League of American Bicyclists
Leveraging your Volunteers to Grow your Movement and Expand your Scope - Room 4
It can be hard to figure out how to best take advantage of volunteer support. In this session, we'll look at different ways to utilize volunteers to effectively train, recruit, and manage other volunteers. We'll look at scaling volunteers for major events (200-300 volunteers in a day), training volunteers for ongoing outreach, volunteer management systems and record-keeping, and retention strategies.
Topics: Movement building; Programs
With:
- Margaret McCarthy, Volunteer Coordinator, San Francisco Bicycle Coalition
Framework for rocks - Auditorium
This workshop will help participants deliberately structure their meetings and set up a system for accountability that is simple, easily communicated, and helps drive your work without making busy work. You'll learn about the need to establish quarterly objectives (Rocks), practice it, and to help build a meeting framework for addressing the rocks.
Topic: Organizational development
With:
- Rob Sadowsky, Executive Director, Bicycle Transportation Alliance
- Stephanie Noll, Deputy Director, Bicycle Transportation Alliance
Topic Breakout #3, Sunday 10:45-12:00
The Bicycle Equity Toolkit: A new resource for bike advocates - Rooms 1, 2 combined
Bike advocates have a long history of addressing inequities in transportation funding and street use, but we have not always connected to movements for social and racial equity. The Bicycle Equity Toolkit is a response to the growing recognition that we must reach beyond our endemic audiences. Learn about solutions developed by bike partners around the U.S. and beyond, from programs to board composition.
Topic: Movement building; Advocacy
With:
- Adonia Lugo, Equity Initiative Manager, League of American Bicyclist
Uncapping the private sector's potential - Room 3
This workshop will explore the different tactics that biking and walking advocates have successfully used to organize advocacy and financial support in business communities. First, learn how BikePGH built a supportive business network of over 100 establishments and an annual revenue stream of over $100,000. Then, hear and share stories of business program successes.
Topic: Programs
With:
- Dan Yablonsky, Business Programs Assistant, BikePGH
- Lou Fineberg, National Advocacy Account Manager, Dero Bicycle Racks
- Amelia Neptune, Bicycle Friendly America Program Specialist, League of American Bicyclists
- Stephanie Noll, Deputy Director, Bicycle Transportation Alliance
- Jason Van Driesche, Director of Advocacy and Education, Local Motion
Building a regional structure and tools for advocacy in suburban communities - Room 4
Suburban biking and walking advocacy often merits different facilities and campaign strategies than advocacy within an urban core. An organization focused on one city will look drastically different from an organization with an expanded regional focus and multiple chapters or working groups. In this session, hear about experiences developing regional structures and learn tools for successful advocacy in suburban communities.
Topic: Advocacy
With:
- Corinne Winter, Executive Director, Bike Silicon Valley
- Cynthia Armour, Project Manager, Bike East Bay
- Melody Geraci, Deputy Director, Active Transportation Alliance
- Renee Rivera, Executive Director, Bike East Bay
Topic Breakout #4, Sunday 1:45-3:00
Inspiring innovation in cities: Lessons from the Green Lane Project - Rooms 1, 2 combined
In two years of catalyzing the adoption of protected bike lanes through the Green Lane Project, we've learned a lot about how innovations move from the fringes to the mainstream. Part theory, part lessons learned, and part action agenda, this presentation will help everyone think more clearly about their role in this complex and exciting process.
Topic: Movement building
With:
- Martha Roskowski, Vice President of Local Innovation, People for Bikes
- Rob Sadowsky, Executive Director, Bicycle Transportation Alliance
- Melody Geraci, Deputy Director, Active Transportation Alliance
Make your case (with data!) - Room 3
The 2014 Benchmarking Report is a massive compendium of data. Apply these data to the work you do, and you can strengthen your arguments for improving your community or state for active transportation. Participants in this workshop will dissect the report to find the numbers, graphics, and case studies that can best support your case for better biking and walking.
Topic: Advocacy
With:
- Andrea Milne, Benchmarking Program Manager, Alliance for Biking & Walking
- Mary Lauran Hall, Communications Director, Alliance for Biking & Walking
Building Diverse Coalitions to Advance Community-Driven Transportation Policies - Room 4
Share ideas and successes for implementing, engaging and organizing coalitions with diverse community partners. Hear first-hand about how the STEPS Coalition in California has empowered seniors to become advocates for walkability, and lessons learned for how to replicate this coalition model to advance community-driven transportation policies. Learn how Brownsville, Texas has moved fast to become a bicycle friendly city in the past few years. Through the Hike and Bike Master plan, people crossing the border by bike, and CycloBia, a large, previously underserved population is eager to explore active transportation to improve the region's health and boost the local economy. Share your own experiences in building coalitions that engage the community in the policy, planning and advocacy processes.
Topic: Movement building; Advocacy
With:
- Tony Dang, Deputy Director, California Walks
- Fernando Martinez, Project Manager, BikeTexas
Risky business: Overcoming your toughest opponents and mastering the art of conflict resolution - Auditorium
This interactive workshop will explore leadership development by examining how relationships and advocacy outcomes can be improved through better handling of differences and disagreements. Join this session to establish tools to be successfully deal with the issues that lead to destructive conflict.
With:
- Sam Ollinger, Executive Director, BikeSD
- Ren Barger, Executive Director, Tulsa Hub
In keeping with Alliance tradition, the Leadership Retreat is not your average conference. Be prepared to meet, be awed by, and awe your peers around North America. We'll see you there!
*The Leadership Retreat Planning Committee is Erin O’Mellin of HUB and the Alliance board, Terry Preston of WalkSacramento and the Alliance board, Scott Bricker of Bike Pittsburgh and the Alliance board, Tony Dang of California Walks, Brent Buice of Georgia Bikes, and Stephani Noll of Bicycle Transportation Alliance.
