Ride with the Candidates Week in October--plan your own event and invite the candidates!

The Missouri Bicycle and Pedestrian Federation, in cooperation with bicycle, pedestrian, and trails groups from around Missouri, is planning "Ride with the Candidates Week" for September 30-October 6, 2012.

Plan your own local event--which can be as simple as inviting candidates to your Walk to School Day event or existing weekly ride--or help your local bike/ped groups with planning a larger, regional event.

Event Guidelines

 - Your event can be biking, walking, running, or some combination--like a trail event where some people will walk the trail, some will bike it.  It could also be a "meet the candidates" event covering bicycle/pedestrian issues if that makes more sense in your circumstance.

 - You can create a new, specific "Ride with the Candidates" event or you can piggyback on an existing planned event (Walk to School month events would be perfect) or an existing regular event, like a weekly ride or walk.

 - Candidates like to talk to people, so it is a very good idea to plan a time, say 30 minutes immediate prior to the actual ride, where you give each candidate 3 minutes or 5 minutes to address the citizens who attend.

 - Candidates like to informally talk to people. Some of this happens naturally at a biking or walking event, but if your event includes an informal get-together at a restaurant or bar afterwards, be sure the candidates know about this and know that they are invited to stay for a short time or as long as they like.   You can also include this up front in the event, like: Meet and informal discussion 6:00-6:30, candidate speeches 6:30-7:00, ride 7:00-8:00.

 - Most candidates are not very hard core cyclists, so make the ride or event relatively short, or at least include a shorter/flatter option

 - Invite the media--this has the potential to be a great visual and engaging event.

 - Take plenty of photos of your event--post on Facebook, Twitter, and elsewhere.  Please send photos to director@mobikefed.org as well.

 - If your event will include more than 10-15 participants, consider providing a sound system so that speakers can be easily heard.

 - You can do this event on several different levels, your choice:

    - You could invite candidates from just one district or one city or town--a great option for individuals or small groups.  For instance, if you have a weekly ride in your town, just invite all the candidate from your town to join you one week. 

    - You can invite all the candidates from a whole area or region--for instance, all candidates from Kirksville area, or from the Springfield region, or from St. Charles County, or all candidates from the Bootheel region.  Not all candidates will participate in an event like this, to inviting more candidates from a larger area is a great way to make it more attractive for the candidates, who will have a larger audience, the participants, who will have the chance to meet a variety of candidates, and the media, who will have a larger event to cover.

 - Candidate events can be very simple and they don't have to be a lot of work.  Ideal is to invite candidates to a Walk to School Day event or regular ride that you already do and that already has participants built in.  Candidates are looking for audiences and opportunities and you can provide one--it's a win/win from both sides.

 - A small event can be just as successful as a large one.  If you can get a couple of hundred people and a dozen candidates out, great.  But a smaller, intimate event with 6-8 people and 1-2 candidates can be a great experience as well, with far more time for one-one interaction and really getting to know the candidate.
 

About the Candidates

 - You can expect the candidates to represent almost exactly a cross-section of society.  So a few are avid cyclists, runners, or walkers.  More are casual or recreational cyclists or occasional walkers.  Many have not been on a bicycle in decades.  Some may have their own bicycle, many others will be more likely to participate if you can provide them a bicycle.  Some won't want to or can't ride a bicycle even if you provide one.  Be prepared to accommodate this whole range of participation, and make the event inviting to all candidates, however they want to participate.

 - Many candidates will be more interested in participating in a walking or running option if you can provide a bicycle for them to use.   Partner up with a local bike shop to provide some bikes, or have bike club members bring some of their spares for the occasion.  Find out how many bikes you will need and bike fitting information (rider height) during the invite/RSVP process.  But also have a couple of spare bikes on hand just in case.  And don't forget a few spare helmets!

 - Keep in mind that candidates like to meet various constituent groups *even if they don't participate in that activity themselves*.  Having the chance to talk with a group of cyclists, runners, etc is an experience candidates value, even if they do not choose to participate in the activity themselves.

 - You will find that some candidates will just come for the speeches and/or informal meeting time, without riding or walking.  Others will participate in both. 

  - Many times candidates will rush in to your event, spend 15-30 minutes, then rush off to another event on the other side of town.  Just plan your event to allow for this common occurrence and plan for flexibility in your schedule to allow candidates to speak or participate during the time window they have available.

 - It is a good idea to find out about your candidates' plans when you invite them to the event and ask them to RSVP.  Ask them if they are planning to walk or ride with the group or would rather just talk.  Ask them if they are planning to bring their bicycle or would like you to provide one.

 - If one candidate RSVPs to attend, immediately inform the others in that race and re-invite them.  Nothing encourages participation better than knowing your opponent will be there, and it helps the event reach all parties and remain truly bike-partisan.

 - Many candidates will know little or nothing about bicycle and pedestrian issues.  One reason for holding these events is to start to educate the candidates and elected officials.  MoBikeFed will provide issue summaries specifically for November 2012 candidates, but in the meanwhile use this backgrounder to help summarize the issues for your candidates.  Providing this information to candidates before the event helps them to know what issues bicyclists and pedestrians are interested in and help provide the candidates with talking points for the speeches and talks with citizens at your event.

 

Finding and Inviting Candidates

 - You can find the list of all candidates running for various offices in Missouri, along with their contact information, here:

   http://votesmart.org/election/2012/L/MO/2012-state-legislative?stageId=G

 - Note, however, that Missouri's recent redistricting has changed almost all legislative districts, so the automated zip code/address lookup tools on Project Vote Smart and other similar web sites are all out of date now.  Carefully check your new district boundaries here:

  http://www.sos.mo.gov/elections/s_default.asp?id=maps

How MoBikeFed will help

 - MoBikeFed has a comprehensive list of candidates and contact information for all races throughout the state.  The file includes city, county, and zip code information that will allow you to zero in on the candidates you are most interested in from your area.  If you don't have the candidates list, just email director@mobikefed.org to request it.

 - MoBikeFed can help publicize your event to area bike/ped enthusiasts, candidates, and the media.  Send an announcement about your event (who-what-where-when-why) to director@mobikefed.org