How PR Firm Build NBG Excerpt

from "How America Can Bike and Grow Rich, the National Bicycle Greenway in Action"

“Man I keep getting passed by a lot of the same cars and trucks. What’s that?” Skot demanded. 

“That happened to me when I came through Iowa in ’79,” I replied. “I asked lots of questions and I can’t remember if someone told me or what, but if you’ll notice when that happens, it’s when there’s a lot of towns bunched up 10 to 15 miles apart. And what happens is they’re running errands and stuff between them. Hardware store in one town, soccer practice in another, church stuff, etc.” 

“That makes sense I guess,” answered Skot as he shrugged his shoulders. “So they do know where they are going after all.” 

“Well, at least they got a plan. Kind of like us you know.” I said. 

“We got two plans,” Skot shot back. 

“That’s right and good point Skot. We got the Mayors' Ride and we got the business plan for the National Bicycle Greenway.” 

“But I’m a little worried about da second plan,” Skot said as leaned back against the railing. “I mean we’re halfway through Plan A right now. You know we got us out here on all dese fancy bikes and riding da Mayors' Ride cities and dey get all excited about us every year,” he said. And as his words got faster and faster, he finished the thought with “and then it all goes away, boom.” After a pause, he slowed down and started again, “but how you gonna get everyone first off even knowing about Plan B and den sticking with da NBG year round?” 

“I’m glad you’re worried about that Skot but you know how they say ‘everything has a price’? 

“Yeah but hey we’re talking bicycles here. How you gonna get all dese heavyweight bubbas outta der cars or off der couches or out from in front of der TV sets? Money’s how dey got dat way to begin with. It made ‘em lazy. How you gonna unlazy dem??” 

“We’re gonna brainwash them. You know the same way that the beer companies make it look athletic to drink beer by saturating the sports ethers. Whether you go to the games or you see them on TV, everywhere you look there’s an ad for beer. They’re on the signs, on the programs, on the tickets, on the commercials, on the scoreboard, they get their name mentioned for every little break the players take. They’re part of the culture. It’s kinda like if you’re not having a cold one, you’re an outsider, you’re not part of the game. 

“They got the same thing going on with all these cars and trucks. It’s like they’re targeting all these 20 somethings who are just getting started with their lives and they make it look like driving is a given. Like there’s no other option. I mean how can young people be expected to think otherwise? Have you ever watched a football game on TV lately? I used to love that stuff. Then there were too many games to watch and now I know why. It’s just one big infomercial for driving and drinking.” 

“I wouldn’t go that far,” Don who had tuned in offered. “I saw a few Viagra ads when I was over a friend’s house one time.” 

“How about Taco Bell?” Virginia added. 

“OK, OK, I forgot the fast food needed to make you fat and add to your unhealthiness. And then they gotta pimp pills so you can get it up after they kill all your life force with all the crap they want you to eat and drink and forget exercise to burn it off, they want you to drive,” said Don. 

“I know, It’s all so sick,” I began, “the Ad Man makes them think they are real men and women and no longer kids when they can own a car. Like it’s some kind of rite of passage. That’s why a lot of kids who first start to drive, look down on cyclists as less thans..” 

“Didn’t I hear you say that when you go to Critical Mass that that is the cool thing to do now; that a lot of the kids are starting to get it?” Bill who had been listening to us interjected. 

“That’s right,” I said, “They’re playing all this major loud music. And it’s one huge rolling party with kazoos and boom boxes and everyone is laughing and taking their time and most of the riders are in their 20’s. And there’s even children and a few old people. And most of the people stuck in cars or eating at the restaurants or just walking on the sidewalks are all cheering us on. But hey that’s San Francisco. We’ve always been ahead of the curve. And yet there again, that’s only one day of the month. And then every other day, the young people got to go out and contend with all this car propaganda. And who do you think pays for all these ads the young people see?” Not waiting for an answer I continued, “we do, because they just charge more for their cars, and everyone else charges more for the stuff they sell so they can buy them.” 

“Dat’s what I mean. We bike dudes don’t got a chance. I mean we’re talkin’ major do, re, me here. We’re talkin’ major millions. And dose guys buy de major advertising. And dey don’t just buy it once or twice, dey buy it day in, day out.” Skot said. “Where you gonna get dat kind of money? I mean we are talking bicycles now remember. Even if you got some rich benefactor dude to will his whole estate to you when he dies, that’s only one time. But dose beer and oil guys got something we don’t. 

“You can’t drink bikes and when de beer is gone, hey, you gotta buy more. And you know as soon as we get to Des Moines, I’m gonna find me a bar and dat’s what I’m gonna do - I’m gonna buy me an ice cold draught. And those truck guys also got something they use that we don’t use either. Oil.” 

“Skot that’s what got us into this mess to begin with. People taking from the planet and not putting any thing back in. And yet, like I was telling those kids back in Oakland, there’s a whole new breed of people who want to make a difference with how their riches are spent. They’re not trying to grow their investment portfolio by investing in companies that promote those things that take from our health or take from the planet. They want to know that what they are investing in will not only solve a need now but lighten the load for future generations. We’re gonna find those angel investors who want for their lives to be remembered as having saved human kind from spiraling down the dark hole which we are digging for ourselves.” 

“What investor is going to keep throwin’ money at a bunch of outlaws?” Skot began. “I mean if you think about it, most cyclists like their independence, that’s why dey ride. That’s why I ride. But you get all dese car people an der always waiting in lines wherever dey go. But we don’t do dat so that makes us fringe players dat dese money guys can’t control.” Skot observed. 

“That’s what they said about computer nerds. The money guys couldn’t see how they could make money off a bunch of long hairs who smelled bad who gave all their ideas away. Back then the only real intellectual property you had belonged to authors and lawyers and that was easy to control. But building a whole company around thoughts that you had to hide from the competition and doing so with a bunch of renegades required the same kind of out of the box kind of thinkers we’re gonna find for our vision. 

“You look at these guys like Steve Jobs and Bill Gates and all these millionaire tech guys that are out there now and a lot of them used to be outcasts in the same way people who don’t own a car are viewed in many parts of the country today. Ever heard of Mike Markkula?” I asked. 

“Nopers,” Skot answered as we looked around to see if anyone else knew. “I know,” Virginia volunteered.
“You can’t answer,” I teased.
Virginia had heard me talk about this many times before. 

When everyone else seemed dumbfounded, I continued, “Markula to me is the reason we have personal computers. He was the moneyman who took a chance on the two Steves, Wozniak and Jobs back in the late 70’s. Initially most of the money he invested in these guys was on image on two levels. For this he relied on the massive public relations firm, Regis McKenna, 

“When they first came out,” I raised my voice as a farm tractor roared by, “computers were no more than these ugly boxes that made a bunch of noise that only the more advanced tech nerds could get any benefit from. Something as simple now as word processing, took a lot of specialized skill back then. Words like ‘spread sheet’ and ‘data base’ were not a part of the regular person’s vocabulary. So in order to make computers attractive to the masses, as they more and more simplified them, they also had to make it cool to use them. Besides making them look like something you would want to have in your home, they had to make them look sexy from the ground floor up. And that included making the early pioneers who had before seemed like such a bunch of outcasts appear like the trendsetters of the day. 

“And it was here that McKenna, then went to work remaking their two Golden Boys, Steve and Steve. They got a lot of investors to take a chance on their new technology, 

then they made rock stars out of them. By getting their faces on the covers of the leading magazines of the day and pushing for the innumerable magazine articles that chronicled what they viewed as newsworthy successes, soon, almost what seemed like overnight, the American dream was alive and well. Their journeys from working class beginnings to riches inspired hope among the regular Joe consumer. By carefully planting stories every where they could, it was Regis McKenna’s marketing muscle that helped to create soaring demand for the Apple Computer, the hands down leader of a brand new industry. 

“And it was this new face that Mckenna carefully sculpted for Apple that turned wild eyed fringe members of society into executives who people suddenly began to listen to and take seriously. The effect of which was to attract those who sought to imitate Apple’s success and has become the computer industry which has so much changed the world as we know it today.” 

“So are you saying they’re gonna make Wonder Kids out of you and I?” Skot teased. 

Skot had successfully overcome what was thought to be an incurable cancer to be able to do this ride. 

“Maybe they can do something with your story, I’m done talking about mine. And along with that, what I foresee is having enough money to get these huge old PR firms to use our Mayors' Rides to celebrate the every day cyclist who is out there on the roads. That’s who’s usually out here visiting these Mayors. You know, really having the resources to turn the volume up for the reports our Scouts send in from out here and getting their bio pages and the Podcast interviews we do with them all over the media. And year in, year out, we get a fresh new set of celebrities to keep the public excited for the human interest part of these things.” 

“I guess anything’s possible with money,” Skot shrugged. 

“With just our Mayors' Rides, for example, if we had just one national office with one or two really good PR people, bombarding the media with news releases, pictures, stories and other copy these news people can easily slip into their papers and TV shows, even radio, then something’s gonna stick. And as the press starts picking this stuff up, it starts to take on a momentum that can’t help but hit the wire services. And we’ll also be able to rely on that to alert the smaller cities and towns along the way who will want to get into the fun by doing stories of their own. They’ll be contacting us and asking us to stop for an interview on our way through. 

“And when cities big and small interview our riders you know that when they ask them why they are doing the ride, they’re gonna get a healthy dose of Greenway information. And how those tuned in can help and etc.” 

“People forget though. Dat’s what I mean, even if we have a great summer, it’s still gonna start raining and it gets cold and de people don’t do de bikes,” Skot said. 

“That’s what exciting about these Mayors' Rides. Once we get money, we’ll really be able to use these rides for NBG recognition to make it a lot easier to advance all of the year round programs we foresee. Granted we’re not out of the gate yet, but we are going to keep using these rides and this year my book until we find those big thinkers that will help us get our business plan under written. Then we’ll be able to use a fully funded version of our Mayors' Ride to bring even more people and resources to all the other Greenway programs we’ll be able to get of the drawing board. 

“You’ve heard me talk about all these huge NBG Hubs we’re gonna have in all our Mayors’ Ride cities and all the activities that will be going on in them. You know, like the bicycle visitor’s bureau, all the bike recycling, the bike repair classes, the museum, the rentals, the swap meets, the bike rentals, the community bike repair and all the community events like mixers, booksignings, lectures, dances and youth activities and stuff. 

“Then there’s the regional festivals we foresee. And the guest home program and our on line bike route directory. And we’ll really be cooking when we can even give away free email addresses at nbg.bikeroute.com”. 

“I never got that one, how’s free email gonna build anything?” Skot asked. “What are we just gonna be these goody goodies that give away free email just to be nice?” 

“That’s what Yahoo and Google do. And you know they don’t give away free anything just to be nice. It’s all about getting their name out there so they can generate more advertising dollars. But in addition to that, once we get people using NBG.Bikeroute.com, they just might want to nose around a bit and visit some of the other links we will have running very subtly in the background. And the beauty is they don’t even have to be cyclists to use our free email so we are planting a seed there as well...” 

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Note: Our understanding of what is needed for the National Bicycle Greenway to get out of the clouds has evolved significantly in the eight years since HBGR was written. Because few resources and even fewer people will feel called to our vision, unless it can generate notable revenue, with Downtown Greenways at their center, here are the main money generating programs that Anchor Cities will spawn:

NBG Membership/Downtown Lodging discounts
Points of Interest Maps (POI)
Biking Report Cards

The other sources of revenue that we foresee, some that will be talked about in this edition, others in Book Two, will come from: 

NBG Passport Sales | Marking our Route (adoption of sections, benches, mile markers, etc.) | Route Signage Sales, eg History Placard Sponsorships, etc. | NBG Hubs | Website Monetization to include Google AdSense | Map Display Ad Sales for system-wide national ads | TransAm Rider Blog Display Ads | Ride/event licensure of our route | Sleeping Centers | Fundraising Programs with Point of Sale Campaigns to include NBG Day at Whole Foods, etc. | National Mayors' Ride Festival/Gateway Fest at the National Bike Capital | Checkout Charity