GamJams.net: Where Mid-Atlantic bike racers roll

Next Best Thing to a Pro Contract: The GamJams Internship Program (Part 1 and 2)

I like working on GamJams so much that I would do it for free. But I built it - so that's my prerogative. It seems only reasonable then, that if somebody else were to get to work on GamJams they should have to pay for the privilege. Not a lot, mind you. Maybe 25% of what they spend on the rest of the sport.

But that's not how GamJams rolls. In a true "By the racers, for the racers" spirit, GamJams announces its 2008 Internship Program, which costs participant(s) nothing. Zero. $Free.

Part 1: The Job Description
GamJams needs a production intern. Responsibilities will include some general site maintenance (Racing Calendar, Group Map, Classifieds, Featured Photos, Sponsored Teams), and also a leadership role in the creation of several new products, including:
- Regional Racing Sponsor Directory
- Local Team Directory
- Additional programs for GamJams Ambassadors
- Enhanced social features for the site
- Heck, I'll even let you spearhead a platform migration so we get this thing off a simple blog, and onto a platform with greater flexibility and feature sets

I don't want to cut into your training time too much, so I'm only looking for a minimum time commitment of 5 hours / week. If someone wants to do more, we'll ramp it up. If more than one eminently qualified candidate applies, we'll divide and conquer.


Skills required:
- Conversational fluency with a graphics application (for resizing photos principally - Cat 1 photoshop skills aren't necessary)
- Experience with online publishing and social media, including blogs, photo sharing, and some rudimentary familiarity with publishing technologies like HTML, flash and various image types (just knowing what they are - you don't need to know how to build flash movies from scratch)
- Either an understanding of the social application landscape, or an eagerness to immerse oneself into it (for identifying new tools and partnerships to enhance site functionality - including mapping, widgets, Facebook, etc.)
- Interest in or experience with interactive advertising and sponsorship models
- And of course some domain expertise in bike racing, preferably with some experience within this region


What's in it for you?
- Some hands-on experience in building what might at the most be a revolutionary new model for sports sponsorship, and at the least a moderately entertaining initiative designed to support the sport you love
- A chance to develop a host of new skills around online publishing, interactive advertising and social media, many of which might prove valuable to a future (or current) career
- Boundless gratitude from your fellow racers and GamJams visitors
- And yeah, maybe even some money (see Part 2, below)

Interested? Say so. If you have questions, please leave them in the comments so everyone benefits from further clarification.

Part 2: Sponsor the GamJams Intern

I don't mean hanging a sandwich board on him/her and parading him/her around the start/finish line with the lap counter, like a UFC Ring Girl (though I suppose everything is negotiable). As the sponsor of the GamJams Intern, you'll be the de facto sponsor of everything the Intern creates, for the first month after its launch. So your brand will hang on all the new stuff listed above that this person works on, all of which is designed to further strengthen this community of local racers and support the organizations that support us. I'll know how much it costs once I find an intern and negotiate his/her salary. That's what you'll pay, nothing more.

There are lots of details to work out, of course. But that's the gist. If you're interested in associating your brand with a host of products and initiatives designed to make bike racers, their teams and their other sponsors very happy, we should talk.

Haymarket Bicycles p/b Function Drinks announces 2008 Sponsors. GamJams is one of 'em.

It's easy to forget that Haymarket Bicycles just opened last season. In almost no time at all, they've immersed themselves pretty deeply into the regional racing scene, fielding a small but aggressive team and even producing a Cross race in year 1.

2008 brings some changes to Haymarket Bicycles, all of them good. In addition to a roster even deeper with talent, the team has landed a slate of new sponsors, including title benefactor Function Drinks. If you haven't yet seen Function Drinks, you will - they're a fortified water drink formulated for various, um, Functions. One is Shock Sports, created by smart people in lab coats to accelerate recovery after muscle-ripping efforts. Drop a few bottles in your reusable bag next time you're at Whole Foods or Target, where it's available. Or watch for the Function Folks at a race near you soon.

There are a bunch of other sponsors as well, but I'll let the press release below do the talking. Before that though, here's a couple thousand more words:

This is how the Marketing Department says it:

HAYMARKET, VA-  Haymarket Bicycles Racing is pleased to announce its slate of sponsors for the 2008 cycling season, including some of the top names in the industry, new names that are sure to generate a buzz, and local companies who share the community-minded focus of Haymarket Bicycles.

Function Drinks will serve as the team’s presenting sponsor, and both racers and Function representatives are excited about this new partnership.  Function Drinks brings cutting-edge science to a line of all-natural physician-developed beverages, formulated to address needs ranging from energy to recovery, immune system support to stress relief.  Company representatives plans to be in attendance at several major races this season, distributing samples and information about the products. 

Haymarket Physical Therapy & Chiropractic is another of the team’s major sponsors this year, and serves as a one-stop shop for wellness in Northern Virginia.  HPTC’s skilled staff offers leading-edge treatments in physical therapy, athletic training, and sports chiropractic medicine, ensuring lasting pain relief, and helping to prevent injury recurrence. 

Raleigh Bicycles is a name that’s been known in the industry for decades, and probably one many remember from childhood.  Raleigh is becoming an important player among competitive cyclists once again, and Haymarket Bicycles will be helping the company prove its new carbon frame this season, the same frame on which the Interbike Industry Cup was claimed for Raleigh this year.

GamJams.net has quickly established itself as the premiere source for cycling news and information in the Mid-Atlantic.  With a focus on fostering awareness of, and support for, the cycling community, GamJams.net continues to create valuable opportunities for racers at all levels, as well as for the organizations that support amateur racing.

Other Haymarket Bicycles sponsors include Tifosi Optics, makers of technologically-advanced eyewear for athletes, performance audio equipment manufacturer JBL, global commercial contractors DPR Construction, and the renowned health and fitness experts at World Gym. 

Other local sponsors include Northern Virginia’s paving experts, Superior Paving, and Tullio Engineering.

The team is run by Haymarket Bicycles owners Jared Nieters and Curtis Prosser.  Haymarket Bicycles is a community-owned, community-oriented bike shop in downtown Haymarket, dedicated to serving the needs of all cyclists—from recreational riders to expert racers.  For more information about the team or the shop, go to www.haymarketbicycles.com, or call (703) 754-1911.

GamJams Sponsors CycleLife Women's Elite Team, Doesn't Actually Know what 'CycleLife' Is Yet

About a month ago, I mentioned the launch of The Capital Area Women's Elite Squad (CAWES). Well, the team has opened the season with an accomplishment still eluding more established teams like Slipstream and High Road - they've landed a title sponsor. Now they're the CycleLife Women's Elite Team, and GamJams is proud to be involved as a Media Sponsor.

The title sponsor is one CycleLife, which gets some airplay on the team blog here. From the name alone, it sounds like a bike shop. But from the description, it sounds more like a lifestyle destination for the pelotonatti. Whatever it is, when it opens GamJams is there and I'll have a full report. And a double latte with skim.

Here's the squad:
Jennifer Bodine
Michelle Hart
Leslie Jennings
Wendy Ulmer
Heidi von Teitenberg
Sara Zeigler
Robin Zimmerly

Full sponsor roster looks thusly:
CycleBeads
CycleLife
GamJams
Lucy
Raw Talent Ranch
RedWood
Teaism

Good luck in 2008, ladies.

HPC forms Elite Women's Team

Holy helmet head - we've got another elite women's team based locally. This one is fielded by HPC, with the support of a new title sponsor in Altarum, a nonprofit focused on research that improves health systems.

The team's roster is as follows:
Jenette Williams
Kristy Scheffenacker
Susan Hefler
Michele Bote
Lorena Candrian
Kate Flore
Jennifer Rasmusson

Here's the complete release:

HPC RACING ANNOUNCES 2008 WOMEN’S NATIONAL RACING TEAM AND TITLE SPONSOR ALTARUM

Look for Team HPC Powered by Altarum on the NRC circuit in 2008

Reston, VA (February 1, 2008) - Following three successful years racing at the regional level, Hefler Performance Coaching (HPC) has expanded its team to compete in a full National racing calendar (NRC) for 2008. HPC is proud to introduce Altarum Institute as a new title sponsor for the NRC team. Formerly known as the HPC/LIST Women’s Cycling Team, HPC has been successful at the regional level producing the Mid Atlantic Best All Around Rider for two of the past three seasons. “We are extremely grateful to Altarum for their belief in our team,” said Susan Hefler, Team Director. “Their support is making it possible for these very talented women to realize their full potential and race at the highest level of U.S. competition,” she added.

“We are really excited about the Altarum partnership with HPC and this group of extraordinary athletes,” said Linc Smith, Altarum’s President and Chief Executive Officer.  “We look forward to rooting them on thru the season, of course.  And we hope they will inspire others to become healthier and more physically active.  On top of that, we have found in this team a group of like-minded systems thinkers.  Bike racing is a great example of a system, with each player on the team interacting with others to achieve a defined result.  As a group of health systems researchers, all of us at Altarum thought the affiliation was just a natural fit.”

Altarum Institute (www.altarum.org) is a nonprofit health systems research institute. Altarum helps its clients research and apply health systems solutions to improve our nation’s health.

The 2008 National Racing Team includes: Jenette Williams, a fast finisher with numerous NRC podium placings; Kristy Scheffenacker, 3-time MABRA champion and former Colavita Bolla Professional Women’s Cycling Team member; Susan Hefler, Team Director and former Navigator’s and RONA Professional Women’s team member; Michele Bote, a savvy stage racer with over 15 years of racing experience; Lorena Candrian, a climbing dynamo and top finisher in NRC events; Kate Flore, a sprinter and promising all-around rider; and Jennifer Rasmusson, a power house and developing track talent. HPC encompasses both a national (NRC) team and a regional developmental team.  For a full roster of all the HPC Cycling Team riders and multisport athletes, visit www.hpcracing.com.

In addition to this new partnership for 2008, LIST Innovative Solutions continues to be the title sponsor for the HPC Women’s Regional Team, Men’s Mountain Bike Team, and multisport athletes.  LIST Innovative Solutions, a prime government contractor with 10+ years of Information Technology experience is based in Herndon, VA and owned by Katie Sleep. To learn more about LIST, visit their website at www.listinc.com.

HPC is grateful to the following product sponsors for their generous support:
Specialized Bicycles
Spokes Etc… Bicycle Shops
Tifosi Eyewear
Carb-BOOM!  Energy Gel
Accelerade Endurox R4 Partners
CeraSport Hydration
Sportlegs

###

Clean Currents raids NCVC, Reducing BAR Champs to mere 400 Members (375 of whom are Juniors)

My favorite thing to do when early season race registrations open is have a cup of coffee and measure the circumference of my thighs. My second favorite thing is to look through the pre-reg lists to see who has switched teams in the off-season. There will be lots of news like this to report, but one thing I noticed right away in the Jeff Cup registrations is that Clean Currents pb Don Beyer Volvo has orchestrated a trade with NCVC, securing Alex Butterfield and Jason Meidhoff in exchange for 8-12 juniors yet to be born. We're all glad to see DC Velo ramping up in the elite categories and hope they can finally get competitive there.

I'm also seeing some sponsor changes, including Capitol Hill Bikes signing on with the Battley Harley crew, and Haymarket Bicycles landing Function Drinks as a title sponsor. All of which is to say that if you want some publicity on your 2008 Rider and Sponsor rosters, you should send the info to VeloNews, The Washington Post, and to me. Which of the three do you think is going to run it?

Keeping Tempo: 1-18-08

I'm going to talk about the local stuff in a minute, but can't resist commenting on something going on in Pro Cycling. Bryan points us to the announcement on CyclingNews that Michael Ball has signed Cipo to ride for (and manage) Rock Racing this year. Ball, we all know, is crazy. Not because he's signed 40-year-old Cipo, but because he chose to sponsor a cycling team in the first place. We've all heard that the only way corporations get involved in cycling sponsorship is because somebody holding the purse strings is an avid cyclist him/herself. There is almost no calculable return on that investment, so it's inevitably justified through the media coverage it yields. Typically this media placement comes on podiums. Understandably, team directors then direct their teams to win, as doing so solidifies their budget for the following season. And equally understandably, riders themselves quickly learn that winning is the paramount objective, adopting a "win at all costs" mentality in order to maintain their own job security. The result is that Podium-Media has been devalued significantly, as its achievement is inevitably suspect.

Michael Ball gets this, perhaps better than any other team owner I've seen. It's still true that the only way a cycling sponsor can generate a return is through media publicity. But the more valuable inventory isn't at the top of the podium - it's out here, in the micromedia, and the conversations among the thousands and thousands of us who follow the sport. Ball is a publicity machine, capable of launching and sustaining conversations about his brand with more alacrity than Jens Voigt can launch and sustain breakaways. In only its second year of existence, the team was able to wrangle an invite to the Tour of California alongside ProTour teams, when many other well-established domestic pro squads were left out. People will watch Michael Ball's team, in no small part because of the audacity of Michael Ball. That's good for his brand, and maybe his sales. People were going to watch the Tour of California anyway. But doesn't the inclusion of Rock Racing make it more interesting than any plotlines afforded by the likable but unsensational Jittery Joe's team? The Tour of California organizers believe so. Rock Racing is in; Jittery Joe's is not.

The irony is that his 'win or you're fired' approach is actually assuring him of continued exposure even if the team doesn't win. And the team's composition - almost all recognizable riders, for one reason or another - only amplifies the amount and the impact of the publicity. You can love them or hate them, but you can't ignore them. They're eyeball magnets.

• So too is any conversation about power numbers. TheWrob plays along.
• It's RayMan's birthday. Expect him to travel to NJ for some races, where the masters' categories end in 5's instead of 0's.
• Just when you think you've got all those Bicycle Place guys under control, they send another one up the road. Introducing Frogman.
• Also new to the cycling blogosphere: The Long Ride.
• In which the Racing Union's Dear Leader reveals that in his heart he is pure cyclist
• I'm no longer mad at the folks of UMD Cycling for scheduling their unseasonably difficult season-opener in 2007 on the coldest friggin day of the year, and so have agreed to help them promote their upcoming showing of "The Collegiate Tour Baby", which I will do thusly:

What it is:
The Collegiate Tour Baby
What that is: The Collegiate Tour Baby is not a race, but a nationwide premier screening of Scott Coady's latest film "Tour Baby Deux!" in which he goes behind the scenes of the 2005 Tour de France.
What's in it for the Davis Phinney Foundation: Benefits from a silent auction and raffle (Contact Colin Hebert to donate something to the auction).
When: February 7th at 6pm
Where: Samuel Riggs Alumni Center, UMD Campus
How Much: $20 for adults and $50 for VIP, which includes reserved seating and a signed copy of the film.
More Info: http://www.collegiatetourbaby.com/
Register: http://www.collegiatetourbaby.com/college_park.html

 

GamJams Sponsors Virginia Beach Wheelmen in 2008

The fancy new GamJams logo is logging more winter miles than I am. Already it's made it all the way down to Virginia Beach, where it will adorn the jerseys of the Virginia Beach Wheelmen. VB Wheelmen President Joshua Goyet is already well-known to GamJams regulars as FIREbike, creator of the popular and punishing Tour de Garage series. The GamJams logo might look thusly on VB Wheelmen's jerseys:

The VB Wheelmen are a small outfit, at only 5 team members. But they're a tight team - they all raced together as juniors, took a decade off to pursue life, and returned to the sport a couple of years ago. I asked Joshua about his seasonal and career highlights, and he pointed first at teammates' achievements he had been instrumental in, then at his personal glories. In my mind, you can't have the latter without the former, so I'm pleased to be working with these guys in 2008.

I'll make the terms of the agreement public to anyone who is interested in learning more. Essentially it's the same partnership that GamJams has with Artemis, designed to help the club acquire, retain and deepen commitments from sponsors. I'll be helping some of their key sponsors spread the word to the racing community, in ways that bring value both to sponsors, and to we racers they want to reach. And no, I don't think those annoying pop-up ads are the way to do that.

Other teams interested in having GamJams as a media sponsor should contact GamJams VP of Business Development or our Director of Partnerships or Local Club Relationship Manager. Any of those folks can help you.

Getting Official in 2008

It's 2008, and after a year at this it's time to get official. Behold, the new GamJams logo, official inasmuch as it was created by a professional designer (who I expect I'll have to pay actual money to), and not something cobbled together with shareware, as had been used previously:

You'll see it littered all over the site shortly. I hope you like it. I did this for you.

A note on the colors - black and white. Believe it or not, I thought about this for a long time and this seemingly noncommittal color scheme is actually quite deliberate. Black is the color you get when you combine all other colors, and white is actually the absence of color, connoting neutrality. The color choice underscores GamJams' mission of supporting all local clubs. Which also means that should the need arise, any club's colors can be appropriated, thusly:

That's what the GamJams logo might look like on the Artemis jersey or tattooed on Evelyn's bicep, for example. And as it turns out, the GamJams logo WILL be on the Artemis jersey this year, as GamJams is the Official Media Sponsor of Artemis Racing. The nut of the agreement is that GamJams will lend media in support of Artemis' various initiatives, largely to help Artemis acquire, retain and increase commitments from team sponsors. We're actually a pretty powerful community to support, we bike racers, but sponsors don't always see the return on their investments. I think this mostly because existing sponsorship programs can fall a little short, and not because we're a bad investment. In fact, pretty regularly I get emails from racers asking for a referrals to professionals and businesses who support cycling, as they'd rather give their business (personal or business) to the folks who are investing in us. So we're here and looking for the sponsors who support us, and the sponsors are out looking for us, like two ships in the night.

As a media sponsor, GamJams will be working with Artemis to help their sponsors reach more of the audience they signed on to reach in the first place. And we'll be doing it in innovative ways, that add value to this community instead of exploiting it (as advertising occasionally does).

Remember that neutrality part about the white bits in the logo? Artemis isn't the only team GamJams will work with. In fact, I'm interested in supporting as many teams as possible in the same way. If your club is also interested in signing GamJams as a Media Sponsor, let's talk.

And finally, while we're on the topic of Official, we need more. Officials, that is. Jim Patton, MABRA Officials Coordinator, pointed out that the next clinic for Entry Level Officials (ie, people who are not yet but would like to become Officials - including Motor Refs) is on February 2 at the Crofton, MD Library. If you race 30 times a year, maybe becoming an official at this stage isn't right for you. But I bet you can think of 2 people who might be interested. So please just mention it to 2 people you wouldn't mind seeing out at the course on race day this season. Info on coaching is here on the USA Cycling site, and interested folks should contact Jim Patton. If you don't know how to reach Jim, email me and I'll send his contact info.

 

On Equal Pay, and the Creation of Media

There's a meme spreading across the internet on the topic of Equal Pay for Women, kicked off by an interview with Georgia Gould on VeloNews.com and bolstered by an online petition directed to the UCI which has collected some 2000 signatures so far. Several local folks have chimed in on it, including the thought-provoking (read as 'provocative') Unholy Rouleur, who challenges a blanket pay parity policy based on race registration ecomonics, and Karen Got Wheels, who proposes that prize money be eliminated from most fields because even when you win in the lower cats, you still lose money. So what's the point? (An excellent point, Karen.)
 

There's another economical aspect to consider as well. The entire bike racing economy is based on Events, and the Event Business is driven by Sponsorship. In my real life I'm in the Event Business. I know of what I speak.

When in need of guidance, seek out oracles. In many cases it's Google. It others it's that guy in the cube by the server room with 3 laptops on his desk. In the case of Event Sponsorship, the oracle is NASCAR. Nobody understands sponsorship like that organization, and no sponsors get more for their money than NASCAR sponsors. There are a dozen reasons for this - not the least of which is that getting a foot in the door of NASCAR stills sets sponsors back 7 digits or more. If you have to pony up that kind of coin for some media, you're going to get exceptionally smart on how to make the most of it. And that's the great irony of the Event business - the more you're able to charge for sponsorship, the more work sponsors must put into it themselves, and the more sponsors rely on themselves - not the event - to optimize their investment.

What Vino's positive doping test means for Local Racing

It looked like we might have a clean '07 Tour, but then the allegations against Rasmussen surfaced, and here's the kicker - like the 14% grade in the last km of an HC climb:

Vino tests positive for homologous blood doping:
- CyclingNews.com has a more thorough breaking coverage
- VeloNews.com is worth checking out though, if only for the raw unedited quotes from David Millar

So what does that mean for local amateur cycling? Believe it or not, it's good news. Cycling companies still need to peddle their wares, but pushing any budget at all into the sport's upper echelons is a real liability right now. In the next couple of months, they will all be setting their 2008 budgets and I can promise you there will be massive cuts in their allocations to the professional tier. The return on cycling sponsorship (like any other form of sponsorship) is notoriously difficult to quantify to begin with; coupled with a channel that is now entirely suspect, there is almost no reason left for advertisers to place a bet on pro cycling.

But instead of cutting budgets, cycling company marketers will re-allocate them. Marketers fight to hang onto their budgets, because conceding to cuts is tantamount to saying that marketing doesn't really work, which calls their very function (and employment) into question. No, marketers always need more money next year, not less.

What works in cycling sponsorship these days? Ambassadors, not heroes. Racers who have a public profile and are still perceived as accessible. People who we see out there every weekend, and know first-hand that any success they have isn't the result of some complicated and subversive medical program. But also people who are closer to peers than pros, where their results aren't as important in introducing us to new products and companies as the reasons they chose them, or simply how much we like these people in the first place. It's inevitable that cycling companies will move more towards the grass roots, focusing on local celebrities more than international superstars, and regional events instead of Grand Tours.

For us, that means it's time to aim higher. Instead of hitting up the local pizza joint for a $500 deal to get a logo on some jerseys, local teams need to think about how to build out programs the bigger players will find more interesting. Some combination of grass roots exposure, ambassador support, and scale. Think of the obstacles to the sport's growth, and how a huge influx of sponsor budget might address it. Greater equipment and kit subsidies; lower race entry fees; higher payouts; better funded junior and novice development programs; greater access to premium venues; broader press coverage. It's a virtuous cycle, which new money can get rolling.

The budget is ours for the taking in 2008. The pro tier is not just in a spot of bother - it has completely cracked. If ever there was a time for local racing to attack, it's now.