In addition to this past weekend being Commencement weekend (CONGRATS GRADUATES!), alumni leaders from around the world met at CMU’s Pittsburgh campus for this year’s Volunteer Forum. There was a mix of local Chapter leaders as well as Interest group leaders who all got a chance to talk to each other exchanging ideas and experiences. We of course had our own contingent of attendees representing the BAA and learning about all the opportunities that are available to us and areas where we might be able to do a little better.

Here just a few of the takeaways that I got from the weekend:

• We have a big opportunity of pairing with local chapter events around the US and beyond. Not only do we have strong alumni clusters in several cities in the Nation, local leaders were seeking us out looking for an excuse to have a buggy themed/related event.
• There are many Freshman welcome events that happen around the globe and we have an opportunity to reach out to those incoming Freshmen over the summer and show them what buggy is. There is nothing definitive yet, but we will hopefully get some help sending buggies to these gatherings for the new students to look and feel, and maybe even ride.
• Aside from the chapter groups, we also have an opportunity to help more than CMU by joining forces with groups like 1000plus to give back and help our regions be a better place.
• While we have amassed a good amount of funds thanks to your contributions, CMU has opportunities for additional grants to help support specific initiatives. These could be something like sending someone or something to an event or a special project that our group might want to work on.

As one of the larger and more “loyal” alumni groups, CMU wants to help us in any way they can and for us to take advantage of that interest we are going to need some help and potentially some new positions.  Below are outlined several positions some new, some existing, in no particular order, a few of which may be combined based on interest, but ideally split to lessen time-involvement needs from individual persons.

• Greek/Independent Student Outreach (2 people): It’s high time that we add some new teams to the mix and we believe that the interest is there, but the knowledge isn’t. We would like to have someone to reach out to existing Greek and Independent organizations to help them start their own program or help educate them on what they have to gain.
• Regional Coordinator (1 person): With all the interest from chapter groups, it would make sense for us to have someone dedicated to finding local alumni in areas around the US and the globe to attend local events that are looking for some buggy representation. This position may also involve coordinating local leaders in dense buggy areas to take part in local chapter meetings.
• Website Curator/Head Mechanic (2-3 people): As we all know there are many things that this site does well, but there are also many things that haven’t been updated and several features that would really help make this site become what it should be. We need someone to head up that effort and pull in extra hands when needed. There has also been talk of a cmubuggy 2.0 site that has yet to make much progress.
• Auction/Fundraising Lead (1 person): Our biggest fundraising event is currently the Lead Truck Auction that happens over Carnival. We need someone to take the lead on that effort and look into possible other opportunities.
• Special Projects Lead (2 people): There are dozens of projects that we have talked about working on, but only a few that have actually gone anywhere. It would be great to have a couple people take point on these projects which may involve anything from finding vendors for new equipment, to writing special reports on the state of the sport.
• Rolls Reports Organizer (2 people): One of our longest standing contributions to the sport and one of the things that takes the most effort. We need someone to take point on getting notes and photos from weekend Rolls and getting the Reports out every week. There is a large contingent of local Pittsburgh alumni, some of whom already attend the practices regularly. There is no reason that one person needs to go out every morning and this job could easily be split up between several people such that no one person would need to attend more than a weekend of rolls each semester.
• Raceday Preview Lead (1 person): As probably the biggest reason to be a BAA member, the Raceday Preview goes out every year before Carnival and often spills out over a few dedicated people. Ideally we would have one person to take on the task of organizing the production of this yearly summary piece.
• Treasurer (1 person): A traditional role, but one that is no less needed. This role would be for someone to receive our monthly statement, and summarize it to the rest of the group telling us where our money is coming in and going out.
• President/Chairman (1 person): Another traditional role that is pretty handy. This person would keep up with all the leads and make sure things are on track and oversee the general direction of the group and fill any gaps as needed. This is also a role that would involve a lot of communication with Alumni Relations and coordinating raceday/ceilidh events.

The good news is that very few if any of these roles are location dependent. While it might certainly help to be in Pittsburgh for something like Rolls Reports or Student outreach, someone to coordinate note-takers and photographers would not need to be there, and students all have email and several means of contact for outreach.

If any of this sounds interesting to you, we would love to hear from you. Please feel free to post any questions or thoughts below or in the forum. So far the BAA has only been represented by a few teams and it’s time to broaden our inclusion. This is a great opportunity for new alums to get involved or stay involved and make a lasting change on our great sport. This is the best way to stay close to the action and up to date with all the insider knowledge.

Hey everybody,

It’s that joyous time of year when the Raceday Preview actually comes out for all of our dues paying members. Sadly we know of a few members who have paid dues but we unfortunately do not have their email to send the Raceday Preview to.

If you paid your dues, and didn’t receive your Preview, please email news@cmubuggy.org and we will get it to you as soon as possible!

If you haven’t paid dues, but would like one, please check out cmubuggy.org/join for ways that you can obtain said Preview and email us when you’re done.

Happy reading, and we look forward to seeing you all at the Design Competition in TWO DAYS!

With all the things that are going on, this is feeling like a double post kinda day. I’m trying to spread them out as much as possible, but sometimes there’s just something you need to get off your chest. Continue reading →

It’s a new year and a new day and time for some new help. We here at the BAA have so many things that we want to do for you guys, but unfortunately we’re running out of manpower to do it all. This is an open call for anyone that is interested in helping us continue to make the awesome rolls reports, Raceday previews, and keep this site updated. Continue reading →

It’s that time again…BAA committee members are stepping down, and we’re looking for candidates NOW. This is a call to action for serious volunteers who want to see the BAA through the next couple years of growth. The main position open this spring is Chairman, but we’re also looking for new people to join the committee in more task-oriented roles like web master and treasurer.
If you’re interested, please comment on this news post with the position you want and, if you like, a campaign spiel. You can also send email to admin@cmubuggy.org if you’re too modest to speak out here.

Elections will be via an online poll early next week! in the fall

Here are some example criteria:

• Someone who has been vocal on the forum with good ideas and creative input.
• Someone who likes what we do and wants to be more involved.
• Someone who has plenty of time in the Spring to work on BAA stuff.
• Nominees do NOT have to be Pittsburgh locals.
• You can nominate someone else if he/she agrees.

Here’s a slice of what we do:

President

• Act as primary contact with Alumni Relations for deadlines, event coordination, reservations, alumni contacts, membership lists.
• Attend AIG (Alumni Interest Group) meetings at Alumni House or by conference call.
• Hold occasional meetings with execs to prioritize and act on projects or new initiatives
• Find volunteers, increase involvement of members, delegate chunks of projects and follow up or save the day as needed.
• Work with the Treasurer to keep tabs on income and spending.
• Have a grasp on the big picture and general scheduling of things. Communicate frequently with other execs and volunteers to get publications out on time, reserve space for events, etc.

Other tasks

• Work to make sure the lead truck auction is ready to go, including coordinating with Sweepstakes and keeping tabs on winners.
• Work with Sweepstakes on safety issues where the BAA’s huge knowledge of history can be of service. Be the primary Sweepstakes contact to exchange ideas on how to improve the sport.
• On-Campus Liaison – someone on campus (or at least in Pittsburgh) to be present at planning meetings, transfer physical stuff from A to B, be in touch with campus and course changes and news
• News Editor – compile and post rolls reports, always be thinking of content and news to keep people engaged with the site and our org, manage social media presence
• Rolls Reporter(s) – someone out at rolls to observe and collect info by talking to people, take pictures, make observations about what is going on that is interesting
• Publications – someone to take primary responsibility for publishing our annual products:  raceday guide, raceday preview, news letters, potentially much more
• Finances – recording membership and handling membership communications, knowing how much money we have and whether we can afford to do XYZ,  communicating our finances to the rest of the committee and to our members, dealing with the school on financial details
• Special project leader – the BAA should always be looking to do new and awesome things for buggy, someone to generate and vet new ideas, and then push projects forward
• Raceday Timing – if we are going to keep doing things (as opposed to hiring someone), someone will have to … do it
• Web-Development – improve website code, add website features, manage server-type stuff
• Web-Management – updating content, moderating user-generated content, entering new data, obsessively checking analytics

Our 4th annual lead truck auction will draw to a close tonight at 9pm, so get your bids in early and often to secure your ride.  We do have a “reserve bid” system if you want to set a maximum and let the computers do the work.

We’ve raised a total of $471.38 so far (all future bids in whole dollars please, wise guys), and here are the current prices.

Women’s Prelims

Heat
1 $1  by yanetut (CIA, '98): SDC C CIA C FringeC 
2 $1  by joe (Beta): Spirit A SDC D Apex A 
3 $0  by nobody: SigEp A Fringe B CIA B 
4 $20 by twood (PiKA): Pika A DF A SigEp B 
5 $0  by nobody: SDC BCIA D Spirit B 
6 $1  by joe (Beta): Fringe A SigEp C SAE A 
7 $5  by CRStengel (SDC): SDC A CIA A Aepi A

Men’s Prelims

Heat
1 $10  by ziolko (Fringe, '00): Fringe B SigEp C Spirit C
2 $25  by twood (PiKA): Pika B SDC D CIA D
3 $26  by joe (Beta): Spirit A Apex AF ringe D
4 $11  by mark_estes (SN): SDC C SigNu A CIA B
5 $1   by ATHundt (Fringe, '09): SigEp A Aepi B Fringe C
6 $2   by lchomas (CIA): SDC B SAE A CIA C
7 $100 by twodd (PiKA): Pika A SigEp D Spirit B
8 $25  by pdesiderio1780 (CIA): Fringe A CIA A DF A
9 $5   by Perrypierce (?): SDC A Aepi A SigEp B

Women’s Finals

Order of selection
1st $10 acharters87
2nd  $2 hopke
3rd  $2 hopke

Men’s Finals

Order of selection
1st $100 twood (PiKA)
2nd $31 mark_estes (SN)
3rd $30.00 abigailsullivan (Spirit)
4th $27.69 ATHundt (Fringe)
5th $26.69 ipmcc (SN)

cmubuggy.org/auction 

This idea has been in the works for a while, but now it’s happening, and just in time.  When we helped introduce Jumbotrons to the course in 2009, it was a fun experiment.  Now it’s practically a necessity.  Can you imagine not being able to see what was going on in the chute while you’re at hill 2?  Actually, most of you probably can because you were around before 2009, but I think we can agree it’s a pretty awesome addition.

The only problem is that Jumbotrons and other pro-spectator efforts like our printed Raceday Guide don’t come cheap.  A pair of jumbotrons for the weekend is in the neighborhood of $10k.  Printing 2,000-3,000 color copies is more than most people can pull off on the sly at work.  We’ve kicked in $1,000 each year from our Lead Truck Auction, and Alumni Relations has contributed, but much of the rest has basically just put Sweeptakes into the red each year.  That’s not sustainable.

Luckily, raceday is an exciting event with lots of eyes from high quality demographics, and we think that there are lots of companies out there who would love to help support buggy and be part of such an important event at CMU.  We will be introducing a number of sponsorship opportunities this year for the first time, and we hope your company wants a piece of the action.  Most notably, both jumbotrons will have sponsorship banners flanking the screen, and our printed raceday guide will carry sponsored logos.

Some of the spaces are already sold, but we’re looking for more support.  Download this PDF and show it to someone in your company who makes these decisions.  It briefly explains what buggy is and has rates for the different placement options.

Buggy Sponsorship Information 2012

You might notice that raceday is not that far away and that we need commitments even sooner (2 weeks from today!).  We realize corporate decisions don’t always happen this fast.  We hoped to have this together quite a while ago, but it’s our first time in this arena.  If your company loves the idea but can’t make it happen, we understand.  If you can make it happen … awesome, let’s do it!