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!

After two weeks off for spring break, we find ourselves right in the heat of things with just 4 weeks to go.  Push practice started this week and has enjoyed absurdly comfortable March temperatures.  Rolls are scheduled for all 8 remaining days before raceday, so lets hope the good weather continues unabated.  So that’s how our 10 (hopefully 11, SAE?) orgs are preparing, what are you doing to get in shape?  Nothing yet?  Don’t worry, we’ve got some ideas for you:

Pre-Order the second-ever BAA T-shirt

We’re making T-shirts for the first time since 2008, and I think you’re going to want one. They will be available at carnival and we got a great deal which we’re passing on to you:

• $10 for members
• $15 for non-members

UPDATE:  All reservations must be made by Friday March 23rd.

Now you can’t say we never did anything nice for ya.

After weeks of late-night, never-back-down, tooth-and-nail negotiation sessions, the Buggy Alumni Association is proud to announce the first ever members-only hotel discount.  That’s right, we’ve secured a limited number of rooms at the luxurious Hampton Inn during the peak-demand days around carnival at a below-market rate.

The details:

• Hampton Inn – University Center @ 3315 Hamlet St. (just off of Blvd of the Allies, 1 mile from the Chute)
• Stay any or all of the nights between 4/18 (Wed) and  including 4/21 (Sat)
• Pay just $129 + taxes per night while those suckers who don’t love buggy enough to support the BAA will be paying $179 + taxes
• Reservations must be made by 3/19 or before the limited supply is exhausted
• Amenities include, but may not be limited to: Free hot breakfast buffet, free shuttle service within 3 miles, free wireless internet, and free company of other enthusiastic buggy alumni in “carnival mode”

How do you get in on this? Continue reading →