As the list administrator, I want to clear up any misunderstanding about the relationship between BFW and bikies.
A recent article by George Hesselberg in the Wisconsin State Journal (http://www.madison.com/archives/read.php?ref=/wsj/2007/01/27/0701270039.php) referred to bikies as "an Internet communications list partly sponsored by BFW". This is only partially true. In previous years, the BFW did provide some financial support to bikies. But it has not done so for some time now. The author's partial mistake is understandable, since until recently the official description of bikies ( on the bikies info page: http://www.danenet.org/mailman/listinfo/bikies) stated in part: "...It is a project of the Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin and the Bicycle Transportation Alliance of Dane County" While I and others appreciate the support that BFW has given in the past to maintain this valuable resource, the creation of and ongoing maintenance of bikies has been exclusively a project of BTA. And in fact, bikies is intended as a free and open forum, independent of any organization, including BTA. On the Bicycling Community Page (http://www.danenet.org/bcp2006/bikies.html), it states (quoting list creator Scott Rose) '[bikies] isn't the BTA, and it isn't the BFW. In fact, the last time I checked, most of the subscribers weren't members of BTA. It is true that both BTA and BFW have at various times "sponsored" the list by making small financial contributions.' Due to recent events, the interim co-director of BFW has made an effort to clarify this distinction. As a result, WSJ published the following correction yesterday (http://www.madison.com/archives/read.php?ref=/wsj/2007/01/31/0701300391.php) "The Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin is not a co-sponsor of an Internet message page, though it is listed as such on the site, a fact noted in a story on the front page Saturday. Chuck Strawser, interim co-director of the federation, said the group is aware of the inaccuracy and has unsuccessfully tried to get it corrected" Chuck did contact me to get this corrected, but I only just now had a chance to take care of it. I rewrote the description to remove any mention of BFW. I extend my apologies to Chuck for not having addressed the issue sooner. I know he doesn't need any more confusion right now. If you any questions or comments about bikies, feel free to contact me directly. (these questions are better taken off-list) Darin Burleigh bikies list administrator BTA steering committee member BFW member former BCP webmaster ===== darin _______________________________________________ Bikies mailing list [email protected] http://www.danenet.org/mailman/listinfo/bikies
