Most UW freshmen go to SOAR orientation in the summer. Have you thought of getting time during these sessions to talk to them about bike survival in Madison? This could be a good time to encourage them to use bike lights, ride with traffic, and stay off the sidewalks. You could also talk about techniques for keeping a bike (or things attached to a bike) from getting stolen.
Also: most students come to Madison the week before classes start. They have time on their hands, so this might be a good time for mini-effective cycling classes for those who are interested. Finally: most freshmen live in dorms or other group housing. Would it be possible to send "bike ambassadors" to house meetings? These might be a good place to give away freebies, if you had them to give. If you're trying to reach students, it's probably a waste of energy to put items in the State Journal or on the 6 o'clock news. But perhaps they might read the Cardinal or the Badger Herald, and maybe they would listen to WSUM or WORT? I'm an aging boomer, too, so I'm grasping at straws on this one. s meiers wrote: > Getting more cyclists to have lights at night is a prime concern of mine > and I have worked with the University bike people the last few years to > increase usage. We have concentrated on that audience because most night > time crashes are downtown and involve cyclists in their 20s. > > In the past a local pizza company has delivered flyers about safe night > time riding with a coupon for a lite at local shops- with minimal > results. > > We did this in late September/ early October when it is starting to get > dark earlier. But as a bike shop owner told me student run out of $ > pretty quickly and typically don't go into bike stores that time of > year. We need to do our efforts when students return and Mom and Dad > have their credit card handy. > > We need to think of different ways of reaching this audience. My > initial idea would be to get an article in the State Journal and/ or > something on the 6 o'clock news. But 20 somethings don't read the WSJ > or watch the 6 o'clock news. If anyone has unique ideas for this aging > boomer to reach younger people please share them. > > _______________________________________________ Bikies mailing list [email protected] http://www.danenet.org/mailman/listinfo/bikies
