The Doctrine of Fun
I want to thank CBA-ABATE of NC for their invitation to speak and the hospitality they show Cathy and I. I thoroughly enjoyed the weekend spent with my North Carolina friends.
Fun is an important part of motorcycle rights. Leaders, members, press, legislators and their staffs are respond favorably to fun. The recent opening day of the South Carolina Legislature stands as a shining example of what fun can do.
It is important that the leadership of your biker rights group is having fun; should the leadership not enjoy biker rights it will be hard for the membership to find biker rights much fun either. Most of us can recall since childhood there is always someone trying to spoil all the fun; these few bad apples should not be allowed to ruin the whole barrel. Some refer to these spoilers as biker rights commandoes or more fittingly bar room commandoes much like the sidewalk commandoes of the 70s and 80s. Maybe some of our current bar room commandoes were sidewalk commandoes in the past.
If you find these commandoes causing a disruption in your organization take action to stop them ASAP.
Membership recruitment and participation are directly linked to fun. If some one enjoys and event they will return; if someone does not enjoy and event they will not return. The doctrine of fun states that membership and participation will both grow exponentially as long as the leadership and members are having fun.
The press responds to fun. No one wants to be bored by a story and that includes the reporter. Don't be afraid to take chances and use humor and theater to convey your message. If you can make them laugh you can make them listen. If you doubt this look at the volume of positive press coverage ABATE of SC obtain from one day at the capitol on January 10, 2006.
The legislators respond positively to fun. The positive interaction of bikers on the opening day infected legislators and even staff members with smiles. Reb got a bill introduced and cosponsored and had a ball in the process. The 2006 opening day was the best attended ABATE of SC lobby day yet; most interesting was the complete lack of tension or stress. My hat is off to the fine members and leaders that made it happen.
Speaking of fun, I had a blast at the CBA state meeting and socials surrounding it. I recommend attending this event to all my fellow members of CBA.
~FastFred
PS - If you really want to know what I said at this meeting you need to ask someone who was there ... |