open agenda

list of topics

responsibilities of IFBMA
importance of local BMA's
responsibility of messenger services to provide insurance for messengers
san fran 1999 the progress of the movement with the ILWU
cmwc events: reality to real messenger life: specificaly trials.
cmwc sponsorship: specifically catering
CMWC 2000 proposals: Boston , Budapest

conversations:

topic: insurance:

synopsis:

many messengers are concerned about lack of both medical and liability insurance. problem worse in USA. europe messengers seemed to have various coverage from their companies. some countries require this by law. employees seemed to have better coverage than independant contractors.

main points:

insurance depends on where you work, both what country and what company.

companies have evolved differently, and have different set systems re: employee vs. i.c. some places, insurance is responsibilty of messenger, other places, responsibilty of company. do companies live up to this responsibilty?

importance of local BMA's. the ability of messengers in a city to speak in one voice. can local BMA's begin to gain this sort of power to make demands of this sort?

importance of IFBM growing into a single larger voice.

everyone watching san fran as test subject. will unionization get them the benfits they deserve or will it rob them of their individuality and the fun of the job?

issue symptimatic of larger general labor issue. boils down to locals begining to speak as a single voice to affect their own local, and the IFBM becoming a group with a larger general voice.

it was decided without objection that insurance is an important issue for the IFBMA and as it grows a larger voice, insurance is one of the issues it will preach about.

topic: cmwc events.

synopsis

some messengers are concerned that the events such as the trials arent real enough or dont really give messengers a chance to show off their messenger realated skills. others feel that the main race is the most important and does a good job demonstrating what it takes to be a messsenger, and the side events are less important and for fun and display and we shouldnt be concerned about how real the trials competition is. the issue of non-messengers racing was virtually unanimously decided to be a dead issue.

it was decided with out objection that cities putting on the championships should listen carefully to suggestions but has the responsibilty to put on the event as they want.

topic: sponsorship of cmwc's

synopsis:

the importance of continuing sponsorship from old and consistent sponsors while maintaining the integrity and independance of the event. the importance of going after new and bigger sponsors. a general understanding was made that old organizers have a reponsibility to help put new organizers in touch with old and potential sponsors. it was noted also that only cmwc98 and cmwc93 are known to have ended their championships in debt.

it was decided without objection that one of the goals of the cmwc organizers is to lower entry fees as much as possible.

proposals for cmwc2000: both boston and budapest were commended by all present for their willingness to step foward at the last moment to present bids.

boston

main points:

boston was preparing to host naccc2000, and thus had some ground work already laid down. they have spoken to city officials and had their support. they spoke about using cargo bikes to create "live traffic" during the main race. they presented boston as "a european style" city. they spoke of an elevator/stairwell they plan to use in the race. they were already in contact with several potential sponsors.

budapest:

main points:

budapest presented that we are lacking in our numbers the large amounts of eastern european messengers, and that budapest would be close enough to allow them to come. they pointed out that budapest was extremely cheap to visit. they spoke of the beauty of the split city with the river. they talked about how budapest had very few bike messengers until recently and that the growth was indicative of a positive attitude towards bikes and messengers by the city and its people. they talked about their numbers of committed messengers and their experience in attending cmwc's. they had a sponsor already committed to give them seed money.

a final vote was tallied of 33 for boston and 29 for budapest. cmwc 2000 will take place in boston, september 1-4 2000.

bidding cities for 2001 are budapest, bremmen, and nyc.