Candi Murray
Mike and I will be unable to attend this meeting because that is our big
money event weekend. I appreciate all that Jim has said below, yes it is a
lot of work. When the road/track side of racing broke away the people at
the USAC net with us often here and over the phone. We asked repeatedly
that some of the monies that Oregon sent the NGB (license fees, permits,
surcharges, etc) come back to the state. That the riders at the local
level see some benefit from the NGB and not just the national talent. They
did come up with a package of offers but none of them were things that
would come back individually to the state.
The fee structure has come back more in line than it was. OBRA insurance
is $1.50 and the NORBA's is $2.00. I've never put on a NORBA event so I
can't comment on the services or the associated permit fees. I do know
that you, the mtn bike promoters, are in a position of power as long as you
stay united. Petr Kakes can vouch for how it was last year when his series
was the lone holdout for NORBA and attendance dropped dramataically. Local
riders are not going to want to purchase multiple licenses and they should
see some sort of payback for the $50 that a NOBRA license costs over the
$15 for OBRA.
OBRA's sole goal, then and now is to have a many, bigger, safer and well
run events for anyone who wants to race their bike, no matter what kind of
bike it is.
At 12:51 PM 7/12/00 -0700, jim_fi-@hp.com wrote:
Greetings,
I just got off the phone with Warren Conrad from NORBA. Apparently, there
will
be NORBA folks at the NCS event at Crystal Mountain, WA August 5 and 6. He
wants the promoters from Oregon to attend. NORBA would like to know what they
could do to make things more attractive for Oregon promoters.
We've been through this before with NORBA. The disadvantages of NORBA are
fewer, in my humble opinion, than in the past. Fees associated with OBRA are
higher than they were when we started going with them while NORBA fees (to
promoters) have decreased somewhat. Insurance charges are very close.
Computer/results services with NORBA are very good. Some areas such as
database
management/points tracking are better. Other areas such as access to mailing
databases are worse than with OBRA. Racer license fees are much higher with
NORBA.
I worked as the OBRA ATB rep this year to ease any burden on Candi from
suddenly
taking on the mountain bike crowd. I don't want to do it forever, though.
NORBA has the infrastructure to help cover training costs, materials
deveopment
etc. They have, ready to release, training packets for promoters and
officials
training.
They seem to have some things to offer, so it is worth listening to what they
have to say. I appreciate all Mike and Candi have done for OBRA, but the more
racing that falls under the OBRA umbrella, the more there will be to do.
Our OBRA family seems to be purring along nicely. No reason to change right
now. However, NORBA seems to be making some significant movements towards
customer service. I am probably going to attend the meetings in
August. Let me
know if you'd like to carpool or meet up there. It would be worthwhile to let
me know if you have comments if you are not planning to attend. Also, if
you'd
like to meet before hand, let's plan on doing that at a race before August 5th
if possible.
Thanks!
Regards, Jim Fischer 541-715-6880