2022 call for Markus Cook Award nominations
The anniversary of the passing of Markus Cook is as good a time as any to call for nominations for this year’s Markus Cook Award for services to the international messenger community.
It was started by Buffalo Bill in 1998, to remember Markus and to draw attention to messengers whose work benefits all of us. It was first awarded during the 1998 Cycle Messenger World Championships in Washington DC.
From the IFBMA’s Markus Cook Award page:
“The MCA for services to the International Messenger Community is not a prize for winning a race. At the time the Award was conceived, CMWC was beginning to be more about the racing than the happening. I [ Buffalo Bill] wanted to re-establish the spirit of the championships, to restate the reason that we all come to this event every year.
The MCA is a reflection of the axiom that everyone who comes to a CMWC is a winner, whether they race or not.
Markus himself was very much in love with the CMWC, and in many ways he was the unlikeliest bike racer imaginable. He was several other things, of course. Editor of Mercury Rising messenger zine, unofficial spokesperson of the SFBMA, leader of L Sid, and a friend to all. The enthusiasm of Markus brought CMWC and the international messenger community toSan Francisco, and it saddens many people to this day that he did not live to see it.
This award is for people that inspire and empower the wider messenger community, that put all of us before themselves.”
There is no limit to the number of nominees and anyone can nominate someone. The messenger community is fortunate to have many people who are willing to devote time and effort to improve the lot of others. The difficult part is narrowing the list down to just one recipient every year.
So send your nominations to the messenger list, or visit the Markus Cook Award page on facebook or here or by email to messville@gmail.com. Please provide as much information about your nominee as possible as we would like to showcase profiles of many of the nominees.
The basic but not so strict criteria are:
– normally it must be mainly for activities that have taken place in the last 12 months; although you can also draw attention to their prior work but because of the pandemic that criteria will relaxed.
– they don’t have to be a working messenger; they can be a former messenger
The decision will be taken by a committee of former recipients and the IFBMA council.
Due to the pandemic we haven’t awarded the MCA in a couple of years. The current recipient is Maria Echavarria of Madrid, Spain
It was started by Buffalo Bill in 1998, to remember Markus and to draw attention to messengers whose work benefits all of us. It was first awarded during the 1998 Cycle Messenger World Championships in Washington DC.
From the IFBMA’s Markus Cook Award page:
“The MCA for services to the International Messenger Community is not a prize for winning a race. At the time the Award was conceived, CMWC was beginning to be more about the racing than the happening. I [ Buffalo Bill] wanted to re-establish the spirit of the championships, to restate the reason that we all come to this event every year.
The MCA is a reflection of the axiom that everyone who comes to a CMWC is a winner, whether they race or not.
Markus himself was very much in love with the CMWC, and in many ways he was the unlikeliest bike racer imaginable. He was several other things, of course. Editor of Mercury Rising messenger zine, unofficial spokesperson of the SFBMA, leader of L Sid, and a friend to all. The enthusiasm of Markus brought CMWC and the international messenger community toSan Francisco, and it saddens many people to this day that he did not live to see it.
This award is for people that inspire and empower the wider messenger community, that put all of us before themselves.”
There is no limit to the number of nominees and anyone can nominate someone. The messenger community is fortunate to have many people who are willing to devote time and effort to improve the lot of others. The difficult part is narrowing the list down to just one recipient every year.
So send your nominations to the messenger list, or visit the Markus Cook Award page on facebook or here or by email to messville@gmail.com. Please provide as much information about your nominee as possible as we would like to showcase profiles of many of the nominees.
The basic but not so strict criteria are:
– normally it must be mainly for activities that have taken place in the last 12 months; although you can also draw attention to their prior work but because of the pandemic that criteria will relaxed.
– they don’t have to be a working messenger; they can be a former messenger
The decision will be taken by a committee of former recipients and the IFBMA council.
Due to the pandemic we haven’t awarded the MCA in a couple of years. The current recipient is Maria Echavarria of Madrid, Spain
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