IFBMA
Comments
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IFBMA
International Federation of Bicycle Messengers Association
Mission (as stated on the IFBMA website)
1- ensure successful realisation of an annual Cycle Messenger World Championship.
2- foster spirit of co-operation and community amongst bicycle messengers worldwide.
3- promote use of pedal power for commercial purposes.
The IFBMA came in existence at CMWC98 in Washington after the idea was initially proposed and accepted at the first open forum at CMWC96 in SF.
The role of the council as it stands now is:
⁃ to communicate with CMWC host cities and assist, when needed and as much as we can, the realisation of CMWCs.
⁃ facilitate information redistribution with the wider messenger community.
⁃ Set up and run open forums at CMWC in tandem with the host city.
⁃ Organise and oversee vote by ballot to decide which city will be hosting CMWC in 2 year’s time (if 2 or more cities come forward).
After New York came forward a few months ago stating on social media that they wanted to organise CMWC22, we tried to ensure that the basic requirements for the organisation of a world champ at such a short notice were met and shared the preliminary bid with the wider messenger community.
What came out of this was a lot of expectations of what the IFBMA should/shouldn’t do and its role. Which could be the basis of a wider discussion on this online forum and at the Open Forum at CMWC in NY on what we want the IFBMA to be.
At the Open Forum in Bremen, the role of the IFBMA was discussed. People mostly mentioned communication/ mediation/ sharing info/ linking of mess community all over the world.
Important note: at present, most council members do not have much time to dedicate for the more far reaching goals of the IFBMA and have only assumed the basic responsibilities attached to being part of the IFBMA council.
Some members are not active at all , others have expressed that they did not want to be involved anymore.
Some sections of the IFBMA website are also outdated and would need to be updated.
Likewise, the host city selection process as it is on the IFBMA website has not been followed for years.
Much more could be done with the input of more active members or even temporary co-operation with willing members ( updating website/ update the CMC organiser’s handbook/ link up host cities with previous organisers for support and advice/ reach out to burgeoning courier communities/ active co-operation between courier communities or companies etc).
The last council members who joined just before the pandemic were mostly European messengers in a bid to get more involvement / input from the European mess community.
I think we should strengthen and use the structure in place rather than create a « European branch ».
The IFBMA council striving to be more active on social media and keep the website updated.
Howdy, Stranger!