IFBMA Mission Statement
1. To ensure the successful realization of an annual Cycle Messenger World Championships.
2. To foster a spirit of cooperation and community amongst bicycle messengers worldwide.
3. To promote the use of pedal power for commercial purposes.
The IFBMA came into existence officially at the open forum following CMWC ’98 in Washington, DC, after the idea initially was proposed and accepted at the first open forum at CMWC ’96 in SF. A longtime dream of several past organizers and other messengers, it exists to help foster solidarity in the worldwide messenger community, and to provide a non-bureaucratic decision-making body by which CMWC host cities can be effectively and fairly selected.
All current and former bike messengers are considered part of the general membership of the IFBMA. However, if you would like to join the IFBMA as an active member, please take the time to come to a CMWC and attend the open forum. In return, you will have all the rights outlined in the by-laws.
We also spend some of our time attempting to track down bike messengers in countries we have no contacts in. Over the last several years, we’ve found couriers in most of Eastern Europe, parts of South and Central America, parts of Asia outside of Japan, and even in Italy, which had us stumped for nearly 10 years (and was the last major country in Western Europe without a courier contact). The drive now is to continue to make contacts with couriers deeper into Eastern Europe (especially the Balkans and former Soviet republics, and Russia proper), throughout more of South/Central America and Asia, and hopefully, Africa. We’ve had a few brushes with possible African courier contacts, but nothing has panned out yet. We know, though, that it’s really only a matter of time until we can *truly* claim a global community.