Across America on a 1919 Henderson Motorcycle? A Q & A Interview with Mark Hunnibell

<br /> <blockquote style="background-color: white; color: #313131; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; word-spacing: 1px;" type="cite"> <div dir="ltr"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidyRVZiSUZN3druWgUhlxoVjM5ffUn4BKGV54eKG1viHZ-gsq8NCRYKcwqMCOcQWTLDNEdSRuz6W4ZzSfKtADSPShFHzH7XhE8asFwpLe0EM_LxureGr_D2WxD51GBwYfgQ5W6/s1600/Across+America+by+Motor-Cycle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1120" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidyRVZiSUZN3druWgUhlxoVjM5ffUn4BKGV54eKG1viHZ-gsq8NCRYKcwqMCOcQWTLDNEdSRuz6W4ZzSfKtADSPShFHzH7XhE8asFwpLe0EM_LxureGr_D2WxD51GBwYfgQ5W6/s320/Across+America+by+Motor-Cycle.jpg" width="224" /></a></div> </div> </blockquote> <b>Across America on a 1919 Henderson Motorcycle?  </b><div> <b>A Q & A Interview with Mark Hunnibell</b></div> <div> <br /></div> <div> I had gotten the information about this man, Mark Hunnibell and his fully restored 1919 Henderson and the trip he has planned, see below.  I knew I wanted to know more and thought I'd share what I learned with you!</div> <div> <div> <br /></div> <div> "Royal Air Force Captain Charles Kenilworth “C.K.” Shephard explored miles of territory on his trip across America outlined in his book Across America by Motor-Cycle, published in 1922. Nearly 100 years later, United States Air Force Captain Mark Leslie Hunnibell retraces C.K.’s path in <a href="https://angelamelamud-dot-yamm-track.appspot.com/Redirect?ukey=1Fna55oypBE_UbMAIte288IxYi--G8nptAbtU5Hj-zkc-0&key=YAMMID-56002163&link=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FAcross-America-Motor-Cycle-Annotated-Centennial%2Fdp%2F1948181495%2F">his own book</a>. With annotations and updates, anyone with a wanderlust to follow C.K. Shepherd’s original adventure can now do so with the benefit of additional 250 photos and illustrations, 750 detailed notations, and thoroughly researched facts to fill <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> in the gaps of the original story. In addition, the centennial book includes many photos by C.K. Shepherd never seen before, plus a foreword by his son.<br /><br />This summer, nearly 100 years later, Mark will be retracing C.K. Shepherd’s original journey on his own vintage 1919 Henderson four-cylinder motorcycle in an exciting trip that will be shared to the world via social media including Facebook Live, drone video and to newsletter subscribers. Also, Mark has planned stops along the trip of over 4,500-miles for book signings, media appearances, rallies, and events."  Angela Melamud, Author's representative.</div> <br /><b>#1 - Why this exact journey?</b><br /><br />The 1922 book, Across America by Motor-Cycle, is the story told by Captain C.K. Shepherd, a Royal Air Force (RAF) veteran of WWI from England who crossed America by motorcycle in 1919 after the war. In mid-June, within two weeks of arriving in Manhattan, C.K. bought a top-of-the-line Henderson four-cylinder motorcycle and was hot on the trail for California. In 1922, C.K.’s book was published, the story of his transcontinental journey in the summer of 1919 through sixteen states covering nearly 5,000 miles. <br /><br />I discovered C.K.’s book about his 1919 trip some 20 years ago and was inspired by the epic journey on the same kind of motorcycle I owned and was ever-so-slowly restoring. I became consumed with the idea of retracing his journey, but the book lacked a detailed itinerary, leading me to complex research in order to reverse engineer the route. In the process, I discovered many details about C.K.’s ride and life that I thought many would appreciate even if they had never read the original book.<br /><br /><b>#2 - Besides the restoration of the bike, how long have you spent planning this journey?</b><br /><br />The planning in earnest has taken about five years, mostly part time as I had available. It involved thousands of hours of analysis of the 1922 book and searching out period publications as to available roads, routes, and other conditions. The byproduct of all that planning is my new book, Across America by Motor-Cycle - Fully Annotated Centennial Edition, that includes C.K.’s original 1922 book but embeds nearly 1,000 photos, notes, and illustrations that I found along the way to tell as much of the story as is possible. C.K.’s book documented an amazing journey but regretfully did not include many details of the trip and the man who took it. This book answers them all.<br /><br /><b>#3 - I see you need a logistics person, and connections to the riding clubs - have you found someone to help you there?</b><br /><br />I think I have the minimum “safety rider” aspect locked in (someone to ride along, check the road ahead, warn me of unexpected issues, etc.) but I am suddenly in need of someone to drive my truck and pull my trailer that will have parts for en routesupport. I am disappointed to be left hanging at such a late date but that doesn’t fill the seat, so I do need help. Even if someone could drive for a few days and then head home after the next person showed up, that would work. I just need to nail this down ASAP because it is, all of a sudden, a huge distraction I did not expect to be dealing with.<br /><br /><b>#4 - Why should people get involved?</b><br /><br />For C.K. Shepherd, this was a solo trip, on his own, to see America and meet Americans. For me, I am interested in seeing America and meeting Americans, but I can’t do it alone. Too much traffic today and there are no more Henderson dealers in every city to overhaul my engine every 1,000 miles like C.K. ended up having to do. So folks can help out in a grass-roots fashion to become part of history, witness an amazing century-old machine in operation, learn more about America’s early history with roads and interstate tourism, and – perhaps even more helpful – educate me about what they know of the regions through which I will be riding.<br /><br /><b>#5 - How can they get involved?</b><br /><br />I am going to be able to accommodate a limited number of motorcyclists who may want to “ride along.” I have received a sanction from the American Motorcyclist Association as a Grand Tour, and will have all the forms and will start each day with a rider’s meeting to go over the route, the stops, the challenges, and issues. Any motorcyclist who wants to ride with me can go to the “Support” page on the web site (I will be posting the forms soon) or just email me at <a href="mailto:support@acrossamericabymotorcycle.com">support@acrossamericabymotorcycle.com</a>. Even if they don’t want to (or don’t have a bike to ride along), I will be travelling on a published schedule, so folks can visit with me at planned stops or even just wave at me while I roll through their town. The web site will be maintained with the latest schedule and we’ll update it during each day’s ride in the event delays or other circumstances arise.<br /><br />Even if you can’t get out for the ride, you can live vicariously online, watch it all unfold on the web site, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, etc. Besides income that will be generated by sales of my new book and my audiobook of the original 1922 book, I will also have in my trailer a bunch of commemorative t-shirts, ball caps, koozies, and even some temporary tattoos. I’ll also have the available for ordering on the web site soon.<br /><br /><b>#6 - Anything specific you'd like the public to know about this trip?</b><br /><br />I am not a life-long motorcyclist. In fact, I am a true novice motorcyclist, with this 1919 Henderson being my first real motorcycle (I got my license on a 50cc Honda Express in the summer of 1980), so I have some apprehension about my own abilities. C.K. was 24 years old when he took his trip. I will be almost 62 years old when I get to San Francisco. While C.K. had no support structure following him on the road, the need for support that I have creates numerous logistical issues that C.K. did not have. Luckily I have supporters, friends, mechanics, and experienced motorcyclists that have been helping me and will continue to be supporting me during this ride, leaving me confident that this will be the rewarding and enjoyable dream I have been longing for.<br /><br />All of the above said, it should be evident that I will need (and appreciate) all the well-meaning advice from the public. If you know of a “must stop” or “must see” location, PLEASE do not hold back. Write to me directly and I will see if I can make it happen. This trip will be far more successful if it becomes a participation event.<br /><br /><b>#7 - Anything special about the bike overhaul you'd like us to know?</b><br /><br />The overhaul on this bike has been beset with false starts and endless delays. Even today, there are issues. But I am confident it’s ready to make the trip and carry me safely across the country. I have the beginnings of the long story of the rebirth of my motorcycle on my website (Mark’s Henderson), but will be augmenting that with some photos and videos taken along the way. Suffice it to say that, if this motorcycle was anything other than a truly one-of-a-kind original Red Henderson, and was equipped with anything other than the original chassis and engine, I would not have felt compelled to finance the extraordinary efforts at resurrection to bring that particular engine back from what would have normally cause it to be declared dead.</div> <div> <br /></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCwirVRDfFkaT5vmeujJObtjK9-fwMb9psJgBfth08_1pMkKVy4jdqICh4hYYhgGG1qZcbxeqAft-bRatSwfFoDaRb-uI7GCiuVf7nAflYAXhtwZkACLTxynVwVxQBQRSJv9Wi/s1600/Mark-Hunnibells-Motorcycle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="533" data-original-width="800" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCwirVRDfFkaT5vmeujJObtjK9-fwMb9psJgBfth08_1pMkKVy4jdqICh4hYYhgGG1qZcbxeqAft-bRatSwfFoDaRb-uI7GCiuVf7nAflYAXhtwZkACLTxynVwVxQBQRSJv9Wi/s320/Mark-Hunnibells-Motorcycle.jpg" width="320" /></a></div> <div> <br /></div> <div> So there you have it folks, another interesting event to be a part of, one that will be added into history books I am sure!</div> <div> <br /></div> <div> Visit Mark's Website:</div> <div> <br /></div> <div> <a href="https://acrossamericabymotorcycle.com/">acrossamericabymotorcycle.com</a></div> <div> <br /></div> <div> <br /></div> <div> <br /></div> <div> <br /></div> <div> Belt Drive Betty</div> <div> Editor & Rider</div> <div> <br /></div> <div> <br /></div>

Across America on a 1919 Henderson Motorcycle? A Q & A Interview with Mark Hunnibell

Across America on a 1919 Henderson Motorcycle?   A Q & A Interview with Mark Hunnibell I had gotten the information about th...

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Communication breakdowns and how they negatively affect EVERYTHING they touch

<div style="text-align: center;"> <b>Communication breakdowns and how they negatively affect EVERYTHING they touch</b></div> <br /> <b><i>Grab a beverage, you'll need it to get through this.</i></b><br /> <br /> I have been working to help riders find great information on events and causes that are happening in our community for 16 years. When we had a physical newspaper to hand out, everyone that ever read it understood that I was a writer, an editor and publisher of a newspaper. People looked forward to their Busted Knuckle Chronicles and it's jokes and information.<br /> <br /> They also understood, (because we printed the events calendars in the newspaper monthly), that we ran Canada's BEST motorcycle events calendars.  When we had a physical Rider Friendly Business Association directory that we could hand out, everyone loved the maps and information, now that it's digital, they don't seem to know how to find it.<br /> <br /> Digital Media and Social Media seem to have truly changed the way people take in information.<br /> <br /> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_kREOnsbngRqAF4HoGgCXMB9l1ascc9osMBqHlYKXJpMhiQ1Ep9bryifcEfSPy9YdilxUAY1en933QkWpO1mjF09qeAw4dnmrz0XqFLjd1hMv2eaoHuvleLb_9KZMjbo60tY4/s1600/ARoadtripRitaVtwin.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="192" data-original-width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_kREOnsbngRqAF4HoGgCXMB9l1ascc9osMBqHlYKXJpMhiQ1Ep9bryifcEfSPy9YdilxUAY1en933QkWpO1mjF09qeAw4dnmrz0XqFLjd1hMv2eaoHuvleLb_9KZMjbo60tY4/s1600/ARoadtripRitaVtwin.png" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Road Trip Rita</td></tr> </tbody></table> <b>Backgrounder:</b><br /> <a href="https://www.riderfriendly.com/index.php/features/road-trip-rita-blog">Road Trip Rita</a>, my beloved beaver mascot and her colouring pages on the back of ride/drive scavenger hunt maps, lent to a natural phenomenon. ADULTS COLOURING while drinking adult beverages and chewing on crayons at bike rallies.  It was hilariously good fun and a ton of people participated all for a shot of JD as the prize. I decided to round up a great prize package - <b>Camping for Two at the Sturgis Buffalo Chip, some Choice Hotel points, meal cards, gas card and voila, a great trip worth about $1000 Canadian was on the line. </b>We'd sell colouring pages for $10 - 50% would go back to the event and 50% would help pay some of the volunteer's expenses to come run the event. (Or people could become members of the CMTA and colour for free.)<br /> <br /> I reached out to some events that I wanted to support and work with.<br /> <b>Events that I thought would benefit from the whole "STURGIS BUFFALO CHIP" name.</b><br /> I explained to these event coordinators that we'd take their poker run and turn it into a ride/drive scavenger hunt map that highlighted regional attractions, we'd put free ads for their events on the maps. We'd put a colouring image on the back for the colouring competitions to win a shot at a trip for two to Sturgis. And, if they would help me sell the ads, I would kick back some funds to their cause, and we'd be able to promote their entire region and all of their sponsors to all kinds of tourists all year round in print, digital, web and social. The price points are all under $500 a year.<br /> I thought it was win - win.<br /> <ul> <li>I told them I would film an episode of my TV Show, "Ride Like a Local", for EastLink TV, from their event.</li> <li>We'd promote their event through our events calendars and our newspaper "The Busted Knuckle Chronicles both before and after". </li> <li>I also expressed that I'd do a write up on their event after the fact, and those articles would potentially appear in the Northern Horizon and Colorado Rider News and that we'd also be promoting through the CMTA the <a href="https://motorcycletourism.ca/fundraising/colouring-contests">Canadian Motorcycle Tourism Association</a>. </li> </ul> I'd need a place to stay, a piece of the floor, not fussy, just on a tight budget.<br /> We'd need a table or two and a place with adult beverages and lights where people could colour.<br /> <br /> I reached out to a number of events, some agreed to participate others opted out.<br /> <b>It was explained to all that co/cross-promotion was key</b>, if every event promoted their participation in the contest, it would be great exposure for all the events as I had created one meme with all the dates. All they really had to do was share them, far and wide.<br /> <br /> In spite of the really cold and awful weather, our first event in Two Hills (The Lakeland Motorcycle Trade Show and Swap Meet) was a success with a number of people becoming members of the Canadian Motorcycle Tourism Association (because of all the great prizes we give away) and or those who paid the $10 to colour.  They coloured, we laughed - it was great fun!<br /> <br /> We picked the winners, gave them their swag prizes and I turned my focus to getting prepared for the next events in 6, 7 and 8 weeks time.<br /> <br /> <b>And that's where the wheels all but fell off the bus.  (We did have some successes).</b><br /> <br /> <b>The first cancellation </b>was the Devin Seguin Memorial Rally as the volunteer who was going to run the competition had to cancel. Eugene was unable to find a replacement volunteer, and I was unsuccessful. So that event had to be cancelled. There was no way I could be at two on events the same weekend. I was supposed to be in central Alberta at an event, and Kristine, my part time admin was going to Hafford SK, and so I simply didn't have the hands to help me now.<br /> <br /> Because Hafford Saskatchewan won <a href="https://riderfriendlycontest.ca/">Canada's MOST Rider Friendly Community </a>contest, (again one of our efforts to promote rural communities and events), my volunteer agreed to attend their Show 'n' Shine with our contest and to film some B Roll footage of their event.  They were pleased as punch, promoted the fact like crazy and in spite of the deluge of rain that they endured, they had 6 colouring competition entries from their event.<br /> <br /> They gave away their swag bag prizes and we gave up the third prize of Beaver Rub.<br /> James Rosso from Manitoba moved on to the finals.<br /> <br /> <b>The Second Cancellation:</b> An event in southern Saskatchewan on Father's Day weekend.<br /> We had created a ride/drive map for their poker run route, it was corrected and corroborated on as many of their roads are not recommended for travel on a touring bike. No one felt they could help us to sell ads or even suggest businesses to us. They were scared it would hurt their ability to get sponsorships for their event.<br /> <br /> And apparently the person doing their website felt I was a demanding $#@% and decided to berate me publicly for telling them I needed help to find a hotel for my volunteer due to her other accommodations falling through two weeks before the event. I told them I did not want her staying with their host hotel. <b>We did not get the map ads sold that would have funded the expenses to host the contest and pay our volunteer for their fuel, meals etc.  We had to rely on sales at the event, and that wasn't a great option especially with no cross promotion going on and the distance she had to travel.</b><br /> <br /> There had been communication challenges with this group right from the beginning, in that the person who was supposed to do the cross promoting, the web guy, felt he hadn't been given enough information to cross promote and didn't appreciate me asking why it wasn't being cross promoted.<br /> I had given all of that information to one of the heads of the event, by email, but apparently his email was hacked and so he never got it. That one incident alone had me labelled as a high maintenance ####. within their group.  As I said earlier we had ONE meme promoting all of the colouring events.<br /> <b>Technology STRIKES, creating a HUGE communication breakdown that then escalated!</b><br /> I told my volunteer to cancel the room we had finally found her, because we would not be going to promote an event, write articles for my paper, the Northern Horizon paper or Colorado Rider News, or edit a TV episode which costs me huge money out of my pocket, never mind my time to prep everything for editing, plus the value of the donated air time, $6,500 from EastLink, on people who would publicly berate a person calling them a name disparaging name on social media.<br /> Why should we offer up over $10K in marketing work and product only to be treated that way?<br /> <br /> <b>There would be no good that would come from that relationship.  </b><br /> This new board isn't like the old guys I used to work with.<br /> I expressed my frustration and regret and apologized in pm's and said that if I in any way upset someone because of how they interpreted the written word, please know it was not my intent to ever do anything but help. And with that, that event was cancelled.<br /> <br /> <b>We agreed to take on the <a href="https://firenwheels.ca/">Fire 'N' Wheels Rally in Edgerton</a>. </b><br /> In spite of huge deluges of rain and no lights in the beer gardens, we still had a group of people colour by the light of their cell phones and they all got their prizes. Cody won at the Edgerton Event, for the life of me I can not find his contact information that I thought I saved in my new phone, so hopefully Dawn will remember who he is! His art moved to the finals.<br /> <br /> <b>The Third Cancellation: </b>An event in central Alberta event, not only were we going to come to their event with the contest for Sturgis, the TV Show, articles for the paper, but I had also helped to facilitate it so that a young man with a physical impairment was going to be attending this event and that he'd be the motorcycling bad arse for the day! (The story on Tyler's Ride will be published in our paper soon).  Sadly his story did not get captured for TV as a result of the communications breakdown with these event folks at the event in central Alberta.<br /> <br /> Anyway, I had created a map centred around their poker run, found all sorts of attractions to take photos at, and they had agreed to help sell the ads as they were talking to sponsors. After not hearing back from them in spite of numerous messages left, I was about to give up when I was finally got a call back, only to be yelled at that they were volunteers, and working 16 hours a day at work and they didn't even have time to promote or organize their own event much less sell advertising for mine.<br /> <br /> Keep in mind they would have profited off the map financially and in many other ways - here's the link to the <a href="https://www.riderfriendly.com/index.php/for-riders/ca-scavenger-hunts/scavenger-hunt-two-hills">Two Hills </a>map page for you to see some of the promoting these businesses, regions, events and attractions are getting.<br /> <br /> I said to the one gent, "You couldn't have called and told me you were struggling? Perhaps given me a list of people to reach out to? You couldn't call me back weeks ago so I could have adjusted things to make this happen?"  I knew right then and there that I did not want to work with people that would treat me that way. Nothing good comes from a place of hurt, let down, frustration. <b>In this case, the communication breakdown was caused by them not returning calls or emails.</b><br /> <br /> So, with the announcement of the High Level $10,000 Guaranteed Poker Run and the fire up there, I decided we will just take the contest north and help out in our own backyard and because we partner with Mackenzie Frontier Tourism we already had a ride/drive Scavenger Hunt Map made with a colouring sheet on the back.<br /> <br /> <b>The Fourth Cancellation:</b>  High Level is re-evacuated and Fat Boys Motorcycle Association has to postpone the poker run till September. No one's fault there, it is just Mother Nature and you may as well not fight with her cause you will never win.<br /> <br /> Then there was this event that I attended this past weekend.<br /> It was to be the grand finale.<br /> <br /> We were going to choose a winner to go to the Sturgis Buffalo Chip after the riders coloured on Saturday night.<br /> <br /> Like all of the other events that were originally to be part of this and not add on or fill ins, I had arrangements with these folks to come film for TV, to write for my newspaper and two magazines, run our Sturgis Giveaway Colouring Competition and again, they were told  that we needed to create a map of the area, to help support this contest, and could this person help me?  Yes was the answer.<br /> <br /> Well, after several months of calling, leaving emails etc, just as I am about to look into another event to see if they would want to participate, I get a call telling me about some illness in the family and obstacles that are being faced.  No problem, get me a list and we'll see what we can do.<br /> Two weeks later, I get a list, by this time there is not enough time left to sell and print etc so I decide to use colouring pages that we'd photocopy and the lady said she'd get them made for me if I sent her the photo to be copied.<br /> <br /> Last Sunday I spent the day in emergency with what is suspected gallbladder issues, so I called the organizer on Monday.<br /> <br /> I expressed that I wasn't feeling well, and asked would there be some place I could stay that would be really affordable as my other plans had fallen through? I don't tent as I have no gear. She said had a sponsor she could put me in touch with for a cheap room and then asked me if it was just me coming and I said yes. She said she had a shed with a double bed, no windows and that it was the only thing left that she had, her last resort accommodations. I told her I'd take it with gratitude.  I had told her not to worry about the colouring sheets either, that I'd bring maps from elsewhere and again expressed my thanks for her helping me be able to attend.  She said to me "Thank you for all you do dear, we appreciate it"<br /> <br /> So I leave Grande Prairie on Thursday in horrendous, unrelenting rain. I get as far as Cochrane and spend the night in a motel and get up Friday to ride through more rain to head for the event.<br /> I know this event, I have attended it before and it's a good time, they always have really good music.<br /> <b>I also detest the road to get into it.  </b><br /> It's very slippery when wet and it's filled with washboard and potholes.<br /> It also happens to be a few kilometres long. I know of several riders who have complained about the damage their bikes have endured, everything from cracked saddlebags and fairings to broken shocks etc.<br /> <br /> I had decided that when I got to town, I'd leave my bike in town; it's heavily loaded down and there was no way I wanted to run the risk of my machine breaking down.<br /> <br /> I called my friend Barry who came up to Lordco Parts in a borrowed truck and helped me reattached the signal light bar that had vibrated a bolt out, and once Doc was tweaked, we loaded my cameras, tripods, colouring gear etc into the truck and off we went.<br /> <br /> I had my membership card and ticket, so getting the wrist band and toilet paper roll was no problem, but when it came to where I was supposed to stay, the lady who runs the event claims she did not remember talking to me.<br /> <br /> She had no accommodations for me, no sponsor that would be willing to help me with a reasonably priced room and since this was a charity thing I was doing, there is no way she'd give me a free place to stay at the venue because the accommodations were meant for paying guests.<br /> So she would never have agreed to that. This is after all a for profit event and how they make their living.<br /> <br /> Now I also know that the lady's husband suffered burns in an accident earlier in the week and that she was overwhelmed, however, I was basically called a liar and was left to feel that what I offer has no value and I was left to fend for myself.<br /> <br /> All I kept saying was "I wished I could remember what she called this shed because she had a name for it, if I could just get her to remember our conversation", but no....The man whose truck was used to pick me up at Lordco was an event volunteer, and he chastised me for being upset stating, "You should be grateful, it was my truck used to haul you down here for free, I didn't have to do that." "No, you are right, you didn't have to, thank you for allowing that," was all I could say.<br /> <br /> I ended up staying in the back of an SUV of a lady I didn't know before the event, who was kind enough to offer it me, foamy and all.  I was hurting with a (suspected) gallbladder attack, I was cold, miserable, and none of my friends had room in their tents! Now I was at the mercy of the kindness of strangers.<br /> <br /> <b>And those strangers were so kind.  I can not thank them enough. </b>Roland, Debbie, Andrew, Theresa and the rest of the crew tenting in behind the big tipi. The company, coffee and food was so welcomed and appreciated.<br /> <br /> In the morning I decided that if the promotion and marketing that we do for this particular FOR PROFIT event is not needed, wanted or appreciated, then I'd best head home.<br /> Nothing good was going to come from me trying to persuade this woman that we had talked and I had not been able to work this out in my head, to let it go. How to resolve it and how to be positive and happy in front of tons of people when really all I wanted to do was curl up in a ball and cry?<br /> I could not have stayed and promoted something fun, I was "Debbie Downer" as I was very hurt.<br /> <b>No one attending the event deserved my hurt feelers or the sour attitude that I just could not shake.</b><br /> <br /> I had expectations for this event to be a great one for our non profit and all the good work we do, and also to reward someone for daring to let their inner child out. I had, in spite of not feeling well, been so excited to be going back to this event. I was looking forward to the people I was going to get to see and interview and the fun of choosing a winner to win the $1000 vacation package for the Sturgis Buffalo Chip.<br /> <div style="text-align: center;"> <b><br /></b></div> <div style="text-align: center;"> <b>I have to remember that because people do not see the injury I deal with they have no idea it's there or if they know me, they forget it's there and unwittingly, many folks end up poking at my tender spots, causing the pain that I deal with to become dark and overwhelming.</b></div> <br /> I have to remember that at all times, even when I feel like I am at my "normal". I need to wear that like an armour so that the words and actions of others don't affect me on a personal level. I have to remember to remove myself from situations that upset me to preserve my dignity and sanity.<br /> <b><br /></b> <b>Yesterday I did not really feel <i>capable </i>of sucking it up. </b> I needed a good long ride to clear my head. It's the best way I know of for dealing with the grip of PTSD  brought on by rejection, fear, devaluation, bullying and the emotional sewer your brain becomes when those things happens.<br /> <br /> The lady whose SUV I slept in, drove me to my bike and I headed home.<br /> Thank you for your kindness Mama T.<br /> I rode steady and because I didn't encounter any rain, was able to make it door to door in 12 hours.<br /> <br /> Today, as I look back at what was put together in an attempt to help people cross market their events, sponsors, communities and causes and to help each other, I can see the successes.<br /> And it's clear who those successes were with. The smaller, newer non profit events.<br /> They know they have to market hard in order to get noticed.<br /> <br /> I can see those situations that turned into learning curves and I can even see the lessons I am meant to learn from all of this.<br /> <br /> A hand shake, a verbal or written agreement on how people would proceed for one purpose - to promote each other was always good enough for me. Today, even a written agreement can and will be disputed as people read intonation and intent into written words, where none actually existed.<br /> <br /> Out of 8 event coordinators that I was to work with 3 of those events were reasonably successful partnerships, weather a factor for every one of them.<br /> But they were still successful because the event had people at their helm that could see the big picture.  Two events were cancelled/postponed, one by fire and one by lack of volunteers and the other three were the cancelled ones because of a desire to separate myself from the negativity and the angst that personality conflicts create.<br /> <br /> <b>Communication is key.  </b><br /> Without strong, effective communication you have nothing and sadly, I was not able to have effective communication with all 8 event coordinators, but I was with 5 of them.<br /> <br /> It's a little better than a 55% success rate and I'll take it.<br /> <br /> And in the future, at the first sign of a communication breakdown I will be working uber hard to restore effective communication and if unable to, I'll be cutting the strings WAY FASTER so as to not hurt the community at large. To those who had wanted to participate in the contest I am sorry for the inconvenience.<br /> <br /> TV, Magazines, Digital Newspaper and digital event calendars, print map marketing aside, there were three event coordinators that could not see the value in cross marketing with the other events even though they all knew what events were being promoted as they had the marketing meme and I updated it when things changed and tagged them in those updates.<br /> <br /> The ones that couldn't see the value, who weren't engaged in the process at all, <b>weren't effective in communications. </b>Either they were digitally challenged or they couldn't face making a call or writing an email early enough in the game that a person could have salvaged things.<br /> <br /> I am proud of myself for learning to walk away and maintain my dignity and place some value on me, my company and the contractors that work for me, because the jobs we all do to help promote this community have value.<br /> <br /> <b>So to that end our winner of the Trip for Two to the Sturgis Buffalo Chip is Shauna Bourne.</b><br /> <br /> First Runner Up is James Rosso and he'll get his choice of tickets to:<br /> Run to the Hills Memorial Rally<br /> Supreme Motorcycle & Auto Service Show 'n' Shine in Hafford Saskatchewan<br /> Fire 'n' Wheels Rally in Chauvin Alberta<br /> $10K Guaranteed Poker Run by Fat Boys Motorcycle Association in High Level<br /> <br /> Our Third Place goes to Cody (Herbermour?) and he will get to choose from the tickets that are left.<br /> <br /> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4i09s-vdfLnzocFhbGfJ1SEeJuhn5fRcCLyk5pgM2ruoiMpOhBwFPQxCo6rdQJZql1UEola_AW1urPzH80CRKWufWiHhNVuYMn_jWovY7SDATM3lBb96Ot2ylge0WFAi9Uiwp/s1600/47490284_1942749655779525_4113723249521590272_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="688" data-original-width="529" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4i09s-vdfLnzocFhbGfJ1SEeJuhn5fRcCLyk5pgM2ruoiMpOhBwFPQxCo6rdQJZql1UEola_AW1urPzH80CRKWufWiHhNVuYMn_jWovY7SDATM3lBb96Ot2ylge0WFAi9Uiwp/s320/47490284_1942749655779525_4113723249521590272_n.jpg" width="246" /></a>Again to those who wanted to participate but couldn't because of cancellations, I deeply apologize that the challenges we faced impacted your potential for a shot at the trip.<br /> <br /> We hope that some of you can participate for a chance to win a new jacket from Viking Cycles (Male or Female, you'll get a link to chose the jacket you want in the size you want and they will ship it to you.) $10 to colour, with $5 going back the the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/Canadian-Legion-of-Riders-154331374621371/">Ride for a Vet</a> hosted by the Canadian Legion of Riders on July 13th.<br /> <br /> If you are blessed enough to be riding today, please remember to ride like everyone around you is blind and can not see you.<br /> <br /> Belt Drive Betty,<br /> Editor & Rider<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />

Communication breakdowns and how they negatively affect EVERYTHING they touch

Communication breakdowns and how they negatively affect EVERYTHING they touch Grab a beverage, you'll need it to get through this. ...

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