North Florida Trailblazers
2013-2014 SEASON PROPOSALS, PRIORITIES
AND OBJECTIVES.
North Florida Trailblazers, 2013-2014
North Florida Trailblazers
 What are we?
 Our main objectives.
 Current serious challenges.
 Build out leadership team.
 Expand trail maintenance capabilities.
 Expand inreach / outreach efforts.
 Expand recreational opportunities.
 Manage Meetup.com resource.
 Expand FTA and Meetup membership.
 Expand fundraising efforts.
 Summary.
North Florida Trailblazers, 2013-2014
 Regional Chapter of the Florida
What are we?
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A few notes on who we
are and what we do.
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North Florida Trailblazers, 2013-2014
Trail Association.
Tasked with maintaining,
promoting, and protecting “our”
section of the FNST.
~200 FTA members out of a
statewide total of ~ 3,500.
~870 Meetup.com members
(some overlap with above).
~ 12 officers / activity leaders.
Service population of 1.5 million
people.
 Maintain our section of the Florida
Our main
objectives.
These are the priorities
of the chapter. These
should always be at the
fore-front.
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North Florida Trailblazers, 2013-2014
National Scenic Trail.
Promote hiking in the state of
Florida.
Work to protect our natural areas /
ensure they are available to all today
and in the future.
Increase attendance / fee collection
in various recreational areas.
Expand / Maintain membership.
Maintain a strong organization, and
ensure it’s survival.
Have a blast hiking!
Current
serious
Challenges
Our chapter faces 2
serious short term
challenges. Activism in
these areas is critical.
North Florida Trailblazers, 2013-2014
 Restore section through Keystone
Airpark. FAA has shut down this
section. This is a superb hike and
it is imperative that it be reopened.
 Actively resist conversion to
“multi-use”. USFS is attempting
to re-route a section near
Keystone to a PAVED “Rail Trail”.
This move is counter to the
original intent of the Florida
Trail. We are “Florida’s
FOOTpath forever”.
Build out
leadership
team.
 The leadership team is the core of the
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The activity leader is
the “face” of the chapter
to the community.
Activity leaders are the
initiators and planners
of all chapter activities.
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North Florida Trailblazers, 2013-2014
chapter.
We have had several leaders leave the
organization and/or take a reduced role.
Our leadership team is small relative to
other chapters. We require a leadership
team proportional to the chapter size and
regional population.
An active leadership team is a critical
component in our other objectives.
Seeking 4+ leaders to organize activities on
a regular basis.
Organize leaders-only events / meetings.
Train all leaders in wilderness first-aid.
Business cards for all chapter leaders.
Chapter e-mail addresses.
Expand trail
maintenance
capabilities
We have noted
increased interest in
work hike activities.
We will better leverage
this interest.
 Our primary objective is to maintain our section
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North Florida Trailblazers, 2013-2014
of the FNST.
Develop and publish work hike “roster”.
Maintain active inventory of all “high value”
equipment items.
Put all power equipment and trailers on
maintenance schedule.
Add at least 1 new Section Leader.
Channel all work hike activity through the Trail
Coordinator.
Maintain at least 3 serviceable DR mowers in
inventory.
Consider execution of 2 or more concurrent
work hikes to better leverage volunteer interest.
Shorten the work-hike season (see above).
Leadership team consensus on any extraneous
trail development or maintenance.
 We have an obligation to communicate with
Expand
inreach efforts
Inreach is the process of
communicating with
existing Trailblazers
FTA members. May
include communicating
via Meetup.com, email,
“snail mail”, telephone,
via chapter meetings,
recreational activities,
or other in-person
gatherings.
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North Florida Trailblazers, 2013-2014
all Trailblazers FTA members on a regular
basis.
Many Trailblazers FTA members are not on
Meetup.
Some Trailblazers FTA members do not
have internet access.
Some of the members indicated above have
been supporters of FTA for decades.
Encourage as many members as possible to
communicate via Meetup and/or Internet.
We will improve communications with
these various members. Mass e-mailings
and USPS mailings have been sent.
Publish and distribute chapter newsletters
on a regular basis.
Schedule regular recreational activities for
the benefit of Trailblazers FTA members.
Expand
outreach
efforts.
Outreach is any effort to
reach out to the general
community. We must
reach people new to
hiking, new to the area,
or new to the
organization.
North Florida Trailblazers, 2013-2014
 Our primary “virtual” outreach
method is the Meetup.com
website.
 Other types of outreach can be via
booths at fairs, recreational hikes,
posters, regular chapter meetings,
word of mouth, etc…
 Outreach is critical to maintaining
and increasing membership.
 Promotes FTA, chapter, and other
objectives.
Expand
recreational
opportunities
We are the area’s
premier hiking
organization. We have
an obligation to the
public to give entry
level hikers a “leg up” in
their hiking career.
 The organization and execution of
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North Florida Trailblazers, 2013-2014
recreational hikes meets several of
our core objectives.
Recreational hikes offer excellent
inreach /outreach opportunities.
We love to hike, love to lead hikes,
and have an interest in sharing that
with the general public.
Regular recreational hikes are a
“perk” of FTA membership.
Pursue additional recreational
opportunities, and consider
concurrent recreational
opportunities to better leverage
increased and diverse public
interest.
Manage
meetup.com
resource (1).
Continue use
of Meetup.com
Meetup.com is our
primary “virtual”
outreach tool. We have
moved towards
organizing all of our work
and recreational events
via this facility. This
facility exposes us to a
vast audience, and has
resulted in an explosive
interest in our
organization. However,
like any tool, this one
needs to be handled with
some care.
North Florida Trailblazers, 2013-2014
 Continue the use of Meetup.com as
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our primary “virtual” outreach tool.
Meetup.com has millions of
members: Exposes us to a virtually
unlimited population of both wouldbe and active hiking enthusiasts.
Offers us a venue that would be
practically impossible to develop
and market on our own.
The Meetup.com interface gives the
activity leader a great deal of control
over the execution of the activity.
Unbound use of Meetup.com has
demonstrated the need to set some
boundaries on Meetup.com
participants.
Manage
Meetup.com
resource (2).
Identify and
manage group
participants.
For discussion. I find
that activity
participants generally
fall into one of 5
categories:
 Uninterested: Attend 1-3 activities
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North Florida Trailblazers, 2013-2014
and are never heard from again.
Those who step up and join FTA.
May overlap with previous group.
Those who frequent activities, but do
not join FTA. This category requires
additional management. Consider
limiting to 4 or 5 activities before
joining becomes mandatory.
Chronic “no shows”. Consider
expelling Meetup members who
exceed a certain # of no-shows.
Many Meetups have a “3 and you are
out” policy.
Attendees who do not RSVP / are
not meetup members.
 Mini-Fundraiser concept. Consider
Manage
meetup.com
resource (3):
Explore
methodology.
We should explore with
/ consider / experiment
with various ways of
making Meetup.com
more conducive to our
objectives.
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North Florida Trailblazers, 2013-2014
“charging” non-FTA members a nominal
donation for attending / RSVP’ing. This
may limit no-shows.
Consider limiting activities to FTA
members (any activity history) and to nonmembers with limited activity history.
Better track/manage those who do not
RSVP.
Limit group sizes via meetup where
applicable: Large group sizes are difficult
to manage in some situations.
Track no-shows. If they don’t cancel RSVP,
don’t attend, and don’t contact the leader
within 48 hours, record as no-show. If they
do contact, record as did-not-attend.
Extend flexibility to FTA members.
Execute concurrent activities at varying
locations to better leverage increased and
diverse public interest.
 Increasing Trailblazers FTA membership
Expand FTA
membership
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FTA members ARE our
chapter. By joining,
one supports our efforts
both financially and
politically.
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North Florida Trailblazers, 2013-2014
increases our funding AND our political
influence.
Stress the fundamental solid nature of the
organization: This is NOT a casual social
group. This is an organization that has
been around for a long time and will persist
into the future.
Stress the importance of supporting hiking
in Florida.
Stress that joining is not expensive nor
difficult.
Stress that joining FTA bears no
obligations. Attending work hikes or
supporting other efforts is strictly
voluntary.
Support Meetup.com members in joining:
Some have complaints about joining via the
FTA website.
Expand
fundraising
efforts.
Increased funds
facilitate various
chapter initiatives.
North Florida Trailblazers, 2013-2014
 Consider charging non-members
for recreational activities.
 Expand and maintain
membership via inreach and
outreach efforts.
 Pursue the development of
chapter specific “specialties”, i.e.
Trailblazers “logo” on T-shirts,
hats, pens, stickers, etc…
 Create chapter Pay Pal account.
This would make it easier for
various parties to donate to the
chapter.
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Summary
Summary of proposals
for 2013-2014 season.
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North Florida Trailblazers, 2013-2014
Pursue use of Meetup.com with some boundaries.
Restore Keystone Airpark Section.
Resist conversion to “Multi Use”.
Add at least 4 new activity leaders, including at least 1
new section leader.
Chapter specific email for all leaders.
Submit all leaders for first-aid training.
Develop and publish work hike roster.
Increase and track high-value equipment inventory.
Put all high value equipment on maintenance schedule.
Pursue concurrent work hike activities, where practical.
Pursue increased and concurrent recreational activities.
Pursue inreach and outreach efforts, including booths at
fairs, regular newsletters, and regular chapter meetings.
Increase membership.
Pursue fund raising efforts, including PayPal account.
Pursue chapter specific “specialties”.