Originally approved in October 2011 and revised in 2019 and 2023, the Kalamazoo Bicycle Club’s Friend of Bicycling Award Guidelines set out criteria for nominating and voting for recipients of the annual Friend of Bicycling Award.
Criterion
Recipients of Friend of Bicycling (FoB) Awards significantly advanced the interests of bicycling during the year leading up to being selected for the award.
Eligibility
Any individual or organization is eligible. KBC members are not individually eligible but may be a member of a nominated organization. Any KBC member may submit a nomination for the FoB Award.
Nominating
Submit nominations for the FoB Award using the Nomination Form on the Grants and Awards page of the KBC website. Please carefully consider, and then compose a compelling argument for, why your nominee deserves the FoB Award. Nominations for the FoB Award should be succinct and include additional documentation (e.g., newspaper clippings, link to an item in Pedal Press, web links, other evidence) if possible, with the nominating form.
Timing
Nominations for the FoB Award shall be closed at the end of the November KBC meeting (second Tuesday of November) of each year.
The Grants and Awards Committee will review nominations, to ensure eligibility of nominees, before the December KBC meeting. Names of nominees that will be on the FoB Award ballot, along with short descriptions of why they are on the ballot, will be published in the December PedalPress so that KBC members can make an informed decision when casting their vote.
The FoB recipient(s) will be selected from the slate proposed by the Grants and Awards Committee by voting members of KBC present at the December KBC meeting.
Voting will occur via paper ballot, counted by the KBC Treasurer, and verified by another KBC Officer. The nominee receiving a plurality of votes will be selected as the FoB recipient. Tie votes are resolved by immediate run-off voting by paper ballot. If tie votes persist, two recipients will be named for that year.
Frequency
Annually. The FoB Award is dated the year following the FoB Selection Meeting (e.g., the 2017 FOB Award recipient was selected at the December 2016 Selection Meeting).
Name
“Friend of Bicycling Award” Note: “Kalamazoo Bicycle Club” or “KBC” shall be included in media releases and descriptions of the FoB Award to show that the KBC conferred the Award (e.g., KBC’s Friend of Bicycling Award).
Announcement
The FoB Award recipient(s) shall be announced immediately after the Selection Meeting vote. The KBC President will notify the recipient(s) and present the FoB Award, in person if possible, with appropriate PR coverage. KBC will also cooperate with FoB Award recipients to publicize receipt of the award.
Presentation
The FoB Award will be presented to the recipient(s) by the KBC President at a time and place chosen by the recipient(s) and agreed upon by the KBC President. The first Friend of Bicycling Award, presented in 2011 to Friends of the Kalamazoo River Valley Trail
The first Friend of Bicycling Award, presented in
2011 to Friends of the Kalamazoo River Valley Trail