It can be a bit confusing because PayPal tries to get you to use their PayPal system so you have to look for the link to use a credit card.  If you are paying by a credit card you Do Not  enter any user name or password.  The first screen you will see is shown below.

First decide if you have a PayPal account and wish to use it, or if you wish to use your own credit card.  If you wish to use a credit card, look for the link to click to take you to the credit card screen.  From there you fill in your personal information and credit card information.

Note that if are using a credit card to make payment and enter your email address to matches your PayPal account, they system will once again ask you to log in, trying to get you to use PayPal again.  Do not log in, but look for the link to continue with the credit card.  Make sure you complete through all steps, including receiving an email back with payment confirmation.  Otherwise you have not made your payment.

The following individuals are running for the 2011 ACTC Board. You can vote by mail in ballot or online. Online voting will open by November 15th and all club members will receive an email with voting instructions.

	President Herman Wadler: A former vice-president of ACTC, I have been an active club member for eight years, as well as Dean of the ACTC Academy, a League Cycling Instructor and a bicycle advocate. I currently serve as chair of the Campbell Bicycle Advisory Committee. I am also a member of two Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) committees -– the Bicycle Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAC) (former chair) and the Citizens Advisory Committee. Previously I served on the board of the Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition (SVBC). Having served two consecutive years as chair of the VTA BPAC, I feel I have the background and training to serve as ACTC president and look forward to a year of progress and growth for the club.
	Vice President Michael Curtis: It has been a an enjoyable year and I would like to continue to serve the club this next year. I have been a member for more years than I would care to count and I would like to make this whole year a celebration of 35 years of the club. We are a great group of people with lots of varied experience and passion for the sport. Lets celebrate our love for each other and the club.
	Membership Chair Brian Chun: Thank you for the opportunity to serve the club as Membership Chair for 2010. I look forward to your consideration for this important club duty for 2011. See you cycling soon
	Ride Coordinator Patrice Carney: For 2011 my focus will be to continue to work towards clarifying the Ride Guidelines for leadership, participation and stats credit. In addition, I hope to work with our new Webmaster to fine tune the online Ride Schedule, and to support the efforts of our Webmaster and Statistician in automating (or simplifying) the stats submittal/collection process. Most importantly, my mandate will be to continue supporting all our ride leaders with their traditional rides, events and tours as well as expanding our offerings of new adventures in cycling!
	Communication Coordinator Tony Le: We will continue to modernize our means of communication within ACTC and to our community but with respect to our 35 years of history. When I first joined ACTC (probably 30 years ago), our club was small and easily manageable (I was the Newsletter Editor). Today, our club is much bigger, many members reside out of the immediate area, and our supporting infrastructure is changing rapidly. For example, Ralph Coole used to haul newsletters EVERY month to the Meridian post office for decades. It was no small task but doable because Ralph lives close to that post office. Today, we can’t drop them off at just any post office; it has to be in Milpitas. The post office rules are constantly changing to make their life easier, not ours. The consequence is that we are taxing our volunteers to the max (remember we all want to ride and some of us still have a job). It does not have to be that way and furthermore we want to have some control of our own destiny. I have some ideas and together we will move forward in a constructive way without abandoning our past.
	Treasurer Paul Vlasveld: ACTC finances deserve close attention in order to assure all members that the club contributions and funds are put to the most effective use. To ensure such close attention requires a treasurer who has demonstrated that he or she is capable of handling money matters with precision. I believe I have demonstrated this capability as Treasurer for the past several years. I am a financial conservative, and I can promise that all expenditures made by ACTC will receive the same degree of scrutiny that I afford my personal cash flow. This coming year, I will be introducing some additional financial controls that will help keep the club financially sound. Finally, I feel that handling other people’s money efficiently and effectively is a matter of honor, and I would be proud to continue to serve as the ACTC Treasurer.
	Secretary Lynn Tweedie:I am a long time member of ACTC and find that bicycling brings me great joy!  I was club secretary in 2007 and 2008 and have a good feel for the position. As secretary for 2011 I will do my best to communicate as concisely and accurately as possible what goes on at our monthly meetings.  I am looking forward to a year of celebration and fun as we recognize the people, places and events that have held us together for the past 35 years.

Q: Why did it get started?
A: Late last year it was discussed at the ACTC General Meeting the need to finds ways to make ACTC a better club. Organizations that are not trying to always improve often end up shrinking or even disappearing.

Q: Who started the BBC?
A: The ACTC Board decided to form the committee, to be chaired by the ACTC Communications Coordinator?

Q: Why was I not invited to join?
A: Participating was open to the club membership. It was communicated via the club’s elist system. Several members offered to participate. They are who constitute the committee.

Q: Does the BBC have the power to make changes?
A: No, the output of the BBC is to make recommendations to the Board and to the general membership.

Q: What is the BBC going to look at?
A: The BBC will look both internally within ACTC to see what is working and what is not, as well as to look outside to other bicycle clubs to see what works well for them. Input from the membership may be obtained via surveys.

Q: Who is on the BBC?
A: The committee has four individuals who have served on the ACTC Board, one who served as a Ride Coordinator, two as Vice President, one as Publisher, one as Webmaster and one as Statistician. Some of the members lead many rides for the club. They represent many different facets of ACTC. The current membership is:
Richard Hermerding – Chair
Don Axtell
Marie Becker
Jon Graff
Linda Kahn
Franz Kelsch
Sandy Lorber
John Mazzella

Q: When will I hear more?
A: Updates have been provided at the ACTC General Meeting.  Other communications will follow.

2009 Board Members
————————-
President – Penny Carl
Vice President – Sandy Lorber
Secretary – Nancy Kenny
Treasurer – Paul Vlasveld
Ride Coordinator – Patrice Carney
Communication Coordinator – Richard Hermerding
Membership Chair – Lisa Sharp-Piras

Congratulations to the new board members.  My thanks to Joe Farinha and Larry  Brandt for serving on the nominating committee.

Franz Kelsch
2009 Nominating Committee

The following are running for the ACTC Board for 2009.

President

Penny Carl

Penny Carl

• ACTC member since  2004
• Vice President,  ACTC ~~  two years
• Tierra Bella Staff,  Publicist ~~ three years
• Co-shared Ice Cream  Social
• Cinderella Training  ride ~~ co-lead three months of training
• Enlisted 13 members  from my current work to join ACTC
• Why I wouldn’t run  for President ~~ none
• Reason to run for  ACTC President ~~ I am confident I can make a valuable contribution to ACTC,  not only with my skills, but also with a high degree of enthusiasm, energy,  and reliability.

Paul Metz

Paul Metz

• Member since 1996.
• Many-time 50 goat rider, 25 grizzly rider, 25 ride leader.
• Past e-list moderator and past bike shop representative.
• Regular mailing party attendee.
• Handed out tens of ACTC information flyers.
• As President:
  • pushed for $100 club contribution towards regular annual rides
  • pushed for ACTC to support SVBC’s Bike To Work Day efforts
  • implemented a flexible general meeting schedule
  • implemented flexible board meeting dates.

Vice President

Sandy Lorber

Sandy Lorber

• I’ve been an active member of ACTC for 5 years now.
• I have enjoyed being part of this great cycling community!
• My ACTC background includes leading rides, Co Chairing 2 Appreciation Nights, Co Chairing 4 Ice Cream Socials and now in my 3rd year as the Catering Chair for the Sierra to the Sea.
• Thank you for considering me for the Vice President’s position!

Secretary

Nancy Kenny

Nancy Kenny

• I have been with ACTC since 2000.
• I am an Academy graduate, and I have served as an Academy staff member.
• Every April I look forward to working on the Tierra Bella.
• For the last 3 years, I have co-chaired the Russian River Rally (2006, 2007, 2008).
• I would like to serve as secretary on the ACTC board to help maintain the high quality of riding and events ACTC is known for.
• I look forward to participating with ACTC in the 21st century.

Treasurer

Paul Vlasveld

Paul Vlasveld

Paul has the been the club Treasurer for many years.

Ride Coordinator

Patrice Carney

Patrice Carney

• Patrice Carney has been a member of ACTC since March of 2000.
• Club Ride Scheduler since August 2005.
• Other club contributions include bring a frequent Ride Leader and a sag driver for the 2007 and 2008 Tierra Bella events.
• Personal achievements include a total of 15 double centuries completed in 2005, 2006 and 2007.
• Previous to ACTC, she was a member of Cascade Bicycle Club and Puget Sound Cycling Club in Washington state.
• Married to Steve Carney, mother to two grown sons, Cord and Van, and to 3 pet parrots, Ouiji, Coco and Scarlett.
• Fitness professional since 1981, currently teaches a Dance Aerobics thru the City of Santa Clara as well as professional position as the regional Sales Operations Manager at Trend Micro, Inc. in Cupertino.

Communication Coordinator

Richard Hermerding

Richard Hermerding

• Richard Hermerding has been an ACTC member for over 15 years.
• Richard and his wife Ann both completed the 40 Billy Goats in 1994. In the past, they have been ride leaders, hosted the Progressive dinner, worked on the Terra Bella, as well as driven SAG a number of years.
• Richard has a board range of experience related to this position. Richard has been a Chief Financial Officer with a number of companies; and has actively worked with, and/or served on the Board of Directors for a wide variety of organizations, For Profit, Nonprofit, and Professional.
• Richard is a Principal in a local CPA firm. Richard has a number of educational degrees and professional credentials, e.g. Richard has three Master degrees in Information systems, Accounting, and International Affairs and numerous professional certifications and licenses.
• Richard believes that with his bicycling, educational, and professional background he can add value to the position and will be able to assist in both the development of the position and the future goals of the club.

Membership Chair

Lisa Sharp-Piras

Lisa Sharp-Piras

Lisa is currently serving as the Membership Chair

By Franz Kelsch, ACTC Webmaster – From the October Black and Blue Bottom

I belong to a small cycling club in Utah. A single person runs the club (very effectively) and the same person handles the simple website and sends out all email communications. There is one ride on a Saturday and everyone rides at the same fast pace. I don’t have the history with ACTC as some of our members do, but I suppose in the early days you would find a more homogeneous club than what we have today.

ACTC has evolved into a large and very diverse club. There are those who enjoy the shorter, socially oriented rides. Those who want to push their limits participate in long-distance weekly rides which go further than supported century rides. Some prefer touring, some like to mountain bike.

We know that the club has about 1,000 members, but how many of them do you know? If you are like most of us, you tend to ride with the same people and that circle of friends can be relatively small. We have evolved into a club that is made up of several groups, each with it’s own communication system and natural leaders. There is the long-distance training ride group. There is the Whine and Dine group. There is the
mountain bike group. There are those who are going after the most number of Billy Goats. And so forth.

Such diversity should be celebrated because as a club we can offer things to such a wide range of members. But with it comes the kinds of challenges that require more leadership skills than for the small Utah club I mentioned. At the very time when we need a more sophisticated club leadership, we find it difficult to fill board positions. For the last board we found it difficult to get one position filled by a single person. This board was elected without a single office having any choice. As a club the few of us that bothered to attend the general meeting and vote didn’t really vote. Someone did suggest we need somehow to vote and people raised their hand, maybe thinking whoever wants to be on the board is fine, as long as it is not me!

This can be an indicator of an unhealthy organization. When I look at our two big fundraisers, Tierra Bella and Sierra to the Sea, I see well-run organizations. Each is led by very a talented individual who has the skills needed to get a bunch of volunteers to dedicate a lot of their time. The meetings are run smoothly and the staff for each event is well coordinated. We, as a club, are fortunate that is the case. How well would Tierra Bella be run if no one wanted to be the leader or on the staff? Suppose we just published in the B&BB we want someone to be the leader and take the only person who raises their hand, regardless if they have the necessary skills. And yet, that is exactly how we, as a club, have approached the important board positions.

In a club as diverse as ACTC, we need a board that has a vision that can be articulated of where we, as a club, want to go. The board needs leadership skills to get member acceptance of that vision. We need a board that fosters appreciation for the many volunteers who dedicate a huge amount of time serving the club as a whole. One of our past presidents changed the name of our annual dinner to Appreciation Night to help change the focus from giving out awards to showing our appreciation for our volunteers. So what happened at the last dinner? We had a special table for those who did all the Billy Goats and ignored the volunteer aspect of the club at the very time when we are now having some real serious issues with volunteer positions.

With the election of 2009 officers approaching, I encourage those ACTC members who have the skills and willingness to run for the Board positions. Even if an existing Board member intends to continue, hopefully we as a club with have a choice on that position.

BY: Steve Sloan, ACTC Publisher from the November Black and Blue Bottom

I will be the first to admit, I have not been a good publisher. Even though the newsletter has gotten out on time and has looked fairly decent, I have not been able to attend many board or club meetings.  The reason; I work Wednesday nights.

My understanding is, when the position of “publisher” was first concieved in this club, there was no such thing as the Web or widely adopted e-mail. The publisher was the defacto communications chair
as the newsletter was the only way our organization communicated.

Times have changed but ACTC hasn’t. We now have Web, e-mail as well as print. Who knows what is next? But, laying out our print newsletter, and using page layout software, is still our primary qualification
for being our publisher. The publisher of our print communication channel is on our board. The people managing the Internet mediums are not represented. So, our communications are not coordinated.

In my opinion, the time to change has come. The best model in our club for a communications coordinator function, in my opinion, is the ride coordinator position. The ride coordinator coordinates the roles of the statician, the ride scheduler and the ride leaders. The ride coordinator may not do any of those tasks, or may do all of them.

I think I would make a better newsletter editor, or even layout editor than I make publisher. I think if we make it possible to divide and delgate it would be easier for us to recruit folks to fill club positions.

Because of the various mediums we use to reach the public, as well as our membership, I think we could have a more effective communications program if all those mediums were coordinated by one person who was on our club’s board. That person should not have to be involved hands-on with production.

But, because of the way our club is currently organized that is not very easy to do. I urge your consideration and the adoption of the change of our bylaws. I think it is time to consider replacing the position
of publisher with a communications coordinator.