Dedicated On-line Forum for Mountain Biking in Edmonton

Hi there:

Sorry I couldn't make it to the EMBA meeting. I came down with the flu and was out of commission on that day.

I would like to mention something that I intended to raise at the meeting though. I am wondering if anyone has any thoughts on setting up a dedicated forum for mountain biking in Edmonton and the Edmonton area. I think this forum works well for general discussion, but I have found that a standalone forum works very well in attracting visitors and promoting an organization. When I was out in Ottawa I was a member of the Ottawa Mountain Biking Association. One of the selling features for OMBA was that it set up a forum that enabled people to schedule rides, and allowed OMBA to easily promote group rides that were aimed at promoting IMBA principles of responsible trail riding, as well as attracting a number of volunteers for trail days as well as for OMBA's various advocacy activities. It was also a great venue for talking about OMBA advocacy activities and seeking input from the mountain biking community in Ottawa.

If people think that this kind of forum would be a good idea I am willing to do the legwork to set it up. Beyond the traditional features that forums have (e.g. areas to post topics, private messenger, avatars, etc.) I would also set up a ride scheduler that would allow users to post rides that other users could sign up for by simply clicking on a "join ride" link. Further, I could set up a "news" section as well as additional sections that would provide information on EMBA, advocacy activities, etc. Of course, I will not make any links to EMBA unless the membership thinks it is a good idea.

Anyway, let me know if any of you have thoughts on this. Examples of the kind of sites I am talking about are www.mtbkanata.ca or www.ottawamba.org.

Cheers,

Ryan