John Burke visited the Bicycle Center today. John Burke is the president of Trek, the largest bicycle company in the United States. The Bicycle Center is a small shop (our entire staff is 4 people!) in a small town (Issaquah, Washington). John introduced himself this way, "Hi, I'm John. I work at Trek." "Hi," I replied, "I'm Kent. I work here."
John is a good, down to earth guy. John succeeds in business by making a good product and selling that product through a network of good dealers. And if you want to know how to succeed in the bike business, it's probably worth about twenty-four minutes of your time to watch the video below. It's from a couple of years ago but the message is a good one.
Thank you for posting this! Not being a real fan of Al Gore, I could do without that comparison but I watched the whole thing and went to the Bike League site and know more now than I did before.
ReplyDeleteI am running for city council here in Ottawa and need all the ammunition I can get to explain why my positions on transportation and roads and even zoning are better for the citizens of this city than the status quo. This sort of thing really helps.
I met John when he walked into the shop I manage and introduced himself the same way. After asking some questions about the store, he asked to both the mechanics and the salespeople, "What can I do to make your job selling bikes better?". He's a very down to earth guy who I think truly wants bikes to be a part of everyone's life.
ReplyDeleteGreat video. That would be cool to meet John from Trek.
ReplyDeleteAnyone that bike commutes (me included) - was nodding their heads like a out of control Bobble Head - 'cause we know. We know it's a great thing.
I don't work in the bike industry (but did a shop gig many years ago). You don't need to officially in the industry to help it grow, by getting people hooked on bike commuting.
May is a great time to start just that, by rounding up a team for the Cascade/Group Health Commuter Challenge.
At my office, we were up to almost 100 people signed up last year - and we're hoping break that this year. Very cool to see new folks get involved.