Simply My Best: July 2013

SIMPLY MY BEST

UPDATE: This was the website where we figured out what SMB would be. Then we created a new site for SMB 2014. Then, in March, 2014, we launched a REAL website for the event and our nonprofit called Pilot Butte Summit Seekers. Check it out...

WWW.PILOTBUTTESUMMITSEEKERS.ORG

Kind of cool to watch it change from something we literally made up as we went along to something that was built on the efforts of so many and actually planned to some degree. It will be fun to watch the new website take shape over the coming months.

Btw, if you haven't heard, SMB 2014 is May 10th!

Note: Many functions on this old site have been removed or disabled, but the blog remains as a record of the SMB journey.

Monday, July 22, 2013

New website and other important announcements

We have a new SMB website: http://bendsmb.blogspot.com/
And a new email address: bendSMB@gmail.com

Both are much easier to remember, but there are a host of other reasons for the change including:

We have divided readers into two groups. If you just want the basic info, the new website is for you. If you want more detailed info, you have the option of becoming a member where you get access to a "members only" website and other perks (see below)
Last year we were were essentially making things up as we went along. Now we have a better idea of who we are and what we do and the new website will reflect that.

Our very first newsletter will start circulating this week. It will be a good update for SMB participants who don't use the web. It is also a fast way to get the gist of how things went at SMB 2013 along with the plans for next year. Unfortunately, we never got physical addresses for people. So try to find Carol on the Butte if you want a copy. We are trying to find another way for people to get copies. Email us if you have an idea. Meanwhile, I will make an online copy available soon.

I mentioned "membership" above and that will be a new concept for most. It helps solve a lot of problems we had in trying to figure out how to make SMB a yearly event and how to best use the money we raise on the Butte. By far the biggest problem it solves is how to pay for the event itself. Last year's event cost over $600 which came out of the pockets of a few people. The bigger SMB 2014 might cost as much as $2,000. When you become a member, that helps insure that SMB will happen year after year. You also get a bunch of perks including a cool button (see below) and the newsletter mailed to you. Learn more about becoming a member on the new website. The first 50 members are "Founding Members" and the remainder for SMB 2014 are "Charter Members."

Sunday, July 14, 2013

First project is done, new announcements soon

It took a little while, but we finally got our first project completed last Thursday. There is now a solid lock on the summit restroom door thanks to everyone's hard work at SMB. This project wasn't at the top of the list based on the ballot, but it was high enough that it qualified to be completed. Plus, that other lock was weirding out a lot of people. In talking with park manager Susan, we decided to do this project first. The interesting thing was we discovered that the lock could be upgraded to have an "occupied" indicator. We knew that some people wanted that because they had written it on their ballots. But we didn't know how many people wanted it and whether it was worth the extra expense.

So several of the organizers discussed the matter and we decided against the indicator. Carol was one of those people and she didn't think the indicator was needed. But then she started asking people while hiking the Butte. The first eight people she asked were adamant that we should pay the extra money for the indicator. So we changed our minds and included it.

There will be some announcements coming real soon about how we are organizing things for SMB 2014. You will see that once all of that is fully in place, decisions like this will be much easier to make and we will be a lot more confident we are making the right decision.

Meanwhile, next time you use that restroom on top, you'll know that SMB fixed the lock situation that so many people were concerned about. I'm not sure, but I think dog hooks are next.

THE INSIDE SCOOP

This is not your typical event. It is informal and casual by nature. We hope to never be out there aggressively spreading the word because we think the event will always have a certain magic if we let it grow at a natural pace. Plus, as we have already found, Pilot Butte itself is the perfect place to spread the word. Not only are there a lot of hikers who already know each other, we have really been surprised by how many regular hikers there are that we don't know. It is no accident that the parking area gets over 15,000 cars per month. People love Pilot Butte.

If you haven't yet noticed, this event is really set up to take what you already do and then make that an outstanding experience one day out of the year. It is almost more a celebration than anything else. So you just show up and hike, something you'd probably do anyway. There is no entry fee, no official start time, or anything like that. There have to be a few formalities, but we are doing our best to make them as painless and fun as possible. We are also focusing a lot on the social aspect of the event. We want the normal encouragement that people always experience on the Butte to become infectious and reach new heights. In other words, while this is a day in which it could be easier than most to hike a personal best on the Butte, the overall focus is still on having fun. Then, as a side benefit, we end up solving one of the problems that people are most concerned about on the Butte. So there is actually a kind of reward in place if you decide to go for a personal best that day. But you don't even need to do that. Hiking your normal distance, or even less, still helps us raise the funds we need. Your being there is what is most important.

As much as possible, SMB is what you need it to be. We purposely left the term "personal best" a little vague and we are glad we did. Some people have already indicated that they go by a different standard than what we had in mind. That's great and we are trying very hard to work them into the event.

In designing this event, we are kind of taking our lead from Pilot Butte's Century Club, now a 13 year old tradition on the Butte. It demonstrates the power that a simple idea can have. This event will be a big success if we can keep it simple for both the hikers and the organizers. So we invite you to come out and "hike your butt off on the Butte." You can RSVP by clicking here.