One Broken Biker: The Edmonton Chapter

One Broken Biker has a mission! They provide financial support and compassionate services to help heal the minds and bodies of motorcyclists and their families from injuries arising from a motorcycle crash. Sadly, their services have been required far too often and their budget has been pushed to the limit and the reserve fund being way too low at this time. be sure to check out their website and consider making an online donation, and also follow them on their OBB Facebook page and keep up to date with their poker runs, silent auctions and other fund raising events. You get to help a good cause and you get to hang out with like minded people who love the freedom of the ride!

The latest news from OBB is the opening of an Edmonton Chapter, with a poker run and BBQ just last weekend. BlueCircle was proud to be a sponsor and we hope the swag we donated was added incentive for all those who came out to ride. There was a great turnout and these dedicated people raised over $4800.00, enjoyed a great ride, and some fun times in the process. Though it would be great to see no-one ever needing this kind of help, the reality is that motorcyclists will still bear the brunt of any accident, at fault or not, and it's good to know that One Broken Biker is there to help! 

Our very own Ang Murray presents our gas card giveaways to BlueCircle valued client Ron, and Rob from 'cancersuckschronicles.blogspot.ca 

A great turnout

Can you pick out Troy from Ride Stop n Go?

Blackjacks welcomed OBB with a beautiful custom cake!

The OBB ladies

Ang....thanks for repping BlueCircle, along with RSnG

A happy crew

Back at Blackjacks

Who doesn't like VIP parking?

CIFF

The Calgary International Film Festival is currently in full swing and I was at the showing of  Documentary Shorts programme on Monday night and a full length film "The Salesman" last night. . Some great work there, though a bit of disappointment when the last, and potentially best film int eh Shorts programme suffered a technical error and couldn't be seen in its' entirety.

None the less, there are other showings of that feature, and plenty of other award winning films to see throughout the festival, so be sure to check out their schedule. 

Oh, and watch out, King Kong is on the loose again and may put the squeeze on you!! haha!

True Love

Haha! Saw this couple last night, on their way to a game, and thought it must be true love!!

Go Stamps Go....To The Man-Van!!!

BlueCircle Insurance is a proud sponsor of the Calgary Motorcycle Ride For Dad,  an event held every year in June to raise money for the research into prostate cancer, and the awareness campaign that involves the Man-Van. My blog post on September 15 told you all about The Calgary Motorcycle Ride For Dad and how much money was raised at this year's ride, plus where that money was going to be spent.
One recipient of the funds raised is the Man-Van of course, and here's an example of just what those fine folks do with that specialized rig. This free testing clinic goes out into the community, to give easy access to men 40+ years of age, and in this case the Man-Van will be set up at McMahon Stadium for the Calgary Stampeders game on Saturday September 24th.
So, leave that tailgate party a little early and stop in to get tested. It won't help the Stamps in the short term but it may help save your life so you can cheer them on in future years!!

Two Wheel Sunday Success

Wow, this must be the time of year for all the Summer motorcycle events doing their wrap up meetings and putting out their financial reports. Last week I passed along a total for the funds raised at the Calgary Motorcycle Ride For Dad and now there's more great news to share, this time about Two Wheel Sunday. TWS ia an all comers event, appealing to everyone in the motorcycle community, and this year we estimate there were 8500 motorcyclists who came to share the day and help raise awareness and give recognition to our sport and passion.
The weather was beautiful, there was something for everyone, and a real diverse group of motorcycle enthusiasts made it all the better. It didn't happen with out a lot of dedicated volunteers and what a great effort they put in, so many thanks to them for their hard work and contributions. Along with a solid group of other businesses, like Cycle Works Calgary, we at BlueCircle were proud to be a sponsor for a third time and happy to be in attendance when TWS Executive members Darcy Lucyk and Bobby Baum presented a cheque to Joey Bleviss of The Poppy Fund for this year's total of $5392.oo. That puts the three year total to just over $18,000.oo, so way to go Two Wheel Sunday!!

Broker Challenge

Half a million dollars!! That's the potential for a fundraising initiative put on by the Insurance Brokers Association Of Alberta, though the six figure sum of $150,000 is the original objective. 

With 500 Brokers across Alberta and the expectation that each could raise $300, it's perfectly feasible to think that this is an achievable goal.

So, my employer, BlueCircle Insurance is well on their way and have had quite a bit of success, despite being relatively small. To date we're just shy of $800 and still have about 6 weeks to put that total at our self set goal of $1000. If every Brokerage could manage that, you can see how we're optimistic that the IBAA certainly could hand over a half million dollars to our charity of choice and intended recipient, Ronald McDonald House. No matter what we can raise, this money will help that fantastic organization be all the better funded to do what they do when helping families cope with their hospitalized children, a trying time as it is without the worries and financial burdens of having a place to stay that is close to the hospital.  Ronald McDonald House is a "home away from home" and gives parents and siblings accessibility to a sick child in their time of need. 

Kyla, one of the hard working members of The BlueCrew, adds the take of one of our fundraising initiatives to the tally board. 

One Broken Biker

No-one ever wants to be in this situation but if it ever happens, OBB is there to help

Ashlee and her dad, Glenn, during his recovery from a motorcycle accident

One Broken Biker (Calgary) is a not-for-profit organization that uses poker runs, silent auctions, donations and merchandise sales to raise money to help injured riders and their families. The first of their events took place in September 2012, and they now hold two poker runs and a silent auction in the Calgary area each year. The proceeds go directly to those who need it most in the form of funds or care packages.
The idea for this organization came after co-founder Ashlee Atkin went through the trauma of  not only witnessing her father suffer a near fatal motorcycle accident but also the agonizingly long and painful recovery process. during that time Ashlee and her friend Elizabeth Cloutier realized that there is a financial gap that most accident victims suffer through, when immediate costs need to be covered and help is needed. OBB was founded to help not just accident victims themselves, but also their families, who often bear the brunt of expenditures, especially if the victim is the income earner. 
Now OBB are spreading their wings and starting a chapter up in Edmonton, under the care of Linnea Baldwin. One Broken Biker Edmonton is hosting their first annual poker run on September 24th and invite you and your crew to come out, have a great day of camaraderie and riding, all while supporting a great cause.. Registration takes place at 9:00 down at Blackjack's Road House in Nisku, a great meeting place with a crew who know and love bikes and also know how to throw a party. details of the ride can be found at the links above.
 And, BlueCircle, as proud sponsors, along with Ride Stop n Go, will be heading up to join the ride and want to invite our clients and friends to join in too. We're meeting up at Cycle Works Edmonton  at 8:30 (with coffee supplied :) ) before heading down to meet the bigger group at Blackjack's. If you're a valued client of BlueCircle, you have a chance to win some $25.00 gas cards and everyone can get in on the other swag we're donating to this worthy charity ride.
We hope to see you there and wish you all a safe ride!

El and Ashlee are the driving wheels behind OBB

An OBB Calgary poker run down to the Twin Cities Hotel and Saloon in Longview

OBB always supports on route local, motorcycle friendly establishments, like The Water's Edge Pub in Priddis

These ladies are part of the friends of OBB group

Likewise for these gents

The Motorcycle Ride For Dad - Your Money!

In case you didn't know, BlueCircle is a Platinum Sponsor of the Calgary Motorcycle Ride For Dad, an event held each year in June. This is a full day of fun that includes a poker run and BBQ, and brings together a wide variety of people in the motorcycle community for a ride involving 500 or so bikes. It is a fun day but more importantly it raises a lot of money that goes to a very worthy cause, providing funding for initiatives with The Prostate Cancer Centre, one being the ongoing research into the disease, and the other being their awareness campaign, which includes the Man-Van.

As for that, the cool thing about the Man-Van is that it takes the blood testing clinic out to the community, with regular events occurring all over Calgary and surrounding areas. The simple, 10 minute blood testing procedure looks for the Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA), which is an early indicator of potential issues which affect one in four men. Considering the statistic of a 92% survival rate when detected early, you'll see why this part of the campaign is just as important as finding a full on cure for this disease.

I attended the Executive meeting of the Ride For Dad just recently and now have the numbers for this years ride, happily reporting that it was another successful effort, particularly considering the economic environment we live in today. The funds raised at the ride, and the two other smaller events associated with The Ride For Dad, put the total at $118,856.38!! Totally amazing, and even greater knowing that the money raised is pretty much spent right here in Alberta, with $79,141.73 going directly to research done at the Prostate Cancer Centre, and the remainder going to the awareness campaign. Not only that but, with  approximately $70,000.00 coming directly from the riders who came out to support the event, it's further proof that the motorcycle community is hands down the greatest bunch of people when it comes to continually and fervently supporting a lot of worthy causes. Way to go riders!!

BlueCircle proudly presented a $10,00.00 cheque to the Calgary Motorcycle Ride For Dad

Hare Raising Experience

Apparently there is an overpopulation of hares in Calgary, which might explain this bold fellow hanging out nonchalantly in the neighbourhood. Does that mean next year will see an abundance of coyotes and other predators who will thrive on the  increased food source? That's Nature I guess, though I hope those higher members of the food chain don't start hanging out in front of my house! LOL 

To Cancel Or Not To Cancel, That Is The Question?

As the riding season nears an end many people are thinking of prepping their bikes for storage and perhaps cancelling their insurance over the Winter, but is that a wise thing?

At BlueCircle Insurance, we often get requests in the Fall to "cancel someone's motorcycle insurance". Of course, we get that everyone wants to save a few dollars where they can, especially in tough economic times, and paying for motorcycle insurance in the Winter might appear to be a waste of your hard earned cash when the bike is just sitting there in your garage or out on your parking pad. The key words there  are "might appear" and though cancelling your insurance might seem like a logical way to reduce expenses, there are multiple reasons to refute the idea.

Five Reasons To Keep Your Motorcycle Insured Year Round

1. You actually won't be saving a whole lot of money, since in Alberta  motorcycle insurance is pro-rated to the riding season and the bulk of the premium is actually used up for what is considered the typical riding season of June, July and August. Those three months account for 60% of your premium, with another 40% used up to cover March, April, May, September and October. There are zero premium savings in November through to February inclusively, so no money saved if you cancel.


2. Your bike still needs to be protected against the event of fire, theft, vandalism or any other accident that might occur while it is parked. No insurance = no coverage, and 100% "risk retention" on your part. A common misconception is that if you cancel your motorcycle insurance and park the bike in your garage your home insurance will cover it instead. Motorcycles and other vehicles are excluded from homeowner’s policies and require their own insurance if you want them to be covered. 


3. Many parts of Alberta experience Chinooks, where the weather gets quite warm no matter the month.  It means you can jump on your bike and go for a ride, even in December or January, if you are properly insured.


4.  Many of the top quality insurance providers, like Travelers and Intact whom are represented by BlueCircle, offer monthly payment plans for your budgeting convenience. It's way easier to spread those payments out over a 12 month period and pay a little in each, rather than get socked with one full payment. In some cases there's no interest charged for this convenience, so why not take advantage.


5. Though it is an indirect influence on premiums, the amount of time to cancel and rewrite policies every Winter and Spring respectively does add up to an expense that inevitably will get passed along to you, the consumer. Cancelling a policy and rewriting again in the next riding season is extra work for the brokers and the insurance company providing the coverage. We all know there is a cost associated with time and we try to do our part to be efficient, keeping that to a minimum and reducing its' influence on the rates. 

In regard to the latter, that philosophy of keeping the bottom line low is critical to the success of any business. If a contractor had to return to every job site to pick up tools he forgot to take after completing his work he'd be wasting his time and fuel, time which would be better spent on doing other work. A couple of hours soon add up to thousands when considering the number of motorcycles involved in our brokerage and that's just at our end. Compound that with the time lost at the other end and pretty soon those expenses will have to be considered in the mix.

With the aforementioned reasons for not cancelling we certainly hope it makes sense for everyone to keep your motorcycle insured year round and properly covered all year long.

Labour Day Is Over, So Get Back To Work!

Even though Summer doesn't end until the 22nd of September, a lot of people would say that it's pretty much over after Labour Day. School is starting up and most people have finished their vacations and are putting their noses to the grindstone again.
I saw this graph about vacations and thought it was funny, so have a look and see if it was an accurate portrayal of your own holiday and how well you relaxed! haha!

The Long Weekend And Fall Campout

This photo shows how and where I like to spend my weekends, especially the long ones like Labour Day. It may have been chilly and rained off and on, but that's nothing a big fire or a cozy vintage Airstream trailer can't fix.

Ripped Off: Social Engineering

I believe that the majority of people in this world are honest and caring, but know there's a few bad folk, in various degrees, who will take advantage of you and your family or business, so be aware!

Photo courtesy of Travelers 

This would include those who would steal from you or your business, and take your hard earned cash without a care. There are thousands of ways this could be done and we know one of the biggest and ever growing forms of theft are computer or cyber related scams.

It seems the latest one falls into a category called 'Social Engineering', whereby thieves use e-mail signatures, phone numbers, faxes and other such communication connections to mislead businesses and their employees into sending money to the scammers bank accounts.

Consider this scenario, as outlined by one of our leading insurers, Travelers, who are now providing coverage for this type of crime, along with their other forms of bond and specialty insurance. Consider this example, provided by Travelers.

"An order was made to a retailer for 1,000 laptops, and payment was received by the retailer. A few days later, the retailer received an email requesting a refund, canceling the order, and also providing revised account information for the refund. The retailer issues the refund, and later receives an inquiry from the original client, as to the whereabouts of the laptop order they paid for. The client’s email system was hacked, and the refund request was fraudulent."

Of course, this is just one of many ways that these savvy fraudsters get you and it happens every day. In fact, stats show that there are 100,000 'Social Engineering attacks daily, with pretty much an even split between large, medium and small sized businesses.
Any unsuspecting employee might receive a message that appears to be from a legitimate vendor, client or supplier that contains a variety of requests and information.
However, if a fraudster has infiltrated an email conversation and has been able to obtain the client, vendor or suppliers signature section to make their own request appear legitimate, you can see how easy the scam could work, even with well-managed businesses with proven best practices of employee training, partner background screenings and financial checks and balances.

Graphics courtesy of Travelers

Pro Versus Amateur

When it comes to dealing with many things in life, including the insurance industry in which I toil, dealing with a professional is well worth the cost in the long run.

Red Adair was a world famous wild well fire fighter.

Red Adair may be an extreme example of what I'm talking about but it does drive home the point well enough, knowing that his job was to extinguish wild well fires. Not only a dangerous task that could cost lives but the millions of litres of oil or gas going up in flames every day would certainly be hitting someone in the pocket book pretty hard. No room for amateurs there, that's for sure.
Next time you need a service, even for something like your insurance, consider who's doing your business and what the end result will be if they're not a pro!