Dear ambassadors,
On behalf of Andrew Mar and myself, I'd like to officially welcome you into the RBC GranFondo Whistler ambassador family.
This is a brand new program to coincide with the 15 year anniversary of this event - officially the largest Gran Fondo in North America - and we couldn't be more excited to have you join as founding members.
The cycling community here in North America is vibrant and strong. We wanted to build a program that recognizes people like you who inspire others and are truly passionate about the sport of cycling while supporting active, healthy lifestyles.
One thing that was important to us when creating this ambassador program was to make sure those involved were hand picked and personally approached. We didn't advertise or hold any sort of application process. Many of you know Andrew well and he has worked hard to carefully craft a group of people who are dedicated to elevating this lifestyle we collectively love. The ambassador program is therefore about the quality of individuals involved, not quantity.
We want to recognize the work you are doing and support your endeavors. As such, and as founding ambassadors, you will be given behind the scenes access to all that we are working on from our events to community building efforts, as well as key timelines and upcoming launches and news.
In addition, we have made a new library of resources for you as creators to use and support the growth of your own connections.
Most importantly, we'd love for you to be actively involved in the building process with us as an events company. The idea of hosting this program on Paragraph is also to post updates and projects we're working on before they come out, and encourage your feedback so that you're a central part of the building process. To do this, simply leave a comment at the bottom of any post.
You'll get emailed a notification when a new post goes live!
Expectations, your waived entry & discount codes
As Andrew will have let you know, we'd like to thank you for being an ambassador by granting you free access to RBC GranFondo Whistler. Our Athlete Relations team will reach out to you directly via email to get you registered.
We know that there is a big spread of backgrounds, styles and mediums between ambassadors, and so in return we are not giving a specific set of expectations (eg some of you might have less of an online presence, whereas some might have multiple social accounts, etc).
As such, what we'd like is for you to get out into the community, for example cycling clubs and local bike stores to help promote and share stories, advice and information as much as possible. For those with social media followings, we'd ask for a couple stories (IG, FB, TikTok, Threads and or Twitter/X) + static posts at least once per month and sharing of content related to the GranFondo (the news we share via this Paragraph account as well as the public newsletter).
In addition, we are giving you unique discount codes that you can share with your audience so that they can also benefit from registration savings. You will be emailed this code separately by Andrew!
Founding ambassador badges!
For a little bit of fun to kick off the program, feel free to download and put either one of these badges on your channels, email signature, or wherever takes your fancy!
You'll find a PNG and PDF download link here.
Resources to help you!
As mentioned, you now have access to a content treasure trove that we've put together to aid your efforts.
You'll find everything from photos, video & b-roll, logos, social details, language and much more in one easy to navigate place. Check it out now and let us know what you think!
Feedback!
Last but not least, Andrew and I welcome any feedback you have on the ambassador program itself. We'd like to build something that works as well as possible for you, and we're excited to see how things evolve and get even better over time.
Until then, let me once again welcome you as founding ambassadors, and know how grateful and excited we are to have you involved.
Sincerely,
Oli Cartmell, Director, RBC GranFondo Whistler & XFondo
(road biker, trail runner and amateur camera sleuth)
