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| - Confirmation for form 2016 BetaBurgh Proposals Submitted at 02/18/16 12:35 PM Name: Mark Rauterkus Email: Mark@Bloomfield-Garfield.org Phone: (412) 298-3432 Business Name or Entity: BGC & Swim.CLOH.org When was your business or entity established?: Jan 01, 1975 Please list your team members and their titles: Established BGC was established in 1975. The domain, CLOH.org opened in 2002 to advocate “Come Live Over Here.” Team members Richard Swartz, CEO of the BGC, financial oversight, Pittsburgh Mark Rauterkus, project manager, executive head coach, Pittsburgh Kevin McCarthy, SKWIM USA, consultant, state of Washington Alandra Greenlee, expected employee, open water swim coach, Pittsburgh Dale Ross, expected employee, lifeguard trainer, and and assistant coach, Pittsburgh Staff of BGC's Swim & Water Polo & Pittsburgh Combined. In 2015, the aquatic staff included more than 40 part-time workers. Katherine Longwell, expected employee, swim coach, pool operator, Chairman of Allegheny Mountain Masters Swimming, Pittsburgh Mike Rogers, consultant, CEO, eLifeguard.com, Florida Sally Li and Dean Sharples, consultants, Owners, AutoCoach.com.au, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia Please provide a brief description of your business or entity and its purpose: Description of business The Bloomfield-Garfield Corporation (BGC) is a nonprofit, community development organization. The BCG exists to improve the quality of life for all in Garfield and surrounding neighborhoods through active community engagement. Community-based and board-driven, one of the BGC’s main goals is to get as many people in the community as possible to participate in the efforts aimed at physical revitalization, an improved economy and strengthened social well-being. The BGC often offers financial duties with city-wide programs organized by Coach Rauterkus. Swim.CLOH.org is a Pittsburgh-centric web site that cheers, “Come Live Over Here!” This proposal aims to build a set of programs that support participants in their quest to swim in Pittsburgh. Swimming in the rivers of Pittsburgh can expand, be made more enjoyable and safer. Water, the rivers, the neighborhoods ( especially Downtown) and the people are Pittsburgh's top assets. The Swim.CLOH.org venture introduces concepts, products and support for active lives. Swim.CLOH.org can reshape Downtown's aquatic landscape, especially in open water swimming. Who or what is the target audience for your business or entity?: What is the target audience? The target audience for Swim.CLOH.org includes: Downtown residents, Downtown workers, city residents, county residents and tourists. A majority of the regular participants are expected to be local who can walk to Point State Park. Others will bike, jog or use mass transit to get Downtown. Some may drive, especially suburban swimmers who are expected to come with a parent. Generally, people do not travel more than 10-miles for recreational workouts. However, athletes do travel farther distances to compete and for specialized coaching opportunities. Swim.CLOH.org is an expected attraction for a limited audience but the experience is with a highly-emotional impact. USA Masters Swimming statistics claim that 35% of citizens can swim one length of a pool. Swim.CLOH.org would appeal to a quarter of those who are able to swim continuously for longer distances, less than 10-percent of the population. On the other hand, swimming is often ranked as the most popular summer-time recreational activity. Pedestrians are sure to wonder near to an open-water swim session. Some might see swimmers from the deck of the Gateway Clipper or while on a walk to PNC Park. Tourist won't impulsively join in a swim, but a few are expected to come for specific races, clinics and challenges. Naturally, the target audience includes present-and-former swimmers: college, varsity, and club. Masters swimmers, lifeguards, triathletes, coaches, kayakers, surfers, paddlers, water polo players, rowers and others that embrace a lifestyle of fitness are in the target audience. Open water swimmers are not generally extreme sports daredevils. Both kids and adults are part of the target audiences, with restrictions such as parental permissions. The target audience may or may not include power boaters, jet ski riders, tug operators and fishermen. Runners, cyclist, rock climbers and hikers may or may not take an interest in these activities based upon their ability to swim. Lap swimmers at the Citiparks pools are a target audience for Swim.CLOH.org. People are encouraged and expected to improve upon their swim strokes and swim endurance at the swim pools for weeks prior to an encounter with Swim.CLOH.org. Swim endurance improvements happen in a swim pool. A “deep water check” is needed to earn a digital badge, and that must occur before showing up to swim at the river's edge. The Swim.CLOH.org digital badge policy details the requirements. Lifeguards, coaches, and volunteers at Citiparks swim pools can offer the necessary digital badges to pool patrons. The target audience for Swim.CLOH.org includes boys and girls, men and women. Among all sports, the disparity between men and women in endurance swimming is miniscule. World records set by women have exceeded those of the men. But, open water swimming less about record-breaking and more about the doing. Please provide a brief overview of your project and how it will activate Downtown Pittsburgh (limit 1000 characters): It uses Point State Park at rivers' edge to meet, stage, launch, finish for open water swimming, endurance sport. Stresses safety and supervision with enhancements. Activities into the rivers + Citiparks pools w digital badges. Point-to-point, swim routes, 5K, etc. Restrictions, parental permission, active member to NGO. USATri = $10 for kids. Water, weather, support quality mandated. Proven ability demonstrated. Safety & supervision logistics solved. Recreational & athletic. Equipment enhances satisfaction. Surf rescue boards, Life (TM) Rescue Tube. Peace of mind and security soars w colors, visibility, benches in the water. It deploys fins. With fins, swimmers go faster. Timing technology Australia's, AutoCoach. Check in w TeamUnify.com. Triathletes seek more swim help. Proven with PTC's weekly open water swims. Training at pools first with Citiparks support. Club, lifeguard, college meets. Badges give method to handle experiences and skills. It is about wellness, conditioning. What is the current state of the product or technology you plan to use for this project?: Beta Testing Prototype Please provide a detailed planning and implementation schedule for your proposed project.: Swim.CLOH.org schedule can begin as soon as funding has been announced. Pre-season training can begin at various pools with coaching, practices and organizational meetings for open water swimmers. Most of those sessions in the pool will not occur Downtown, but weekly swimming at the Thelma Lovette YMCA on Centre Avenue in the Hill District can happen. Kayaking happens once a week in the winters at an indoor swim pool in a public school. Product and equipment needs must be researched and acquired after the funds are released. Most of that happens in May. Materials are ordered. Inventory arrives. Storage solutions are built. Security is confirmed. Goals, balls, fins, and other equipment is shuttled to and from venues throughout the summer with the coaches, staff and volunteers. At the end of the season, supplies are returned to storage, often in the basement of the BGC. A schedule for creation and releasing the digital badges needs to be addressed in April and May. In late May and early June the staff and leaders need to be trained and functional as to the systems, attendance, policies and details. Training and help with Citiparks Lifeguards can happen before and as the pools open. Ebooks and web sites need to be released the cover basic insights. Ongoing updates are expected. The July supplement for the BGC Newsletter needs to be written in May and June. Then the public can read the news in early July at the Regatta. In June, after the Citiparks Pools open, coaching sessions can occur at the Sue Murray Pool on the lower Northside a few times a week. June is generally less than idea for river swimming, but conditions will be watched. At start-up, a pre-season base in the pool is encouraged. In July and August are the times to make the most of available good weather and river conditions. Monday evenings are swims at Moraine in the north. Fridays are swims with PTC at Washington's Landing. Other times can be scheduled to avoid conflicts. From three to ten sessions are expected every week on various days at various times and in various locations, but mostly held at Point State Park if that is permitted. Expert and guest coaches arrive to Pittsburgh to help coach the coaches and hold media events in July. Local coaches have plenty of experiences, but the wisdom of national leaders in aquatics is welcomed and expected. Throughout the summer challenges and leagues are assembled. Specialized one-time events are held for newbie participants and then on-going sessions are explained. In September, swimming can still happen in the rivers. College teams are expected to come join in the fun. In October and November, river action is only in kayaks. A fall league is expected and Downtown teams can play against East End and Oakland teams. A corporate league for kayak and canoe water polo is possible with the help of Hossana House in Wilkinsburg. They are going to host a corporate deck hockey league and these efforts can be expanded to canoe water polo too. Reflections, summary docuements and final suggestions for future plans are crafted in the fall and released in completed form in December. The documents are put out to the public with Creative Commons Licenses so others can re-use, modify and sustain the ideas. Holding a crowd-source campaign takes five or more weeks and if that decision comes, much of the efforts in PR and outreach can focus on the Kickstarter or Indiegogo buzz. Please describe how this project will impact the Downtown community and how you will measure the impact.: Swim.CLOH.org can impact the Downtown community in positive ways. Downtown workers will be able to look out their office windows and see schools of open water swimmers accompanied by rescue board paddlers and kayaks chugging up and down the rivers in the summers. Then, after some practices at a local Citiparks pool, perhaps with a walk to the North Side or Hill District to swim a few times, and after learning about the digital badges and sign-up policies, those workers and residents in the Downtown community can join in the fun. Visitors will come to Pittsburgh for the special events, clinics, workshops and tournaments. We'll compete and attract participants just as they come for The Great Race 10K and the Pittsburgh Triathlon. The fitness gains and impact is huge. As are economic realities. Jumping in the river is free. With these plans and efforts, we make it more fun, more safe, more friendly, more humanitarian, more rewarding to be so close to Downtown. This proposal can have far reaching impacts on other populations outside the primary community. The methods can become a model with measurable outcomes to promote health, wellness, and academic success for teens, young adults and active citizens. We are diving in and going deep as we are looking for more refined, better implemented, extensively documented, closely measured and easily replicated recreation. We want our passions to compete and play together to spread among generations and to the school-aged children at the local pools and rec centers. The framework and methods deployed locally become a model for physical education and physical activity that get presented nationally for others to replicate. The increases in the local aquatic programs insure a wider reach to more students in more settings in more weeks throughout the year. This moves the past BGC efforts with Pittsburgh Pubic Schools “Summer Dreamers” to “Year-Round Achievers” at the pools and at the rivers. Downtown can cultivate physical fitness activities that draw high-levels of participation in inter-generational settings. Let's go Downtown and play. There are folks here who are swimming, paddling, playing games and respecting one another. We can use the waters to transcend some rather large divides. It is going to be a little messy and a lot of work, but fun and rewarding. The digital badges are the best way to measure the impact, its reach and the depth of the experiences. We'll be able to monitor the number of people who get digital badges with the system. The process often starts with the bestowing of the “Get Your Feet Wet” digital badge. As we get dozens, hundreds and perhaps thousands learning about and getting the digital badges, we'll know what's what. The digital badges mark specific, measurable, evaluative, outcome-based, open-source, enrichment opportunities. Goal-setting is reinforced in levels 1 to 6. Swimming has the deep water swimmer badge, pre-lifeguard badge, and water polo knowledge badge that any school can embrace. The SKWIM digital badges, levels 1 to 5, align to SKWIM’s curriculum. Social behaviors come with badges of teamwork, sportsmanship, tech literacy and four meta badges called heart, head, hands, and health. Fitness has the digital badges for step counting, exercise routines, yoga, race-event participation, body scan, concentration and mindful eating. Volunteers, boosters, staff, donors and other VIPs are included within the process by connections to more than 15 digital badges that recognize adults. The cluster of digital badges for adults begins with a simple involvement called, “Get Your Feet Wet.” This series of digital badges marks milestones for engaged humanitarians for better health. Hopefully, the skills, knowledge and dispositions that each digital badge represents becomes contagious. See: Pittsburgh needs ways use sports to hook people into getting help and offer helping to others. The aquatic efforts and the digital badges are game-changers and first steps to working with others in other struggles: academic, economic, social-justice, etc. Is the project sustainable for long-term implementation? How will it be maintained?: Swim.CLOH.org is seasonal and sustainable. The rivers are here to stay. Distance swimming and endurance sports can be made into year-round activities by moving to the public pools at the schools. This also allows for more mentoring, motivation and community-based school engagement. Adults can help themselves with their own training, and lend a hand with programs at the pools with the school-aged kids too. What is the preferred location to activate as part of your proposal?: Point State Park river's edge Is your location public or private property?: Public Please explain why this location is preferred for your proposal: Swim.CLOH.org can use river's edge at Point State Park. The Mon Wharf and other spaces, such as at the Convention Center, Station Square and at the North Shore are possible as well. PS: Lots of TEXT cut. Narrative was 10-times longer. Please upload a one-page project budget that includes all costs associated with the project implementation, including any product alteration or development, public-space installation, necessary permits, and other associated fees. Please also indicate the maintenance plan from both a timeline and cost perspective.: View File Please upload no more than five images or renderings in .JPG format no larger than 5" x 7" and up to 200 dpi. that show the product or technology you plan to use in your activation to an FTP site which does not require a login to retrieve the file. Examples of permissible sites are Yousendit.com, Dropbox.com, or Sendspace.com. Please post the link to your downloadable file here.: If applicable, please post the link to a video of your product or technology that you plan to use in your activation.: By selecting the check boxes below, you are confirming and committing to the associated statement.: I have permission to use the product or technology used in the development of my proposal and any other necessary permissions have been obtained. I have read and understand requirements related to Insurance, Permits & Permission as stated in section VI. of the RFP. If selected, I am available to attend an in-person interview on March 1, 2016. If awarded the BetaBurgh funding, I am able to attend the PDP Annnual Meeting on March 15, 2016. Signature: Direct Link to Image
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