S.T.E.A.M. Report

Wow, this was my first HEARTLAND S.T.E.A.M. Conference. I cannot believe I waited 22 Years to attend! I went with my wife Cheryl Driscoll, a Member of Region 2A.
ABATE of Wisconsin did not disappoint the seven States that attended, and it was great to hear from the members of other SMRO’s, when talking to them, how much they appreciated our Warm Wisconsin Welcome and Hospitality.
Friday night we had a Meet and Greet, where we learned of the seven States SMRO’s successes in legislation, since the STEAM in 2019. Since COVID hit us hard a smidgen over a year ago, many of the SMRO’s were unable to do a lot with legislation since many of the State Capitals were closed. However, I was impressed with ABATE of IL’s Legislative Representative, Josh Witkowski, who is highly organized and highly committed. He is tracking many Bills in the IL Legislature. The Bills that stood out are remarkably like what we are doing in ABATE of WI—Autonomous Vehicles, Profiling of motorcyclists, legislation with the Gaming Board etc.
I also learned from presenters about a myriad of topics about motorcyclist rights e.g., Bridging the Gap between SMROs and Clubs. I also learned about Public Relations in a Changing World and how various types of Social Media can help SMROs be more successful in how we portray ourselves to the public. I attended a session on Principles of Leadership which dovetailed nicely with the presentation by ABATE of Wisconsin’s Hardtail, where he spoke about “Putting the Right Person to the Task”. From those two sessions, I gleaned a lot of information that will make me a better Regional Representative for Region 2A.
I must thank Wisconsin’s MRF State Rep. Jennifer Dewitz, for her leadership in getting this year’s S.T.E.A.M. off the ground and successfully accomplished. I also want to thank the S.T.E.A.M. Committee which was a very cohesive group in accomplishing many arduous tasks during S.T.E.A.M., while attending the Breakout Sessions as well. Bravo, to the committee and all of the volunteers that worked to make S.T.E.A.M. 2021 a spectacular success! This shows that Wisconsin is still a Powerhouse in the Nation’s SMROs and the MRF.

It was a privilege to represent WI at an awesome seven State Seminar.

Matt (Dr. Vern) Driscoll