December 21, 2010B-cycle and Business Sponsorships"They're the first Denver company to really build their entire marketing efforts around Denver B-cycle," said Denver marketing maven Steve Sander. "I view this as a true investment in something that is good for them and good for the community." Parker: For real estate firm, a healthy way to pedal deals - The Denver Post Parker: For real estate firm, a healthy way to pedal deals The wheels on the B-cycles will go round and round for Kentwood City Properties' 70 employees who were given memberships to Denver's bike-sharing program along with helmets last week from company owners Dee Chirafisi and Jim Theye. "John Hayden, a broker in our office, is on the steering committee for B-cycle," Chirafisi said. "Every Tuesday we tour all our new listings. He does it on his bike, and he's always at each property first. One day on the property tour, we all took a bike. We had so much fun, we decided we want to support this program." Chirafisi and Theye decided to take "a large chunk" ($30,000) of their annual marketing budget and invested in a sponsorship, which included the memberships, helmets and 20 bikes with baskets emblazoned with the real estate company's logo. "They're the first Denver company to really build their entire marketing efforts around Denver B-cycle," said Denver marketing maven Steve Sander. "I view this as a true investment in something that is good for them and good for the community." Memberships start March 1 when the B-cycle fleet awakes from hibernation. The program was put on hiatus for the winter in part due to weather conditions, and to give organizers time to "tweak" kinks in the program, such as touchy touch-screen technology, and somewhat confusing instructions. When the bikes are back, Kentwood will have "passes" to rent B-cycles to show properties to potential buyers. A B-cycle will also take up residence in the front window of the 1660 17th St. building. "It's a perfect fit for the way they do business and the vision they have of experiencing downtown," Sander said. Read more: Parker: For real estate firm, a healthy way to pedal deals - The Denver Post http://www.denverpost.com/search/ci_16889830#ixzz18nLF92cH Parker: For real estate firm, a healthy way to pedal deals - The Denver Post |