This was a little weird.

My local bike shop thought of me and gave my email (that they had to send me marketing and such) to a local organization that promotes commuting alternatives. The organization (Avenues in Motion) emailed me and asked if I would be willing to do a 30-60 second video piece for them that promoted bike commuting. They wanted to use it in presentations/webinars/social media etc. for Bike to Work week.

I agreed. I try to do a little advocacy every now and then. I hadn't before even heard of Avenues in Motion or Bike to Work week.

I think my 30 second pitch to potential bike commuters is that everything is easier than it used to be - lightweight frames, e-bikes, sealed bearings, better brakes, rechargeable led lights, parts direct from the internet, online forums, casual dress codes.

I don't mess with social media, so i'll have to figure out how to make a video and get it to them.

Find a fine arts student, maybe someone in the senior or junior year, who specializes in film and video production, that will shoot the video for you? There are plenty of colleges in NJ/NY area. You come up with the message, content, and its delivery.

I'm a hardcore bike commuter; have been for decades. I've led bike-to-work rides, ran a bike repair tent on bike-to-work day, planned bike-to-work routes for people. I looked up the history and found Bike to Work Week has been going on since 1956. Not to be debbie downer, but I don't think it's making a dent in drive-to-work.

I'm going to venture e-bikes have had more impact on people cycling to work than 70 years of bike to work week.

my experience as well.

As a former marketing guy, I would create a PSA focused on employers. Feature an employer that believes thete is a benefit for them when their employees use active transport to get to work.

Unfortunately, a major hurdle is lack of public infrastructure which discourages the average cyclist to bike. But by changing the emphasis perhaps businesses will put some pressure on local governments for better bicycling infrastructure. A multi year campaign however will be required that will likely not have the funds or momentum to be very effective.

30-60 second video will not even close to cover all the hurdles in bike-commuting.

I agree with the approach to getting employers to encourage it. Then, they can hold a seminar on-site or off-site, about all the factors, and doing what they can to make it easier.

#1: Make employees healthier, both physically and emotionally; That improves attendence and reduces health care costs, and improves employee's quality of life. Reduces stress. May encourage other healthy lifestyle changes such as quitting smoking and better diet.

If I were doing something like that, I'd try to leave 5-10 seconds to show rolling past all the cars sprawled over 10 acres and up to the bike shelter 50 feet from the front door.

What bike will you use to show these things?- lightweight frame, ebike, sealed bearings, and better brakes?
Show us the bike you are going to use to highlight these things and make commuting by bike seem cool!

"Well actually I have this 1977 bike from France..."

hahaha

I assume the target audience for this video is not made up of people likely to be impressed by lightweight frame, sealed bearings, better brakes or other features that bike enthusiasts of BF think are cool. For the distances likely to be considered for bike commuting by non-enthusiasts, emphasizing or even pointing out those improved features probably aren't going to convince many or any to change their minds about considering changing their mode of commuting to a bicycle.
I doubt that few if any tentative new bike commuters will give a darn about those features, though the principal feature of ebikes - significantly less effort required and the flattening of hills - may jog their interest.

My bike is a 1990's POS mountain bike and really looks like a POS. The paint is shot, the seat is torn up, the cables are red/white/blue, and I have reflectors and a milk crate and dork disks on the front and rear.

So the lady emailed me back. She wanted to know my route and what time I leave the house so she could could intercept me on her bike and get video of me in action (her words). She lives fairly close and wanted to meet up on our collective ride to work if possible.

I'm in Central Jersey if you need a hand. I know how to Tik Tok.

Again, with the short timespan available, I think only time for "Bike commuting is not as hard as you think, if you have experienced people to help and advise." Perhaps the person filming plans to have a longer video with narration of helpful tips, over several segments of commuters biking. You may want to ask. EDIT: Looking back at the original OP post, I think that is the case, so don't overthink this, just give a quick blurb of how bike commuting has been so great for you.

OK, but the OP is who mentioned those features and pondered if he should talk about those things in the video.
If you don't think it's beneficial to talk about those things, tell the OP that.
All I did was ask what bike the OP was going to use to show the features he mentioned.

So here's what it is. The lady will adapt her commute so it intersects mine one day this week at about 7am. She'll film me talking for the 30-60 seconds about bike commuting, then follow me for a few more to get actual video of me pedaling to work.

Sounds good. They know what kind of video they are looking for and will direct you accordingly. Be sure to share when it's posted online!

Remember to shave

Haha. And share.

I have a job interview tomorrow, so I shaved my fuzzy ears.

Update - I did the video 7am this morning. Two very lovely ladies with bikes met up with me on my commute. We stood under a tree in our helmets and neon gear and introduced ourselves. Then we did one 'take'. This was about a two minute interview. One held up her cell phone to record and the other held up a flower as the "microphone". They asked me why I bike commute, any memorable rides, and any advice I had for new bike commuters. After that, they both followed me for about four miles. Every time we got to red lights, I'd point out features of my commute. I showed them a bike path along the route of the old Morris Canal that they could take on their way back, and I presume they tried it. Hopefully they found their way back. I don't take the bike path very often - mostly because it's longer.

I will send them an email thanking them for their professionalism and ask if I can get a link to the video.

That's cute, especially using the flower as a mic.

I've declined to hire someone because they didn't listen, didn't know all the things, didn't know any of the things, didn't know anything at all or couldn't articulate the things. Never once did ear hair raise to the level of impacting the hire/no hire decision. Mainly because it's hard as heck to find someone who listens, knows enough of the things, and can articulate the things. So when such a person is encountered it's best to ignore everything else and hire them. So I have some weird AF people working for me but they get stuff done.

And that's what I know about ear hair and hiring decisions.

It makes me feel more confident when I look the way I think is my best. I mean, you wouldn't go to an interview naked, would you?

No shoes, no shirt, no job.

But once hired... I once had a software developer who would kick his shoes off and walk around the office barefoot. But he was irreplicable and worth 2x his salary. I expect he did wear shoes to his interview because, well, he wasn't stupid

Germany. All the white collars remove their street shoes and walk around the office in socks and Birkenstock sandals. At least 30+ years ago when I was last there. Oh and actually not white shirts, usually something like a deep burgundy or dark emerald green, from silk. I turned on the news, same colors on the newscasters, but full suits.

I worked in that world for 34 years. In theory, there was no dress code at all, though I was able to disprove that. Occasionally I showed up to work wearing a suit and tie for no reason other than to rattle people's nerves. Clearly I was breaking the unwritten code.

Speaking of tolerating weird behavior of valuable employees, I have a great anecdote. I worked at Bell Labs, a highly regarded research and development organization which produced a record number of innovations. At the time, it was a division of AT&T, and that the same time, AT&T was a much bigger company than it was. There were a couple of guys who, after lunch, would play games in the corridor by throwing and rolling quarters down the hall. One of the high ranking administrators saw this and said we have to put a stop to this. But someone informed him that these two guys had come up with an innovation that had saved the company 5 Billion dollars with a 'B'. You should not discourage people like this. The big guy relented, and the games continued.