Motorcycle Industry Council Promotes Ty van Hooydonk to Vice President, Communications

The Motorcycle Industry Council has promoted long-time staff member Ty van Hooydonk to vice president, communications. Van Hooydonk has worked, and will continue to work, on the industry’s mainstream media and market expansion programs, including Discover Today’s Motorcycling.

“Since 2001, Ty has been heavily involved in promoting motorcycling and rider safety, and he’s instrumental in many of our biggest media placements for two-wheeling, which are mostly the result of building solid relationships,” said MIC President Tim Buche. “He’s a serious enthusiast with a deep background in journalism and media relations, and he does it all from writing and editing, to video production and spokesperson duty, to hosting training sessions and great rides that share motorcycling with media, influential VIPs and big audiences everywhere.”

Prior to his hiring as MIC communications director, van Hooydonk was a director at PainePR in Orange County, senior account executive at Burson-Marsteller public relations in Los Angeles, news editor at Cycle magazine and associate editor at Cycle News. Although based out of Irvine, California, Ty has worked for weeks at a time, in New York City for more than 20 years, and travels throughout the country to promote motorcycling. In addition to his past work for enthusiast publications, van Hooydonk has written and shot photographs for the New York Times, USA Today, Popular Mechanics, Men’s Journal and other mainstream outlets. He’s also a Motorcycle Safety Foundation RiderCoach, ATV Safety Institute Instructor and DriverCoach for the Recreational Off-Highway Vehicle Association.

“I’m extremely privileged to be working for this industry and fortunate to have the resources provided by MIC members, plus all the great colleagues around me, so we can get out there, showcase motorcycling to America, and help people get started riding the right way,” van Hooydonk said. “Our communications programs have changed with the times, along with the media and an expanding audience that are increasingly accepting of and interested in motorcycling. We’ve helped with that and, lucky for me, there’s never a dull day on two wheels or at the MIC.”

For more information: mic.org.

The Sturgis Motorcycle Museum and Hall of Fame recently named Marilyn Stemp and Steve Piehl to its board of directors.

Stemp is a pioneering figure in the motorcycle industry, founding IronWorks Magazine with her late husband, Dennis, and becoming the first female editor of a nationally circulated, mainstream motorcycle magazine. She also revived their trade magazine, Iron Trader News; edits the monthly Kiwi Indian News; contributes to several powersports media outlets; and is the founding editor of Sturgis Rider Daily. Stemp is a noted editor and writer of several motorcycle-focused books. Her consistent support for charitable efforts in the industry include the annual Biker Belles Celebration, Las Vegas BikeFest and as campaign chair for the Sturgis Motorcycle Museum’s development plan in 2014. She co-founded the Flying Piston charity events taking place in Daytona and Sturgis each year and is a National Ambassador for All Kids Bike. Stemp was inducted into both the Las Vegas Motorcycle Hall of Fame and the Sturgis Museum's Hall of Fame in 2018, and in 2022 she was recognized as one of the Top 100 Women in Powersports by DealerNews.