Clean Slate…How To Preserve The Integrity Of Your Event

Blog By Paul Peavy

In honor of Mother’s Day, I’m going to tell you something your mother probably told you a time or two…please pick up after yourself.

This advice applies not only to your messy room or office but also to your event. How well you clean up after your event will be remembered not only by the host community but also by peers within your own competitive circles.

In my first venture as a race director for a 5K, I am finding my race might have a reputation before it even starts, but it’s not one of my own making. Our race is one where runners will get paint powder splattered on them as they run through each kilometer.

These types of races have become very popular. So popular that a sorority held one such race on the same course we had chosen just a month and a half before our event. Well, I  saw that as an opportunity for me to volunteer to help while also learning what I could do to make my race great.

I am so glad I went because I now have the confidence of knowing what to do and what not to do. I also got to be the lead-out cyclist for their run, which was very cool!

I showed up early and was able to help those girls put on a good race. I left after the race as the participants were still having a great time and the music was still pumping.

The most valuable lesson I learned came the next morning as I opened up my Facebook page. Several runners commented that whoever had put on the race left the park area a complete wreck and did not clean up after. Later, when I mentioned my race in our community, comments were made about how badly these people had neglected to clean up anything—much less the paint powder left behind.

I have assured everyone that I am buying extra push brooms, bringing extra buckets of water to wash everything anew so that the park will look better after the race than it did before. The one thing I do know is that if we do not pick up after ourselves we will not be welcomed in this community again!

So, think about it, do you want to ruin the possibility of continuing your sport in a community? I’m guessing you don’t. So, like your mom said, “The job is not done until the last sock is put in the drawer.” Or something along those lines…

Paul Peavy, paulpeavy.com, is a Licensed Psychotherapist who has found a unique and energetic way to help people. As a former stand-up comic he knows one way to get people unstuck is to get them to lighten up, laugh and live! In over 10 years of dedication to getting people moving toward rediscovering the joy in life here are some of the highlights of America’s favorite Stand-up Therapist! Paul competes in Ironman triathlons with his wife.

 

Ironman’s Brand Success…Ideas For Your Events

In November, my wife completed her fifth Ironman triathlon and I completed my third. To get it out of the way, yes, she beat me by about five minutes. I have to add that I beat her by five minutes last year.  So next year, game on girl!

Next year? Why another 2.4-mile ocean swim, 112-mile bike ride and 26.2-mile run? Because we can and we do and, yes, it’s kind of fun.

(You can read my complete race report at www.ironmacrocks.blogspot.com if you want to find out more about our Ironman journey and addiction.)

 If you follow my writing I usually write about what Ironman has done right and wrong because Ironman is such a recognizable brand.

When we wear our Ironman clothes or people see my wife’s “M-Dot” tattoo (their logo), complete strangers will come up and start a conversation about Ironman.

Here are the unusual twists I learned about the creation of Ironman. Ironman was basically created when six friends got together and were discussing whether a swimmer, cyclist or runner was the best enduring athlete. The event resulted from a friendly bet.

Following the second year of the event, organizers considered turning the race into a relay with a specialist for each event. But a Sports Illustrated writer who happened to be in the area to see the race the year before had written an article about the quirky torture fest, leading to exponential growth the following year. No relay.

Twenty-seven years later, Ironman has continued to adapt to athletes’ needs by adding the more manageable half-Ironman distance 1.2-mile swim, 56-mile bike, and 13.1-mile run to its arsenal. The full Ironman is a total of 140.6 miles, so Ironman has copyrighted the number “70.3” to represent the distance of the half-Ironman distance.

Ten years ago, there were about six Ironman races held throughout the year. Now, there is a 70.3 or an Ironman race virtually every weekend (sometimes two). Have they grown too fast? Perhaps.

Ironman took over a Miami 70.3 only briefly before the race date, and it was not very well organized. But organizers did offer disappointed athletes the compensation of another race entry into the first Ironman New York City last year to much hoopla. After hearing many complaints about a variety of things, organizers closed re-entry and are still considering whether it could be modified enough for an Ironman-quality event to be offered.

Ironman uses social media extraordinarily well. Facebook discussions, Twitter blasts and especially webcasts of each event keep Ironman fans and hopefuls always interested and always motivated.

Ironman also rode the Lance Armstrong roller coaster, initially allowing Armstrong the opportunity to compete and qualify for the big Ironman Hawaii World Championship, which is the Big Kahuna of Ironman and the one you see broadcast on TV. Later, organizers changed their minds and denied him participation. Triathlon fans were in a great uproar! Then the roof fell in on the Armstrong castle and the triathlon fans quieted down.

When there are downs with Ironman, organizers seem to be open to criticism, venting and critique and often try to make good on what went bad. That is something we all can learn from in organizing sports events.

Why do they have a brand that people want to have tattooed on their own skin forever? They picked a name and rode with it.

At one point, organizers wanted to begin calling female athletes “Ironwomen.” But when the women said, “No, we completed the same course with the same challenge as the men, we want to be an Ironman, too,” that idea was nixed.

In developing merchandise, Ironman acknowledges family and friends of the athletes. There are support crew T-shirts as well as gear for “Ironmates.” Think about that for your next event what kind of swag do you have for the families that make them also want to return to your event next year?

Finally, Ironman has a great respect for every participant. The party for the last competitor and even all the ones who finish within the last hour of the 17-hour allotment is incredible.

Do you make your athletes feel they have something to be proud of just by making it to your event? You could sprinkle your event with signs that say something like, “99% Of The Population Chose To Sleep In This Morning. Congratulations On Making The Commitment To Be Part Of The 1% Daring To Make Something Happen!”

So, create a fun name and logo for your event. Use social media by having your flip cam or video on your phone and get ready to post to “You Tube,” remember something goes viral every week. Why not let it be a great or funny play from your event? Tag your event in it and BOOM! Watch your it take off.

If six crazy people could turn a friendly bet into an event with the staying power of Ironman, I’ll bet you could too.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Paul, a licensed psychotherapist, competes in Ironman triathlons with his wife, Sherrie. As a former stand-up comic, Paul knows one way to get people unstuck is to get them to lighten up, laugh, and live! paul@paulpeavy.com

The Superbowl Of Making Super Connections!

By Paul Peavy

The Super Bowl is the largest media event in the world! So what do sponsors need to boost attention? Apparently individual attention from you.

Yes, Pepsi, Pizza Hut, Papa John’s, and Doritos  needed so much attention they asked for your individual involvement. If a company whose ads are going to be seen by millions needs to boost up its numbers think of how much difference your event could get with a little more attention.

What all three of these companies did was to ask you to make a personal commitment. In turn, you might get your 15 seconds of fame or a free pizza.  Either way, I’ll take it.

Pepsi asked you to go to their website and take a picture of yourself and your shoes a few different ways. Thy put them together in a montage to open the Super Bowl Halftime Show. Did they need to do this to get numbers? Probably not. But then again, any publicity is good publicity, and their name got bantered about and their website got visited more than it would have.

Papa John’s got us really into the game itself without actually having to take a hit from a linebacker. All you had to do was go their website and correctly pick the winner of the coin toss to receive a free large pizza. I got mine, and I might just turn into a regular customer!

Pizza Hut made an ingenious connection to the on field action. So ingenious I am mad I did not see this obvious one coming. They connected the “Hut, hut!” to their Pizza “Hut.” Genious! People went to their website and made scenes of themselves calling out “Hut, hut!” and now these people are famous.

Doritos is the granddaddy of them all. They ran a contest where they put five commercials produced by customers into the super-expensive commercial slots during the game. This is the seventh year that Doritos has offered up their commercials this way and the prize just keeps getting bigger and bigger.

So what can you learn from these clever companies? Making connections to individuals is still ultra important. Why not have participants come up with a new slogan for a new T-shirt, or post a video or a joke using one of your key phrases to get them even more strongly connected to your event.

You don’t have to give away a million dollars, maybe just a T-shirt, maybe an entry fee to your next event. Or maybe the reward is the fun of being publicly recognized in general.

What are your ideas on this topic? E-mail me at info@sportseventsmagazine.com.

Why You Need To Get To Know Hotel Managers

By Paul Peavy

To start with I have to own my part of the mistake. We had gotten in the habit of leaving hotels without checking out and checking the final bill. A lot of hotels give you that express checkout bill that appears that the checkout fairy slips out under your door your last night of sleep.

Even at the few hotels that did not that we were cruising out without cruising by the desk. First lesson to hotels is to please consider adding this feature if you do already do so. (Or how about going high tech and emailing, texting or adding an app for this?)

At sports events, athletes and their families are often checking out and trying to get to their last day of competition. Also, if everybody is leaving to head back home at the same time, the check out line can get pretty long. As triathletes we are loaded down with gear and bikes on a rack. As a swim parent we are headed for an early morning swim session or we have to get back to Tallahassee for an afternoon swim practice. Either way, it’s a time crunch.

Now, for what I consider the hotel’s problem. Two days after we left, a roughly $120 charge was on our credit card. We had used points and a “Gold Level” membership (or something like that) to pay for our complete stay at this very nice, very reputable hotel chain. A part of the membership included “No Resort Charges.”

When I called to check out these charges someone who admitted that he was new answered the phone (We’ll call him Carlos because, well, that might actually be his name). He was extraordinarily polite and concerned. He said from what he could see it seemed like one of those charges that hotels sometimes put on a credit card but never actually charge. He said he would forward this to his manager and the manager would call me back when he returned from lunch. This was a Friday.

When no one called by Monday, I called back. The same gentleman answered the phone and he remembered me and apologized for no one calling me back. He talked to the manager while I could hear him and the manager confirmed it was just a “Resort Charge” that would come off and never be charged.

Well, that Wednesday the charge hit my bank account. I called back and got “Carlos” again. He apologized profusely and told me once again he would give the message to the manager. No returned call. When I called back the next day the “Carlos” apologized and said if I did not get a call back he suggested I call corporate customer care. I thanked him.

I called corporate and they said they would have to check with the hotel itself to get their interpretation of the events. The corporate office called me back and told me that “Just like the manager told you, you were charged an extra day because you were in your room until after 3 p.m.” I nearly jumped through the phone!

I had gotten my daughter to swim practice by 3 p.m., that day in Tallahassee, four hours away. I could pull up a gas receipt and a late stop at Subway if I needed to prove anything. I could have my daughter’s swim coach verify that we dropped our daughter off at practice at 3 p.m. if I needed to.

But that was not the most insulting part, I told the assistant manager when I called back the hotel. The most insulting part was the, “Just like the manager told you…” part. Oh, my gosh! Do not lie to me. The only words I heard from the manager were when I overheard him talking to Carlos as he told him that those were just “Resort Charges” that would never be charged. The assistant manager was not apologetic at all and said she would check with housekeeping that afternoon to see if I had indeed checked out or not.

No returned call that day. I called back and got a very, very apologetic Carlos (He is such a hero to me by this part of the story that I am dropping the secret identity quotation marks.).

He said it looked like on his computer the charges had been taken back, but it might take a 5-7 business days for the credit to appear. He said he would transfer me to the assistant manager to make sure everything was as he saw it. It was almost as if the assistant manager was smacking her gum and twirling her gum like an old Carol Burnett skit, my paraphrase of her quote goes like this, “Yeah, ya gettin’ ya money back, what’s the big deal?” What’s the big deal?”

The big deal is that you are “borrowing” $120 from me without asking and, in fact, lying about how you have handled it. I hung up and fired off an email to corporate admitting I had made the original mistake of not going to the front counter to check out and giving great credit to Carlos for being an individual that seemed concerned about my problem and the hotel’s reputation.

I then explained that the manager had lied to me. If he had looked at the problem closely when I first called or addressed it with me as a late check out. It would have never gotten to the point that it was taken out of my bank account at all, much less the possibility of me being $120 short for possibly 5-7 business days. Now to be honest, it only took two more business days but that still three business days and a weekend too long.

The following Monday I got a very apologetic email from Regina in charge of group sales. She was desperate to save her hotel’s reputation with ours and other swim teams. She did everything right including apologizing profusely, asking about my daughter’s swimming, and asking what she could do to compensate for my troubles and restore their good name. I have to admit, I wish she had made the specific offer of compensation first. (I once saw a man wink at his friend when he was trying to get some freebies from DisneyWorld when he felt he was slighted and say, “See you can always get free stuff if you complain loud enough.” I never want to be that guy.)

Regina gave us enough points for two free nights at the next swim meet. That, plus her personal concern and admitting the whole situation was handled incorrectly, saved the day for this hotel in my eyes.

The moral of the story for you, the sports event coordinator is this. Get to know your area hotel operators. Let them know what a great economic boon your event is to them. Especially get to know their group coordinators and managers. A part of your events’ reputation and the desire for an athlete to return to your event is the total hotel, restaurant, retail, and tourism experience.

Also remember the old axiom that the first and most long lasting impression may be given by the person who answers the phone. Make sure your organization also has a “Carlos” who answers the phone. It’s not important that that person has all the right answers. It is tremendously important that this person has the right attitude.

5 Ways To Cultivate & Keep Volunteers

Cultivating Volunteers

5 Surefire Strategies For Successful Recruitment & Retention

By Selena Chavis

Seasoned sports events planners know that the success of any event hinges on its volunteer base. Many amateur sporting events are run exclusively by volunteers, and even some of the largest sports governing bodies often don’t have the staff base to pull off a national event without help.

Thus, planners need to develop strategies and programs not only for recruiting volunteers but also for ensuring the volunteers are so engaged with an event that they want to come back. “You must have a compelling event for a volunteer to want to be part of it,” said Ron Radigonda, executive director of the Amateur Softball Association/USA Softball, adding that it’s important to find ways to help communities and groups of people rally around an event.

It could be an event that raises money for a local charity or builds pride in a community. Or, it could be an effort that unifies athletes with common interests.

Here are five strategies for attracting volunteers to your event—and compelling them to come back and help the next one.

 

1. Leverage Local Civic Groups & Corporations

From Kiwanis to Rotary, there are organizations in every city looking for ways to increase their exposure and help their local community. Rashelle Beasley, manager of the Albany Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB), said her city’s annual marathon and half marathon have had great success in reaching out to these organizations.

Ranked as one of the top Boston Marathon qualifiers in the country, the Albany Marathon and Half Marathon require the use of approximately 1,500 volunteers. “When you have an event that provides a lot of exposure for a company or civic group, many will take advantage of the opportunity to create a positive image.” Beasley said.

 

2. Feel-Good Incentives

Adding incentives to the mix can also increase the chances volunteers will want to participate. “If you give someone a T-shirt, they will do about anything for you,” Beasley quipped. But taking a more serious tone, she said that even the smallest of gestures could go a long way.

At the Albany Marathon and Half Marathon, each volunteer receives a packet that typically includes a T-shirt, a local restaurant-sponsored meal coupon and two tickets to the city’s street festival, held in conjunction with the races.

Ladona Weathers, director of tourism and membership events for the Branson/Lakes Area Chamber of Commerce and CVB, said that they incentivize non-profit participation by offering to donate to a group’s cause. For the region’s Ironman event, a donation is provided to non-profit organizations that provide 20 or more volunteers.

“It’s a great way to guarantee volunteer involvement and give back to the community,” she said. “It builds good will.”

 

3. Don’t Spread Volunteers Too Thin

Radigonda said it’s important to align volunteers with a single event to build loyalty and longevity of participation. Instead of reaching out to the same volunteers for numerous events, he suggested developing a separate pool of volunteers for each event.

“People are willing to give you a few days for a defined period,” he said. “It’s really tough to have people commit to open-ended timeframes.”

To make volunteers feel they are truly part of an event’s team, Radigonda also said that it’s important for all volunteers to have a specific, clearly defined role in the event that this information is clearly communicated.

Weathers agreed, adding that a pitfall for many events is ending up with too many volunteers and not enough work for them to do. Volunteers who don’t feel like they have ownership in a specific task or effort will be less likely to return, she said.

 

4. Don’t Be Afraid To Use Social Media & Other Networking Tools

Networking through social media has been very successful in helping to fill the 500 to 700 volunteer slots needed for the Ironman held in Branson, Weathers said.

A virtually cost-free method of promoting and recruiting, inviting Facebook fans of similar events to “like” the Branson event has helped her recruit volunteers. “We write on other events’ pages to help increase exposure. We develop a rapport with their fan base.”

Equally effective has been the process of attending similar events, setting up a booth and interacting with fans, athletes and volunteers. “We believe in building a fan base rather than just recruiting volunteers,” she said. “Fans will be better volunteers because they are more in tune with what’s happening.”

 

5. Timely & Regular Follow-Up

Many sports events use online recruitment and registration techniques today. And while this process is efficient and effective for building databases, Weathers cautioned planners not to expect volunteers to show up just because they registered to do so online.

“You need continuous communication re-confirming their commitment,” she said. “Be prepared to communicate immediately after they sign up and multiple times afterward, or you will lose some of them along the way.”

Also important is showing appreciation after an event and regular follow-up preceding the next scheduled event, Beasley said. “Even though we have around 1,500 volunteers for the Albany Marathon and Half Marathon, there has to be that personal touch,” she said.

Out Cold—The Real Danger Of Concussions

There are 3.8 million concussions in the U.S. every year, and many of them happen as a result of youth sports-related injuries.

In recent years, the true danger of any sort of concussion, from serious to mild, has become more widely recognized among healthcare professionals. Concussions can have a longer, more lingering effect than many people previously realized, and the legacy left by a severe concussion is something medical professionals are seeing more and more in the world of sports.

A great deal of NFL players, for instance, are more aware of concussion symptoms, as well as how these symptoms may play out later in life. You may not be a head-injury prone athlete, but if you have any loved ones who are involved in contact sports, the following infographic provides helpful insight into the medical field’s growing awareness of the danger of a concussion.

Infographic courtesy of Masters in Health Care

http://www.mastersinhealthcare.com/blog/2012/concussed/

Olympics Still Making Waves For Sports

By Paul Peavy

This may be the greatest time ever for riding a tidal wave of exposure for your sport. The after glow of the Olympics is still growing strong! Think about it, people sat on their couch and switched from all the NBC networks to watch sports (possibly YOUR sport) all day for a couple of weeks. The exposure, the opportunity is endless.

If you are putting on a fencing tournament, you already got a little pump up in a feature on one of the nation’s best fencers, Race Imboden, during the Olympic trials. If you put on a huge road race, people will watched with interest the Olympic marathon and the amazing story of Mebrahtom ”Meb” Keflezighi who won the Olympic marathon trial after Nike had dropped him as a sponsor because he was getting too old. And, of course, you had a primetime duel in the pool between Ryan Lochte and Michael Phelps to light up your swimming interests.

Even driving in your car, you couldn’t escape. National Public Radio was doing regular features on athletes that were not as well known or well paid and how they struggled with time and finances to continue to honor their sports such as archery or badminton.

The biggest thing to me is you have an unprecedented time to grow both your audience and participants. It could be little kids watching and dreaming of making it to the Olympics or it could be adults saying, “Hey, I want to give that a try!”

The first thing I would do is talk to local press about how this sport works and how people can get into it and how your event connects people with it. Local newspapers and news shows need stories to fill their air time or paper space.           

Seondly, I would offer to go around to youth and adult organizations about what they actually saw when they watched your event on TV. Take a video clip to your local Rotary Club or an afterschool program and then offer a demonstration or a clinic on how people can get started in your sport so they can participate when your event rolls around.

The advent of fall often brings a spring of motivation as the heat melts away and gives way to cooler mornings and evenings. People are often more structured and schedule oriented as the free, lazy days of summer drift away. A parent may be looking for a way to fill a couple of hours at the park as their kid has football practice. Why not use the pump given by Andy Murray and Serena Williams at the Olympics to post notices encouraging beginners or returnees to your evening tennis leagues?

I also see this time as a time when interest in less publicized sports spike. Remember, some very bright high school students need some extra curricular activities to put on their college applications so starting an archery, handball, or badmitton team actually helps them out. It’s a great time to make others aware of why your private little passion is soooo cool!

This free publicity tsunami only happens four years and can create a ground swell in your event that can last for years! So hop on and ride it like your future depends on it, because it just may!

Paul Peavy and his wife, Sherrie, are multiple triathlon finishers. They also compete in shorter distance triathlons and runs. Their daughter is a state championship-level swimmer. Paul also loves to grab the microphone and be the “Crowd Pumper-Upper!” at many different events. He gives us insight into events as an athlete, a parent, a volunteer, an MC, a spectator, and sometimes just a Sherpa for his very athletic wife and daughter.