Fred's Blog

You've heard the cliché the hurrier I go, the behinder I get, well that sums up my life lately.  Blog writing is just like my running, it is something I want to do, but I can't seem to make it part of my daily regime. It doesn't help that we are slightly short-staffed right now.  I know, excuses, excuses...I just need to make it happen,  

You've heard the cliché the hurrier I go, the behinder I get, well that sums up my life lately.  Blog writing is just like my running, it is something I want to do, but I can't seem to make it part of my daily regime. It doesn't help that we are slightly short-staffed right now.  I know, excuses, excuses...I just need to make it happen,  

As conferences go, this year’s ChampionChip conference was uneventful.  Like most conferences, one of the main reasons you attend is so you can network and catch-up with old friends.  I brought our new timing guy, Matt, along so he could learn more about ChampionChip and race timing.  During the conference there were several workshops related to RunScore, a timing program that many of the timers use.  A new client/server version of the software was just release and everyone was anxious to learn more about it.  RunScore has always been sort of fickle in a network environment and this new version will change that.

No earth shattering ChampionChip news came out the conference.  ChampionChip is finally releasing its version of an active chip.  A regular ChampionChip is passive, meaning it has no battery and relies solely on the magnetic field of the mats to energize it so it can send data to the system.  An active chip is larger and has a small battery in it.  This allows it to be used for faster sports like inline skating and cycling.  The cost is also significantly higher.

The guys at ChampionChip were all excited about a new system they developed to time yacht races.  That went over like a lead balloon.  Another big push they made was for their Time Point systems.  This is a permanent system that would be installed on a track or running trail.  When athletes pass over it with their person ChampionChip on it would collect the data and show it on a screen at that check point and put it online for the athlete to review later. An interesting concept but a very expensive one as well.
 

One of the cooler new technologies they showed us was a GPS timing device they developed.  This would enable live tracking of athletes via web.  The device is fairly large and very expensive.  I see this being used as a value added service and for high profile pro races.  For the common age group athlete the only place you might come across this would be at a high profile long course triathlon or perhaps a marathon.  The athlete would most likely have to pay at least $50 to be able to wear one of these devices during a race.  You could then direct everyone to track your progress live on the web during the race.  I’m sure in another 5-10 years this device will shrink in size and price so it can become mainstream and be worn by all athletes at a race.
 

The conference was not a busy one so we had plenty of time to play tourist.  The area surrounding St. George is absolutely beautiful.  Zion National Park is just over 30 minutes away and the Grand Canyon about the same.  I spent a few hours scouting out possible triathlon venues, not sure why, it’s just in my blood I guess.

I’m off to conference number two in my winter conference triple crown.  This one is the annual ChampionChip race timers conference taking place in St. George, Utah.  More than half of the nearly 70 ChampionChip timers are expected to attend so it is a great opportunity to network as well.  Like the Race Directors Conference, this is the one time of year when almost everyone can come together and have a great time.  When it is over it is back to the “dog eat dog” world of event timing and for some timers, back stabbing, event stealing, and cut throat bidding wars.   We really have not had to fight too many timing battles over the years.  You lose some events and you gain some events so it all seems to average out.  I plan to expand our timing business in 2008-2009 so I’m sure we will get pulled in to a few new battles along the way.

This conference should be interesting to hear what ChampionChip World has to say about the new competition they are facing in North America.  New companies have entered the chip timing arena and are aggressively marketing their technology to existing timing companies a few high profile races.  A couple of major ChampionChip timers have already jumped ship, leaving the ChampionChip technology behind to use the new technology that is out there.

Unfortunately for the U.S. timers, ChampionChip is based out of the Netherlands and they are sort of out of touch with the U.S. business model. It does not help that the equipment prices are set in Euros.  A few years ago the US and European dollars were almost the same.  Now the dollar is so week that we have to pay half again as much for the same equipment.  That equates to a nearly 50% price increase and makes it a challenge for us to financially afford to increase our equipment inventory.

I’ll report back in a couple of days when the conference winds down.

Now that I've finally thawed out following my visit to Colorado Springs, it's time to get ready for my next conference.  This is conference season for me as I attend three major conferences in 4 weeks.  Next weekend it is the ChampionChip race timers conference and then two weeks later, the Running USA Conference.

The ChampionChip conference takes place in St. George, UT.  It is not quite the place you would expect to host a conference seeing how it is two hours north of Las Vegas, but I must admit it is a very beautiful area.  We were there last year as well.  The Running USA conference is in San Diego, a place I always love to visit.

After my conference triple crown is complete, I'll get to rest for a couple of months before heading to another conference at Salt Lake City, UT.  By then I know I'll be "conferenced out".

The conference is over and as conferences go it was OK, not great, but not bad either.  It was sort of a strange conference in that it had no social events attached to it like a dinner or reception.  That is a rare omission for any conference.  What is also strange is that they had no break out sessions.  The conference was not at the host hotel but instead was in a large tent.  Needless to say many of us froze our ass off for two days.  This happened last year as well when the heaters were not working in the meeting rooms in the hotel.  The USAT staff did a great job executing the conference, but I left with the feeling that the conference was incomplete.

The best thing about a conference like this is that you get to catch-up with other race directors from around the country.  Over the years I've made some great friends in this business and I always look forward to the opportunity to see them again.  The conference also gives me the opportunity to meet with event directors that we'll be working with later this year.

Race directors are a diverse group of characters, and this is one time when you can be friends with people you may not have much respect for in real life.  It can really be dog eat dog out there in the event world and as one would expect, everyone loves to talk about everyone else's business.  Race gossip abounds, and so does the BS.  Many race directors are very sincere, while others are caught up in their own egos.  Some patronize you to your face, but then slam you behind your back. I could go on and on, but in reality this is no different than any other professional field.  The one thing that almost all race directors do have in common is that they really do strive to put on quality and safe events for their participants.

I would like to see USAT move this conference around the United States.  Colorado Springs in January is not quite the destination that you can't wait to visit.  What would be cool would be a mega event conference that brings the triathlon, running and cycling industry together.  I'm actually surprised that active.com does not do this already.

Oh well, I can almost assure you that we'll be back in Colorado $prings next winter.  This is the most economical place for USAT to host a conference.

It's time for the annual USAT Race Director's Conference in Colorado Springs.  I just arrived in the Springs and I was quickly reminded as to how much I hate cold weather.  Fortunately the real bad weather passed through earlier in the week.  For me, snow is something that is nice to look at, but I would hate to have to deal with it all winter. 

I think I have been to every USAT/TriFred race director's conference since my first event way back in 1984.  I always figure if you make one quality connection, or bring back one idea to improve your races, the conference was worth the time and money.  Not all of the USAT/TriFed conferences I have attended over the years have made the cut.  We'll see how this one stacks up.

It was not until a couple of days ago that I found out that this conference was not going to be the USAT Congress as well.  With the congress you have members of the regional federations, regional officials, and others in attendance.  That is the format they used for the past two years and it was great, especially seeing how our 2008 TriAmerica Series will make it to at least 4-5 regions this year. The congress would have allowed me the opportunity to talk business with those regions.

Now I just remembered why I like visiting the Springs in the winter, I can set my beer outside my window and it is cold and ready to drink in 10 minutes!  It's been 10 minutes since I started this post so I'm out of here!

Interesting reading on the slowtwitch triathlon forum concerning camps at Clermont's USA National Training Center.  I can relate to this because we were also refused pool space for camps and clinics that we were partnering with Fit Planet Inc. on last year.   I was taken back by this because as someone who was involved with the original vision of NTC, this a complete 100% turnaround from the mission of the NTC when it opened. 

National Training Center, Fl cancels all clinics…

Does anyone have any information on why the NTC pull the plug on all the athletes and coaches that had planned on using the facility for training purposes ??? I had planned on attending a week long clinic organized by a group of top professional athletes and coaches in the beginning of this year, and now I was just informed that all camps had been canceled due to NTC’s new policy of holding their own clinics…As far as hear the NTC gave NO notice to coaches who had spent months of their time and money in advertizing and promoting their clinics. What gives? I thought that the center was build to support all triathlon coaches and athletes.
Concerned Athlete....

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Wow, this is my 25th year producing triathlons here in Clermont!  It is hard to fathom how long ago it was when I decided to put on my first triathlon here in Clermont, the inaugural Great Clermont Triathlon.  That was way back in 1984 and I still remember lots about that race.

Next week I'm going to start my "looking back" posts as I try to note the historic moments in my 25 years of producing triathlons.  Of course I'll answer the number one question I get asked, "what got you started in this crazy career?".  If nothing else, by putting that in print, the next time a reporter asks me that question I can say, "go read my blog".  This will save me a bunch of time recanting the same old story over and over again.

Now where do I begin??

  

It is hard to believe that 2007 is now history.  Looking back on 2007 it was one of those years that you could do without.  It is not that it was a bad year, just not the type year I was hoping for.  I'll try to reflect back on 2007 next week when I'm stuck in a hotel.

But hey, it is 2008 and this is going to be awesome year!  I certainly would not have said that a couple of days ago when I was scrambling to get all my plants under cover before the approaching freeze hit us.  I've never been a fan of cold weather and starting the new year off by freezing your ass off is not a good sign of what is to come. 

The only thing good about the cold weather is that it is forcing me to stay inside and work on our new websites, a job that is taking forever to complete.  

How many days till summer?