Race Directors' Meeting
Schedule
Monday, December 7
2:30pm – 5:45pm Packet Pickup
2:30pm – 6:00pm Trade Exhibit
4:30pm – 5:15pm First Timers Session
Two veteran attendees, Michelle Juehring (Director, Quad City Times Bix 7) and Craig Ottinger (Director of Operations, Hightech Signs), will give you some tips on how to get the most out of the meeting.
6:00pm – 7:15pm Welcome Reception
Welcome reception sponsored RunSignUp and the Publix Gasparilla Distance Classic (includes presentation of the MarathonFoto/Road Race Management Race Director of the Year award presented by MYLAPS.
Tuesday, December 8
7:45am – 8:45am Ashworth Awards Continental Breakfast
8:00am – 6:00pm Trade Exhibit
8:00am – 8:45am Packet Pickup
8:45am – 8:55am Welcome – Phil Stewart
8:55am– 9:55am Course Management
As the complexities of race management have increased an often-problematic area is assuring the course is safe and elite athletes have a clear path to the finish. We will address best practices for lead vehicles, course marking, deploying course marshals, crowd control, and general precautions to avoid leaders going off course or being impeded by spectators or vehicles. A seasoned race director will share his insights gleaned over a long career. This is not a session to point fingers but rather to assist directors in assuring their course is adequately managed.
Faculty: Dave McGillivray
Moderator: Phil Stewart
9:55am– 10:20am Publix Gasparilla Distance Classic Coffee Break
10:20am – 11:20am Secrets to Recruiting More Sponsors
Beyond a title sponsor, how to identify elements in your event to sell (expo, speaker series, training programs, races within the main race, kids run, banners, numbers, etc.)? How to identify potential sponsors, determine proper exposure for these sponsors, and set prices? After the race how do you show ROI?
Faculty: Andrea Dowdy
Moderator: Jeff Darman
11:20am – 11:40am Gatorade Endurance Break
11:40am – 12:40pm Medical Planning for Endurance Events
A critical factor in determining your future medical plan is capturing data from your medical operation. Learn effective and efficient ways to collect information about medical encounters and how to use this information to create best practices, to assist in generating policies and better protocols, and to align the medical plan with the overall race plan. Our speaker also will review recent trends in medical encounters at events to enable events to be better prepared for the unexpected.
Faculty: Shelly Weinstein
Moderators: Phil Stewart
12:40pm – 2:15pm Lunch Break and Trade Exhibit Visits
2:15pm – 3:20pm Demystifying AI
AI is now part of event vernacular. But how can it actually help directors better manage their events? How can you take the leap from just asking AI questions to fully utilizing its power? We will look at ways AI is being successfully used by races in a myriad of areas, from marketing and volunteer management to finance and more. And we will review the available AI options to evaluate which ones are best suited for endurance events, and discuss the future of event management with AI.
Faculty: Johanna Goode
Moderator: Jeff Darman
3:20pm – 3:45pm Break
3:45pm – 4:45pm Runner Flow Control
With a new running boom underway, many race directors are finding their staging areas and courses stretched to and beyond capacity. Drawing on real-world case studies, we’ll examine what crowd management actually looks like in practice and how the data you’re already collecting can help make decisions about your event safer, smoother and more defensible to the permitting agencies.
Faculty: Charlie Harr
Moderator: Phil Stewart
4:45pm – 5:45pm Trade Exhibit Break
5:45pm – 6:30pm Race Directors’ Reception in Conjunction with Trade Exhibit
Talk with exhibitors of awards, competitor numbers, banners, timing, products, apparel, running organizations, online registration companies, apps, other web services and more. It’s a relaxed opportunity to meet fellow race directors, the faculty and exhibitors in an informal atmosphere and learn about new innovative products.
6:30pm – 8:30pm Romanelli Communications Keynote Dinner
Keynote Speaker – TBD
The dinner includes the announcement and presentation of the MarathonFoto/Road Race Management Lifetime Achievement Award
8:45pm – Nicks
Ask a veteran attendee if unsure about this. What happens at Nick’s stays at Nick’s.
Wednesday, December 9
8:30am – 9:00am Breakfast snacks and Publix Gasparilla Distance Classic Coffee Break
8:30am – 11:30am Trade Exhibit
9:00am – 10:00am HR Overview
As events grow and evolve, many include an increasing number of paid staff and consultants, along with volunteers serving in key roles. This adds a further dimension to the duties of event directors — being an HR manager. This session will cover, everything from salary parameters, promotions, benefits, perks, PTO, legal issues, general personnel policies and how to deal with a problem employees and volunteers.
Faculty: Jon Hughes
Moderator: Jeff Darman
10:00am – 10:30am Gatorade / Trade Exhibit Break
10:30am – 11:30am Race Announcing
How can events best utilize their announcer(s)?
How to best prepare the announcer to enhance their call of the race by providing detailed runner data and general race information. What are the range of payments and ancillary uses at expos, sponsor events, etc. What are the dos and don’ts of having local celebrities involved?
Faculty: Creigh Kelley
Moderator: Phil Stewart
11:30am Trade Exhibit Closes