Race Directors' Summit - 2020 Post Event

February 21, 2020 0:00am

3rd Annual Joint Race Directors' Summit in partnership with Triathlon BC, POST EVENT.

Thank you for attending the 2020 Race Director's Summit. Please find below links to the presentations of the great speakers that were able to join us on the day.

Speaker presentations are linked below as PDF's, under each topic.

If you have any questions, please contact Allan Praszky or Clifton Cunningham.

Special thanks to Sport BC Insurance, Odyssey Medical, SportStats Timing and Interpodia for supporting the Summit.

Morning Schedule

12:30 | Lunch & Learn– Traditional Media

Afternoon Schedule

13:15 | Session # 4 – Event Basics & Headaches
14:30 | Session # 5 – Risk Management & Round Tables
15:30 | Final Announcements – Next Steps
15:45 | PSO Sport Specific Breakout Session

Race Summit Speakers:

Event Sponsorship

Garnet Nelson, Unite Partnerships

With 20+ years of direct sponsorship sales and marketing experience, Garnet has been responsible for a number of award-winning, high-profile partnerships, ranging from large-scale title partnerships and naming rights positions to critical supplier deals.

Sponsorship / Unite Partnerships (PDF)

Aileen McManamon, 5T Sports Group

Founder and managing partner of 5T Sports Groups, working with elite sport properties and global brands. Aileen will speak on Environmental Sustainability; audits of game day / facility operations in energy, water, waste and supply chain, operations ‘greening’ roadmaps, facilitation of green sponsorships, creation and execution of fan engagement campaign.

Sustainability and Events (PDF) Links in document to more resources.

Sustainability Food Guildlines (PDF)

Maximizing Digital Media & Traditional Media

Sarah Smith, Patio

Director of Client Services, Sarah acts as client lead for many of Patio’s diverse projects, managing client accounts and internal teams from program launch to final report. Sarah will speak to Maximizing Digital Media; tactics to maximize participation and how to identify opportunities and new demographics.

Maximizing Social Media (PDF)

Clifton Cunningham, BC Athletics

Clif was Race Director with Canada Running Series and Scotiabank Vancouver Half Marathon for 18 years, and previous experience in non-profit fundraising, advertising and agency sponsorship. With BC Athletics, Clif helps Road, Trail and Cross Country event directors with sanctioning and sport related issues. Clif will quickly touch on the for traditional media press releases that every event should share with traditional media and on their social channels.

Traditional Media (PDF)

Community Engagement

Lara Peno, RunVan, BMO Vancouver Marathon

Lara manages the community ambassador program, engagement, customer service, planning and loyalty programs for the BMO Vancouver Marathon and other RunVan community races. Building relationships with and between, suppliers, sponsors and corporate partners. Lara will speak to the programs that have worked for RunVan, charity engagement, clinics and touch points in the community.

RunVan Community Engagement (PDF)

Christine Cogger, Triathlon Canada, IronMan Canada

Christine has worked with a number of events across Canada and in the Whistler Community, current AG Team Coordinator for Triathlon Canada and form Race Director with IronMan Canada. Christine will discuss what are some of the best practices of community engagement that she has experienced, how they can be scaled for event size and touch on some examples of what not to do.

Presentation coming soon.

Risk Management

Kevin Jones, Odyssey Medical

Kevin is Odyssey’s Executive Director of Event Operations nationally – call-sign Ops Kilo. Kevin is the ‘go-to’ Ops Man. His tenure with Odyssey goes back to the beginning. Kevin’s passions are in the tactical and operational event delivery. He is committed to crew, patients, and customer positive outcomes.

The Event Safety Guide USA (7mb PDF)

The Purple Guide UK Events (link to)

Event Cancellation - 2019 Presentation by Maurice Wilson

Event Cancellation - First Half Marathon 2018

Event Basics and Problems

Attendees will be surveyed the week of the event to submit questions to a panel of Race Directors and others in attendance about issues they have had or have had on their minds. Race Director Panel will share a story of an issue that has happened to them at their event, how they reacted to it in the moment and how they wish they would have reacted in hindsight.

Risk Management Table Top Scenarios (PDF)

Remember CAN - Cause, Action, Need

Panel Members will include:

Tim Hopkins, Vancouver Sun Run

The Vancouver Sun Run is Canada’s largest running event, with over 40,000 runners taking to the streets of Vancouver on one Sunday morning. Tim has also had key roles in a number of other events that include being Director of Operations for multiple Grey Cup Festivals and Producer of the Honda Celebration of Light.

Rob Dibden, Human Powered Racing

Rob is the race director of XTERRA Victoria, the Triathlon of Compassion, the Victoria Youth Triathlon, SwimRun Victoria, and The HPR Youth Triathlon West Shore. Rob is committed to the development of the sport of Triathlon and Human Powered Racing.

Chris Fagel, Canada Running Series, Toronto Waterfront Marathon

Chris is the General Manager of the Canada Running Series, having seven events in their portfolio across Canada serving over 60,000 runners and raising over $3 million annually for Charity.

Tim Dale, Ironman 70.3 Victoria, Ironman Group

Tim is the Race Director of the Ironman 70.3 Victoria and the Swim Director for all of the Western US & Canada events. Tim brings 15+ years experience based in Triathlon, Swim and Mountain Bike disciplines. Leading teams in operational and emergency procedue planning, safety management, risk mitigation and key stakeholder relations.

Odyssey Medical

2020 Race Directors Summit - Pre-Announcement

BC Athletics, together with Triathlon BC, represent over 150,000 enthusiastic participants across British Columbia. On Saturday, March 7th, the 3rd Annual Race Directors’ Summit will be held out of Fortius Sport & Health in Burnaby BC. The all day Summit is aimed at professionalizing sport delivery and enhancing the athlete experience.

As in previous years, the 2020 Summit will feature senior industry leaders who will share their knowledge and insight, tailoring presentations specific to the challenges of sport delivery. Learn how different organization from outside and inside of sport tackle new obstacles, and how you can create scalable strategies to accommodate your event.

“With common challenges seen in both markets, the partnership with Triathlon BC allows us to collectively share best practices that are critical to the success of all event directors. Over the day-long Summit, we hope to explore common solutions and new perspectives on issues Race Directors have, and that they can take back to their events to apply on the ground,” explained Clifton Cunningham, Technical Manager, BC Athletics.

“Our first joint Conference attracted 50 Race Directors from across BC and Alberta, representing the worlds of multisport, athletics and cycling. We hope to build on this engagement in 2020,” said Allan Prazsky, Executive Director, Triathlon BC. “With an extremely competitive market place, our phenomenal events need to be at the cutting edge of event delivery to keep our participants coming back year after year. This workshop is just one step in the continual evolution of endurance sport in BC.”

Take advantage of this unique opportunity to learn, talk, socialize, and exchange ideas with fellow event directors from a broad and diverse event background. Immerse yourself in innovative ideas that can help you recruit new and retain existing participants and sponsors to your event.