Are you working with local bike shops? I'm in Indy. Zipp is here, and also 51 Speedshop has a place here. You might be able to setup something with one of those.

2x in Richmond and nothing in VB? :(

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IG: idking90

we are working with local bikes shops. these will each be in a local bike shop, with very few exceptions, such as fleet feet rochester, which is run specialty. in about 12 cities it's going to be a local bike shop paired with a specialty running store, that is, there's a specialty running store in that same parking lot, usually sharing a common wall. in this case the road show will be a 2-store event, both stores participating on that day, pro athletes, sales and field service reps, demos, clinics, runs, rides, raffles, hospitality, beer, produced with and at both stores at the same time.

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

the 2x in richmond is actually 1x, but 2 shops, a run and bike shop together. but this is tentative. there are maybe 4 or 5 of these cities that are tenative, still waiting for the green light from 1 or more shops.

i'm not against VB at all. i'm listing these cities, and if there's a groundswell of local triathletes saying they want one in VB, or Omaha or Boise we'll go to work and stick a Road Show on the calendar in that town.

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

Curious why you chose Indy instead of Columbus, OH?

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Pink? Maybe. Maybe not. You decide.

i haven't unchosen columbus. this is a little bit of inside baseball, but let me tell you the process. rappstar has made a database for this - more on this below. i'm asking every participating store to send a list of preferred vendors, that is, if a vendor was specifically selected by a store as a desired featured vendor, these are the vendors that i hope to pair with that store.

we'll have, we hope, 25 or 30 vendors that are nationally participating in this, but maybe on 8 vendors in one store (or 2 stores if there is a bike and run store involved). the flip side is that these vendors will also want to participate. the 6 or 9 or 11 featured vendors at a road show will be there because both they and the store want them there.

i haven't asked them yet, but i will be asking SRAM/Zipp/Quarq to be a featured vendor, as i will be asking Shimano, the wheel brands, the bike brands, the wetsuit, apparel, nutritional, etc., brands. but i will NOT be asking brands that are not featured significantly among the responses from the participating stores when i ask them to send me their list of preferred brands. rather than shove a brand down a store's throat, i'm going to only approach brands that the stores: 1) sell a lot of; 2) are good at activating their own participation; 3) are the kinds of brands/products that do well a something like our Road Show. this is the point of the dbase Jordan built: to know which brands dealers prefer be at these Road Shows.

SRAM/Zipp/Quarq is going to be on a lot of lists dealers sent in, and if my prayers are answered they will want to participate in a number of these Road Shows. i think it would be great if we had a road show next to where these great products are made and engineered. hence Chicago and Indy.

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

When will you be announcing dates and shops?

What shop(s) in Indy? I'd like to think I had something to do with it b/c I suggested Nebo/Runners Forum.

Do you have a sketch of an 'agenda' that you use?
When will final dates be released for our planning?

Thanks Dan,
Jamie

right around ironman. on that day, or very shortly thereafter. we'll list cities and shops. we won't yet list dates. that will come a week or two later. mind, the very earliest any of these will take place is in february. the window is feb thru july inclusive.

we have maybe 25 shops settled. or 30. we still are getting the Y or No from a few. i haven't actually gotten my first no. but i'm about to give my own no to a couple of shops that are taking too long to answer, because unless a shop is very enthusiastically a yes, we don't want them, regardless of what the vendors or anyone else wants. this isn't my first rodeo, or roadshowdio i guess you'd say. the first were the quintana roo road shows we produced in the 1990s, and i learned back then that unless a shop is prepared for special events, likes them, wants them, is staffed for them, that's a hard rock to push uphill.

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

Understandable. I think I can take a guess which of those that might be. I would like to think there are enough of us in the Hampton Roads region that would support it, but that's up to one or two key shops to make that call.

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IG: idking90

"What shop(s) in Indy? I'd like to think I had something to do with it b/c I suggested Nebo/Runners Forum."

undecided in indy. i think nebo ridge / runners forum is a compelling option. i haven't spoken to them. endurance house is another compelling option.

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

i don't really understand this, but i think run specialty is more open to, and do a better job at, big events like this than bike shops. for example, you take a forum member here, boots, who owns fleet feet rochester. we didn't get one day into even this vague discussion of road shows without boots saying, basically, i'm in. and he has a track record of putting something on his calendar and 500 people show up automatically.

that's what we want. shops who have the skills, moxy, energy. that tends to be specialty running, but you also have the occasional bike shop (gear west bike, twin cities) who is expert at doing this.

if i have to make the sale to a bike shop to have us put a road show in their store, i just pass that shop by. i just would like to say to those shops: when canyon rips your lungs out don't blame mail order. run specialty is more vulnerable to mail order than bike specialty is, but run specialty has found ways to thrive (or at least survive) in spite of it.

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

Endurance house flagship and current hq is in Madison with a ton of triathletes and vendors(trek, saris, etc..) yet no Madison? Plus our beer is the best!

madison will definitely be on the list. honestly, it's now a question of vendors when deciding which store in madison. same kind of thing as with indy. if you're going to stick a road show in a big manufacturer's back yard, that probably ought to be a place where that manufacturer can showcase his brand.

so, you have stores like endurance house, trek madison west. both candidates. neither of these stores has even been yet contacted by me. i'm waiting on a particular vendor.

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

Makes sense. Thanks.

No love for the Canadian market? No shops to partner with?

You beat me to it. #GoJays

i've got plenty of love for my canadian brothers and sisters. here's the problem: my contacts are in the U.S. if i go to trek or zipp or quintana roo or blueseventy or clif or WD40 (and i'm just throwing names out there, it could be any brand) what i get is, "you'll have to talk to our canadian office/distributor".

the only brands where this is not the case are brands that are canadian (cervelo, argon18, etc.) where decisions for all of north america are made there.

if i go to the canadian distributor of a non-canadian brand it gets stuck there. canadian offices of non-canadian brands are frozen into indecision. that's my experience.

so, yeah, i have a dozen road show stops i'd like to make in canada. i can tell you the store i want to be in right now. i'll fly to them all, coordinating those road show stops with neil young, bryan adams, bruce cockburn concerts that i'll also be attending.

but who's going to foot the bill? the canadian distributors or offices for the brands participating in the U.S. road shows? my life's too short to try to get them all on board.

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

here is a question i have for your coloradans: boulder or denver?

the case for denver: "Make your life go here, son. Here's where the people is. Them mountains is for Indians and wild men."

the case for boulder: "I've been to a town Del."

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

Will the Chicago show have Dished wheels?

Good stuff Dan, thanks again! Looking forward to it.

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"You can never win or lose if you don't run the race." - Richard Butler

Do you have the 3-4 cities you may add already in mind? Or is that still open for suggestions?

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"I think I've cracked the code. double letters are cheaters except for perfect squares (a, d, i, p and y). So Leddy isn't a cheater... "

I'll lobby for Winston-Salem, NC The National Cycling Center is moving here and we are hosting the US Pro championships the next two years. However, we are talking triathlon and I've always considered this the hidden hotbed of the East coast Tri scene! I'll be happy to help you in any way I can.

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David
* Ironman for Life! (Blog) * IM Everyday Hero Video * Daggett Shuler Law *
Disclaimer: I have personal and professional relationships with many athletes, vendors, and organizations in the triathlon world.