Slowtwitchers - would love to hear other feedback on the current IM "deferral" strategy. I fully understand the organization can't simply refund everyone and stay in business so was thinking about options that could protect the organization while simultaneously more effectively serving the customers who regularly support them.
The current policy seems to be treating the events as a spectator event (like a concert), assuming that we can simply show up next year at the designated location and race. That might work for a concert, but it doesn't necessarily work for an event that involves 6+ months of focused training along with significant lifestyle adjustments for most people. What "fits" into an individual's life or priorities one year might not the following (I know this doesn't apply to many Slowtwitchers - so think about your neighbor who's doing their first one and had scheduled their work/personal lives to prepare in 2020 but can't necessarily do the same in 2021).
So here's my thought - would love to hear how y'all might enhance it in ways that would protect IM but also respect the lives of participants:
1 - Continue the "no refund" policy BUT
2 - Instead of assuming everyone who'd planned to race in 2020 will want to pursue the same or similar events in 2021, demonstrate an understanding that the lives of the Ironman Community change from year to year. To allow for this, provide every 2020 registrant a "future race" token/code that must be utilized within 5 years (by 12/31/25) for a race of similar distance or less (ie, IM token could be used for 70.3)
3 - This is not a guaranteed slot for any single race - it's a payment credit. If the user doesn't register before the event of choice is full, they miss out. In other words, this isn't an automatic entry, it's a token for payment of equal value IF registering for an event before it sells out.
It seems this would serve everyone - IM and the community as a whole. It would show goodwill to participants and protect the financial interests of Ironman. Most likely, many well-intended athletes would never "cash in" their token. But those who do would have the opportunity to select and race based a timeline they select rather than being "forced" (use it or lose it) to do so in 2021.
Thoughts? Obviously this is all assuming we are racing in 2021. It's also not applicable to many here on the Slowtwitch forum who are always in racing shape and race every year.
Thanks all.
The current policy seems to be treating the events as a spectator event (like a concert), assuming that we can simply show up next year at the designated location and race. That might work for a concert, but it doesn't necessarily work for an event that involves 6+ months of focused training along with significant lifestyle adjustments for most people. What "fits" into an individual's life or priorities one year might not the following (I know this doesn't apply to many Slowtwitchers - so think about your neighbor who's doing their first one and had scheduled their work/personal lives to prepare in 2020 but can't necessarily do the same in 2021).
So here's my thought - would love to hear how y'all might enhance it in ways that would protect IM but also respect the lives of participants:
1 - Continue the "no refund" policy BUT
2 - Instead of assuming everyone who'd planned to race in 2020 will want to pursue the same or similar events in 2021, demonstrate an understanding that the lives of the Ironman Community change from year to year. To allow for this, provide every 2020 registrant a "future race" token/code that must be utilized within 5 years (by 12/31/25) for a race of similar distance or less (ie, IM token could be used for 70.3)
3 - This is not a guaranteed slot for any single race - it's a payment credit. If the user doesn't register before the event of choice is full, they miss out. In other words, this isn't an automatic entry, it's a token for payment of equal value IF registering for an event before it sells out.
It seems this would serve everyone - IM and the community as a whole. It would show goodwill to participants and protect the financial interests of Ironman. Most likely, many well-intended athletes would never "cash in" their token. But those who do would have the opportunity to select and race based a timeline they select rather than being "forced" (use it or lose it) to do so in 2021.
Thoughts? Obviously this is all assuming we are racing in 2021. It's also not applicable to many here on the Slowtwitch forum who are always in racing shape and race every year.
Thanks all.