Early Call Time

Early Call Time Episode 15: Until We Eat Our Vegetables, We Can't Have Dessert

August 13, 2020 Early Call Time Pod Season 1 Episode 15
Early Call Time
Early Call Time Episode 15: Until We Eat Our Vegetables, We Can't Have Dessert
Show Notes

After last week's bye, the guys return this week with an all-banter episode! Tony lets us all know he has leaned that races' customer service teams must be absolute saints, after dealing with virtual event customer service himself over the past few weeks. And Eli shares the story of how an Austin Marathon customer service interaction is actually how he and his wife first met...although they didn't realize it until well into their courtship.

Eli also shamelessly plugs the reason the pod took its bye last week, which is that he was busy last week putting on a different kind of virtual event: a virtual summer camp! Eli volunteers every summer as a Program Director for Experience Camps, a free week-long overnight camp for children who have experienced a death-loss, so he spent every evening last week on a camp activity Zoom call. Like races, virtual is an okay bridge, but he thinks in-person camp is way better. (Volunteer applications for 2021 will open this fall, and since this is a shameless plug Eli wants you to know that events people would absolutely love camp.)

The guys talk about some recently-canceled or altered events, including the Richmond Runfest, directed by former ECT pod guest Tom Bedford, which had to postpone its marathon and half marathon but is still planning to put on its 10k, and also Spartan Race, which after its headline-grabbing Jacksonville event in June has since canceled its entire US season (although many of its international events are moving forward). (Warning: Frustrated with American's response to the pandemic, Eli drops a single F-bomb in this segment.)

But the guys are heartened that some organizations are beginning to pilot new models and environmental safety procedures at small-scale in-person events, like the Atlanta Track Club with its Publix Summer Series. Tony notes the lack of a unified set of industry standards may make it very hard to take the next steps toward larger events, but the guys agree that those standards are needed even though, as Eli is fond of saying, every race is a snowflake. And they're also happy to see events continue to innovate, with ideas like OYO Portland (which they agree they need to have one of the event organizers on to discuss, since they don't know enough about it) emerging as new alternatives for major urban marathons.

Eli and Tony  wrap up talking about how excited they are for the elite-only London Marathon, how London's TV deal likely makes it more lucrative for them to put on an elite-only event than fully cancel, and also how they would be interested in doing a logistics and operations focused "B" broadcast for this unique edition of London (or really any race--if your event needs broadcasters who will talk way too much about what type of ballast they see in the background, hit us up!).

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