Stuart Dorland, the founder and promoter of the popular 24 Hours of Adrenalin (24HOA) race series, is out of control. Jeff Kerkove, a popular endurance mountain bike racer, has been banned by Dorland from all 24HOA events for one year. Why? Because Jeff Kerkove expressed a negative opinion about the World Championships (run by 24HOA) on the discussion boards at MTBR.
Granted Kerkove's first post was a bit of a smack-down, however, as the thread went on he clearly articulated the reason for his negative feelings for the event in another post. This second post was much more constructive. In addition to Kerkove there were several others that also expressed negative views of the event, yet none were banned like Kerkove. It appeared that Stuart Dorland became enraged by the fact that his event was being portrayed negatively and he began "yelling" at the forum participants (not to mention his atrocious spelling).
The thing is...Dorland could have gotten ahead of this if he simply proactively articulated the policies of the event and reasons for certain decisions. Instead, he reacted in an unprofessional manner further fueling the outrage of the very people that participate in his events.
Here are the issues as best I could glean from the thread:
- Dorland changed the event dates without explanation and without notification only a few weeks before the event was to take place.
- Due to the date change some riders have requested a refund or transfer of race fees to a future 24HOA event and have been denied.
- The refund policy for 24HOA is either not clearly defined or is inconsistently applied.
- Many riders feel the entry fee is too high; particularly for solo riders.
It's probably too late to salvage his reputation, but here are my suggestions for Dorland:
- Provide an explanation for the date change. It's not too late to send an e-mail with an explanation to registrants regarding the change. Even if the change was made because of a competing event splitting the field and reducing overall participation, say it. Riders understand that. Just say, "We understand that you would like to participate in as many endurance events as possible throughout the season. Given that the 24HOA World Championships is scheduled on the same weekend as "24 hours of X" we have decided to reschedule so that riders could participate in both if they wish..."
- Now obviously if you do this you better have an appropriate response for those that cannot reschedule. This is where the refund policy comes into play. Certainly you must have one and it should be one that is easily found on the Web site. It would be a good idea to be flexible on the policy, however, at a time when you are asking riders to be flexible with you. A transfer of fees to a future event of the riders choosing would seem to be an appropriate compromise.
- Regarding the price being too high - this is a matter of highlighting the benefits of participation in the event. Remind the community of all of the great support that's provided, the atmosphere, etc. Make it clear that the fee pays for a weekend experience and not simply the entry into a race. Of course this must be more than a message the experience must actually match the message. It does seem excessive, however, that the fee paid by a solo rider is nearly as much as that of a four person team. It's hard to know what the logic is behind this...are the costs for the promoter higher for some reason?
At this point I would definitely not be surprised to see a significant drop off in attendance for all 24HOA events in the future. Jonathan Maus summed it up best when he provided the following advice to Dorland on his blog:
There is a new reality in the marketplace. It's called a conversation and you don't own it any longer. Your customers are not just passive recipients of your goods and services. They have a voice that is more powerful than ever because of blogs, forums and the rise of consumer generated media. You have the choice to either engage, respect and listen to your customers, or ignore them and treat them like dirt. If you want to make money and be successful, I strongly recommend the former.
