Event organization - stir it up now!

[Donald Campbell]

I would like to highlight some of the concerns regarding races and the statuses of the races and the euro/us connection.

This is important and should be solved very very soon, since my thoughts, which I'm now writing down, reflect the feelings of a lot of European racers I spoke with during the last few days.


#1
Races should be announced way sooner than it has been happening during the past few years, the way it is now is too much "freestyle" to put it that way.
Coinciding with the announcement of the races, that damn talk about which status the race will receive should be finished also. Which means: more mains, if the quality of the announced race can undermine the need for it. The discusson about Paris this year being the number one race and how it was held, shows a lot of unprofessionality in the organization which wants to "guide"...


#2
Everything possible should be done in order to not discourage the US-guys from the scene we all are trying to create. Lots of people get the feeling that the boyz might back off from the scene which is created here on this forum.

Slalom is not big enough to divide itself into different scenes. As a matter of fact I see that this "melting together" is not happening here at the moment - so where are the faults?


#3
People who stick to making a race should be fully encouraged by the ISSA to do so and ultimately receive the support or the status they deserve for putting up that race.
As it seems, this does not happen at the moment, due to some restrictions in the "system".

The "system" has to be way more flexible than it appears to be at the moment, or else it will soon get stale and die in itself.


#4
A direct reflection of recently held conversations comparing Paris to Antibes.
Here's the result of that discussion, which you all "who are in charge" should consider:
everybody who voiced his opinion on the 2 races compared, spoke in favour of Antibes.
I, personnally, find it amazing how calm and friendly Pierre reacts to the whole situation.
Just some food for thought....


#5
Morro Bay...
as it seems a lot of European visitors were utterly amazed regarding the unprofessionality the Worlds at Morro Bay 2004 showed.
There have been several reasons for that opinion.

First off: Jack - you are the man, no doubt about it, but as it always is, there are lots of complaints, some addressed openly, some behind your back.
I would love to talk privately about the complaints and give hints/ideas for improvements.

Face it - EVERYFUCKINGBODY wants to go to Jack's race.
Yes - we love each other, Europeans and Americans dig each other.
How good is it, when we compete against each other?
best thing to happen...no doubt about that.



There's your food for thought - love me or hate me, I am the one to bring it to you, this way, the honest way.
now you can start to brag....

[Hans Koraeus]

ISSA is not up and running yet. The current members will soon be listed. Then I guess we will have to create some working groups to get going. Some are more urgent to get going than others it seems. I wish everybody would support and push the ISSA idea like you Donald. There are a lot of issues we need to work on if we want an international slalom scene to appear serious. The problem is maybe that not all want a bigger international slalom scene. They just want a bigger local slalom scene. I will give a my personal view on your questions soon. Much of the questions are answered in topics elsewhere but the problem is always the legitimacy. Who can say that: "Ok, all views has been discussed and taken into account. The descision is now that we go this way." That is the main point why we need an ISSA but on the same time I think it scares the heck out of people.

[Jack Smith]

Donald,

Great post! I welcome all suggestions for improvements for the Worlds. One big step this year is the qualifying being held on Thursday and Friday, so that we can really showcase the head to head racing on the weekend.

All the best,
Jack

[Eddy Martinez]

Donald on point # 3:

I fully agree with people who...

... stick to making a race should be fully encouraged by the ISSA to so and ultimately receive the support of the status they deserve for putting up that race. As it seems, this does not happen at the moment, due to restrictions in the system. The " system " has to be way more flexible that it appears to a the moment, or else it will soon get stale and die itself.

So if some contest are insured, have start ramps, prize money, the same starting system, skilled riders, shouldn't they all receive the same status? I much like the bros I ride with dig to run through the cones. Maybe we can work on this next year. I still plan to be riding next year. And continue to support GrassRootsSlalom. As my teamate Marco said " this year we stick to the backwaters of the GrassRootsSlalom Circuit." Dave G as I said before we will see you WV.

Eddy Texas Outlaws.