Dominos Of Cooperation Fall For Event Organizers
Go fast boating-event seasons follow a sort of volcanic pattern. They hiss and rumble in the spring, and then erupt and roar throughout the summer. Every year, there are more events— from poker runs to offshore races—than weekends. So dates overlap.
Frustrating for everyone involved? Yes. Unavoidable? Bigger yes.
But that doesn’t mean event organizers “don’t even bother to look”—as snarky barstool experts will tell you till your eyes bleed—at the dates of other events and modify their own to avoid overlap if possible.
And why wouldn’t they? Date conflicts hurt participation, and participation translates to reduced charity fundraising, which is the ultimate goal of most go-fast boating events.
As reported today on speedonthewater.com, for example, North Carolina’s Kurt Binkley and Chad Shutter moved the dates of the Binks Fun Run For Addiction Awareness when they learned they shared dates with the Harwell Lake Charity Run benefitting Meals On Wheels Anderson in South Carolina. Now the Binks event is set for June 6-7 and the Hartwell, as originally planned, is set for June 14-15.
In 2024, Leah Martin, who heads up the Lake of the Ozarks Shootout and Shootout Offshore races in Central Missouri, told a reporter she was going to schedule Shootout Offshore so that it didn’t conflict with the Kuttawa Cannonball Run in Kentucky at the end of May. Martin was good to her word and the American Power Boat Association-sanctioned offshore race is set for June 20-21.
As it happened, Powerboat P1/P1 Offshore had its inaugural New Orleans event, the first races of its new Triple Crown Series, slated for the same weekend. Thomas Covington, who heads Powerboat P1’s efforts in the United States, worked the New Orleans group and was able to move the event to June 27-29.
Event dates will overlap as long as there are just 52 weekends—and just 12 good ones in many parts of the country—in a year. It’s unavoidable. It’s also the last thing any organizer wants, and most work to avoid.—Matt Trulio
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Source: https://www.powerboatnation.com/dominos-of-cooperation-fall-for-event-organizers/