Right now there is a lot of talk about bids for Nationals and proposed rules changes on where Nationals can be held.
Why not discuss good places to have Nationals in the future?
For fun, what pool would you suggest as a great place for Nationals? This may help prime the pump with more pools that can/will bid on future events.
I will start things off with my submission, University of Minnesota for LCM.
Why?
I am from MN and have swum in it many times during college and in Masters. It is a great facility and is fast. Plus I have family in the Twin Cities and know my way around.
It is indoors and as anybody from the Midwest knows, the weather can get unpredictable in August.
They did a great job in 1999 for LCM, very well-run meet.
An open water swim could be run at Lake Hariett or one of the other metro lakes.
Airport is a hub for NWA (soon to be Delta) and is accessable from any major metro area.
Location is in Central US, meaning flights from anywhere in the US won't take all day.
Pool is on the U of M campus with lots of places to eat, hotels, and parking.
There have been many meets run at this facility since it opened and I think that the hosts would do an excellent job. I don't know why they have not submitted a bid but would love to vote for it if they ever did.
Just my opinion, go ahead and share yours.
At the risk of starting an excessively political flame war (see discussions related to marketing, USMS plan, board, etc etc) I think that USMS needs to make it very rewarding for a club/LMSC to host a Nationals.
This can be done by, among others, charging participants more; charging sponsors more (who will pay only if they're sure they'll benefit, too); ancillary sales (t-shirts, videos, snack bars, etc); producing an increase in local membership, and so on.
Just my $0.02 - YMMV.
Jim:
How rewarding do you want it to be?
With the exception of the National sponsors, the host gets to work out how they will deal with local sponsors, snack bars and gold medal sponsors.
If the meet is held in an LMSC they most likely will experience a spike in membership.
It is not unheard of for a national championship host to make a significant 5 figure net profit.
michael
At the risk of starting an excessively political flame war (see discussions related to marketing, USMS plan, board, etc etc) I think that USMS needs to make it very rewarding for a club/LMSC to host a Nationals.
This can be done by, among others, charging participants more; charging sponsors more (who will pay only if they're sure they'll benefit, too); ancillary sales (t-shirts, videos, snack bars, etc); producing an increase in local membership, and so on.
Just my $0.02 - YMMV.
Jim:
How rewarding do you want it to be?
With the exception of the National sponsors, the host gets to work out how they will deal with local sponsors, snack bars and gold medal sponsors.
If the meet is held in an LMSC they most likely will experience a spike in membership.
It is not unheard of for a national championship host to make a significant 5 figure net profit.
michael
