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finelinevogue · 3 years ago

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Thanks can you write something about one of the kids getting hate online from jealous people and how it affects them and what Harry and Y/N do

hello!! so this one is going to be about isabelle getting hate (😔), which you will find out why. i’m also changing the age gaps between them because it’s so hard to write with larger age gaps. so here isabelle is 16, felix is 19 and oli is 21!!

“Mum!”

You had been busy ironing the clothes downstairs, whilst watching ‘Call the Midwife’ on the TV, when you heard Felix shouting you from upstairs.

“What?” You shouted back, moving from the lounge to the bottom of the stairs to hear better.

“I think you should see this.”

When your children say things like this you either roll your eyes when you find out they wanted to show you a meme, or panic because some rumour has been spread all over the internet of them.

“Just hang on a minute!” Your attention diverted to the front door being opened harshly. Everyone else was already home but Belle, so it must’ve been her. It was a Wednesday today and Belle always had study group in the library after-school on a Wednesday, although today she was back a little earlier than normal.

You moved the latch off the porch door and opened it to welcome Belle home, watching as she threw off her high-top converse aggressively.

“Hiya love, you alr—” You didn’t get to finish before you saw that her eyes were red and puffy, tears streaming down her face like a cascading waterfall. Her mascara was smudged and made it look like she hadn’t slept for weeks. “Woah, hey, Belle?”

Belle didn’t listen to you though, instead she stormed past and ran up the stairs and a minute later you heard her bedroom door slam shut.

What the fuck was that about?

“Minute too late mum!” Felix shouted again, making you roll your eyes in annoyance. However, it did confirm that something had happened to Belle on social media or over the internet and you had to get Harry on top of this now.

You walked down the stairs, into your basement - which Harry had converted into a sound-proof studio - and saw him sat with a guitar on his lap and pencil between his teeth, playing around with chords on repeat.

“Babe?” You knocked on the door as you spoke, Harry looking up from where he was sat to you and smiling as bright as ever.

“You alright love?” He asked sweetly, taking the pencil out of his mouth first.

“I am yeah, but Belle’s just come home crying and shut herself in her room.” You furrowed your eyebrows, trying to work through everything that had happened and wondering whether you’d done something or not done something.

Harry instantly got to his feet, putting everything down so that he could come over to you. He placed his warm hands on your cheeks and kissed your lips once just because, “I know what you’re thinking, so stop it. Something’s probably happened at school. Let me go talk to her, okay?” You nodded in agreement and sighed in thanks.

Belle had always been more of a daddy’s girl than a mommy’s girl, and that was okay. It just meant that she was more open to her feelings and her heart with her dad than you, not to say she never talked to you about things like that. Harry always filled you in on things, though, and would prompt you to talk to her if he thought extremely necessary. Belle liked to work things out by herself normally, not liking to be a burden to anyone - a lot like you actually.

Harry walked out of the room and climbed the stairs two at a time until he made it outside Belle’s room. He knocked before entering, but Belle made no sound for him to enter.

“Belles?” Harry asked softly, shutting the door and walking over to her bed which she was curled up on. She had obviously flopped on the bed and began crying, because there was no sign of effort to get under the covers or get comfortable.

“D-dad?” She mumbled roughly, her choked sobs holding her back.

“Yes sweetheart, i’m here.” Harry sat down on the edge of her bed and sat their patiently. He didn’t want to invade her space or make her feel claustrophobic, so he waited for her to come to him and that didn’t take long. She sprang up and hugged him with her head buried against her dad’s chest, sobbing so violently that Harry’s heart cracked in two. He hated to see his baby cry. It was his biggest weakness.

Belle made an attempt to speak but Harry couldn’t understand due to the shear heaviness of her cries.

“Belles, y’gotta calm down for me, my heart. Gotta breathe it out before you make yourself sick.” He smoothed his hand over the back of her hair, like he’d always done. Her breathing ever-so-slowly coming back down to a normal and healthy pace. “That’s it, thank you.” He kissed the top of her head and held her tightly still.

“Dad?” She shakily started.

“Yes love.”

“Do y-you know?” She sat up so she could face her dad, bur Harry didn’t let his hands leave hers.

“Know what, sweetheart?”

Harry genuinely didn’t know and Belle could see that in his honest, kind, eyes.

“T-that…” Belle started tearing up again, her bottom lip wobbling like sailors legs.

“Hey, calm down. You’re okay. Breathe and then talk to me, okay?” Harry ordered her, not caring if this took all night. He was here for his baby girl whenever and wherever, no exceptions. If she didn’t ever tell him, that was okay as long as he helped her build up her happiness again. A few deep breaths later and she was feeling more comfortable.

“I..,” she paused momentarily to collect her words before letting them flow out beautifully, “i’m gay dad.”

Warmth spread through Harry’s heart as if he were torch that’d just been set alight. He could only put the way he felt into one word; proud. He was so proud that his daughter was turning into the loving and open and beautiful woman she was always born to be. He was also just so happy that she had the confidence in him to tell him something so important to her.

“I’m so proud of you, Belle.”

“Really?” She sounded surprised, which made Harry take a step back in confusion.

“Yes of course,” Harry squeezed her hand just a little tighter, “have I ever given you a reason to think otherwise?”

“No.”

“Then where’s this doubt coming from hey?”

Belle began to cry again at his question.

“T-the media found out and i-it’s been published everywhere a-and I w-was worried I wouldn’t b-be able to tell you myself b-before they could. They’re being s-so rude too.” Her cries broke Harry all over again. As much as he was proud of her for coming out so bravely, he was incredibly pissed off that the media thought it was there business to pass around before Belle was even comfortable admitting it first. It’s Belle’s right to come out when she wants and how she wants and Harry could understand how frustrating and upsetting that must be to have it all taken away. He had to keep calm for Belle though, pulling her back into his chest to hold her safely.

“What are they saying?”

Anger bubbled through Harry’s veins as she began to speak.

“That i’m only gay to promote the values you stand for or that you’ll be disappointed that not all your children are straight.”

Harry’s fingers curled at her words, not understanding how much of a low-life you have to be to genuinely type and publish these things about a child, let alone his child. He was furious and he was going to burn - metaphorically - the people responsible for this abuse.

“How did they find out?”

Instead of her saying anything she pulled up a picture of the article online - released by ‘The Sun’ unsurprisingly as they were the worst for paparazzi stalking - and it all started to piece together.

The article headlined a picture of Belle and another girl, kissing outside of school. The study group mustn’t have been exclusively studying. Harry didn’t focus on the shitty article, he instead focused on how the smile on Belle’s face was the widest he’d ever seen.

“You look very happy.” Harry tried to make light of the situation for his daughter.

“I am. They make me very happy.” Belle blushed and Harry caught on.

“And they’re called?”

“Megan.”

“Megan,” Harry repeated the name, getting a feel for the way it sounded for future use, “well they seem lovely.”

“Dad you’ve only seen them through a picture of us kissing.” Belle rolled her eyes and Harry reached out to dab the tears away, not minding that his sleeve was becoming heavily damp.

“Shut up you,” he laughed causing a smile to leap onto Belles face too, “do we get to meet them?”

“Hopefully,” Belle smiles, before looking down to her lap with furrowed brows, “that is, if they still like me after this whole media shambles.” Belle let out a breathe of shaky air and Harry caught her anxiety before she could let herself run off with it.

“Let me take care of that, don’t worry yourself over it, okay?” Belle nodded.

“Do I have to make like a statement or anything?”

“You do whatever you want to, Belles, and i’ll love you no matter what.”

And with that Harry left the room, a smile on his face for feeling like the proudest most happiest parent on the planet. It only lasted a few minutes though, because now it was time to make some phone calls and sue a few people.

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simonrriley · 4 years ago

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memories from FANDOM

@and-shes-calling-a-cab and @snxwglxbe if y’all who aren’t beef or snow understand,,, that’s okay this is rlly just for them aksksks ALSO if you’re not them,,, dont make these,,, inside jokes or references with us,,, cause it’s not you,, i mean i dont think yall will but if you try it ill fuckin bite you /hj

the bus ride to school and listening to the new singles all on repeat

coming home before the concert and mom giving me my parx shirt

lying awake at 5 am on the release date and listening to the album all the way through before school

phonedom

beef getting yelled at in the hall

taco or bell

choking on coffee

the route to boston

the bridge

the weird hotel place we parked at

x’s on our hands

us figuring out if the paint is toxic or not

paradise rock club

the line

screaming FANDOM

listening to dream boy on the ride to school in the misty mornings

the gayble (RIP)

“I GOT YOUR PICTURE IM COMING WITH Y-”

wallon deekes, urendon brie, etc

the line at newbury comics

“COME QUICK THEY’RE DOING A MEET AND GREET” “WE’RE AT DINNER”

“BOSTON LET’S FUCKING GO”

y’all RUSHING to the m&g

scaring the shit outta me during high def

“hI TyLeR”

bumping into dewayne

“i like your flags” he is so,,,

“CHHHERRRRRRRRRRY REDDDDDDD”

OHOHOH

me dropping oli off like a week before the show n me n beef talking abt it outside mom’s car (also getting the crowley drawing)

the wwhn mv in total

driving back home from the m&g and getting mcdonalds with eliza and being sad

WENDYS

almost fuckin dying

telling mrs viola we wont see her in wednesday

the ride back to my house before the show

mom having to tolerate waterparks there and back

the uber

THE FUCKING THEORIES ABT THE ALBUM COVER

DISCOVERING IT LOOPS AND LOSING OUR SHIT

twt trying to figure out if reboot came before dream boy or not

WHEN HE LEAKED THE TRACKS ALL OVER THE CITIES

we’re all otto

“and fuck all y’all”

dream boy,,, on repeat,,, every fuckin day

the photo of parx in front of the billboard

“ITS NOT THAT SIMPLE”

#parxgang irl #hello parxgang if yall remember anything #add on #ill do the same

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niallsstainedcoffeecup · 6 years ago

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Soulmate

Oliver meets his soulmate in class, and calls Harry to ask about the first time he met Y/N. Hope you all enjoy. Feedback and Requests are welcomed. Lots of Love! Oliver’s blue backpack bounced with each step. The loose bricks shifted under his worn brown boots. He shot a dimpled grin toward a student holding open the heavy metal door. He climbed the steep stairs until he noticed a sign with his room number. He entered the crowded classroom, choosing a seat near the front. He sighed, dragging a hand through his messy curls. “Hello class, I am Dr. Bunch,” The middle-aged man shouted, slamming the classroom door. Oliver rolled his eyes, digging through his backpack. His green notebook slid across the sticky desk, hitting the girl’s hand beside him. “I’m sorry,” Oliver mumbled, grabbing the notebook. “It’s okay,” The sweet voice whispered. Dr. Bunch tossed the syllabi onto the table near the door while he began listing important historical events. Oliver gasped, scribbling down whatever spewed from Dr. Bunch’s mouth. His mother warned him about professors that spouted facts without writing them down, but Oliver didn’t expect his hand to cramp from the excessive note-taking. After class, Oliver stuffed his notebook and pen into his backpack. The girl beside him cleared her throat, directing Oliver’s attention toward the beautiful girl. Her wide eyes sparkled under the sunlight streaming into the classroom. “Hi, are you a freshman?” She asked, sliding her laptop into her bag. Oliver nodded, rubbing under his nose, “Yeah, can you tell?” The girl giggled, nodding her head, “You looked terrified. You should try recording the lectures. It’ll save your hand. I’m Kassie.” Oliver smiled, shaking Kassie’s warm hands that fit perfectly in his, “I’m Oliver. What are you?” “I’m a sophomore,” Kassie grinned, slinging her bag onto her shoulder. Oliver nodded, “Well, I’ll see you on Wednesday.” Oliver followed the crowd piling out of the classroom. He jogged across campus with Kassie in mind. * * * * * * Oliver slid the keys from his ignition, searching around the dark dorm complex. Kassie invited Oliver over for a study session for the upcoming history exam. Oliver slung his backpack over his shoulder, checking Kassie’s message. He stumbled upon the white door with rusty, gold letters, knocking his knuckles against the cracked wood. A tall redhead opened the door smiling widely at Oliver. “Hey, you must be Oliver. Kassie’s right, you’re hot,” The girl smirked, listening to Kassie squawk behind her. Kassie pushed her roommate aside, hiding her flushed cheeks, “Shut up, Angela. I never called you hot. Not that you aren’t hot, but I would never…” Oliver chuckled, holding up a hand, “It’s okay. It’s nice to meet Angela.” Oliver entered the dorm, glancing around the decorated room. Angela grabbed the purple bowl filled with popcorn, shuffling to her room. Kassie smiled nervously, adjusting the neon-colored pillows decorating the white couch. “We can study in here or on the balcony. Angela and her boyfriend are watching a movie, but they haven’t seen each other in months, so I don’t think they’ll be watching it for long,” Kassie mumbled, picking at the chipped nail polish on her fingernails. Oliver blushed, glancing at the door Angela disappeared behind, “I think we should study on the balcony.” Kassie nodded, sliding the door open for Oliver. Oliver plopped down onto a cold, metal chair. The Christmas lights flickered along the balcony railing. Kassie sat in front of Oliver, flipping through her notes. * * * * * * * “The stars are beautiful,” Kassie mumbled, admiring the night sky. Oliver nodded, shutting his notebook. They studied for thirty minutes until Kassie switched the topic away from Napoleon’s rule. “You look beautiful,” Oliver whispered. Kassie smiled, staring anywhere but Oliver’s eyes, “Thank you.” “You’re welcome. I like talking with you.” “Me too. You aren’t like other college boys. I can’t count the number of times when a guy flirted with me and left me the next morning,” Kassie mumbled, gnawing on her bottom lip. Oliver frowned, “That sucks. I would never imagine doing that to you. Would you like to maybe grab dinner with me next week after the test?” Kassie grinned, “Sure, can we grab something greasy?” Oliver chuckled, “Yes, I need something greasy. The diner’s food tastes like something my dad tries to feed my family.” “Is your dad a healthy guy?” Kassie asked, bringing her knees up to her chest. Oliver nodded, “He one time ordered a side salad to go along with his main salad.” Kassie cackled, slapping a hand on her knee, “That’s crazy. I love greasy food, and it’s a tradition of mine to reward myself with grease after a hard test.” Oliver smiled, “I like that tradition.” Oliver and Kassie continued talking until Harry messaged Oliver about calling him. Oliver huffed, stuffing his books into his backpack. He understood he had to leave, but he didn’t want to stop talking with Kassie. Oliver leaned against the door, smiling down at Kassie. “Well, I’ll see you on Monday.” Kassie nodded, grinning into Oliver’s eyes, “I’ll see you. Thank you for tonight.” Oliver nodded, leaning down, pecking Kassie’s blushing cheeks, “Bye.” Kassie smiled, waving goodbye while Oliver walked off toward his car. “You two are soulmates,” Angela joked once Kassie shut the door. Kassie rolled her eyes, swatting at Angela’s arm. Kassie couldn’t wait for her date with Oliver. * * * * * * * Harry scribbled lyrics onto his leather notebook. His pink phone buzzed along the messy desk. He huffed, wondering who might call him at this time of night. His heart sunk when Oliver’s name crossed the screen. Was he in trouble? “Hello?” “Hey dad, how are you?” “I’m well. Are you okay?” Harry asked, shutting his notebook. “Yeah, I need your help. Do you remember when you told me about meeting mom? You said you had this feeling that you knew she was the one. Well, I think I met my true love.” Harry chuckled, leaning back in his office chair, “What’s her name?” “Kassie,” Oliver sighed. “Are you sure it’s love? Do you remember saying the same thing when you dated Charlotte?” Harry asked. “I’m positive. Did grandma Anne believe you when you said you loved mom?” Harry grinned, recalling the moment when he told his mother about Y/N. Anne worried about her son, but she also never saw Harry react the way he did when he met Y/N. Anne believed Harry but warned him about rushing into things because Harry nearly proposed to Y/N after their second date. “Yeah, she believed me, but she warned me about rushing into things. I remember wanting to marry your mom after our second date. She was amazing and still is,” Harry mumbled, glancing down at his wedding ring. Oliver gagged, “Okay dad, I didn’t call to hear you gush about mom. I won’t rush into anything. You’ll love this girl. I think I might marry her one day.” Harry chuckled, “I hope so. Call your mother. She misses you. Amelia’s driving her nuts.” Oliver smiled, “I miss them. Thank you, dad. I love you.” “I love you too,” Harry hung up, sliding away from his desk. * * * * * * * * Harry tiptoed down the dark hallway, entering his cold bedroom. Y/N glanced up from her book, grinning at her husband. “Hey, are you done writing?” Y/N asked, watching Harry toss his shirt across the room. Harry nodded, sliding into the bed, “How are you?” Y/N shrugged, dropping her book onto her nightstand. She cuddled against Harry’s warm chest, pressing her lips against his hot skin. “I missed you.” Harry chuckled, kissing Y/N’s forehead, “I missed you too. I talked with Oli.” Y/N gasped, sitting up, “How is he? Is he in trouble?” Harry shook his head, pecking Y/N’s lips, “No, he’s in love.” “Who is he in love with?” “Kassie, he thinks she’s the one. Do you remember when we first met?” Harry asked, nuzzling his cold nose against Y/N’s warm neck. Y/N smiled, “Yeah, I remember panicking because Glenne invited me over for dinner, and I didn’t expect to see you. I nearly passed out, until I found out what a huge dork you are.” Harry gasped, pinching Y/N’s hip, “I’m not a dork. I knew you were the one for me when I watched you chug those shots that night.” Y/N rolled her eyes, elbowing Harry’s side, “My boyfriend dumped me the week before, I needed alcohol.” “I’m glad he did dump you. We wouldn’t have gotten married or had two amazing kids if he didn’t dump you,” Harry mumbled, pressing his lips to Y/N’s forehead. Y/N smiled, capturing Harry’s lips with hers, “I love you.” “I love you too,” Harry mumbled, laying Y/N down on her pillow while kissing her lips. Harry thanked everyone and everything that led him to Y/N. He hoped Oliver found someone who supported him like how Y/N supported Harry.

#mine #writing #story #fanfic #fanfiction #harry styles #harry styles imagine #harry styles imagines #one direction #one direction imagines #one direction imagine #1d #1d imagines #1d imagine

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myneighborhood-thelake · 3 years ago

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IronMan Canada 1998

IMC '98 meant a lot to me because it paved the way for some major changes in my life which I really needed to make. There are probably to many tri-related details and too many extraneous issues in this and the subsequent post that I will send out. I apologise in advance if you dislike rambling stories, but the IMC experience was much more than 14 hours 10 minutes and 48 seconds of swimming, biking and running (walking). It was over a year of contemplation and training, and it was 10 years of racing narrowed down into one event.

That said, please enjoy.

I think that my story starts out about 5 years ago. I was putting myself through my final years of college and money was just a little tight. I made a conscious choice to stop racing triathlons for a while to reduce my expenses. I graduated and landed a great job with excellent potential for advancement. Since I was pushing hard in my career tri's were still regulated to the backseat. 2 1/2 years passed in that job and I was experiencing severe burnout. I had focused all of my intensity on my work, and work was not as exciting as it had been when I was fresh out of college.

Labor Day (U.S.) 1997. One of my best friends got married in Philadelphia - which is an incredible town. At an after party I was talking with a couple of people - an associate editor of Triathlete magazine and a guy who occasionally does a few tri's. The tri-geek was trying to get the Triathlete editor to give him a slot for Kona. He would have been better off trying to score a date with her - there was no way that she was going to conjure up a Kona slot. She suggested IMC as a place to qualify.

The wheels in my head started to turn - "I need a challenge" "I have wanted to get back into tri's for several years" "I need a really big challenge to get me out of my workaholic rut" "Maybe I should try IMC"

Back at work I downloaded the IMC '98 application and contemplated the commitment to training for an IM. My wife was 100% behind me signing up for IMC. When we started dating I was racing tri's in Southern California, and she knows how much I enjoyed the scene. I bit the bullet and mailed in my application. I even started training - somewhat. Four plus years of inactivity had taken their toll. I had purchased a new Kestrel KM40 in the fall of 1996, but I only had ridden it for about 100 miles in the year since I bought it. It was pretty embarrassing to be out riding my shiny, new Kestrel as I was getting passed by everyone on the road.

I soon subscribed to Tri-DRS and saw all the traffic about IMC filling up in record time. I wondered, I worried, I fretted, and then the confirmation letter came. It was true - I was going to Canada in 9 months.

To say the least - I was really scared. I was out of shape. I had never done an Ironman. I used to train for Oly distance races using a "feeling" plan - "How do I feel today and what do I want to do?" I knew that I could not train for an Ironman on such an ad hoc training plan.

I wrote down my goals for IMC '98. A

1. Finish my first Ironman. 2. Have fun.

After the race I would: 1. Smile. 2. Hug my wife. 3. Be happy that I went from couch potato to Ironman in 10 months!!!!

I needed some help in training, so I talked with my college teammate and now QR pro Greg Thompson. Greg suggested that I contact Lauren Alexander for coaching advice. The best thing that I did in the months prior to IMC was hire Lauren as my coach. She is a major asset.

The months flew by, I had a hideous race at Wildflower, I DNF'd at San Jose due to a mechanical, I finally had a great race at a local sprint tri and I did pretty well at the 1/2 Vineman. The 1/2 Vineman taught me that I could overcome problems during a race and still continue on to a good finish. I sent out numerous emails to both the Tri-DRS and the IMC lists asking all kinds of stupid questions. Luckily there are a lot of great people on the list who answered my questions and gave me some great guidance. Unbelievably - Taper Time for IMC arrived - my first IM was only 3 weeks away.

During all of this IM training, life continued to march forward. My wife continued her studies and supported my training endeavors. My job structure changed again, and again, and again, and finally I found a new job that started two weeks before IMC - of course I negotiated a one week break for IMC into my offer. As always there was a multitude of issues to deal with that really got in the way with training. As time marched on I forgot about my initial race goals - I started thinking about racing IMC as opposed to surviving it, and that was a big mistake. My initial goals were what I should have focused on, but I wasted a lot time worrying about split times, average speed and run paces.

Tuesday Afternoon,

Flew from San Francisco to Vancouver. A hometown friend drove to Penticton, so I stashed my bike in his mini-van for the trip. I did not have to worry about packing a bike box, or whether my bike would arrive in Penticton on my flight.

While waiting for the puddle jumper from Vancouver to Penticton, some guy sat next to me and asked me if I was doing the race. I am not sure why he would look at me and assume that I was racing IMC - Okay, maybe the shaved legs and Specialized transition bag were pretty good indicators. He introduces himself as Scott Adams (it sounds familiar). I introduce myself as Ron Renwick. Sometimes it is very useful to have your name and email address coincide. Scott recognized my name, and further introduced himself as an infrequent poster to Jason's IMC list - this is a really small world! Another friend of mine, Bill - from my Wildflower debacle, showed up and we waited for the plane to Penticton.

We arrived in Penticton. Scott had a seat next to me on the plane where he tried to avoid listening to me whine about how hungry I was for the duration of the flight. Thanks for the pretzels Scott. In the Penticton airport, Scott started talking to this big guy with bright 'blonde' hair and a smaller guy with very little hair. Jason Mayfield and Bruce Grant had come to pick up Scott. I think that Bruce's wife and Eric Austin may have been there too, but it was a few days ago and my memory is not what it used to be. Scott's bike actually made it into Penticton on our flight. My buddy Bill was not so lucky. His bike did not show (as expected), and Canadian Airlines had lost his suitcase too. His carry-on consisted solely of his race wheels, so he was not a happy camper.

Bill and I made our way to the Rochester Resort - 2 doors from the Sicamous, and "The Best Value On The Beach." It was late so we walked the 10 steps to Salty's restaurant for a bite to eat. FYI, avoid Salty's if possible. Bill was able to buy a toothbrush at the local convenience store - he now had race wheels, the clothes on his back and a toothbrush - Bill was not a happy camper.

Wednesday,

0700 - I made my way to the Sicamous for my first pre-IMC swim. I met so many people that I had emailed with over the last 10 months. I only swam for 20 minutes, but meeting everyone was incredible. My goggles broke during the swim - add one more thing to my "Must Buy" list.

After a shower Bill and I walked downtown to the Hog's Breath. We grabbed a cup of coffee and some breakfast. Bill was impressed that we kept bumping into Tri-DRS'ers. I finally told him that "Everything I know about Penticton I learned on from the List." Which meant that anywhere we went we were sure to bump into some Deads. We walked around town, checked out the construction zone of the Athlete's village and hit the Bike Barn - a really cool bike store. Most bike shops in the SF Bay area are pretty streamlined. They look more like a Blockbuster Video store than a neighborhood bike shop - everything is in its proper spot. The Bike Barn rocks - racks of stuff and a good assortment of bikes. Bins were overflowing with stuff. It was a great place to dig around for bike goodies. The place was humming with tri-bikes. There must have been at least 8 workstands going continuously.

We went to lunch at Front Street Pasta (Jason's choice) a great meal for a very low price. I finally met Dave 'the starving student" Barclay. Jason was quite the entertainment director - as the week progressed he started looking more and more like Julie Tewes, the Cruise Director from the Love Boat ;-).

My bike arrived in the afternoon - reassembly consisted of putting the front wheel back on (no allen wrenches for me). For dinner it was Front Street Pasta again this time with my bike hauling friend Ray, Bill, Dead Chris Nugent and lurking Dead Bob Castaldi. A post-dinner beer with Ray and Greg Pressler was quite relaxing. Greg truly is a poet at heart.

Thursday

Thursday was my glycogen depletion/carbo load day so I did a solo swim and run and 4 of us rode the first 15 miles of the bike course out and back. We meant to ride the run course, but we turned left on McClean by mistake. We then picked up our registration packets and got our wrist bands. It was official - I was signed up for an Ironman.

Friday

I missed the 0700 swim by 10 minutes, so I did not get to meet anyone new from the list. However, after the swim I finally met the person that I have tried to meet for months now. We train in the same locations, we race the same races and we live only a few miles apart, but I had never met this person. Finally, after a 2000 mile trek to Canada, I finally met Tri-Baby, the one the only Tricia Richter. Now I wonder how the hell I missed seeing her in other races! And I thought that Jason had some noticable hair.

My buddy Ray and I went to the Hog's Breath after the swim for a dose of caffeine, and we bumped into some deads (imagine that). Gerry Kuse was talking to Tricia and Skippy. He was wearing a 1993 Mike and Rob's shirt, a race that I had my 1/2 IM PR in way back when (it's a small world). It turns out the Gerry and I have raced at several of the same races over the years.

At the carbo load dinner we learned that there would be 675 IronVirgins racing on Sunday. 40% of the racers were attempting there first IM. Wow!

Saturday

My wife flew into town on Saturday morning. I was really glad to see her. She had been so supportive of my training, and she deserves the title of IronMate. She had originally been scheduled to fly up with me on Tuesday, but her school schedule mandated that she stay at home during the pre-race week and attend classes. I often say that you should always have at least one smart person in the family, and I was lucky enough to marry well.

The day pretty much flew by with the pre-race meeting, the parade, packing Special Needs Bags and bike check-in. My nutrition plan was pretty simple - Gu and Cytomax and salt tabs. I had trained with Gu, Cyto and salt tabs over the past 10 months with great results. At the last minute I decided to toss an Okanagan pear into my Bike Special Needs Bag.

A post parade dinner at the Gunbarrel and a walk home were all that I needed for the evening. It was time to get some sleep. Before I drifted off I thought back to my original goals. Oh yeah, I was here to have fun. I was not here to break 14 or 12 or 10 hours, but I still held out for a good race even though I knew that I just wanted to finish. I wish that I would have looked back on my goals more often.

The actual Race Report follows.

Sunday - RACE DAY

I started the day with a 3:00 am breakfast run to Denny's. Ray and I figured that an early breakfast would be useful for us. I had actually slept for about 5 or 6 hours the night before, and I felt pretty good.

At about 5:00 am I gathered my Special Needs Bags and swim gear bag and marched 3/4 of a mile to the transition. I got body marked, Championchipped and went straight to my bike. Even at 0500 the volunteers were friendly and incredibly helpful. I chose to leave my floor pump at the hotel [good choice] - with my floor pump absent from the transition area there were only 1,699 floor pumps in the TA waiting to be used. In addition there was a crew from the Bike Barn with a compressed air cylinder for filling tires. I pumped up my Conti's to about 160psi, loaded my aerobag, filled my jetstream and walked around the corner to the Swim and Run transition bag racks.

The 2 hours from 0500 to 0700 flew by. I chatted with a few friends, revelled in the fact that I was about to start my first Ironman and donned my wetsuit. I did a warm up swim for about 10 minutes in the clear Lake Okanagan. I chatted with Chris Nugent. I high-fived and chatted with Greg Pressler. In Greg's race report he mentioned that he saw "fire in Ron's eyes." With all due respect, I think that Greg is confusing the "Happy Face" holograms on my goggles with fire.

Meeting the people on this list has been a special thrill, both Greg and I have both been doing tri's for over 10 years, but we had waited until now for our first IM. We both had that "This is finally it" feeling, he went on to an incredible race that he really deserved.

The day before the race, Greg had a great observation about the IMC swim course. "It's an International Distance swim on the way out, a few hundred meters to the right and a 1/2 IM swim on the way home - we have done this before."

Oh Canada was played. I think that I heard some bagpipes somewhere, and the race STARTED!

I was here to have fun so I held back for a few seconds to let the mass of humanity clear out from the start line. I started swimming. I kept thinking to myself "This is so COOL! I am finally doing an IronMan." I passed the first set of marker bouys and thought to myself "WOW, I just passed my first set of IronMan marker bouys. This is AWESOME!"

The swim went very well. It was much less brutal than Wildflower, and the course is very well marked. I was so happy to be racing. I was bumped a few times, I swam over a few folks, I drafted a little and hit some toes and I was drafted off of. I hit the first houseboat (leg 1) in 25 minutes - I was ecstatic. I stopped for a second to adjust the neck of my wetsuit as I was experiencing a little chafe. I made it to the second right turn at 35 minutes - one more leg to go. The swim course is so well marked that I had to do very little sighting - maybe one look every 10 strokes. Basically, the swim was all mine. I focussed completely on how I was doing. If I bumped someone or got kicked it just did not matter. I really enjoyed being out there. I hit the beach and attempted to walk over the annoying rocks.

I looked at my watch - I had completed the swim in 1:06!!!!!!!!

I was expecting to have a 1:20 swim as I have only been in the water 5 or 6 times since Wildflower in May, and two of those times were tri swims. A 1:06 was incredible.

I thought "It cannot get any better than this!"

It did not get any better.

In fact, things got far, far worse.

SWIM TO BIKE TRANSITION

I wore my Speedo and singlet under my wetsuit during the swim, so I only had to don my cycling shoes and helmet. I also stopped to urinate - little did I know that I would not have to worry about that for the next 12 hours. . .

I rolled out of town feeling really good. I had just finished an incredible swim, and I was finally starting on the bike leg of my first Ironman! I took it easy for the first 5 miles - I figured that I had 107 more miles to make up time. I hit the drops as we hit South Main Street. My first priority was to hydrate and the cytomax was not tasting very good. I spun my way up McClean Road and picked off many people on the downhill - when you weigh 195 pounds downhills are a real rush. My stomach was a little tight, but I attributed that to being so early in the race.

At the bottom of McClean someone was nice enough to tell me that I had lost my pump during the rapid descent. The bracket holding my pump on my bike broken off. "Nothing I can do about it now - I hope that I don't flat."

At about mile 10 my JetStream went dry. I had a bottle of highly concentrated Cytomax on my downtube with markings on the bottle to delineate portions. I shot some Cyto concentrate into my JetStream and filled the rest with water to make a 7% solution. I immediately took a drink from my JetStream. The concentrate and the water had not mixed together, so I got about an 80% solution of Cyto in that mouthful.

I should have pulled off the side of the road and tossed my cookies.

I chose to keep the cytomax concentrate down and chase it with water - it's hard to say, but this may have been a big mistake.

My stomach started cramping big time! I could no longer drink. I tried to take a Gu, but I could not get it down. 10 miles into the bike and I could neither hydrate nor feed - OH NO!

I tried some different positions on the bike to alleviate my stomach cramps. The aero position put direct pressure on my abdomen which was not feeling too good. I alternated between sitting upright and going aero.

I was still doing pretty good with respect to speed. At mile 41 I took the right turn to head up Richter.

Can someone please tell me why both Wildflower and IMC have a hill at Mile 41???

At the base of Richter I was still holding a 22.5mph average. Then I started climbing Richter. In the grand scheme of things Richter is not a terrible climb. I ride much worse on my regular training rides. However, Richter is at mile 41 of an IM and I had not eaten much for 3 hours (swim and bike time)

I bonked.

I hurt.

I struggled to the top of Richter,

I cursed the wind.

I quit looking at my heart rate monitor - it just did not matter.

I got passed by most of the people racing at IMC.

I got passed by pedestrians who were walking up Richter.

The downhill after Richter should have been a lot of fun, but I could not hold a good tuck. I only hit 47 mph. The uphill after Richter and the rollers through the Osoyoos were intolerable. I just kept pedaling forward. I stopped at about mile 60 to eat a banana - finally I was able to consume something. I was very happy that it stayed down. I continued to slog forward. The head wind was really causing problems. Even the flat spots were hard to ride. I promised myself that I would take a break when I got my special needs bag. I passed a med tent on the way out the second out and back section. I was very tempted to stop and take a nap.

When I got my special needs bag, I rode to the closest clear spot, dropped my bike and sat down. I opened my bag. The Gu's were completely unappetizing, but the pear looked great. I started eating my Okanagan pear - man that tasted good. Unfortunately that was the only good item in my SNB. [Note to Self: diversify nutrition plans in future long races]. Some saint in one of Jason's IMC-RST jerseys stopped next to me. It was John Welch. He had an extra turkey sandwich that tasted incredible. I could eat! This tall guy with a mustache and a blue Softride stopped next to me. He was not having a good day. My personal saint, Jeff, said "George are you OK." It was George Ball. Since I was sitting on the ground in close proximity I have to say - George has some big, skinny feet. George was not feeling too good, and he crossed the road to sit down in a chair.

I shouted to a teammate, Gerry Morton, but he looked around at eye level and missed me sitting down. I saw Tri-Baby, and pretty soon Steve "Gibbo" Gibson rolled up. Gibbo looked incredibly fresh. He looked more like he had just started his ride than that he had already ridden 75 miles. Gibbo's special needs bag was missing and he was pretty irate about not getting to his vegemite sandwiches. To be honest, I have tried the stuff and I think that he was better off not having access to his vegemite, but then again I am not an Aussie ;-).

I gave myself 20 minutes of rest at the special needs stop. The first couple of miles felt OK, but soon thereafter my quads wanted to quit (again).

The course turned back onto Highway 3A and started the gradual climb to Yellow Lake Hill. It was really hot and really windy. Then we hit Yellow Lake Hill. I kept telling myself to live only in the moment - forget about the rest of the race - things will get better, but I was really hurting. It became a battle of feet. Instead of pushing to get to the next mile marker, I goaled for the next traffic sign or the next rock on the shoulder of the road. Bit by bit, pedal turn by pedal turn.

Finally, I stopped on the climb and sat on my top tube for a while (I chose not to time myself). Most people were really great. Almost all of the athletes asked if I was OK, and the race marshalls stopped to check on me. I seriously thought about dropping out. I looked at my watch just as it hit the 7 hour mark. I was at mile 90. I did a quick calculation - I had 10 hours to ride 22 miles and run a marathon. 22 mile rides are easy spins during training. I could do this.

I chose not to DNF. I started riding again. I passed some guy who was walking his bike and I decided to do the same. Two teammates passed me as I was walking, my buddy Ray and Tana, who always looks like she is just out doing an easy training ride even though she is hammering along. They made sure that I was OK as the cruised on by. I made it to the aid station at the top of the hill. A volunteer offered me cold, de-fizzed Pepsi. Pepsi was not in my pre-race plan, but then again, walking up Yellow Lake was not in my plan - I took the Pepsi.

The caffeine and sugar boost was amazing. I started riding once again. My stomach wanted to get rid of the Pepsi, but I made it stay down. I passed Ray and I caught Tana. Tana and I chatted for a minute until my specialty arrived - the Yellow Lake Downhill. I expected to cruise with the downhill bias back into town, but after the big downhill the headwind took over again. I slogged back to the transition area.

As I crossed paths with the people already on the run course I tried to assess their condition. Some people looked pretty good, but most were looking pretty tired. I got to the transition area, but I forgot to slip out of my shoes before I handed off my bike. My brain was not working too well.

BIKE TO RUN TRANSITION

Since I was going to wear my speedo and singlet for the run I did not need to change. I went into the changing tent just to sit down for a while. I applied some vaseline and stuck some reflective tape on my speedo. Ray had slipped the reflective tape in my Bike-Run bag (thanks Ray). I ate a little watermelon and drank some water. The watermelon tasted great, but I was worried about it staying down during the run. I left the changing tent to start my first ever marathon.

An Amazing IMC tidbit - I fully expected to have to carry my gear bags to a rack and hang them up. For both transitions you simply leave the gear bag on the ground. A volunteer comes along and gathers up the gear bag and hangs it on a rack - so simple - so easy for the athlete.

THE RUN

My original plan had been to start running slowly and see how things turned out. Running slowly was not a problem - everything was going to be slow. Running fast was unthinkable. I walked the aid stations, drank, ate a little bit and drenched myself with sponges. It was really hot!!

My first mile was an 11:30 and I was really happy. I hit mile 2 in 22:30 - amazingly I was actually picking up the pace (if only slightly). I walked mile 4. At mile 6, I was caught by some guy who wanted ibuprofen. After Vineman I made sure that I had Ibu with me, so I handed him a tablet. We chatted for a while until it became obvious that we knew each other. It was Dennis from RST and Greg Pressler's friend. Dennis pulled me to the run turnaround by alternating running and walking. Dennis kept talking about his Run special needs bag that contained a pair of dry socks. I remembered that my SNB only had Gu.

[see Note to Self from Bike Special Needs bag section - vary the contents of the Special Needs Bag]]

My split time for the 13.1 miles to the turnaround was 3 hours even. My friend Bill ran into and out of the turnaround looking great. He had a mechanical on the bike that cost him almost an hour.

Then I remembered that I had also put a pair of dry socks in my special needs bag. In fact I had brought a pair to Canada just for this purpose. The socks were pretty old, so if I chose not to wear them it was no big deal if I lost them. I was so happy that I had remembered to put fresh socks into my Needs Bag. The socks would only provide a momentary relief, but that moment would be enough. I needed something to brighten my day.

Dennis and I sat down to open our special needs bags. We ripped off our shoes and wet socks. We opened our special needs bags. Dennis pulled out a pair of dry socks.

OOPS! I had forgotten to pack the socks. I put my sweaty socks and shoes back on. Putting wet, icky socks back on was not the most pleasant feeling. The delivery truck with the chicken soup stopped at the turnaround.

I originally had hoped to be off the course by the time the chicken soup hit the aid stations. I had never envisioned myself only being halfway through the run when the chicken soup came out. Oh well, here I was and the soup smelled good. I sipped a cup and almost hurled. What is manna from heaven for many triathletes just did not sit well with me - I gagged at the first sip.

We started back down the road toward Penticton. The sun was starting to set which meant that it would finally cool off. Ray was just climbing the hill to the turnaround. He was surprised that the turnaround had come so soon - he looked smooth in his running form - nice and steady.

For Dennis and I it was:

Run some.

Walk more.

I ate what little I could at the aid stations.

Ray caught up to us just as we caught up to Bill. Bill had looked great leaving the turnaround, but he was struggling through a low point now. The four of us marched slowly along - it was good to know that every step was bringing us back into town. After a while Bill perked up again, and he and Ray started jogging back to town. Dennis and I kept shuffling along. A mile or two later, Dennis ducked into a porta-potty and I just stopped by the side of the road - the first time that I had urinated in 12+ hours! ��Believe it or not it was a major mental boost. I had really been starting to worry about my kidneys.

It became apparent that Dennis had a lot more left in his legs than I did. I wished him luck as he disappeared around a corner. My feet were really starting to hurt. I did not have any blisters or abrasions, but it felt like someone had taken a meat tenderizer to the soles of my feet and my toes. I was almost hoping that a couple of my toes would just fall off so that they would not hurt anymore. I came around a corner and hit another aid station. On the other side of the aid station Ray and Bill were walking slowly. They had dropped their pace in order to wait for me - THANKS GUYS!!!!

At that point we were about 20 miles into the marathon. Two women came running by us like it was a 10K - I wondered where they got the energy from. A few seconds later about 4 guys caught us and they laid out their very detailed plan for breaking 14 hours. It is great to be at a race with sooooo many engineers - almost everyone is incredibly analytical. The plan was pretty simple - hold 11 minute miles and we would break 14 hours, but these guys had even calculated walking zones and rest stops..... To everyone we passed - two of the guys kept on saying - "hop on the 9:00 o'clock express. You can do it."

It turns out that the guys had also shared their plan with the two women who had run by like gazelles. The women had found something inside themselves and they chose to push it hard into town. Unfortunately we passed them about 1/2 mile later as they could not hold that pace that they had charged ahead with.. We left the water line of Skaha Lake and started climbing the rollers. I passed another guy and this time I looked back and saw a Tri-DRS singlet. I introduced myself and finally met Jay Capers.

The group of us was still shuffling along trying to hold 11 minute miles. The detail oriented engineer guys were still calculating our odds of breaking 14. I dropped off as we went through the Skaha rollers, but I was able to catch the group again on the downhills. Ray and Bill were feeling pretty good, so they pulled ahead. This left me with the two human calculators/cheerleaders. The guy on the right introduced himself. I was not hearing or concentrating very well so I thought that he said his name was "Ralph." He corrected me that his name was not "Ralph" but "Rolf" - even my feeble brain was able to decipher that I was running next the "Keeper of the IMC Lodging and Goal Times List" I introduced myself to Rolf Arands.

The guy on my left said "didn't I give you a sandwich at the bike Special Needs Bag?" It was John Welch of RST. He had saved me on the bike and he was trying to pull me in for a sub 14 hour finish.

As before - we were shuffling along - only we had picked up the pace to give ourselves a margin of error. We debated about how fast we were running

"do you think this is a 9 minute mile?" "I think it's more like an 8:30" "Yeah right, like we could run 8:30's right now?" "It sure feels like an 8:30"

We turned onto Main Street and hit the aid station. I had to walk and asked Rolf and John to run on. Rolf tried to talk me into running with them, but I was not up for it. The finish line was getting closer, but I was hurting too much - my feet were lodging a formal protest.

I kept trudging along on Main Street. The fans were incredibly helpful. An ironvet on a bike talked to me for over a block - he was very motivating. I promised him that I wouild run again when there were three stoplights to go. Hurricane Bob Mina passed me and I congratulated him. I started jogging again.

Two blocks from the Hog's Breath I picked up my pace. I ran (actually ran - not jogged) the last few yards of Main Street - high fiving the kids and cheering with the crowd. I could not believe that I was running. The left turn onto Lakeshore Drive was incredible. I ran hard to the finish line and crossed in 14:10:48.

I completed my goal. I had gone from couch to Canada in 10 months. I am an IRONMAN.

POST-RACE:

Two incredible volunteers escorted me from the finish line. Somehow I received my IMC towel, finisher's medal and T-shirt (the correct size - how do they do it?). The ladies escorted my to the line for the massage tent per my request - they stayed with me for several minutes until they were sure that I was OK - they brought me water and some chicken soup. The chicken soup actually tasted great. I had a great massage, and I walked back to the finish line to find my wife who was standing right next to the results tent. It was sooooo good to see her. I got my congratulatory hug (over the snow fence) and I heard how proud she was of my accomplishment. After a very long day that was filled with ups and downs it was very uplifting to hear her words.

I picked up my gear bags, changed into some dry clothes, had my finishers photo taken (remember to wear your finisher's shirt and medal - they look great in the photo), I soaked my legs in a hot tub, and I waited to no avail for some pizza. I then picked up my bike and Winter and I walked back to the Rochester. My eyes felt like they had a salt shaker dumped in them - I had to squint to see anything. Winter was hungry after waiting for me for several hours so we went to the Iguana for a bite - nothing else was open at 11:00pm. Fajitas in Canada are not what I am used to - what is a tomato tortilla anyhow???? My stomach was still in an act of rebellion so I took my meal home to eat the next day. We turned on Channel 11 to watch the 17 hour finishers - there was no way that I was going to make it back to the finish line. The fireworks (like the start cannon) went off a little early. I then realized why my eyes were barely open - I was EXHAUSTED. I passed out almost immediately.

THE DAYS AFTER

I awoke on Monday feeling hungry (finally). My stomach was still a little tender, but I managed to eat.

I was happy to have completed my first IM in such difficult conditions, but I was frustrated that I had fallen apart during the race. 14 hours was much longer than what I had hoped to do.

I contemplated IMC '99. My legs hurt, my stomach still ached and I had not totalled the bills for the cost of IMC '98. I did not want to come back to Penticton again in '99. Then I thought twice - this race has the best organization and volunteers of any race that I have ever done. I want to do better than a 14 hour IM. In a month I would be ready to contemplate IMC '99, but I would not have a month to decide. I chose to submit my application for '99.

The rest of the day was a blur - finisher's merchandise, results book (Vineman and Wildflower's took about 3 months to arrive - IMC's was complete with pictures in about 10 hours), awards ceremony, shopping, packing, meeting friends, handing my bike off to Ray for the drive home. soon it was Tuesday morning and time to fly home.

Back home I evaluated the race. In Penticton, surrounded by IronVets, my finish did not look to stellar. As I reread my goals for the race and talked to non-triathletes I started thinking clearly again:

I have completed every one of my IMC '98 goals.

I am an Ironman.

I am not the same person that I was 10 months ago and I am very, very happy that I did what had to be done in order to finish.

To every IronVirgin out there - good luck training for your goals, and be sure to remember what your goals are!!!!

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davewakeman · 5 years ago

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Talking Tickets--1 May 2020--Refunds! Marketing! Seth Godin! And, More!

Hey!

How is everyone holding up?

I just want to take a second to thank all of you again for being here. If you need anyone to talk with or just to bounce an idea off of, let me know. I’m here for y’all.

Prioritize your mental health and if you don’t want to listen to me, listen to Harry Winks.

If you are enjoying this newsletter, tell your friends and colleagues to sign up by visiting this link.

I’m still dealing with intermittent internet issues that hopefully can be resolved soon so I can do some more webinars and such. I will still be co-hosting the Sports Biz Happy Hour with my buddy, Ken Troupe this afternoon at 5PM EDT. So come share a drink with us and our other hardcore happy hour colleagues. We will be voting on Ken’s new profile picture for Twitter this afternoon!

Get into our Slack group as well. We talk beef, business, and BS.

To the tickets!

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1. We Will Come Out Of This Period:

There is no doubt that folks will be at venues, cheering, dancing, and connecting sooner rather than later, but we still have a long road back.

What is great is that we continue to see a bunch of efforts from folks all over the world that are working to help educate folks and get people prepared for relaunching the ticket industry.

We Will Overcome was started by my friends, Einar and Martin, from Activity Stream and includes support from folks around the world like Frederic Auoad, Angela Higgins, Andrew Thomas, Derek Palmer, and too many folks to list in one email.

I’ve been pretty up front about taking care of yourself and reaching out to your community for support throughout this crisis, but as we enter May, I also want to make sure that we all spend time doing some planning and setting ourselves up to be successful when things begin to return to normal.

Trust me, they will. It is just what will the return of events look like and what will the market for folk’s attention look like…that’s what we have to really think about now. And, there are a bunch of really great resources to help you think through this, here are a few:

Eric Fuller is hosting a virtual conference called “Rescue Meet” and he’s launching on May 19th with a 60-75 minute web meeting and he’s asked me to participate along with folks from Live Nation and many other industry leaders.

Ticketing Professionals Conference in Birmingham is hosting many of their speakers and this year’s presentation online now. You can check out their listings and sign up for one, many, or all of them.

The Society of London Theatre has a bunch of webinars and information that they are sharing.

INTIX continues to host weekly lunches on Wednesdays and has a bunch of resources on their dedicated landing page for Covid-19 resources.

IQ is launching a virtual panel series as well with a pretty good lineup built around a lot of music and festival content.

If there is some resource or idea you are looking to learn or find out more about, let me know and I will help you find it. We will recover and we need folks to pull together and work together to get there.

2. What Will Things Look Like When We Return?

The truth is, none of us know.

The article above talks about a bunch of venues in the DC area and how they are planning….and, the truth is, no one knows anything right now.

Oli Shawyer wrote about the need to be clear and thoughtful in how we think about what our future selves might look like and his analysis of the current reality is right on. Right now, we think we are going to do one thing and in the future, we are likely to find that our actions are entirely different than what we imagined we would do…or, we may just be ready to do anything besides sit at home.

We have already seen organizations adapt and change to engage with people, entertain them, and stay connected. As a friend at an iconic venue noted to me, “it is amazing how we were able to become a digital content production facility in a week.” After struggling to get the necessary investments in tech prior to the coronavirus.

The only correct answer here is that we don’t know what things will look like when more countries start opening up again and we start seeing social distancing loosen up.

I have talked to a lot of folks about the idea of social distancing within venues and it is pretty unrealistic, difficult, or not entirely financially feasible to do the large scale social distancing that has been talked about in a few places this week. Most of the time, you have to look at the sources and the angle to know if there is some bias in these pieces and some of the ones in sports definitely have the hint of someone trying to drum up demand like Scott Boras does with his notebooks on his clients.

I do think that as you prepare for the return, it is important to think through the entire experience you want to provide from start to finish, how you can better curate your event, and walk through the concerns and questions your guests are going to have.

Repeat: start by understanding the value you want to create for your guests and work from there.

3. Refunds are starting to become a little clearer now:

MLB teams started announcing their plans for refunds and cancellations this week with the Red Sox, Cubs, and Cardinals leading the way. But it hasn’t been nearly fast enough for the people that have been left in limbo by the fact that games and events have been postponed due to the coronavirus.

And in Europe, Ligue 1 was the first major league to call it quits for the season.

Admittedly, teams and organizations have been slow to announce refund and exchange policies or they have had to adjust them because of the nature of the virus, the shutdown, and the uncertainty.

From my point of view, StubHub got killed for going first and trying to do right by their stakeholders early on when things were so crazy, but the bigger issue for the organizations around the world has been in not communicating with their customers, in many cases, at all.

As an example, I had conversations with folks in several cities over the last week from around the country and these corporate ticket buyers told me that in most cases no one has called to talk with them about what is going on right now with their tickets, with updates, or just to check on them…from my conversations that included teams in most of the major sports. If that is widespread, that’s unconscionable and it will be tough for teams to ever overcome.

You may not know anything, but you need to at least communicate enough with your customers to let them know that you can’t give them an answer yet. Put yourself in your customer’s shoes and imagine how you would feel.

It is this lack of communication and the changing nature of the policies that some organizations have been rolling out that has likely led to these lawsuits being filed this week…

In England, Brighton and Hove Albion announced their plans for next season as a hopeful sign that football will return sooner rather than later…I’m hoping that this season of the Premier League can be completed because if not Spurs will be out of European competition next year and I don’t like that.

The NFL is looking to announce its schedule next week and there is a bit of a conversation around whether or not putting out the schedule and selling tickets is a wise decision.

What do y’all think?

For me, it would be pretty risky for the NFL to start selling tickets…especially understanding what the current environment with refunds looks like, but what do I know? (Shameless plug…I was quoted in SBJ this week.)

Maybe, we can all just buy tickets for our cardboard representations?

4. Marketing, Community, and Connection Will Matter More Than Ever:

This is awesome because I get to write about Seth Godin in my ticket newsletter.

The backstory is that Seth put out a manifesto called Stop Stealing Dreams about 8 years ago and he challenged folks that read his stuff and follow him to find ways to share the content. I’d just bought a new iPad and was testing out GarageBand, so I did the first audio version of the manifesto.

With that, I got my first dose of internet fame! Now, look at me?!

The podcast and the article that introduce the podcast are totally worth the hour, even if you aren’t in the arts.

Seth hits on some ideas that have been at the core of my work in marketing and tickets over the years as well like community and connection.

I was on the internet with Frederic Aouad from Stay 22 on Thursday and we talked about the need to be better at marketing because the world that we will return to is going to be more competitive than ever and the need to give people a clear reason to come visit is going to be more important than ever before.

I’ve been writing and speaking about marketing and strategy for about a decade and what I found was that folks know they need to be better marketers and want to sell more stuff, but the “way we’ve always done things” is a tough competitor to change.

Now, we find that it isn’t possible to go back to the way things have always been done. We are seeing organizations change in a week or less, rethink their value, and brainstorm tons of new solutions…in tickets and everywhere.

The fact is that marketing is magic. That’s where the money is. That’s where the stories are. That’s where you can build relationships with your audience that can take you all over the world and to places you’d never imagine. (I’m speaking for myself here.)

But being good at marketing is tough.

You want a jumping-off point, start here with Rory Sutherland.

But all of us are going to need to sharpen our marketing knives because we are going to need them in the coming months and years. And, just giving into the tactical aspects of marketing isn’t likely to win you the business you need or the support you have to have to be successful.

I could go on all day about marketing and the need to market more effectively, but I won’t today.

5. Here are a few things that I loved or thought were interesting this week that don’t have a common theme:

First, how about that Post Malone fundraising concert where he covered Nirvana songs. I thought it was pretty good. And, he’s raised some serious coin for the WHO.

Every morning I read a newsletter called, “The Daily Coach” from George Raveling. Coach Raveling coached Harold Miner at USC and was instrumental in getting Michael Jordan to sign with Nike. The newsletter on Thursday was all about leadership and the first two points are super important right now.

The Mayor of London announces a fund to support the arts and culture. We need similar things in the States, but I’m not holding out on that one.

Live Nation is being sued for monopolizing ticket sales. To quote Scott Galloway, it is good to invest in unregulated monopolies. This will be interesting to watch because the government has approved the deals that Live Nation has made and antitrust enforcement as a way to increase competition in the market hasn’t been a priority for a long time. So we will see. I’ll be watching it.

J Cobb shared the video of the world’s worst Old Fashioned and the redemption story that followed. This is fun and maybe that’s what I will drink this afternoon at happy hour.

Mark Pollard is an advertising strategist in NYC and he came up with the idea for a summer camp to help folks focus on their strategy. I’m going to talk with Mark about this and maybe as we work our way out of this shutdown, we can do something similar for marketing and selling tickets. I mean, 100 days for like $30 with 100 new exercises. That’s like the price of a book!

—————————————————————————————————————-

What am I up to this week?

You know, teaching fourth grade…poorly.

I’ll be in the home office all week, if you want to chat, let me know. My Internet connection is still a bit iffy due to my blown cable box, but the McGyver move I pulled to get it to work is genius. So I’m holding off on a lot of things that need the technology boost to produce them.

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Talking Tickets–1 May 2020–Refunds! Marketing! Seth Godin! And, More! was originally published on Wakeman Consulting Group

#covid-19 #marketing #refunds #sports business #tickets

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emo-boy-oliver-blog · 7 years ago

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Life update #16

So I’m now back at school which ugh but it’s actually been a pretty good day. Best new EVER is that I’ve won a binder shirt online!! I’ve been trying to win a binder for months and entered more giveaways than I can count and I finally have one!! I’m going to be sent it in the mail on Wednesday (its Tuesday now) from America and I just have to wait for it to arrive then!! So that’s awesome news coz I was just starting to give up hope. It’s currently second period and I have a sub, I’ve already done all my work so here I be, I’m listening to FOB non stop coz i can not WAIT for the concert ajsierjkdsfn!! It sucks to be in my girls uniform rn but I just have to keep telling myself, only two more terms here, only two more terms. I’m so ready to leave. Anyways tomorrow I go back to theater class ayyeee! I get to see all my best friends again and have a really great time. I’m also giving my crush a birthday present I got her for her birthday last week and I’m nervous. I got her a necklace and a card and I’m gonna get her a block of chocolate too, I really hope she likes it but I don’t want her to open it in front of me coz that makes me anxious. UGHHH I’m so scared coz I’m so awkward. I might just give it to her at the end of class and then run off. WOW OLI SMOOTH, but that’s literally my best option lol. I really hope she likes the necklace I bought it in Tassie markets when I was on holidays. I thought it was cool, I hope she does too. I’ve been talking to her a lot lately, I think she even trusts me now. One good thing about going back to school is seeing a heap of my friends again, that was really great, but I’m sad coz one of my best friends left the school and stuff isn’t the same without her, I miss her. I got to see my whole group tho and a couple of my other friends. Anyways that’s all for now will update later

Oli

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sportsleague365 · 5 years ago

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Lampard thinks Giroud still has a role to play (Picture: Getty Images)Frank Lampard insists Olivier Giroud is still a part of his first-team plans, despite favouring Tammy Abraham up top. The Chelsea manager has only handed the French international one Premier League start this season and he was an unused substitute in the 2-1 win against Lille in the Champions League on Wednesday night. Giroud expressed his frustration at the ‘not ideal situation’ but Lampard believes he still has a role to play. ‘I understand but in this moment we have Tammy Abraham who scored tonight and has scored a lot of goals in the Premier League,’ Lampard said. ‘I need all the options for the season and Oli is a fantastic professional and I think he understands. Giroud has been left out in the cold (Picture: Getty Images)‘Everybody wants to play, I like that, that’s how it has to be. ‘He will have chances, we need Oli, we will need him a lot through the season. ‘And he’s very, very good in the dressing room behind the scenes, and that’s great for me.’ Giroud is happy to bide his time, telling L’Equipe: ‘I’m fine, I’ve had hard times. Now it’s not the ideal situation. ‘At this moment, little Tammy is walking on water. Listen, it’s hard to drop a striker when he’s successful. I am patient. I work in training. You have to keep a good state of mind. We have a lot of games to play. ‘Last week, I missed all three games because of a dirty virus that tied me to the bed. Now I feel much better. The coach preferred to start Tammy. It’s good for the team. It makes us want to continue working and shaking up the competition.’ MORE: CHELSEA FC Mason Mount reveals the 'strange' aspect of Frank Lampard's Chelsea revolutionFrank Lampard sends message to Olivier Giroud amid first team exileFrank Lampard explains why he subbed off 'comfortable' Reece James against Lille #FrankLampard #OlivierGiroud #ChampionsLeague

#FrankLampard #OlivierGiroud #ChampionsLeague

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meandmyppd-blog · 5 years ago

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Not healed, but happy

Oli is almost 14 months old now. He’s constantly having terrible toddler tantrums but I can handle it.

I’m better. I’m so much better. and I can handle so much more now.

I got a job! I spend WEEKS applying for jobs in our hometown and all over the shit county and got absolutely nothing. It got to the point where every time I went on Indeed, I had clicked on all the jobs already. So I said fuck it, I’m applying for a job back home on the coast. I applied on Monday, had two interviews on Wednesday, hired on Friday for this great company doing exactly what I want.

My job is amazing. I get paid what I’m worth, doing Excel spreadsheets and Administrative work. My boss is awesome. He’s a New Yorker who says fuck a lot and doesn’t give a shit about dress code. I can wear what I want and be comfortable at my desk. He buys us lunch a lot. It’s a small company, my boss is the owner who is always travelling, his wife is the CFO who mainly works out of office, his daughter works in Philly, so it’s basically me and one other woman in the office most of the time and I’ve been able to click with her very well. My boss plays a lot of music so he doesn’t care if I listen to music as well. It’s so great. And I have weekends off!

Getting this job has made me feel so much better. I felt like I was suffocating before. I also make more than Daegan did, so our hopes for moving back home grew.

On my very first day, my car broke down and I had to spent $50 on a Lyft to get to work. I was devastated and scared that I would get fired but my boss is very cool and just didn’t want me to stress.

So, we’re back down to one car again. I was driving a total of five hours a day to get to work and back. It was stressing us out, we were spending probably $100 a week in gas.

I realize my posts are getting less and less detailed but I think I’m just ready for this chapter to close.

In the end, after a few weeks of this, I looked online and found a house for us to rent. It was close to work, affordable, two bedrooms, with a garage and a screened in porch. Literally everything we needed. I talked to the guy, Daegan was very negative thinking we couldn’t afford the move in costs but the manager only wanted first and security whereas anywhere else wants first, last, and security. I decided we should go ahead and move in rather than waiting three weeks for the first of the next month so we only paid for a half months rent.

It took us our very last dollar to get into this house, buy cheap oops paint and paint the walls and ceiling, and get food for the week until payday.

We’re currently two weeks into the house and I’m happy. We’re missing a bunch of our stuff, there’s still rooms to paint, we need to clean up the yard, and we’re living off $6 a week until we pay rent on the 1st.

BUT, I’m off my meds. I’m drinking a ton of water again, my skins feels great, and I’m feeling so good. I’m cooking again and it feels so good to buy groceries and eat healthy again. Oli has his own room and sleeps ALL NIGHT there.

I’m content where I am.

I’m starting a garden. I can’t wait to get my fall decorations out.

We have sweet neighbors.

We’ll have trick or treaters this year!

The future looks good. I feel good.

I get a little down sometimes but I have things to look forward to. I can look around and see the progress I’ve made.

Daegan goes to every therapy session with me now, we’re both working on things individually and together.

I’m getting through things that have nothing to do with PPD and I’m growing stronger.

This may be my last post but if you’ve stuck with me for this long - thank you.

If you’re also suffering through postpartum depression, I’m here for you. I’m also here to show you that things get better. I promise. It’s a LONG journey, but you can make it. I believe in you.

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365footballorg-blog · 6 years ago

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Scotland: Phillips, Fletcher, Russell, McBurnie or Paterson - who should lead the attack?

Nations League League C, Group 1: Albania v Scotland Venue: Loro Borici Stadium, Shkoder Date: Saturday, 17 November Kick-off: 19:45 GMT Coverage: Listen on BBC Radio Scotland; live text commentary on BBC Sport website

Six defeats from eight matches in 2018 does not make great reading for Scotland. Neither does 13 goals conceded in that time.

But perhaps the most damaging statistic is that Alex McLeish’s side have scored only four goals so far this calendar year. One of those was an own goal, another a penalty, and of the two that Steven Naismith scored, one was a consolation in a 3-1 defeat by Portugal.

The absence of Naismith and fellow striker Leigh Griffiths because of injury for the Uefa Nations League games against Albania and Israel has left a vacancy in McLeish’s attack. But who can fill the void? BBC Scotland assesses the options…

Four players, 10 goals… six of them against Gibraltar

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Recalled 13 months after his last cap, Steven Fletcher was one of the most notable inclusions in the squad. The Sheffield Wednesday forward had not featured at all since McLeish took control for a second time in early 2018.

Fletcher continues to be somewhat of a conundrum for Scotland. He had a much publicised absence from international duty during Craig Levein’s tenure, meaning he did not feature between August 2010 and October 2012. During that period, he scored 29 goals, mostly in the Premier League in England.

Since returning to the international fold, he has scored 27 club goals in six years but most of those have been in England’s Championship. He has three in 18 games this term.

With nine goals for Scotland, Fletcher is by some distance the top scorer in the squad but six of those – two hat-tricks – came against Gibraltar.

What do the pundits say?

Former Inverness CT manager John Hughes on BBC Radio Scotland:

He’s only 31 – still a young boy, really – and he’s playing regularly for Sheffield Wednesday. He’s been there and done it and I think he’ll start through the middle.

Former Scotland striker Kenny Miller on BBC Radio Scotland:

Steven’s been there. He’s experienced enough. If you’re looking for an option that holds the ball up well, technically good, always a goal threat then Steven’s more than capable of filling that void.

Scotland women midfielder Leanne Crichton:

I think he will be a shoe-in to start. I don’t think a guy that’s been out for 13 months, you would just bring him in to almost supplement the squad. He’s brought him in knowing that he’ll probably play.

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Unlike Fletcher, Matt Phillips has been involved in McLeish’s squads this year and netted his debut international goal in the March win over Hungary.

He started as a long striker in the friendlies against Costa Rica and Peru, as well as against the Hungarians, but his versatility means he could play with a more recognised number nine like Fletcher.

Phillips, 27, has scored five times in 14 club appearances this season for West Brom and offers pace as well as power at the apex of the attack.

The 27-year-old’s recent record at club level of four goals in 13 appearances is superior to that of Fletcher (three in 18).

What do the pundits say?

Former Scotland striker Kenny Miller on BBC Radio Scotland:

Matty Phillips has done the job up front for Scotland and Alex McLeish seems to like him in that role.

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Though lauded for some of his performances at international level, Johnny Russell is yet to score for his country.

The former Dundee United and Derby County foward proved a good foil for Naismith in the opening 2-0 Nations League win against Albania at Hampden and has scored 10 goals for Major League Soccer side Sporting Kansas City this term.

Should McLeish persist with his 3-5-2 formation, Russell seems a good bet to keep his place playing off one of the other strikers.

What do the pundits say?

Former Scotland forward Kris Commons on BBC Radio Scotland:

Johnny Russell is playing at a real good level – man of the match displays in America, involved in the play-offs. His contribution to Scotland over the previous games has been superb. He adds pace, he’s clever, he can get hold of the ball.

Former Scotland striker Kenny Miller on BBC Radio Scotland:

Johnny Russell’s played, he’s played in the last few games as well and I think he’s done excellent up there with Naismith. I think he’s done okay, despite performances maybe not being quite up to scratch.

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Swansea City striker Oli McBurnie may be the underdog to lead Scotland’s attack but he has scored more club goals this season than either Fletcher or Phillips – seven in 18 games.

He started in the friendly defeat by Portugal and came on in Israel last month, and has had a substantial amount of game time under McLeish in the past few months.

McBurnie has also proven he can score goals at under-21 level under Scot Gemmill’s command.

What do the pundits say?

Former Scotland striker Kenny Miller on BBC Radio Scotland:

McBurnie’s started a game or two, and has been around the squad. Again, he’s having a decent goalscoring start to the season with Swansea.

Former Scotland midfielder Michael Stewart on BBC Radio Scotland:

What I’ve seen of McBurnie, he’s not set the heather on fire playing for Scotland.

Is Paterson a left-field solution?

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Perhaps the most intriguing option is former Hearts defender Callum Paterson.

The 24-year-old has won each of his nine caps at either right-back or right wing-back, and is notionally in the squad to cover those positions.

However, he has been deployed as a lone striker by Cardiff City in recent Premier League matches, scoring three goals in four games, and broke through at Hearts as a centre forward.

What do the pundits say?

Former Scotland midfielder Michael Stewart on BBC Radio Scotland:

Callum Paterson plays in a team that’s so suited to their style of play and the athlete that he is. But I don’t see his attributes being a link man holding it up and that is vital.

Former Australia striker Scott McDonald on BBC Radio Scotland:

If you’re playing away from home, I think you would be a little more inclined to play on the counter and I think Cardiff have been trying to do that. So why would you not throw him in there? He’s got pace, he’s got power, he’s good in the air. If you’re playing that out-and-out lone striker who wants to run the channels and be a nuisance all night, Paterson might be your man.

So what does McLeish do?

Both Celtic’s James Forrest and Bournemouth’s Ryan Fraser could also be considered, with the pace of the wingers a potential counter-attacking weapon in Albania. Between them, they have scored 11 times this term for the clubs.

But neither have scored for the national team. Celtic’s Callum McGregor hasn’t either. Nor midfielder counterpart from Aston Villa John McGinn.

In fact, among the rest of the squad, only captain Andrew Robertson and midfielder Stuart Armstrong have international goals to their name. And by goals, we mean one each.

So who would you select to play in attack in Shkoder?

My Scotland team to face Albania

Select formationConfirm team

BBC Sport – Scottish

Scotland: Phillips, Fletcher, Russell, McBurnie or Paterson – who should lead the attack? was originally published on 365 Football

#attack #Fletcher #lead #McBurnie #Paterson #Phillips #Russell #Scotland #should

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