Adult Nationals feedback

[Figureskates]

I would appreciate any opinions, comments, criticisms, or any other feedback by any and all adult competitors at the recent Adult Nationals in Lake Placid, concerning the area of registration.

I worked the registration table during the competition and I think many things worked well and other things could have been done differently. My club hosts many big events a year, the most recent was Eastern Sectionals last November, and the registration process is somewhat different for those type of events, versus Adult Nationals (i.e., no skate moms!!)

I want to put together a list of the good, bad, and the ugly along with possible improvements, and give it to the club board. I have already made a few suggestions, being an adult figure skater as well, but I think it would be a little more meaningful to get feedback from the competitve adult skaters on the other side of the table.

Feel free to say anything that is on your mind. You are not going to hurt my feelings. Improvements will make our lives easier too!!

Thanks in advance

[Beccapoo2003]

The practice ice line was a NIGHTMARE!! :cry:
Regiatration was a very pleasant experience, however! Having events on Ch.22 was a great idea. Also, playing our music on the official warm up seemed to eliminate any music problems during the competition. Thanks so much for a great competition overall, and thanks for caring!!
Becca from Alabama

[Cinderella]

Since this was my first nationals and only second competition, I don't have much to compare it to. I confess that I thought registration was a breeze (ESPECIALLY when compared to the practice ice experience). Everyone at the desk was helpful, cheerful, and seemed to know what they were doing.

The only moment of "panic" I had was when I turned in my music and they hadn't yet set up the boxes for Saturday's events. I kept hoping it would go to the right place (kind of like letting your luggage go at the airport), and indeed it did. I'd second Beccapoo on the great idea to play people's music at the official warm-ups, and it was also handled well at the practice ice. Thanks for making nationals such a great experience.

[LWalsh]

I too thought it was a great experience and things ran very smoothly. In fact it was the only competition I've been to where ALL the events ran right on time. The practice ice was crazy though, there's some room for improvement there.

Good job everyone!

Lara

[skaternum]

I think registration went well. I liked the idea of having 2 separate lines for registration vs. turning in/picking up music. Especially since the music line was always longer -- it allowed you to check in and get your credentials, but come back later when the music line was shorter.

The only minor complaint I might have was one individual working at the desk who made some erroneous assumptions about what I was trying to do. I.e., not really listening to what I was saying. But that's more a case of a tired volunteer, and not a process issue.

I know you only asked about registration, but I have to take this opportunity to complain again about the practice ice situation. It was inexcusable! While waiting in line with friends, I timed it. On average, it took about 7 minutes per person to go into the Sekret Room and emerge with ice time. That's just ridiculous. At that rate, they could only get about 8 or 9 people served per hour! They should have been open ALL DAY long and been able to move people through faster. Scheduling practice ice manually under those conditions was ridiculous. They must do ice scheduling all the time there -- why no computer?

Okay, I feel better now. Thanks for listening. :)

[Spreadeagle]

This was also my first AN experience, so I have nothing to compare to. I thought the registration desk was run well, and the people volunteering and running the competition were very friendly. However, I was very disappointed in every aspect of the practice ice. I waited in line for probably around an hour for practice ice, although at least I was able to watch skating in the 32 rink while I waited! I had 2 practice ice sessions while I was there and both were somewhat negative experiences. First of all, I think 45 min. is a little too much time for a practice at competition. I doubt that most people are working on skills other than what is in their programs, and most likely they are pretty well practiced at what's in the program. IMO, competition practice ice is mainly to get a feel for the ice and layout, and have a chance to do a run-thru, or part of a run-thru. In addition, there were too many skaters on a practice ice session, and all skill levels were mixed. 25 skaters on the ice at once is too many for safety reasons, especially when you have every level from bronze to masters senior. On one session, there was a skater practicing double lutzes right next to a very beginner skater whose skill did not allow them to move out of people's way very quickly. I think practice ice would be more safe if it was limited to 20 skaters, and grouped by skill level.

Another thing that upset me about the practice ice was that I did not get my music played on either session. Both times the person who was playing the music waited for the skater to get into starting position before beginning the tape. This is a nice courtesy, however, when you have that many different pieces of music to play it would be more efficient to just push play immediately. Since I didn't get to hear my music on the first session, I arrived early to my second practice and specifically asked that my music be played. The "music man" assured me that he would do his best to make sure it was played. He announced my name as the next skater, but when the music of the previous skater ended, instead of putting mine in, he announced that the practice ice was over. I begged him to play it, even just the first minute, but he said no. The most frustrating thing about this was that people continued to skate for the next 5 minutes, and the zamboni didn't come out for another 10 minutes. My music could easily have been played. Fortunately, they did play the first 50 seconds at the warmup, so I at least got to hear my music once before competing.

I didn't like how the warmup ice was scheduled. In some cases, you had a warmup up to 12 hours before you competed. This isn't really a warmup, but more like an "official practice". I heard that in the past warmups were less than 2-3 hours before you skated. Since it was my first time, I didn't know any better and fortunately my warmups were only about 3-4 hours ahead of my actual skate. But I know that people who had skated AN before were upset about this.

I thought Lake Placid was a great town and I really liked that channel 22 showed the skating! However, a lot of the townspeople seemed to resent our presence. It's a seasonal town and we were there during the off-season. Usually the town residents are taking vacation during this time, and the shops are closed. Many shops and restaurants actually were closed, limiting our choices. You would think that businesses would welcome the chance to make some extra $$$, but many of the restaurant and shop workers were more annoyed than grateful, which was reflected in their rude attitude towards customers. I was also disappointed that the bobsled rides were closed for the season! :cry:

One more gripe: the photography for the awards. Maybe I've been spoiled by the photographer who does most of our local competitions--she always lets you know when the picture's being taken and then gives friends and family time to take their shots. The photographer here did not do that, and actually seemed very annoyed that he had to take these awards shots. Additionally, the shots were not available to view or purchase (though I'm not sure I would have bought one since I didn't know when to look at the camera). There was no photographer for the first awards ceremony for many of the initial rounds. I know initial round does not get the "real" medals and the picture in Skating magazine, but for the majority of these people, they won't be getting a final round medal so it would be nice to treat it as a real ceremony.

OK, I guess my rant's over. Overall I enjoyed the experience in Lake Placid, and I am glad you are looking for things to improve on! :P

[Beccapoo2003]

Oooh yea, the photographer....I usually buy photos afterwards online when I have uninterrupted time to view them after the comp. They would NOT have the pics available online! Especially for the skaters who competed late on Saturday! I'm sure they lost a lot of business because of that, and they SHOULD have. If they're that busy, then maybe they don't need our business! Grrrr! Hope there's someone else next year!
USH!
Becca from Alabama
PS The video people were AWESOME! They should do ALL Adult Comps!!
Woof! Woof! :D

[Figureskates]

As I have noted elsewhere, the club did not handle the practice ice...it was totally ORDA's domain. With that being said, I am friends with many people who work for ORDA and I will take all these practice ice comments and pass them on to him, so your rants are not in vain!!

Many of the volunteers were super tired. I myself put in close to 60 hours during the event and the day or two leading up to the event and my Saturday I was beginning to drag as well.

Comment about the village itself. The competition was held during the scholl vacation week so a lot of people went away. Another why a lot of the volunteers put in so many hours.

Also April is the so-called "mud season" and is the one time of year that a lot of the residents take vacations. The big seasons are summer, then fall foliage, followed by snow and winter. Mud season is the only time when activity is limited since the snows are melting and the mud makes hiking and any other kind of activity difficult.

Also I understand the concern of some of you about the music not being put in boxes for Saturday during the first part of the week when we had no xtra boxes. Rest assure that things were put in the right place since most of the volunteers are adult figure skaters as well and a couple of them competed during the event as well. We are definitely AWARE of the importance of the music.

Keep the comments coming, they are extremely helpful.

[flo]

Nationals at Lake Placid is has always been my favorite, and this year was no exception. The registration ran smoothly and the volunteers were great. It was fun to meet some of the kids off school, and later see them in town and be greeted by a smile or wave. Special congratulations should go to the monitors putting the skaters on for the events. I put one of my friends on, and she was a bundle of nerves - I was exausted! and the volunteers put hundreds of these skaters on! One at my event was really sweet - she noticed I was without a coach, and offered to hold my jacket! I did try to bring and give out key chains from Baltimore as a small expression of thanks, but quickly ran out!

As far as the practice ice, The AN at Lake Placid in 96 and 97 had a great system. We paid for ice in advance, and then snaked into and out of a large room to pick out our sessions. The line was very, very long, but it moved very efficiently and quickly. Skaters were only permitted to get ice for sessions prior to their event. If a skater made finals, they were permitted to purchase additional ice.
My only other comments about the ice is that the monitors need to be given the athourity and encouraged to monitor the session, or include a monitor for this activity. Several skaters were asked to wear the vest, and refused, there was a pair team on fs ice (who had just finished a pair practice) and asked to stop but did not, skaters who continually and intentionally cut off others. Ther were also skaters who had finished events but skating on the practice sessions, while those with events were unable to get sessions. These practices were inconsiderate of the fellow skaters, dangerous, and should not be permitted on the sessions.

Also, after the comments are in it may be helpful to forward a copy to the Kansas City LOC.

[sk8er1964]

I thought that things were well run, overall, except, of course, for the practice ice. I did, however, have two problems - one related to check in and one related to the pre-competition information.

First, I prepaid for practice ice after qualifying, but when I got my information from Lake Placid (two days before I left, by the way, which was too late to contact anyone over Easter weekend) there was nothing about when my practice ice was scheduled. We ran into problems on the way there, and didn't end up coming into Lake Placid until late Tuesday morning. When I checked in, the lady there could only tell me to check in the practice ice office. I go there, and you know what I saw - 100+ people in line. For all I knew, my practice ice would be over before I ever got any information from them :frus: . So, I've just arrived in Lake Placid after a horrendous trip, haven't even been to where we were staying, I'm skating in the championship event the very next day (and those of you who know me know how I had worked myself into a tizzy about that), and I have no practice ice :twisted: . If it wasn't for the aid of a very nice lady volunteer in the 1932 rink who took the time to find out when my practice ice was, I don't know what I would have done. Didn't help my already heightened stress levels at all. It sure would have been nice if I had known ahead of time, with my competition packet, what time my pre-paid practice ice had been scheduled.

As for the other problem, it directly involved check in. The lady there didn't seem to understand that I was skating in two events with the same cd. I told her what events, even pointed out the numbers on her list. She put a sticker on my cd for the Friday event, but not the Wednesday event. I didn't worry about it too much, figuring that since the Friday sticker was on it and she knew I was skating the next day, it would be ok. Wrong assumption.

They did have my music for Wednesday, but when I went for the "warm-up" Friday morning there wasn't music for me. So I got my spare cd for the music guy, who played it at the warm-up, and he said he'd put my name and the event on it. Fast forward to just before my event. A very rude man comes out into the hallway, calling my name. I go over to him, and he asks if the cd he was holding was mine (it was). He then proceeded to yell at me for not putting my name on the cd. Well, excuse me, but if the people who worked there had done what they were supposed to do, and what they said they'd do, then I wouldn't have had to be yelled at just before I was due to compete :roll: . If I skate in more than one event again with the same music, you better bet I won't trust the volunteers to get it right - I'll just turn in two identical cd's.

Like others, I didn't buy any still photos, because I assumed they'd be on line. Too bad. I didn't buy any videos either, because they were just too expensive. (The fact that my performances weren't noteworthy had something to do with that decision, too.)

Oh, one other thing. I enjoyed the exhibition, but there were waaaaay too many "thank you" sessions. It got tedious, and people were leaving before Charlie Tickner skated, probably because it was getting late and they had to skate the next day. One simple thank you to all involved would have sufficed.

Now that I've complained, here's some kudos -- The events themselves were very well run. When the lady in my warm up group hurt herself, the volunteers knew exactly what to do. With the exception of the yelling music guy, everyone was very friendly and very nice. The competitors party was a blast. I loved that little pizza place across and down the street from the rink. Everyone in town was friendly too, and we had a great cabin near Whiteface Mountain that we stayed in. Got to see a part of the country that I'd never seen, which was beautiful, and got to visit Montreal, a city I never thought I'd visit. Got to meet some of you that I hadn't met before. All in all, a good experience. (It would be better if they had let me restart my second skate after I missed that flying camel..... :lol: .)

[Betty]

[QUOTE=sk8er1964]

I didn't buy any videos either, because they were just too expensive.


Could you, or anyone else on the list please post the name of the video person or company to older video's from this recent 2004 Lake Placid Adult Nationals?

Thanks VERY much for any info regarding this.

[PattyP]

Could you, or anyone else on the list please post the name of the video person or company to older video's from this recent 2004 Lake Placid Adult Nationals?

The name is "Productions East" and their web site is: www.productionseast.com

[JerseySkater]

I, too, was disappointed with the awards pictures. However, I learned later that the person who took most of the pictures was not to blame. There seems to have been a misunderstanding between the LOC and the still photographer. Apparently the contract between the two parties did not specify that the still photographer had to take awards photos. After being summoned for the first few awards ceremonies, the "official" photographer refused to do any more. At this point the lady in charge called someone in the area whom she knew to come in and take awards pictures, so keep in mind that he was doing this with no advance notice, and was doing what he could with little planning or direction.
As for the official still photographer not having the pictures on a Web site: the notices in his area at the rink encouranged people to take advantage of an early bird "discount" by buying their pictures at the rink. That certainly gave me the impression that the pictures would be available for purchase later. I am glad that I did not wait.
The cost of a video of one's performance, using your own tape, was $17 at Eastern Sectionals, and $35 at Nationals! Is the prohibition on people taking their own videos designed to enrich the official video provider? Will the next step be to prohibit people from taking their own still pictures?

[QUOTE=Spreadeagle]
One more gripe: the photography for the awards. Maybe I've been spoiled by the photographer who does most of our local competitions--she always lets you know when the picture's being taken and then gives friends and family time to take their shots. The photographer here did not do that, and actually seemed very annoyed that he had to take these awards shots. Additionally, the shots were not available to view or purchase (though I'm not sure I would have bought one since I didn't know when to look at the camera). There was no photographer for the first awards ceremony for many of the initial rounds. I know initial round does not get the "real" medals and the picture in Skating magazine, but for the majority of these people, they won't be getting a final round medal so it would be nice to treat it as a real ceremony.