2011 Adult Nationals

[manleywoman]

Count me in on the side that this process takes too long. It is more difficult for adult skaters to schedule time off.

But again . . . regardless of the location, if you're planning on going, you would ask for the time off anyway, right? I know many folks make their decisions depending on the location and costs, but if you're planning on asking time off anyway . . .

[overedge]

Awesome! Bet the Pacific coasters are happy.

I am, even though I can't compete. But it's within travelling distance to watch...

[sk8er1964]

I probably won't be there. Oh well. I need to find some local ISI competitions or something.

[Stormy]

Count me in on the side that this process takes too long. It is more difficult for adult skaters to schedule time off.

But.....ANs is always the 2nd or 3rd week in April. And we've known the dates for weeks now. It's not like the dates are a big surprise every year that vary from month to month. Plus, if you read the bid packages which were out months ago, you knew exactly which two weeks the dates could have been. Yes, it can be harder to schedule time off but if you do a little research, it's easier to plan.

[skatemommy]

But again . . . regardless of the location, if you're planning on going, you would ask for the time off anyway, right? I know many folks make their decisions depending on the location and costs, but if you're planning on asking time off anyway . . .

Exactly....Won't be going all that way for Gold Solo Dance.

[pairman2]

Stormy
It's not just about planning when to go. It's also about planning to not go. What if a person can do location x but not z, then they might want to take their very limited vacation time and allocate it elsewhere...at a different time... and must put in for that vacation time well in advance. How this sequence of location selection went down this year was not good. I've heard a significant number of adult skaters (who do not post on threads) voice this opinion.

In my opinion, it's quite glib for someone who's club had a year and a half to prepare for AN, to suggest that everything is just fine that the present club has so much less time to work with. I could also add that no elite competition would be subjected to such a delayed decision process. Imagine the howls if that ever happened. But what the hey, we're just adult skaters and that's what we should expect, right?

Congratulations Salt Lake City.

[skatemommy]

^^^WORD

[GarrAarghHrumph]

SLC is a direct flight from many of the major hubs in the US, so that helps. It's also a really cool city to be in, for those interested and who've never been.

[elphaba]

It is true that the later than usual announcement date of AN is not ideal. But everything can't be ideal. It is not fair of any of us to assume the what and why of the delay. The delay had nothing to do with "they are only adults" mentality. It happened due to circumstances beyond anyone's control.

It seems the LOC is doing just fine so far. They already have a logo and it looks great.

I'm only sorry that I won't be able to attend. It looks so beautiful there.

[duckshooter]

I second what elphaba said. I've been to many AN's, and this is the only time the announcement of the location was this late in the year. True, the lateness of this year's announcement of the winning AN bid is not ideal, but it is also not typical of the AN selection process. If the PTB wanted to screw over the adult skaters, they'd have announced the AN location this late every year.

[coskater]

What can be much more upsetting is when the registering goes all wonky like it did a few years ago.

In the end we know 6+ months in advance which is more than enough time, for most, it is in a nice location and being held at a very nice facility.

I'll choose to look on the bright side.

[duckshooter]

Absolutely coskater. I know which AN you're referring to, and that was a nightmare. This is nothing compared to that. We have seven months till AN 2011. Imagine having your AN event moved to a different day than you expected, _one_ month before AN and _after_ you've already booked a flight. Uh huh.

I think it's important to choose our battles here. I wouldn't want the adult skating community to lose its bargaining capital over this issue and wind up possibly being in a bad position to fight what I feel are more important battles, like those involving the competition schedule or combining 'singleton' events.

[manleywoman]

In my opinion, it's quite glib for someone who's club had a year and a half to prepare for AN, to suggest that everything is just fine that the present club has so much less time to work with.

Please. If the four clubs that were bidding felt prepared to do it with less notice than 1.5 years, that's their business and I trust their judgement. I've seen clubs do a lot more with a lot less.

[manleywoman]

I think it's important to choose our battles here. I wouldn't want the adult skating community to lose its bargaining capital over this issue and wind up possibly being in a bad position to fight what I feel are more important battles, like those involving the competition schedule or combining 'singleton' events.

Exactly.

[GarrAarghHrumph]

I'm only sorry that I won't be able to attend. It looks so beautiful there.

SLC and the area around it is absolutely stunning.

[Debbie S]

I could also add that no elite competition would be subjected to such a delayed decision process.

For comparison, the location of Skate America was announced in March, 8 months before the event. We're now 7 months out from AN, so there's not much difference in time. SA has fewer competitors than AN, but when you add in all the team officials from each delegation, plus all USFSA officials and bigwigs, and parent chaperones (optional) you're probably talking about close to the same number of people. And for SA, you've got skaters flying in from other countries. Also consider the logistics of a large arena, the TV and webcasts, other media, and ticket sales to fans (which is on a much grander and more complex sale than ticket sales to AN). The prep for SA is much more complex than it is for AN and there are a number of moving parts in several different countries.

In the past few years, the window between the announcement and the event has gotten shorter for all USFSA events. IIRC, the location for South Atlantic Regionals wasn't announced until this spring, several months after the other Regional locations were announced. This is not something that only affects adult skating.

[pairman2]

All the links for AN and Sectionals
http://www.adultpairskating.com/page3/page3.html

[crzesk8dad]

Originally Posted by pairman2
I could also add that no elite competition would be subjected to such a delayed decision process.

For comparison, the location of Skate America was announced in March, 8 months before the event. We're now 7 months out from AN, so there's not much difference in time. SA has fewer competitors than AN, but when you add in all the team officials from each delegation, plus all USFSA officials and bigwigs, and parent chaperones (optional) you're probably talking about close to the same number of people. And for SA, you've got skaters flying in from other countries. Also consider the logistics of a large arena, the TV and webcasts, other media, and ticket sales to fans (which is on a much grander and more complex sale than ticket sales to AN). The prep for SA is much more complex than it is for AN and there are a number of moving parts in several different countries.

In the past few years, the window between the announcement and the event has gotten shorter for all USFSA events. IIRC, the location for South Atlantic Regionals wasn't announced until this spring, several months after the other Regional locations were announced. This is not something that only affects adult skating.

Much of the delay is in finding a club willing to host such a competition. Many clubs do not want to host Sectionals, Adult Sectionals, Adult Nationals, etc. Money is tight (can the club afford to take the risk to host it), skating competitions compete against hockey for ice time, finding facilities big enough to handle some competitions (AN recommends 3 sheets of ice, 2 for competition, 1 for practice), has the volunteer base been exhausted by other comps? Etc, etc, etc. These are things that a club considers before bidding to host a US Figure Skating competition.

The larger "elite" comps, as someone called them (Nationals, Skate America) are usually planned several years out, and are pretty much no longer handled by the local clubs, but mainly by US Figure Skating staff with the support of an LOC that today seems to be comprised of several clubs and/or local sporting or visitors associations.

The two are not really comparable.

[Debbie S]

The two are not really comparable.

I understand the planning process is different. I was addressing the timing of the location announcement in response to Pairman's statement that major kid/elite comps announce locations much more in advance than AN. My point was that is not always the case. It's true that the USFSA staff takes a much larger role in the planning and execution of SA and Nats, and there's no wheel to reinvent each year, but the location does need to be set in order to actually arrange the logistics (transportation, accommodations, practice ice) and sell tickets and recruit sponsors. And it seems that over the past few years, locations have been announced much closer to the comp than in the past - I remember Nats used to be announced at least 3 years in advance and SA was at least a year ahead of time.

[vesperholly]

I could also add that no elite competition would be subjected to such a delayed decision process. Imagine the howls if that ever happened.

How short our memories have become. The 2000 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS was reassigned from Australia to France in fall 1999, and they pulled it off.

Oy.

I'm really happy it's on the West Coast! Too long have our left coast friends been traveling great distances to attend ANs. I probably won't know for sure if I'm attending until January (my company can stop it with the furloughs, kthxbai) but I really, really want to go. Crossing my fingers!!