Venture Cup 2016

[Ciao]

I enjoyed the YouTube viral.

How do you convert 73 views into 500,000 + spectators?

[Ciao]

A ThunderCat Viral I posted last month on Raceboat International's Facebook page.

Am I missing something here?

[blimp]

John - I know I shouldn't take the bait, but what the heck ....it's a Friday.

1. We've partnered with the largest media group in Ireland (which also has considerable UK media assets). They'll be the ones ensuring that everyone in the country is fully aware of the event during the build-up and right across the event .....and why they should attend.

2. Our key partners in this are the local authorities right around the country. They'll be activating all of their channels to ensure the numbers come out and watch the event.

3. As an example, this is the big Summer event for Dublin. The previous 3 big Summer events (Tall Ships, F1 Street Racing, and FlightFest) have all had over 600,000 spectators on their own. This is being delivered to the same level ....and that's before you add in the other venues of Cork, Dingle, Galway, Killybegs and Belfast.

The number of spectators attending is coming from our venue partners, not us. The figures have been scrutinised by a great many experts in this area (such as national tourism authorities) and have stood up.

I'm not entirely sure how you're linking the number of people who watch a video clip online with how many people physically attend an event .....as good a job as Fiona P does with the cats, I don't think she's expecting 22,000 people in Cornwall next September.

[TomLinley]

With a population of around 4.5 Million. If powerboat racing can attract 1 in 9 people to attend the event then I believe it will be amazing for the sport! You would have achieved something no other organiser is powerboating history has achieved in a countries support for the sport.

If this does happen then hopefully this will benefit the sport as a whole and impact other great events such as CTC also and the smaller classes in Ireland.

[blimp]

Thanks Tom - we're all firmly of the belief that what's good for one part of the sport is good for all the sport.

Bear in mind that it's an all-island event, so the population is actually almost 6.5 million .....plus the team here has a lot of experience in running big public events over here.

[Mike Lloyd]

I fully appreciate that you have to pump up the potential attendance figures for your sponsors Aidan but maybe you have forgotten that a few of us have been here before and tend to be a little cynical on such posts mainly because of the following.

Despite the fact that during the 2008 Round Britain Race, a larger event than your commendable race, we had an exceptional PR organisation working for us plus daily BBC TV broadcasts every morning (several per morning) plus BBC TV crew attendance at every venue plus Ray Bulman and Ciao pumping out race reports to the media every day, we would be lucky to have even 500 of the public at each venue despite the HUGE efforts of every “key partners from every local authority right around the country” - all 10 of them. The only good numbers we had were at the start and at the end in a world class venue in Portsmouth. Possibly 10,000 at the start and maybe 5000 at the finish and that is being generous.

The main problem is (we were told) that people have to work, they don’t/can’t take time off to watch a small number of boats come into these small harbours, also I am afraid Powerboat Racing is a minority sport in todays world and nobody really cares any more, the exception maybe being the world famous Cowes races and look how much coverage/publicity they get.

However, despite my negativity in this area I wish you and your team and all those taking part success, the sport (and the racers) need races like this and I know how much effort it takes to run such an event. At least those taking part should - weather permitting - have some great experiences and a lot of fun, (and possibly a lot of heartache). Good luck to you all.

ML.
.

[blimp]

Hi Mike - thanks for the support.

It's important that I re-emphasise that the numbers of expected attendees are not coming from us to impress partners ...they're coming 100% from the local authorities and stakeholders on the ground. Yes, it is normal for figures to be massaged by event organisers, but these pre-event expectations aren't coming from us. The race sits within the larger Venture event, rather than being all of it ....this is the approach that I've been harping on about for years. It's not enough to put on an excellent race on the water - you need the big show on land as well (entertainment, food and drink, stalls, etc.). That's what gets the audiences to attend.

It's also important to know that Ireland is very different to the UK when it comes to attending free-to-public events. We're pretty starved over here, while the UK is often super-saturated with high-profile activity. As a consequence, there's a long history of huge numbers getting in their cars to go and watch an event (look at Volvo Ocean Race in Galway a few years back).

[TomLinley]

Originally Posted by blimp

Thanks Tom - we're all firmly of the belief that what's good for one part of the sport is good for all the sport.

Bear in mind that it's an all-island event, so the population is actually almost 6.5 million .....plus the team here has a lot of experience in running big public events over here.

Still 1 in 13 conversion rate to the sport would be a great achievement. I know our finish in Galway on the last Irish race was great with the town coming out to see the boats.

You may have a great team but I am purely looking at the 500,000 spectators figures and its comparable to the likes of the America's Cup or Redbull Air Race, who consistently pull those numbers. They spend millions on their set up and PR activation, daily updating social media months before an event, along with all the teams putting in just the same amount, all with their own serious sponsors and individual PR companies promoting their efforts in the events. Let alone the budgets for the actual activation of the landscape and creating a real event for the public, outside of just the boats or planes. I really hope you can deliver these numbers with your team and the tourist boards are correct - it is great that the tourist companies, councils and harbour authorities are getting behind you on the event.

I have personally witnessed the set up of some big sailing teams, their budgets and set up is a massive operation. Just look at Alex Thomson Racing for example of the Hugo Boss Sailing team with the stunts his team pull to keep their audiences engaged and focused on their activities and the events to which they are entered.

In contrast, if even the racing community struggle to get to grips with who actually is confirmed to enter and even they have difficulty knowing who is running and what craft, how much more so would the general public have no idea at this stage of the personalities and boats that go a long way to make the event what it is. It shows by the sad lack of interest in this thread, compared to when marathon racing really kicked off in 08 with lots of chatter and interest in all the boats and adventure ahead, where as with so little information being sent out, even the racing audience is not as revved up as it should be. Please send out more info of teams and details, understandable that there is still logistical items to sort and fine details yet to be announced, but surely there is a lot you can shout about, a PR company is only as good as the content you provide them.

Many of us have lots of different views on Powerboat P1, however no one can deny they put a huge amount of work into their PR with their TV coverage and their event set up at each event. They are a well established event company who have lots of bluechip companies backing their boats, thanks a lot to the press and TV coverage the events do get. However even now when the events are far from their infancy they still struggle to really have decent audience numbers actually on site, comparable to those in mainstream motorsport.

If you pull it off and the various harbours and towns activate in the way they have promised you, this could be a real game changer and have a great impact on the sport. I know how much work is going on behind the scenes so if it works and Venture Cup can establish itself as a world leading powerboat event, then full respect for the effort your team have put in. You will have achieved audience figures that the likes of the 24hr Rouen race, which has one of the best spectator spots in the sport could only wish for, along with every other event organiser in powerboating. Wish you the best of luck.

[blimp]

Hey Tom - happy to add to the debate, if only to try and help bring the thread here to life. The reality is that it's not just this thread, but all threads (and many forums/fora) are suffering from lack of activity with people migrating to social media instead.

While it's 100% true that powerboat racing doesn't attract the numbers which have been put around our June event, that's actually the core reason why we're taking the approach that we are. We're embedding the race into a larger event. People won't turn out just for a powerboat race ....it's one of the many reasons why powerboat racing doesn't attract big audiences any more ... but they do turn out for spectacle, especially when it's in a context they're familiar with.

How do we know this? Well, we've got a team with some experience .... our commercial director - Stuart Walker - has run the commercials at two FIFA World Cups, British & Irish Lions tours, 20/20 cricket and much more. Our partnerships manager ran the commercials and relationships around Australian rugby. Our shore-side event controller is the top guy in the country and has regularly overseen events with more than 1 million attendees. I've been at the centre of hundreds of festivals and events over here for the past 20 years. That's just a few examples ....so all of those big sailing 'events' that you mention are the exact type of events we've got experience in.

Here's two quick examples .... we brought the Thundercats over here for a weekend a number of years back. Now, Fiona P is one of the best there is, but you know that the number of spectators at the average race is still relatively low (even if higher than many others). We applied the 'event rules' to the weekend of racing and got over 80,000 spectators across the 3 days. That was in a small town (pop: approx 6,500) one hour away from the nearest city. A few years later we ran a Thundercat season (4 races) with just the domestic fleet. By carefully picking suitable 'events' to attach ourselves to, we got a season total of more than 60,000 spectators. So, again, the model works.

In terms of 'getting the story out', there's an awful lot of competing noise over here right now. We're just coming up to a huge number of commemoration events, to remember the 1916 rising. Once we're through that we have a clear run to June and the full activation starts with 2 raceboats running at high speed for two days in Cork Harbour just after Easter. For the teams themselves, we've got our group email (which you receive), our general facebook page, and the closed-garden of our Venture Cup Pits. We've also then got a large team ready to answer any question an entered or potential team might have.

It's important to remember that this year is a 'proof of concept'. Nobody is familiar with 500,000+ people at a powerboat event. Venture WILL deliver those numbers .....mostly as a result of great work being done by our partners. That then gives us the collateral we need (video, photos, etc.) to move things on and secure the big brands and venues we need for future years. When you see those numbers and think 'no way, not in powerboat racing', then we'd ask you to just wait and see. After all, if we manage to get anywhere near those numbers then surely it's good news for all of powerboat racing?

Let me leave you with a final one. We're pretty hands-on with all our venues, but we were contacted by a representative of a group called 'Achill Tourism'. This is about as isolated a location as you can get, in an already isolated part of Ireland. There's a beach over on Achill called 'Keel Strand' ....nothing around it for miles and miles. They told us that if we can route the race to run parallel with the strand they'll create a huge activation on the beach, with schoolkids, parents, workers and more coming down for the day. The numbers will be close to the ones that saw RB08 leave Portsmouth, and this is the definition of 'middle of nowhere'. There are stories like this right around the course.

We're not trying to become a 'world-leading powerboat event'. It sounds flippant, and possibly even arrogant (not intended), but that bar is currently extremely low. We're trying to become a major international event - full stop.

We're also not trying to get people to watch powerboat racing ....we're trying to get them involved in a wonderful adventure. By default, they'll then be part of powerboat racing. It's a very small change to the language/approach but one which makes all the difference.

[Mikko Oikari]

People want information about the teams and the boats. LOTS of info, detailed info. You need to get the website up and running...

[blimp]

Hey Mikko. That's all in hand. Our web guys - Swoop Labs - are currently working on this ....we met for a long project session in London just over a week ago ....and it'll be in place soon.

[Mike Lloyd]

I am finding it very difficult Aidan to glean any information about this big race anywhere, still no web site or any info on the teams or venues which I am sure we would all like to see, why didn't you add a final leg from Dublin to Cork (about 145nm's) to make it a FULL Round Ireland Race? That would have been a great leg for the racers to finish with - IMHO.
ML.
.

[Far Star]

Originally Posted by Mike Lloyd

I am finding it very difficult Aidan to glean any information about this big race anywhere, still no web site or any info on the teams or venues which I am sure we would all like to see...

He's full of chat at home though :-)

[hunton69]

One in 6 of the population are going to watch...... The Sea.

Well done

[blimp]

Gents - if it's all the same with you, I'm going to simply ignore negative comments on here. We're fairly busy with things over on this side and, ultimately, the proof will be there for you all to see in June. If any team has any questions about the race, they know how to find us (yes, 'us' ...there are 9 people working on this full-time right now, and many more working on it on a part-time basis) so we simply just don't have the time to deal with the legendary boatmad 'wit'. If there's a genuine question or query, then no prob.

What we can update you with are the following key sponsor/partner additions (on top of those previously announced)
BMW - Official Car
Dalata Group - Official Hotel
Independent News & Media - Official Newspaper Partner
Communicorp - Official Radio Partner

You'll already be familiar with BMW, and the other three are the largest operators in their respective sectors in Ireland.

We'll also have a full update going out to teams by email tomorrow.

[Mike Lloyd]

Originally Posted by blimp

Gents - if it's all the same with you, I'm going to simply ignore negative comments on here. We're fairly busy with things over on this side and, ultimately, the proof will be there for you all to see in June. If any team has any questions about the race, they know how to find us (yes, 'us' ...there are 9 people working on this full-time right now, and many more working on it on a part-time basis) so we simply just don't have the time to deal with the legendary boatmad 'wit'. If there's a genuine question or query, then no prob.

We'll also have a full update going out to teams by email tomorrow.

ML.
.

[blimp]

Teams - latest group email has just gone out.

One of the points on there which you might find of interest is the announcement of some more Venture entries.

'AB Endurance' is on board and it features one very new name alongside some very well known legends in offshore. Adam Brennan will be driving, with Drew Langdon on throttles and Jan Falkowski on navigation.

'Warpath' has also confirmed the entry of their awesome Chief 42. Glenn Chidzoy, Daryl Grady and Ole Finholt will man the office.

Finally, a name familiar to many of you - Peter Giovanolli - has entered a Hunton Gazelle.

[Scousegit]

Great to see an old Hunton competing. I hope to be over to Dublin watching from the water on my Hunton RS43 (sorry about the none political post).

[blimp]

It's been a week since we brought the boats out to play in Cork Harbour and the reaction's been amazing. Here's just some of the press coverage we got. Images below show (from top to bottom)
Irish Examiner - 05/04/16
Cork Independent - 12/04/16
Evening Echo - 09/04/16
Evening Echo - 11/04/16
Irish Examiner (front page masthead) - 06/04/16
Irish Examiner - 06/04/16
Irish Independent - 06/04/16
The Southern Star - 09/04/16

[blimp]

Teams - information on the hotel packages for June have just been sent out in a group email. With regards to official Race Instructions, these were completed on Feb 29th and we've been in a process with ISA & RYA since then to ensure that everything is absolutely spot-on. We hope to have these fully published in the coming days.