Has the Ironman Lost Public Appeal to Port Elizabeth?

Comments

1. B Wilson says

   13 April 2011 at 10:02 am

   You are kidding. right? I would rather gauge the popularity by the HUGE numbers of people down on the beachfront at 5AM and throughout the day Sunday than on YouTube and blogs. The number of spectators and participants continues to grow each year. That is the problem with the online world, too much stock is taken in it. Rather get out and enjoy life, do an Ironman or any triathlon. It’s better for you than sitting behind a desk and computer screen all day.

   • Alan says

     13 April 2011 at 10:16 am

     My POINT exactly – out of all of those ‘HUGE numbers of people’ pointing their cameras at athletes how come the spin off into the online world (Read: “So that we can attract INTERNATIONAL visitors to Port Elizabeth and South Africa”) has been so miniscule?

     FYI – I was at the harbour before 5:00 am on the day and was one of only TWO media houses actually ON the water for the watersport leg and the ONLY ONE on the water for the ENTIRE watersport leg of the Ironman.

     At the end of the day WE AS THE PUBLIC also need to transfer that ‘popularity’ and demonstrate our enthusiasm and ownership of the Ironman event by promoting it in all forms of media – online being the one that lasts the longest.

     Because it can be measured coverage in the online world is an important gauge of social acceptance and enthusiasm. Enthusiasm sells a destination and we desperately need to keep the momentum going in terms of Port Elizabeth being a STRONG and DESIRABLE destination.

2. Pamela says

   13 April 2011 at 10:58 am

   I think you are asking the wrong question – it has not lost it’s public appeal. There were more spectators there than ever before. Did these people post videos or photos or write blogs about it maybe not. But that does not mean that it’s appeal is any less. This is an event that is growing each year, and it is not only about race day. It has the largest Ironman Kids event in the WORLD. There were over 2000 athletes taking part in the Corporate challenge the day before and I am unsure of how many woman took part in the inagural Irongirls but it was quite a few.

   If you go onto triathlon webite – not blogs specifically everyone is talking about it. Raynard Tissink is now top ranked male Ironman triathlete in the world and with Chrissie having broken the record here it has put the race top of mind.

   The USA and Europe Ironman races are very diffucult to get into with slots being filled up within minutes. With more and more people knowing about this race it will have a spill over effect.

   So NO, I don’t think it has lost public appeal, it has gained it. We maybe just need to be more vocal about promoting our city internationally.

   and thank you – mine is one of the blogs above that you mentioned.

   • Alan says

     13 April 2011 at 11:12 am

     Now if I had just said; “HUGE support for Ironman” no-one would have blinked an eye!

     I still think that the organisers and city are losing out on an incredible marketing opportunity to the WORLD at large and not just the Ironman niche (i.e. those on the triathlon web site only).

     There are many media houses, bloggers and publishers who love our city and are ‘overlooked’ by the organisers of such events – wouldn’t it be great to have every single local radio station giving coverage, every single newspaper covering the event and every single blogger part of the media contingent?

     Every single article, image or video published is a silent salesman not only for the event but for our city and country as well – and hordes of people do so for no reward except to say that they were in some small way part of the action.

     Pamela that you went to the trouble to show your enthusiasm for the event on your blog is sure proof that the organisers need to tap into this groundswell of public acceptance and use it to grow the event and the profile of our city.

     And, I thank you for your enthusiasm.

     See Pamela’s Ironman Images HERE.

3. Anonymous says

   13 April 2011 at 11:37 am

   I actually gave Ironman a skip on my blogs this year after my run-in with one of the organisers last year. I agree with you Alan. The organisers should give local media the same kind of VIP treatment as other media and not treat us like second rate media sources.

   • Alan says

     13 April 2011 at 11:59 am

     To put it completely BLUNTLY – if the organisers continue to crap on their own doorstep and ignore the local media then the tide will turn against them.

     The sponsors, Specsavers, are a local South African company and the organisers place the goodwill of the local media towards Specsavers in jeopardy by ignoring and treating the local media guys with contempt.

     It never ceases to amaze me that local event organisers fail to invite as many media houses as they can to cover their events – the free coverage is worth a HUGE amount of money in media exposure to the event, city and country – ask any reputable PR practitioner what the value of print, online, radio and TV coverage is and you will be astounded. (Try figures starting at R4 000.00 for one article on MyPE alone! Or how about over R100 000.00 for SABC 3 News coverage!)

     TV will not cover the event if they do not see a history of other forms of media, such as online, covering it as well – THIS is their gauge of whether the “HUGE” numbers of people who support the event will watch the event on TV or not.

4. Anonymous says

   13 April 2011 at 11:37 am

   I actually gave Ironman a skip on my blogs this year after my run-in with one of the organisers last year. I agree with you Alan. The organisers should give local media the same kind of VIP treatment as other media and not treat us like second rate media sources.