NOTE & SUGGESTIONS: USRA Pittsburgh

[Gorow]

Another USRA Indoor Championship is in the books. I competed in Pittsburgh, and would offer the following——and I am hoping that others will jump in to help improve Pittsburgh, and the other 4 competition sites. There was A LOT of good, and there is no use complaining if we don’t offer our input. It will get to the right people.

* Venue: Pittsburgh’s Lawrence Convention Center is a great overall venue (even if we did have to share it with a MASSIVE volleyball tournament). The three separate meeting rooms used for registrations, warmups, and racing were not huge/high ceiling spaces, but adequate. Rowing and warmups together in one larger room would be preferable, to me, just to add to the energy and ease communication. The racing room had the odd feature of rowers facing AWAY from the big race screens. Better for spectators, but I like seeing my progress on the big screen. The PM5s were set to show you ONLY the rowers in your group, so it was impossible to compete with others in your heat….

* Schedule: Pretty much on schedule. Early races started late, as we waited for the EMT to arrive. Other than that, few glitches.

* Awards/Hardware: Hmmm. Maybe I am spoiled, but medals were on the “very modest” side. Plus, just picking up the medal was a bit “unceremonious.” While I understand that dispensing with awards ceremonies keeps things moving, I missed the platform + photo opp for the spouse. Am I in it for the wrong reasons?

* Amenities: Again, Lawrence Center is great, and bathrooms, etc. were everywhere. There were several internal F&B vending stands, which I did not try out. One event organizer told me they could not even bring in water, let alone fruit, for the competitors, due to vendor union rules. Outside the Center, PLENTY of restaurants and hotels nearby (even with competition from volleyball families…)

* Volunteers: A+. Everyone was friendly, and there appeared to be plenty of them. They seemed to get a late start, as registrations and weigh-in were not ready until just prior to the first race.

* Communication: No issues with pre-event email communication. I had one registration issue which I cleaned up on site in 10 seconds. Perhaps we could have been warned about downtown construction/street closures, and the volleyball traffic, as parking and getting around downtown were constrained at times. An internal event-day communication I would work on is the consistency of announcements in the warmup room regarding next race timing, etc.

* OTHER: I have been to some events where announcers, and even music, help jazz up the proceedings. Maybe?

Overall, GREAT event. Would happily go back next year. Big THANKS to Three Rivers Rowing and any other sponsors/organizers.

[rickbayko]

Pittsburgh was my choice this year too. I'm glad that I made the trip.

I'm in agreement with all the accolades, especially for the many people who worked on the event to make it happen for us. The only real issue I had was with Pittsburgh traffic. Coming in on Friday afternoon at 3 PM was stop & go. making the final 3 miles to the motel a 50-minute slog. Not the race committee's fault, but a note to self to try harder to find an adequate motel a little less close to the downtown and be prepared to drive a bit farther on race morning. As noted, the volleyball tournament made congestion on race morning equally frustrating, A drive from the motel to the convention center that google estimated to take six minutes, in fact took 45 minutes by the time I could get into the parking garage. I'd planned to be at the door for the 7 AM opening in plenty of time to make my no-later-than-7:20 AM weigh-in but couldn't get to registration until 7:40. Luckily everyone who mattered was aware of the traffic situation and cut some slack on the weigh-in time. I made weight with 15 pounds to spare.

Everything went great after that. The venue was superb, and the volunteers friendly & helpful. Conditions that led to an SB for me. Even the medals pleased me. Three Rivers Rowing did a wonderful job.

Traffic had quieted down by the time I left to go home at 10 AM. The 591-mile drive only took 9 hours.

Like Gorow, I'd be glad to go back again next year if it's the closest venue to me.