It's SHOW TIME!

As the sun rises over the Temple of Music, the calm cool water of the pond  caress mallards slowly traversing whispering wakes of a slight breeze, a loud rumble was heard from beyond. The park gates are open, the crews are arriving and low an behold....the porta potties are way way way early. First scramble of the day is on....

Folks, it's been a long off-season with sleepless nights and many worries and small triumphs. We are finally at D-day. Vendors are checking in, workers are putting the final touches on the Award Winning Tom Steven course, carpenters are swinging their hammers, people are writing blogs and sending tweets....

I think the reason we do this is because we love this game, to borrow from some other sports marketing genius.  Last nigh,t as the last person to leave, I saw a couple of racers riding the track. They stopped and we exchanged pleasantries. One gentleman was all the way from North Carolina and said, in that wonderful southern accent that women swoon over, "I love it, I love it, I love it." Enough said...

Time to get it on and take in all that is The Providence Cyclo-cross Festival presented by Interbike.

www.providencecrossfest.com

Partnerships

With less that 2 weeks until the Providence Cyclo-cross Festival the management team had a chance to interact with a few of our partners.

Our first stop on our tour was a visit to Johnson & Wales University in downtown Providence.  JayWoo as the students like to call it is a private, nonprofit institution with accredited undergraduate and graduate degree programs in business, hospitality, culinary arts, technology and education. Richard Fries, Laura Low and Glenn Stilwell presented real world dimensions of event management to more than 40 students. It's important for these young people to have a passion for what they do, and their class in the sports management path was excited to hear real world stories. From the 2005 "Blizzard" that hit the National Championships to the "capturing" of the drivers keys until the port-a-potties are cleaned, we tried to encourage them to do what they love and the money will follow. In future years we hope to expand our relationship with the university, developing internships for students across the country and around the world.

Second, we took a little drive over to beautiful Roger Williams Park to meet with our partners at the Parks Department. We work very closely with the entire staff to showcase their venue which was battered by Hurricane Irene.  We continue to enjoy a long term relationship with our friends at the park and the city of Providence. If you get a chance please explore the many aspects of one of the most picturesque urban park settings in the world.

Next stop,  East Coast Greenways Alliance and Eric Weis. They have been a strong supporter of our event and this year is no exception. Eric has put together two wonderful events that coincide with ours. The New England Bike-Walk Summit and the first ever New England Builders' Ball, both on Friday October 7th at the Providence Biltmore Hotel in downtown Providence, RI. I know the Providence Cyclo-cross crew will be milling about smartly at the ball. I'm sure you'll find a couple of them nearest the cocktails. It's going to be a great show with what amounts to amazing bicycle art and live music in the ballroom. There might be a little incentive to visit us next Friday...

Final stop on this magical bus tour was the Providence Convention and Visitors Bureau. We dropped off some of our 2011 event posters and meet some of the staff. These folks have been very helpful over the past year and we'd just wanted to say thanks.

The family part...

I would have loved to hang around the Fries family. "Remember, it"s just a bike race" a friend once told me. A little dose of reality can always help. Things behind the scenes are going along and we wanted to direct you attention to a couple of items. One, please check out Richard Fries Blog from the World Championships in Copenhagen. http://richardfries.blogspot.com/2011/09/my-five-rules-on-death-and-dying.html and then check out the press release form the Providence Cyclo-cross Festival presented by Interbike. http://providencecrossfest.com/media.php

Races, Fans, Family

The Providence Cyclo-cross Festival presented by Interbike

Three words...

Well we are three weeks away from the start of another great year in Providence. Interbike is in full swing out west and we are proud to have them bring this amazing show to New England. Speaking of sponsors, we have a return of some of the best supporters of Cyclo-cross in the nation. Including Harpoon Brewing (check out their listing as the best brewery tour by Men's Health Magazine) and the inclusion of the hardest working man in cycling, Jim Wanamaker, with his new lineup from Vee Rubber. For the management at the Providence Cyclo-cross Festival we want to express our thanks and ask that you remember the three words we live by, Racers, Fans, Family....

Thanks in advance from your friends at PCFpbIB.