[HAMR] Current thoughts on the record attempt?

[SoreTween]

It doesn't need to be videos, I'm finding Miles regular faceache updates interesting since his reboot.  If he, a clear technophobe, can find a few minutes to let the world know what is occurring couldn't Steve or team?  Back when he was touring it was great to read anything posted by the hosts.

[Ningishzidda]

You'll have to stay disappointed. The money is not infinite and Steve's helpers have day jobs to do while Steve is out riding.

Now if you'd consider funding me £50,000 ( a year's salary + costs ), I'd be Steve's 'Live action' cameraman.

Sorry but you can create cheap quality videos for a fraction of £50,000.

Go on then !!   

Thank you for volunteering. 

[rabbit]

It doesn't need to be videos, I'm finding Miles regular faceache updates interesting since his reboot.  If he, a clear technophobe, can find a few minutes to let the world know what is occurring couldn't Steve or team?  Back when he was touring it was great to read anything posted by the hosts.

I agree

I can't belive how little coverage the commercial sponsors are getting either

[Ningishzidda]

Considering I can count the spectator attendance on one hand, the sponsors must be relying on magazine adverts when Steve has finished.

[LittleWheelsandBig]

That is traditionally what occurs with this sort of thing.

[Exit Stage Left]

There is a film to be made about the record attempt. I hung back from doing much until it became clear what the media interest was. Immediately prior to the moped incident there was a Daily Mirror article with accompanying film. After the incident there wasn't much to film until the 24, which I usually marshal at, and sometimes film.

Steve is just one subject from a number at the 24. If he'd been going well I'd have filmed him more.

[ramchip]

You'll have to stay disappointed. The money is not infinite and Steve's helpers have day jobs to do while Steve is out riding.

Now if you'd consider funding me £50,000 ( a year's salary + costs ), I'd be Steve's 'Live action' cameraman.

Sorry but you can create cheap quality videos for a fraction of £50,000.

Go on then !!   

Thank you for volunteering. 

If I lived in the UK then I would have no hesitation in helping in whatever way I could. I'm not knocking anybody just stating a clear fact that the media streams are to say the least poor. Just take a look at what a great job Alicia is doing in regards  to Kurt's challenge, with just a few minutes each day with either a phone or a cam.  If Steve is going to succeed then every other aspect of the challenge has to be given as much effort as Steve puts in to grinding out the miles.

[Ningishzidda]

You'll have to stay disappointed. The money is not infinite and Steve's helpers have day jobs to do while Steve is out riding.

Now if you'd consider funding me £50,000 ( a year's salary + costs ), I'd be Steve's 'Live action' cameraman.

Sorry but you can create cheap quality videos for a fraction of £50,000.

Go on then !!   

Thank you for volunteering. 

If I lived in the UK then I would have no hesitation in helping in whatever way I could. I'm not knocking anybody just stating a clear fact that the media streams are to say the least poor. Just take a look at what a great job Alicia is doing in regards  to Kurt's challenge, with just a few minutes each day with either a phone or a cam.  If Steve is going to succeed then every other aspect of the challenge has to be given as much effort as Steve puts in to grinding out the miles.

So you won't be at the picnic in Marsh Gibbon.

[TimC]

Ning, I think your sarcasm and dismissive attitude to ramchip's comments are misplaced. He's not the first to have noted that Steve's PR isn't what it might be, and I'm sure he won't be the last unless things improve. Of course he doesn't need a £50k pa full-time cameraman, but he could do with a little bit more accessible coverage.

[ramchip]

You'll have to stay disappointed. The money is not infinite and Steve's helpers have day jobs to do while Steve is out riding.

Now if you'd consider funding me £50,000 ( a year's salary + costs ), I'd be Steve's 'Live action' cameraman.

Sorry but you can create cheap quality videos for a fraction of £50,000.

Go on then !!   

Thank you for volunteering. 

If I lived in the UK then I would have no hesitation in helping in whatever way I could. I'm not knocking anybody just stating a clear fact that the media streams are to say the least poor. Just take a look at what a great job Alicia is doing in regards  to Kurt's challenge, with just a few minutes each day with either a phone or a cam.  If Steve is going to succeed then every other aspect of the challenge has to be given as much effort as Steve puts in to grinding out the miles.

So you won't be at the picnic in Marsh Gibbon.

Sigh! No need for that all all. Don't worry I will not bother posting again in this thread.

[LMT]

Steve's partisan crowd, once again doing themselves proud. 

[Pale Rider]

Steve's PR is rubbish, that's a simple observation.

I lobbed a few quid in, making me an 'official' supporter.

Yet I found out about the new attempt via a post I happened to see on CycleChat.

The importance of good PR is another question - it won't help Steve get the record.

But were it not for Jo and his wonderful graphs, I would have lost interest/track of the attempt long ago.

[rabbit]

The importance of good PR is another question - it won't help Steve get the record.

It will if it keeps sponsors happy and keeps the funding coming in. 

[toontra]

There has been regular sniping at anyone daring to question Steve's team's approach which I think does everyone a dis-service.

Alicia's videos may not be to everyone's taste but they give a really good flavour of what this event entails and would appeal to a wide audience.  Let's not forget he's almost entirely self-funding this so isn't just doing this to keep sponsors happy but actually hopes by putting these out they will capture the public imagination (which I think they do quite effectively).

Steve's team, on the other hand, seem to think (in true audax fashion) that if you're REALLY interested then you will find your way to Strava feeds or UMCA charts where you can follow the stats.  Even worse, they seem to actually want to keep stuff secret in case it gives some advantage to his competitors (which I have to say I don't understand at all.)

If it wasn't for YACF (has to be said isn't high in the public consciousness!) and especially Jo's brilliant daily summaries, there would be bugger all to follow.  Steve's effort is therefore invisible to 99.99% of the population, even if they know about it from media features. At the end when it's all over, I'm worried that there will be very to show what actually went on during the challenge apart from a few photos and ESL's occasional videos.

[Pale Rider]

There has been regular sniping at anyone daring to question Steve's team's approach which I think does everyone a dis-service.

Alicia's videos may not be to everyone's taste but they give a really good flavour of what this event entails and would appeal to a wide audience.  Let's not forget he's almost entirely self-funding this so isn't just doing this to keep sponsors happy but actually hopes by putting these out they will capture the public imagination (which I think they do quite effectively).

Steve's team, on the other hand, seem to think (in true audax fashion) that if you're REALLY interested then you will find your way to Strava feeds or UMCA charts where you can follow the stats.  Even worse, they seem to actually want to keep stuff secret in case it gives some advantage to his competitors (which I have to say I don't understand at all.)

If it wasn't for YACF (has to be said isn't high in the public consciousness!) and especially Jo's brilliant daily summaries, there would be bugger all to follow.  Steve's effort is therefore invisible to 99.99% of the population, even if they know about it from media features. At the end when it's all over, I'm worried that there will be very to show what actually went on during the challenge apart from a few photos and ESL's occasional videos.

Agreed.

Even on here, the daily threads have been getting very little interest and I see none has been started for the last two days.

The restart is an opportunity to invigorate the attempt in more ways than one.

[Ningishzidda]

Apologies.

The man to ask whether there is enough publicity is the man who's doing all the bicycle riding.
If he's happy and within his personal comfort zone, carry on 'as is'.

If he reckons it could be better, make it better.

He might tell you he doesn't want all the publicity.

[Pale Rider]

He might tell you he doesn't want all the publicity.

He might, but what he thinks doesn't matter.

There is a parallel here with professional sportsmen, few are comfortable in front of the cameras but they are obliged to do interviews by the sponsors and the media who want to hear what they say.

Steve is an amateur, but he is among the best in the world at what he does.

He is sponsored, so is effectively under similar obligations as a professional sportsman.

Some pros do their best to ignore such obligations, and Steve could do the same.

But wider publicity for the attempt - and more sponsorship if required - will only happen if Steve and the team make some effort to get it.

 

[red marley]

The man to ask whether there is enough publicity is the man who's doing all the bicycle riding.

I'd suggest the man to contact can be found at media@oneyeartimetrial.org.uk, who I think is Idai (EGO-Maniac on this forum), although there may be others involved.

I'd love to see a bit more publicity and the excitement we had for the OYTT in January. It's not just about the sponsors though. If I recall correctly from Godfrey Barlow's book, Tommy's final days of the 1939 challenge involved having escorts of many riders and large crowds greeting him in London at the end as a result of the publicity through the year.

Steve's restart means the timing would be ideal for some end of challenge coverage during the 2016 TdF on the telly but the demand needs to be created through the year with some more active social media presence. CitizenFish has an exciting book project and generates a regular twitter feed of stats from Tommy and Steve. I'm doing my best with various graphics, but it would be great to have a bit more from the official team to build the excitement.

[Jaded]

He is sponsored, so is effectively under similar obligations as a professional sportsman.

What are the sponsors asking for that he is not providing?

[TimC]

I'm not sure that the sponsors are asking for anything - yet. But I'm equally sure that they hope to gain some positive publicity from Steve's efforts, and so they should. It would do no harm for the sponsors to see that their contributions are publicly acknowledged and valued, beyond just a mention on the OYTT website. Steve is, of course, focussed on putting in the massive and magnificent effort required to actually challenge the record. If there were no support team, we would happily accept that he has no time to be worrying about publicity etc. But that's not the case; he does have a support team - considerably larger than anything Kurt or Miles have. Some may think it churlish that those supporting Steve either financially or simply through interest should want rather better communication and publicity than we've had up to now, but I think it's quite a reasonable expectation. I hope that maybe a way can be found to improve things.

[Jaded]

What the sponsors want from Steve is between him and them. There may be an agreement, there may not. Raleigh are still getting mentions from Tommy Gowdwin, I believe. That's not bad for a sponsorship deal.

What the funders want is different. I'm a funder and a host and I never had expectations that I'd be treated differently in terms of information. This is a tough undertaking, both physically and mentally. Making it more challenging by piling on 'me me me' pressure may not be particularly helpful.

[toontra]

What the funders want is different. I'm a funder and a host and I never had expectations that I'd be treated differently in terms of information.

No-one is saying that funders should be treated differently!  Everyone is presumably getting the same - practically nothing. That's the problem.

This is a tough undertaking, both physically and mentally. Making it more challenging by piling on 'me me me' pressure may not be particularly helpful.

We're not talking about Steve personally taking the time or effort.  According to the website there are people who have apparently agreed to deal with media and publicity.  For heaven's sake, many ventures would crave the potential interest that Steve's challenge generates - that's the hard bit!  Keeping people informed and interested should be relatively easy.  Something as simple as a Facebook page with daily updates would be a good start (Jo might agree to allow some of his amazing charts to be included?).  The current Facebook page has the air of being abandoned and is vaguely depressing in the way that neglected websites often are.

Instead there seems to be some sort of paranoia-fuelled media blackout from the team in case it somehow helps Kurt.  I simply don't understand.  As Jo says, with the new challenge starting on 8th August, this would be a good time to re-assess the publicity aspect and check with those who volunteered for the task originally to see if they are still interested.  A lot can change over a year!

I appreciate that things were blown badly off course by the accident, and that Steve will never have the 24-hour support that Kurt has.  Even so, there could be so much more interest and potential support generated for Steve by a relatively modest input from the team.

[Climberruss]

You'll have to stay disappointed. The money is not infinite and Steve's helpers have day jobs to do while Steve is out riding.

Now if you'd consider funding me £50,000 ( a year's salary + costs ), I'd be Steve's 'Live action' cameraman.

Sorry but you can create cheap quality videos for a fraction of £50,000.

Go on then !!   

Thank you for volunteering. 

If I lived in the UK then I would have no hesitation in helping in whatever way I could. I'm not knocking anybody just stating a clear fact that the media streams are to say the least poor. Just take a look at what a great job Alicia is doing in regards  to Kurt's challenge, with just a few minutes each day with either a phone or a cam.  If Steve is going to succeed then every other aspect of the challenge has to be given as much effort as Steve puts in to grinding out the miles.

From a PR point of view, you are spot on. Alicia's FB videos are great. She definately has a knack for it.

[Shreds]

Whatever the rights or wrongs of helping competitors, Steve deserves more, much much more.

Those who are helping are doing a fantastic job, so let's get behind Steve, whether it be on Facebook or by turning up and riding a couple of miles with him. It will make a difference in the end.

On that aspect, a rough indication of the direction of the day's proposed ride wouldn't go amiss. We have the restart to boost Steve a make him realise just how many latent cyclists are behind him.

It's up to us all to make the effort for him, even a Facebook like helps.

[TimC]

What the sponsors want from Steve is between him and them. There may be an agreement, there may not. Raleigh are still getting mentions from Tommy Gowdwin, I believe. That's not bad for a sponsorship deal.

What the funders want is different. I'm a funder and a host and I never had expectations that I'd be treated differently in terms of information. This is a tough undertaking, both physically and mentally. Making it more challenging by piling on 'me me me' pressure may not be particularly helpful.

Yeah, you're right. The sponsors are in it for charity, and Steve should keep everything as secret as possible. Don't want the competitors knowing how he's getting on, after all!