The History
Family. A word that possibly means more now than ever before is what inspired the creation of REV3. Founded in 2009, the mission was to create a race experience for the whole family. Revolution3 Triathlon believes that life is about creating experiences and not about accumulating things. Their main goal is to provide events that are safe and memorable not only for athletes, but for their friends and families as well. Race Director, Eric Opdyke has been with the company since day one helping deliver this mission acquiring REV3 in 2018.
Opdyke says, “I decided to build a strong base before going into growth mode. The goal is to focus on building a healthy company before growing too fast. I used a team of contractors to deliver our events and a variety of other tasks on an as-needed basis.”
The Decision
Being in the business of producing race experiences for customers, offering them the best option under the current circumstances was a no-brainer.
He explains, “Our first outdoor event was slated for April and I felt we needed to fill that void with something, thus the idea of QuaranTRI was born.”
With so many platforms available, his first step was to figure out what made the most sense for engaging with customers and for those customers to engage with each other.
“Our largest bandwidth was Facebook, so we decided to create a Facebook Group to establish this virtual community. Next, we needed a platform to submit results. I looked at so many on the market and no one was setting theirs up for multi-event which was extremely important to me. That’s when ACTIVE Network created the opportunity for hosting virtual events.”
Tools & Pricing
A registration platform that was simple to use and made registering for the event easy was a must-have. Therefore, using ACTIVEWorks Endurance was the perfect solution.
In addition to social media, “The ACTIVEWorks communication tool was invaluable! I used the email tool to communicate with our athletes, re-send registration ID’s and communicate instructions on how to complete the event and submit results.”, says Opdyke.
The price point was set at $30 that included a t-shirt and medal to be delivered to the participants’ home.
The Virtual Event
The virtual event ran for seven days with three events: bike, run and an “Athlete’s Choice”. The participants could complete the events over the course of seven days or one day. The choice was theirs.
For the rules, Opdyke says, “We purposely made the rules very relaxed because it was more important to appeal to as many people as possible.”
With a personal goal of 100 participants, QuaranTRI closed with an astonishing 745 registrants attracting people from 5 countries and 47 states.
Eric tells ACTIVE, “53 percent of the registrants were brand new customers with many having never completed a triathlon before.”
What’s Next
When asked about the secret to his success, Eric says, “It was about camaraderie and doing the same thing with others. It was a family adventure. It was a gathering with friends. It became a creative challenge to complete your “Athlete’s Choice” event.”
His advice for others who may be on the fence about hosting a virtual event is to identify your goals and how you can achieve those goals then leverage that momentum into creating your event. This was just the beginning with at least five more virtual events for QuaranTRI on the horizon.
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