TBD: So, how do you grow an event like that to get more back for the Reading Recreation Commission?

Kacey: One thing that makes cycling promotion really hard is cyclists wait until 12 pm the night before the event to register. It makes it very hard for promoters to grow an event. So, to help the event snowball, we've instituted a comp program. For professional teams that commit ahead of time, they get complimentary entries. The theory behind the comp entry for the Pros is treating professionals like professionals. Professional baseball teams don't go to a stadium and pay to play, because they're the entertainment. People are paying at the gate to come in and watch them. That's a hard model in cycling because unless you're talking about a velodrome facility, like the Valley Preferred Cycling Center (which we do some work for), where they do have a gate, criteriums and events in open streets and open parks don't have that option.

So we decided to try out this comp program where if professional teams commit ahead of time and then show up, we will comp their entry fees and treat them like a professional athlete. They're coming to be the entertainment, but they have to commit by a certain date in order to be eligible. Then they have to actually follow through. Now, we don't charge them up front, and then give them their money back. That's a whole mess. If a team pulls out on us at the last minute and says they're not coming, they don't get comped the next year again. Fortunately, we rarely have that. We only have had one team, that will remain unnamed, that has managed to abuse the system a few times. And this year when they came a knocking because now the event is cool and they want to come, they have to pay.

TBD: So how has that improved the event? And how have you addressed the typical late registration problem?

Kacey: It has worked well for us because we've gotten a really good base of who the riders are going to be. And it allows the media team to actually tell a story. When we have teams registering ahead of time, then we can be telling the story as the season starts to get underway. As you see riders having good performances or teams doing something cool, Gabe and the media team can actually like cover that and follow the story. They can say "Hey, look at what Butcherbox just did Athens Twilight. They got to the podium, and this is an amazing story. We can't wait to have some of their squad at Radsport this year!" We can say that because we know that they're coming. If we don't know that until Wednesday, at midnight, before the race on Saturday, or worse yet, Thursday or Friday, then we can't deliver to them any added value ahead of time. That also does a disservice to us, because we're sitting there panicking, wondering who's going to be here. Plus, with our style, doing the grid system and all, you need time. You can't do all that at the last minute. We have additional incentives to be registered ahead of time, in addition to price breaks, where you start paying more past a certain date. It doesn't matter where you are in road results rankings. You're going to be at the back of the grid if you waited until the last minute to register.

