To the event organizers of Wodapalooza 2022,
Good morning. My name is Pepe, and I have attended Wodapalooza, in person, in some way or another for the past 6 years. We have always had a good showing from our gym, whether it was team, indy, volunteers, judges, spectators, WZA strong or the Gauntlet. Every year we participate in some form because we love the idea that someone is giving the rest of the non-elite community a place to compete on the big stage, in one of the largest fields of athletes in the world. Also, Miami in January is always a plus. The experience is what drew us down there, and, for the most part, is what kept bringing us back.
I understand that this is a beast of an event. Thousands of athletes and volunteers all being coordinated to do events that have never been done is going to require a ton of coordination and planning, while also being able to adjust for the hundred of variables that are involved in an event like this. Every year we would see how the event was growing, and how those challenges were met and addressed the following year. Over the past few years, the focus and execution of the event has steadily strayed from the soul of the event as it was originally intended. This year, WZA 2022, was by far the worst.
Even among labor shortages, supply chain issues and COVID, the glaring issues with this years event could have all been avoided. Loud And Live markets itself as an Entertainment, Marketing & Media company. After the past 3 years, it is clear that they are not an event company. While every year we hope to see improvements made to each years issues, the past three have been letdown after letdown, and unfortunately, this was most likely the last year for our gym members to be disappointed. The highlights of our feedback have been compiled below.
Poor Communication and Organization
None of these are about the events or the judging. We understand that judging events like this, and properly scaling workouts, will never be easy or consistent. We know that, as of right now, there is no simple solution for getting the right teams into the right divisions, while still holding a place for scaled competitors. These are the types of issues we should be dealing with.
After a disappointing showing from the event coordinators of Wodapalooza 2022, our gym and it's members will no longer be participating. We hope to hear that any of this has been addressed in 2023, because it truly can be an amazing event.
TL;DR:
- Paid $330+ for a black t-shirt and a livestrong bracelet.
Good morning. My name is Pepe, and I have attended Wodapalooza, in person, in some way or another for the past 6 years. We have always had a good showing from our gym, whether it was team, indy, volunteers, judges, spectators, WZA strong or the Gauntlet. Every year we participate in some form because we love the idea that someone is giving the rest of the non-elite community a place to compete on the big stage, in one of the largest fields of athletes in the world. Also, Miami in January is always a plus. The experience is what drew us down there, and, for the most part, is what kept bringing us back.
I understand that this is a beast of an event. Thousands of athletes and volunteers all being coordinated to do events that have never been done is going to require a ton of coordination and planning, while also being able to adjust for the hundred of variables that are involved in an event like this. Every year we would see how the event was growing, and how those challenges were met and addressed the following year. Over the past few years, the focus and execution of the event has steadily strayed from the soul of the event as it was originally intended. This year, WZA 2022, was by far the worst.
Even among labor shortages, supply chain issues and COVID, the glaring issues with this years event could have all been avoided. Loud And Live markets itself as an Entertainment, Marketing & Media company. After the past 3 years, it is clear that they are not an event company. While every year we hope to see improvements made to each years issues, the past three have been letdown after letdown, and unfortunately, this was most likely the last year for our gym members to be disappointed. The highlights of our feedback have been compiled below.
Poor Communication and Organization
- When non-elite athletes showed up for checkin on Thursday, we were met with lines that were over an hour long. We were given no information, there was nobody corralling the crowds, and no signage. Once we got to the desk to checkin, it was even more chaotic. None of the volunteers were sure what they were supposed to be doing, and of our 3 teams this year, we all got different instructions at checkin.
- Clearly there was an issue with whoever was printing the signage. This signage either showing up late or not at all is not entirely on the printer, as the event planners should have had the imperative signs ordered with plenty of time for production and delivery. The team signs that were delivered AFTER the final event to teams were either missing (Female Intermediate Team) or wrong (Mens scaled team).
- Athlete corralling before events was inconsistent and never properly communicated. It wasn't until Saturday PM that there was a consistent method of calling athletes/teams from the warm up area and checking them in. This information should have been shared in the athlete packet that was delivered the week prior.
- Athletes/Teams were corralled by athlete check-in, then told to follow a random volunteer with no signage.
- Athletes/Teams were brought from the very quiet (relative) athlete check-on area before being briefed on the workout. They were then jammed together next to a loud, active stage so that some poor judge with no megaphone could scream with a fading voice over music, airplanes, and stage MCs about movement standards and flow. The whole experience was painful.
- The weather is unpredictable, but it is January in Miami, so there is always a chance for rain. The Sunday storm was in the forecast for days. Once everyone was evacuated from the park, we got radio silence. It was terribly handled for something that should have had a backup plan in place days before it was needed. We were left in the dark then fed inconsistent messaging from unreliable sources. The only way most of us knew our competition was over was from a screenshot of a leaked email to elite teams. This whole part was bungled.
- In 2017, each athlete had to pay just over $200 for their entry fee. As a part of that, they received a swag bag with shoes, a jump rope, a t-shirt and several other REAL items. In 2022, team athletes paid $330 each, and Indy was over $360. With that, we received a t-shirt, a rubber bracelet and nothing else. The Swag bag situation was by far the most infuriating aspect to this event. With bigger sponsors, visibility, and buy-in there were very high hopes that No Bull would reinstate the physical swag bag with shoes, a backpack, or any legitimate item that would soften the $330 price tag to compete. Instead, we were greeted with the "virtual swag bag" which continues to be the most humiliating way to treat your athletes. Going door-to-door begging vendors for 10% off of their most basic offering was the lamest change LnL made. WZA and NoBull should be most embarrassed about this offering.
- The new layout was terrible. I understand there are limitations in Bayfront park, and there can only be so many seats. The new setup on Flagler made navigating the park a nightmare. To get across the park I could either walk through the tiny hallway that was packed with people next to the Deck, or walk ALL THE WAY AROUND through the vendor village. It was maddening to try to coordinate anything as a group, had an awful flow, and was the most "Exit through the gift shop" feeling Feng Shui I've experienced at a CrossFit event ever.
- The music should be loud on the floor, not in the stands. Sitting anywhere in the bleachers on Flagler or Tina Hills was physically painful. The spectators are not in the stands so they can sit quietly and hear mash-up remixes of Taylor Swift blasted into their ears. We are there to watch with our friends, to yell as loud as we can to cheer on our athletes on the stage, not to scream at full volume to communicate with the person next to us. Most of the time we couldn't hear the MCs on Flagler because the music. This is something an event company would be able to recognize and fix.
- The chip timing events are always a highlight, but they have never gone smoothly. Whatever company you use for the chip timing needs to be changed. Learn the lesson and fix it for the next time.
- The food options were not good. This may be an opinion, but it was an opinion everyone agreed on. $14 for dry chicken was a let down.
- Heat Times. The heat windows were set ahead of time, but the heat times were not. Being able to coordinate getting everyone to the right place at the right time is much easier when the 8:00am heats are announced before 4:00am.
- Bathroom lines in the warmup area got predictably long, so either a second Potty Patty or more in the main area would be helpful.
- Limited equipment in the warmup area meant that 3 heats of 20 teams of 3 were all working with the same (non-stubby) barbells. There was also very limited amounts of sandbags to warmup on for the heavier divisions.
- The free stream for each stage is an awesome idea, and a giant step forward from the paid streams, however it was terrible done. It wasn't even worth sharing on social media for people at home to watch.
- Getting into the stands for the elite competition was almost impossible. That is understandable, but there should ALSO be a stream of the live feed somewhere in the grounds. We had to stand outside of the TYR booth, or at the Monster booth, neither of which had sound. The screen in the food court sat unused for 4 days straight when it could have been streaming the elite events.
None of these are about the events or the judging. We understand that judging events like this, and properly scaling workouts, will never be easy or consistent. We know that, as of right now, there is no simple solution for getting the right teams into the right divisions, while still holding a place for scaled competitors. These are the types of issues we should be dealing with.
After a disappointing showing from the event coordinators of Wodapalooza 2022, our gym and it's members will no longer be participating. We hope to hear that any of this has been addressed in 2023, because it truly can be an amazing event.
TL;DR:
- Paid $330+ for a black t-shirt and a livestrong bracelet.
- Communication from organizers was not good. No one knew what was going on.
- Athlete management, communication, and corralling was unorganized chaos.
- Maybe I'm old, but the music in the stands was too loud.
- Feng shui and function of the park layout was abysmal.