1. Erik Kock Rasmussen 2. refund requested - yes 3. Participant fee: $200- pormished but no refund 4. sports fee: $125 - promished but no refund 5. regatta central fee $0 - nothing to refund

1. Adrian Tan 2. refund requested - yes 3. participant fee: $150 - promised but no refund 4. sports fee: $125 - promised but no refund 5. regatta central fee: $735 - refunded

Douglas Wood Refund request submitted Participation Fee $150 Sports Fee $125 Regatta Central Fee $30.00 (no refund as yet)

1. Brian Todd 2. refund requested - yes 3. participant fee: $250 - promised but no refund 4. sports fee: $125 - promised but no refund 5. regatta central fee: $30 - refunded

Hey Everyone, We have seen some emails go back and forth about refunds from the Outgames. It seems appropriate for GLRF to send an official letter on behalf of the rowers, requesting a clarification on if/when and for what portion of the rower's registrations will be refunded. To get a handle on where we are, can everyone reply with these five data points ? participant name refund request submitted - Y or N participant fee - amount and status of refund sports fee - amount and status of refund regatta central fee - amount and status of refund Since GLRF is a organizational sports member of the Gay and Lesbian International Sports Association (GLISA), we might be able to effect a reply and, we hope, some action on the refunds. Thanks, Brian

yes, you got it. I agree with you Joe but due to the holiday pleasure boat traffic, we don't have a choice. Stonewall Regatta is June 4th, which is Sunday. The Saturday to Monday was our (Adrian and me) suggested best possible dates for the 2017 Miami Outgames regatta. It maximizes the greater weekend availability of rowers in North America, as well as referees and volunteers. Unfortunately, that option is completely off the table because of the holiday pleasure boat traffic. Even if we ran the race without buoys, and the race course was closed during the event to outside boat traffic, the regatta organizer has said the wake from the speeding boats external to the course would make the course impossible to race.

I don't like any of the options you list. We should stick with the original dates. Many of us want to move on to Stonewall. Only the first date you list would even make that possible and we'd have to fly there Friday and race Saturday.

I guess the major trade-off is between less motorised boat traffic around the course (week days) versus rowers and (competent) volunteers being available (weekend+Memorial Day). The original dates proposed by World Outgames are: Sunday 28 May 2017 through Wed 31 May 2017 11:00 AM - 5:00 PM Do we know if among the rowers that have already registered, have they made travel arrangements that would prevent them from participating if the dates changed? My preference would be for in order of preference: 1) maximising the amount of rowers able to participate 2) making it as easy for the local organisers to host the regatta (not requiring the competent volunteers to have to take time off work) 3) Less motorised boat traffic I think the original option should still be present, if one of the options already includes a Saturday: Saturday (27 May) Practice, Sunday (28 May) Competition, Monday (29 May) Competition

Just to be sure, these are the dates we are discussing: Tuesday (30 May) Practice, Wednesday (31 May) Competition, Thursday (1 June) Competition Wednesday (31 May) Practice, Thursday (1 June) Competition, Friday (2 June) Competition Thursday (1 June) Practice, Friday (2 June) Competition, Saturday (3 June) Competition

Following a telephone conference call with the Miami Outgames regatta chair and the Miami Outgames sports director, we would like to find out what days you, the rowers, prefer for the regatta. The issue: The location where the regatta will take place is Virginia Key, which is a marine stadium open to the ocean. The local Floridians love to zip around on their various pleasure craft on any given weekend, zooming in, around, and back out of the marine stadium. The first weekend of the Outgames includes a major US holiday, Memorial Day. That means an unbelievable amount of pleasure craft. Although the course itself can be closed during the competition, the wake from the pleasure craft outside and surrounding the course would make the regatta a choppy mess. Additionally, after the competition is completed on the first day or after practice, the course would be reopened to the public and all manner of pleasure craft would dash about, most probably destroying the buoyed lanes. The solution: Hold the regatta during the week when there will be a lot less boat traffic. We have proposed three time periods during the week of the Outgames. Please elect your preference. The more people who participated in the poll, the better representation we will have. If we only get a few votes, the organizers will probably do whatever they feel works best for them. GLRF has indicated that given the probably small participation, between 120 - 170 competitors, the regatta could be held on just one day. However, the regatta organizers are concerned about the multiple entries by individuals and also the possible restricted availability of boats, all of which may force the event to spill over to two days. We also know that some of the rowers may be planning to move on to Washington DC to participate in the Stonewall Regatta on 05 June.

Thanks Brian! Let me know when you manage you schedule a time and I will see if I can join. I think that you have noted most of the key points. Only thing I noticed is that currently you cannot compete in a age category younger than your age.

After some rather pointed protests from GLRF, the Miami Outgames have requested that we set up a conference call to discuss our concerns. Any rowers who would like to join the conference call are welcome. As usual, there is a time challenge. The CEO of Miami Outgames is currently traveling in Asia, I am in Los Angeles, the Chief Operating Officer is in Miami, as well as another Miami Outgames board member. Strange that they have not seen fit to include the sports manager or the rowing manager. Once the call is scheduled, I will add the information here. Here is my proposed agenda, and all are welcome to add suggestions/modifications: #1 - On the main Outgames landing page, the registration link is hidden to left side. Recommend add it to the top, primary navigation menu #2 - When you land on the main website, there is no link for news and no indication of the cost of the registration. If you visit page after page, there is no cost information, and significantly, no information on the main page of the fuseport registration page. You only find out after you go through the registration process. There is no indication of the cost for rowing on the rowing sports page. There is no cancellation policy listed anywhere, both from the individual perspective and from the Outgames perspective. Recommendations: 2a. Add the current cost for the registration fee on the main landing page of the website as well as the on the main registration landing page. Post any current promotions as well as deadlines when the registration fee goes up. 2b. Add links to the sports pages from the fusesport main sports fee, and also list the sports fee adjacent to the sports listed. 2c. Add the sports fee on the main outgames.org/sports/rowing page 2d. Add a cancellation policy on the main outgames.org/sports/rowing page (if one is listed/buried deep in the registration system, great but be upfront and transparent). #3 - There is a significant amount of key rowing information that is omitted from the main rowing page. There is no contact person or email for the rowing organizing committee or rowing coordinator. There is no mention of the sanctioning and officiating. There is no mention of boat rental costs or availability of practice sessions. There is no mention of how many races a rower can enter. There is no preliminary race schedule. There is no mention of the race course length or the number of lanes. Recommendations: 3a. Add a contact section with the name and the email contact for the rowing organizer 3b. Add a race format section that includes the officiating, the course length, the number of lanes, the order of progression for race events, and the winning levels, i.e. first, second, third place medals depending on the entries. 3c. Add a section about boat rental/hire (European term) or is it included and does the rental/hire include the practice sessions, the sourcing of boats, and quality/manufacturer of boats to be available. 3d. Add a race schedule because without that, most rowers are reluctant to enter the various races for fear of conflict with other races. Include the maximum number of events that a rower can enter. #4 - The rowing portion of the registration system is antithetical to a rowing regatta. These different "categories" are confusing to any rower and the fields are difficult to complete for rowers who are still organizing their boats. Recommendation: 4a. Scrap the rowing registration altogether. Simply add a check mark that the person will be participating, and has paid for rowing, and provide them with a code to use for the industry-accepted electronic regatta registration system, Regatta Central. As organizers, you have no idea how difficult the current registration system will be when it comes time to actually creating the race schedule. 4b. We have lobbied long and hard that a gay and lesbian rowing regatta should be inclusive to the broader rowing community. By charging a registration fee of $150 - $300, you are making the regatta cost prohibitive to many rowers, gay and lesbians included. Most egattas are inclusive to the broader age groups, 13 years and older. Although some regattas are for specific age groups, most regattas simply have different age categories: under 18, under 23, open, and masters. 4b1. Consider a regatta only registration option with a minimal fee of $25. The rower gets to enter the regatta but does not get any of the other full registration benefits. 4b2. Alternatively, take rowing out of the Outgames altogether and hold it alongside but independent of the Outgames. In terms of organizing the regatta, this would be the most easiest approach. 4b2a. Still label it as the Miami Outgames regatta 4b2b. Allow GLRF and the Miami Rowing Club to host the regatta, and charge a license fee of $25 per rower for the use of the name and use of the medals. There would be separate entry fees for all the events. Rowers could separately register for the Outgames on the Outgames website as just a participant. 4b2c. As an independent regatta, the age groups would expand to include under 18 rowers (of which there are hundreds in Florida), The independence would also mean avoiding the insurance or legal issues of under 18 competitors under the Outgames umbrella. #5 - The age and boat categories are at odds with the most used boat types and age categories. Recommendations: 5a. Remove the coxless pair and replace with the quad. There is more of a call for the quad boat type at gay rowing events, Or, simply add the quad in addition to the coxless pair 5b. The age categories are not according to industry standard and can be considered to be insulting to some rowers. Therefore, change the age categories and add an open category. Open (no handicap, winner takes all) Handicap, following USRowing masters average age categories but expanded 27 - 35 36 - 45 46 - 55 56 - 65 65 + #6 - In the Outgames and the Gay Games, there has always been a problem of women's participation and therefore entries. Many women are frustrated that they cannot compete, or even worse, find after they have arrived, that one of their races has been scratched. GLRF is concerned that there may not be adequate mixed boat entries. Recommendation: GLRF introduced the concept of women being allowed to race in the men's category. This is different than a mixed boat. It simply means a woman can row in a men's boat, There has to be one man in the boat, but the boat will be competing against potentially and probably, other all male teams. But women are damn fine rowers and in the past, these boats have medalled. #7 - The scheduled dates for the regatta far exceed even an optimistic rowing registration. Recommendation: At most, the rowing event should be consist of three days: one for practice, and two for competition. GLRF has found, having experienced rower attendance at both the Gay Games and the Outgames, that most rowers fly in, row, and leave. They either want to explore other areas of the region or move on to other parts of the country as part of their destination visit. To maximize the number of rowers, the competition should be focused over the first weekend, with practice on Saturday, and competition on Sunday, and possibly Monday morning, if needed.

Adrian and I have exchanged a couple of emails, mostly in bewilderment about the current registration system for the 2017 World Outgames regatta but we also share concerns about the age groups and boat assignments. To bring everyone up to date, I participated in two conference calls in the past two weeks, one with the North American Outgames, a GLISA continental association, and then with GLISA international a week later. The first surprising news is that the current "registration" fee is $200 and not $250, until 30 December 2016. Why this has been kept a secret is a mystery and very frustrating. When I went through the registration system, the sport fee for rowing was $125. Adrian indicated in a recent email a figure of $150. We still don't know if there is an additional boat rental fee. On the GLISA International conference call, I learned that a select number of 'international sports federations' who are members of GLISA were getting a promo code allowing their members to register for $150. I blew my top. What are rowers, chopped liver? I also asked why there was so little transparency in the registration fees. If you, a basketball player, a football player, a tennis player, or a rower, visit the Miami Outgames website, there is no listing anywhere of the registration fees, and on the sports page, it does not give the sports fee. You only find out all of these fees after going through registration. I acknowledged that this practice can be an effective marketing tool with a for profit company but I thought it was entirely inappropriate with athletes and a nonprofit organization. I hope to have answers to about the sports fee and the boat rental fee in the next week, and hopefully a promo code for the rowers. I also plan to travel to Miami to find out who is the actual rowing manager. GLRF member Doug Wood, past president of Miami Beach Rowing club, was providing the liaison between the Outgames and the rowing clubs. But Doug told me he would not be involved in the regatta committee itself. If any of you have thoughts on the regatta structure, please sound off here, or start another topic in this forum, if it is about a boat class, or an age group, whatever. I also plan to lobby the Outgames to allow registration through Regatta Central. This may mean taking the regatta and the registration out of the Outgames but if any of you have tried to register for rowing, you know how hopelessly complicated the software program has been configured. - Brian