chris mosier

ISSUES
- There was inadequate communication before the event. I had to text to get my assignment the day before, and was given an address, but no point person, no contact info to reach them at, and no pre-event info to familiarize myself with before event. In the past when there was an intern volunteer coordinator, they at least gave sufficient notice of shift and expectations, and I was allowed as a captain to contact and coordinate my volunteers. In this role, I was a "captain" but was basically just a volunteer with no supervision.
- When I arrived, I was sent in one direction, then another, then another, to an empty tent with no person, no table, no signs, and just a box of volunteer shirts and lanyards
- I flagged another volunteer who eventually came over and said, "I don't know if I'm supposed to do this but here's a shirt and you can come inside (transition)"
- there was no one in charge for the entire 5 hour shift. I never found a person who was managing volunteers. No one checked me in, no one told me where to go or what to do, no one said hello or thanks. When I asked people in the official Lifetime vest with their names on it, they said they didn't know what I should do or where I should go, so I just made myself useful doing what I know I've done in the past when I was in charge in NYC. I ended up taking another volunteer with me to do what I was doing because he had never volunteered before. When I found a volunteer with a "captain" shirt, he wasn't interested in talking to me and didn't know where I should go or what I should do.
- No one supplied any info in advance or when I arrived, so it was difficult to answer even basic questions like when transition closed, when it would open to leave after, where bike out or run out was, where bathrooms were, where water was, etc
- how are there only two bathrooms in transition and athletes aren't supposed to use them?! Volunteers took the bulk of the athlete rage about that while in transition
- halfway through my shift, a team of three people showed up and one of them seemed like it was community service hours; he absolutely didn't want to be there and had a horrible attitude, which made it a really awful interaction for the athletes. But I wasn't in charge, so I couldn't do anything
- there were no "snacks" and water showed up about halfway through event
- There was pizza that arrived at 11, and that was the only food. I'm vegan. I don't expect special meals, but if there were snacks or a granola bar or something that would have been helpful. It said there would be some and I was there from 7 am to noon.
- there was no one to check out with
- Betsy was the only helpful person I found and she was very busy

THINGS THAT WOULD IMPROVE THE EXPERIENCE:
- assignments given at least a week in advance of event so people can plan
- details on what the responsibilities will be (if known) and info on what to look at before arrival (like the athlete packet or something like that)
- a point of contact for event day with a phone number
- a specific and staffed location to check in, or info on what to do if that's not present
- signage on race day to direct volunteers
- someone managing the volunteers in person so there aren't 4 standing in one spot not doing anything, or so people who are not helping the athlete experience are given instructions

Overall, the only rewarding part of this experience was cheering the athletes on and helping them, because no one from the actual event gave me a hello, any instructions, any support, or even a thank you. So basically, I could have gotten the same from being a spectator. I love giving back to the tri community but this was not a positive experience.

I usually love volunteering at the NYC Tri because I get to see a ton of excited athletes in the critical set up of their spots for the next day's race. This year, the experience was drastically different and not a pleasant experience due to the lack of care and communication by the volunteer coordinator. The new staff was unorganized and did not communicate well with me or my volunteers in a way that gave them the information. I received a list of names two days before the event, without them split into shifts. I got my info but no info to send the volunteers and was told I didn't need to contact them, which resulted in a 50% attendance rate. I was given a document which had track changes on it, showing that 2017 was deleted and changed to 2018.

On site, we were left with no water for 3 hours, only warm gatorade, and no snacks for the long shift in the sun. For my 8.5 hour shift, there was no food, despite the other staff getting a dinner break. They do order Dallas BBQ each year that I could sneak in and get (I was never given permission) but as a vegetarian, there is nothing for me to eat.

When dealing with athlete issues, the volunteer coordinator was dismissive of my concerns for the brief moment I did see her and ask for help, and blamed me for the app not working to register my volunteers. She never once thanked me for being there for the 8.5 hour shift.

In years past, I was able to have staff contact people who racked their bikes in the wrong place or who had their tires explode so they could handle the issue before race morning. When I asked a staff member who I should contact this year, they said, "they'll figure it out" - as in the athlete will figure it out race morning. The lack of customer service was disheartening, as I always pride myself and my volunteer staff on giving a great experience to the athletes.

I'm also disturbed by the information I got while on site about the Hudson river testing too high and failing the cleanliness test by both the city and Lifetime Tri, which resulted in the canceling of the swim. And then, less than two hours later, the swim was magically back on after time trial start logistics seemed too difficult to sort out. I am disturbed that despite these tests, the swim still went on as planned, putting countless athletes in danger.

Overall, while I really enjoyed this job for the past several years, I was not at all pleased with this year's event. It was not a positive experience.

I have volunteered with NYC Triathlon for many years as a captain. This year I was not accepted as a captain for Chicago, but I volunteered in the set up area. It seemed like they were shocked to get a volunteer, and I was there with 8-10 paid staff. The paid staff (grey shirts) did half as much work as myself and the other volunteer - we really wanted to be there, and they clearly didn't.