jeffreylin

There is only one reason for exclusivity--money.

While I am all for people making money, I think in this particular case they simply did not think it through. Whoever granted this exclusivity made a bad decision. A few bucks now will never pay for the bad will this brings in the long run.

As for RC Driver, they made a dumb deal as well. How long do they think this "exclusivity" will buy them until the results get out? Obviously there are people taking pictures for other media over there so what exactly did they get out of this exclusivity? If they are not going to update their web site and captalize on this exclusivity, then why make the deal in the first place.

Now I don't know if money changed hands or trades were made for certain, but either way it was just stupid on all parties involved anyway you look at it.

JohnMatrix

I wasnt going to post on this, but looked up on the computer screen and saw I just got an hour back, so what the hell.

Simple fact on this is cash. The track doenst care cause they got paid, RC Driver doesnt care cause they can say what ever they want on this cause they bought the rights. Im not saying this is right, as a west coast guy it sucked not knowing what the hell was going on over there, Im just saying its the way it is.

And I thank Futureal for letting this be known, cause that is really the only way to combat this issue. By letting others know how Fubar it was and than making sure or doing your best to make sure you do get Aced out again.

JohnMatrix

That was creepy, Jeff and I almost posted the same thing at the same time.

gee-dub

iTrader: (1)

from a club perspective, if fts received money for the deal i can see where they are coming from. from a business perspective, if rcd paid for exclusivity to get more hits/advertising, i can see that too (worked on me, i had never been to their site until today).

but for the consumers that are dissatisfied, we should not look to rcd or fts for responsibility, but the organization(s). at the end of the day, the marketing value of ifmar is why companies spend thousands of dollars to send their teams to compete at these events. ifmar therefor has the power, and responsibility, to do what is best to promote itself (which incidentally is 'the hobby'). with this in mind, i can only see one of three scenarios off the top of my head.

i would be interested to know if ifmar was aware of the exclusivity deal. if they were, do they feel that there is currently enough exposure in the industry that the revenue from this deal (and assumedly future such deals) warranted the limited 'live' coverage? if they were not aware of this, why?

i'll be the first to say i don't know the ifmar or roar rulebooks, but in this day and age, there should certainly be provisions in both to handle this and a large number of associated issues with media and promotions.

when i'm prez...

slowhand

tq-racing posted the following comment just as soon as the winners were announced earlier today:
....Let's hope next World Championships events would be a lot more 'internet & rc fans friendly'. This kind of event is supposed to be enjoyed by everyone of us RC fans, not only those participating BUT also those who are not fortunate enough to be 'there'. The recent 200mm GP World Championship in Brazil was an excellent example as organizer and many parties were able to post the race results almost as the race progressed. ....

I remember JLap Manager website was able to post the race results as soon as the run ended. Even during the FREE practices ,all racers having AMB personal transponder was recorded and all results were posted. There was some delays at some stages (qualifying days etc.) due to internet connection problems there. But it was not too much delay. at least before the following day started, everything was already posted on the website. So everyone was able to access the full results easily ...

I myself am capable of operating AMB's Sparc software and have done a few race directings at our local tracks. As far as I know it is very easy and straight forward to print the results to html format (just one key stroke) in order to post the results in a computer format and post them through emails or upload to ftp, websites etc. WIth the latest Sparc software and AMBrc decoder it is also possible to "upload" the results directly to AMB's mylap.com website i.e. just like the JLap Manager software.

Furthermore, it is possible for Sparc (and I assume for JLap or anyother "new generation" softwares) to correct the results in case of problems or penalties etc. the software can offer more than enough correction functions for the lap, total time, best lap time etc. etc.

I have no idea which software they used in Florida but can't imagine such a big event would use a primitive software not offering such fucntions described above.

Even, if you have only hard copy results (no computer format) with all sort of correction notes. Every one should have been given the access (not only team managers). What's the point of holding such information???
The organizer can always publish UNOFFICIAL RESULTS.

Ok, I can understand about video rights as some events some organizer have the authority to 'sell' this video rights. I remember Raywood had to make some deals with the organiser in some of the previous IFMAR events.
It's been a very poor promotion by not allowing the public to get the results in a reasonable time. IF anyone has the exclusive right, they should be responsible for distributing the information to the public in a timely fashion i.e. not days after the race runs/ event ended.

A lot of people - all rc fans - all over the world have been dying to see the results as the race progressed. Again, we can understand if there's some delays due to technical problems (internet access etc.) but cannot accept "deliberate" efforts of stopping the information flow.

Perhaps, we don't know the full stories. But the organizer'd better make some clarification sooner as a lot people have not been too impressed.

On a final note, it's quite amusing to see the organizer did use this forum to gain some advertisiment / promotion, but did little to give something in return to rctech

pheyhoe

This sport is getting more like F1

i also could understand about video rights but the actual bare information should be freely available. it is in every other sport in the world.

as far as computer timing software is concerned, if they did not have software that was up to date enough to save to HTML or anything then Y not?!? there was enough money involved in this event to easily cover the cost of some software.

and RC Driver did this thinking "oh great we get all the results before everybody else" but then when it came round to it either could not be bothered to do so or did not have the technology, a simple paragraph of writing explaining why would have sufficed.

tazz888

iTrader: (26)

Futureal,

I agree. it is silly to have such a thing as exclusive coverage of an event at that level. Your correct in saying that it is IFMAR and FTR's doing. Being from CT I have many friends at RC Driver, RCCA, and also worked with Derick for several years at a LHS ( hey buddy it's Ron ). I do think that the guys at RC Driver should have re-thought their decision about this. We want the sport to grow and the only way to do so is to have as much positive media exposure as possible. Localy they have been making a presence at all of the tracks on a weekly basis. This is a good thing since they are very helpful to the racers who ask them questions and even bring free mags and shirts to give to everyone. They make a better impression at the track than RCCA but this whole Worlds issue is really a step in the wrong direction for the sport. I understand that they are a "new" mag who are trying to make an impression so I won't blame them for their actions. IFMAR was wrong for offering such a deal and they should be held 100% responsible. Some people still haven't realized that these are "toy" cars that we are racing and there is not millions of dollars at stake at these races like at a NASCAR or other professional sporting event. Hey IFMAR this is not NASCAR so stop acting like it is. Just my .02 cents.

Cobra81li200

Having tried to have a decent coverage aswell, I must admitt that we had the same problem to access the informations.

I also have to point out that, although exclusivity exists in other events, they are related to one coutry (i.e. for F1, it is that channel for that country). RC Driver is a US magazine, so I believe that if such an agreement have been made with IFMAR and FTS, then it shouldn't have affected the other countries, how will the guys who were been paid by the magazine of their country to make a report (and counted on that money to pay a part of the trip) will do without first hands results ?

Needless to say, we are a european based website, so it shoudn't have affected us. I'm not saying it's right, I think it was a WRONG decision to give an exclusivity to ANYONE, I'm just saying to those who will say that it exists in other sports, that if what IFMAR has done was applied to let's say, the Olympics, no one apart from the greeks could have watched them Live !

KE4PJO

I don't buy a lot of magazines, but I do know which one I won't buy. All I care about is, how are my friends doing? It's nice to know how a few friends are doing without calling them, when I know they are busy trying to do their best. What ever happened to the "hobby " status?

dave

It was just as frustrating at the race to get information. The only race lineup for the mains and the qualifying results was in a restricted area. As a spectator you had no idea who was in what main until they got on the drivers stand. It was especially confusing for the A main. Not knowing exactly where everyone stood when the third A main came around. Several scenarios could have played out for the win, but no one really knew what the possibilities were.

Dave

Proteus

I'M ON MY SOAPBOX

Capitalism! Isn't it wonderful? Like several people had mentioned, the whole purpose of exclusivity is money. I am a firm believer in capitalism...afterall, isn't what this country was really based upon? Look at all the technology we have. The U.S. wouldn't have gotten to this point without all that competition inherent to capitalisim....faster, smaller computers; cell phones; microwaves, plasma tvs; etc. But, without vision....none of these things would have happened. For instance....take the wireless network industry. Look at all the standards that we had in the begining. Finally, some of the top mfgs finally saw that wireless networking was going to be a success and had to develop a standard (cooperation among themselves) so that the whole industry would flourish. As an aspiring entrepreneur, I had problems writing a business plan. Should profit really concern me at the early stages? Yes and no. Yes....because one of the biggest problems of small business was under capitalization. No because depending on the industry or your company or both, growth should be a major concern. For instance....look at all these tiny mom and pop shops. Many of them rarely make a profit. Some though are happy at making what they make now. But several small business owners I had talked to told me that besides lacking a formal business plan, many had failed to include growth into their plans.

Okay, enough about business 101. Now to my point. Their is fine line between profit and growth. It's very hard in business to have one, let alone have both at the same time...unless your microsoft. It amazes me how much or rather how little exposure the RC industry has. Everytime I mention to a friend that I race RC cars....they respond with a litle smart remark such as "oh...you drive those little radio shack thingies?" or "you do what?" or "why are you playin with those little kids", etc, etc. I'm sure we've all heard it. I believe that our exposure has not grown as big and as fast as the technology within our industry. I remember when Touring cars started to make a big impact back in the 90's. Now monster trucks are making a stir in the industry. Many of the big companies are spending so much in research and marketing to push these monster trucks to gain a greater market share; and I believe its working. Monster trucks are pretty expensive comapred to an entry level TC, but then again, many of these companies are packaging these MTs as RTR. The whole purpose of RTRs is growth, not profit. So you see...here is another example of the growth vs profit debate.
So it pains me to see what Futureal had posted. When I was checking RC Tech for results and coverage...I was apalled to see the lack of it...since I was so use to seeing the coverage of other big events in the past. I thought that something had gone awry; and Futureal's post had only confirmed my suspicion. What FTS and RC Driver did was quite asinine. Not only did they not have respect for the sport but also lacked the proper planning or implementation (or both) of any coverage. C'mon...it's Sunday and the results and coverage is not even posted on RC Driver's website. Imagine....if the results or any coverage of the Superbowl wasn't released until Monday? This is unacceptable. With the advent of the internet and the technology that we have attained thus far, there is absolutely no EXCUSE for this. I stand by Futureal's stance on this situation. And I'm sure many others do too. I'm glad I don't subscribe to RC Driver.
I think that everyone bothered by this should send an email or make a phone call to FTS, RC Driver and especially IFMAR. I believe that IFMAR should be held responsible for this. Why?...because they are the governing body at that event. Look at the othe "BIG" sports. The NBA dictates the policies and what the media is or isn't allowed to do. If the Lakers play the Wizards at the Staples Center, do the Lakers or the Wizards have a say which memeber of the media can be there or which behemoth can televise the game? NO.....The NBA does. And likewise for Nascar, the NFL, etc. Granted...these are big sports with well established policies, famous atheletes, big time sponsors and HUGE revenues.

So what's my point.....whichever way you take it. These are my opinions and I stand by it. If you don't like it...move to a communist country such as North Korea.

I'M OFF MY SOAPBOX

Yours truly,

Jeff

Evoracer

iTrader: (24)

The amount of released information at this event was stunningly rediculous. I was there for the last day. When I got home I assumed info of the earlier day's running would be available somewhere. I checked RC Driver, I checked Orion, I checked Tamiya and I checked RC Tech. MY GOD.......everybody was in the dark or had no information at all !!!!!!!!!!!!! I felt horrible for my fellow rctech users. At least they were attempting to ask each other for info . Other sites had no info what so ever or were a day or two behind. This was sad.........surely not like the last Worlds comp and sadly for the promoters....I don't think people will leave or remember it with the same feeling they had of the last one. A damned good effort to rebuild after 2 hurricanes was marred by some very bad decision making.

EAMotorsports

iTrader: (79)

Funny I just got a subscription renewal email yesterday..... I responded to them and told them where they could stick if after their actions at the worlds that cost fellow RC racers live results and cost the other magazine's alot of money because they werent told of this exclusive.

Long live XRC Magazine and RCTech!!!

EA

picco007

iTrader: (99)

Shane,

After reading your initial post, I can't believe the FTS would engage in this type of behavior after using R/C Tech as a conduit. I know many of us here on this forum appreciate you and your staff for doing what you do at the OTHER races.

IFMAR, RC Driver, and FTS has just taken a step back. They in no way help to promote the sport.

Ronnie

picco007

iTrader: (99)

Well said EA