Shape Run 2009

Well if the stuff are properly packed should be ok. I think the timing devices are quite hardy stuff, its small and its solid. Have u seen the way they pack them in the carton boxes before they are distributed? Looks hardy enough for postage to me.

Courier not necessary but would be nice to have. If SHAPE wants to make people happy then this is good. Woot.

Well if a little more thought is put into possible solutions, we could actually develop solutions and not just having people login to laugh at each other. Feel free to suggest improvements to further develop this idea if u can think of any.

hellooooo?

stephy wrote:And I want to add the point that, if they are able to send out spammish adverts via emails and sms, I dont see why they cant send out useful reminders.

Say its too costly to send sms reminders to all those who forgot.
So is it also too costly to send email reminders in advance?

Also, from Carnival records, they should be able to assess how many participants had not yet collected their packs. Im sure the participants of this discussion are only a small minority of those who forgot their collection over the duration of the Carnival. How about those who did not access the forum and thus did not realise the forum stated the 2nd collection details?

In my case, I had emailed the organizers to enquire if was possible to collect my pack since I had forgotten it the first time. They hadnt managed to reply me to date. It was only yesterday that I had some free time from work and was hence able to do some research on the Shape 08 site for alternative collection possibilities.

I had also made a call to the Shape contact and had asked for the reason why participants who forgotten werent given a 2nd chance to collect it. She replied that the 2nd chance was given on 16th for those who forgot. Now, how is that the 2nd chance if people werent aware that the details were actually posted on forum?

I need an explanation on why the 2nd collection details werent sent by email. I also need an explanation on what is going to happen to all uncollected bibs & timing devices, and t-shirts. (Yes, the t-shirt is part of the attraction that made me sign up for this run) Are they gonna keep the tees for distribution as free gifts to their staff?

I hope SPH can reply to this ASAP.

i also do hope that SPH may get back to us all on this soon.

the SHAPE run is not only about promoting active lifestyle, increasing publicity for Shape, but also a event that celebrates Shapes success in the local market. Honestly Shapes relies on the readers to show support for their publications and i do believe that they do value customer satisfaction as it also has implications on readership as well.

Frankly the treatment of us runners so far is immensely disappointing and saddening. from the way the issue is handled I feel that i have been blamed for not being able to arrange for bib collections. The vibes i get through the slip shod follow up seems to be that SPH believes we are just causing unnecessary trouble, almost amounting to accusing us for signing up for the run because of freebies.

It also seems to me that SPH cannot be bothered about our disgruntled feelings as we are only a minority out of the 8000.Or since we have already paid the fees for the run there is no worth in helping us make alternate arrangements anymore? Is this the true basis of providing good standards of service to those who support your cause?

I registered for the Run the same month registration was opened.. Did not received any email on notification to collect the bib n timing device.. I am a very busy woman just like many others thus have no time to look out for carnival.. I have no idea about collecting these stuff during the carnival or the so-called 2nd chance on 16 july.. No reminder.. No nothing was received from the Organising Committee.. At least a reminder should be sent out to those who missed the collection.. You posted the so-called 2nd chance in the forum.. Who will read if they don't log in to the forum.. Not everyone is so free to check out such Forum regularly.. I went personally to the runnign site at 6am on 20 July 2008 and was told that I cannot run as I do not have my bib.. There were at least 5 others who were just like me.. Pleading to allow us to run or at least collect the Runner's Kits which should have been assigned to us.. A lady (claimed) to be Race Organiser as me to write down my contact and GUARANTEED / PROMISED someone will contact me... Today is 23 JULY 2008.. What sort of PROMISED is these.. Can someone from the Organising Committee reply these thread PLEASE!!!

its really amazing that those that have forgotten their collection dates claimed to be very busy before the race.... but seem to have lots of time now to post in the forum....hmmm...I really wonder.

FYI, for the Standard Chartered Marathon, all uncollected race packs are donated to charity. No second chance collection allowed.

What is wrong with ppl who have paid and are just writing to get back their money's worth? Isn't a forum there in the frst place to rant or feedback in the first place?

I just find it ridiculous for ppl to be argueing here in the forum over "we should not blame the organisers" and vice versa. I know we all have a point there but there's no point argueing. And anyway, we are not complaining. This is just a place for us to provide feedback to SHAPE so they can organise it better next year.

But however, i must say that the collection of the bib was disastrous. Judging by the number of replies in this thread. I'm sure there are even more out there who did not know even such a forum exist.

It's human nature to forget. If not, why is there such a word called reminder in your dictionary? And if not, there wouldn't be alarm tools or reminder tools in your handphone too. Pls, just stop saying we don't care about the run and everyth. No one ever has a time where she doesn't forget.

Well, I do believe in self-responsibility.

The moment I sign up for a run, I'll key into my pda to record the date and venue for collection of bib etc.

Sure, humans are not infallible and they do forget things. That's why we have to pay for the consequences.

I don't think it's fair to request Shape Run organisers to rearrange for another collection. If they do promise so, then give them time I suppose.

After all, don't forget that the registration fees for this run is relatively cheaper than most other runs.

The disorganised long Qs after the run are indeed unforgivable though. Shape Run organisers should really work that out. : )

LH wrote:What is wrong with ppl who have paid and are just writing to get back their money's worth? Isn't a forum there in the frst place to rant or feedback in the first place?

I just find it ridiculous for ppl to be argueing here in the forum over "we should not blame the organisers" and vice versa. I know we all have a point there but there's no point argueing. And anyway, we are not complaining. This is just a place for us to provide feedback to SHAPE so they can organise it better next year.

But however, i must say that the collection of the bib was disastrous. Judging by the number of replies in this thread. I'm sure there are even more out there who did not know even such a forum exist.

It's human nature to forget. If not, why is there such a word called reminder in your dictionary? And if not, there wouldn't be alarm tools or reminder tools in your handphone too. Pls, just stop saying we don't care about the run and everyth. No one ever has a time where she doesn't forget.

if we forget we must take resposibility for it,, what will happen to the thousands that remembered and take the trouble to come down.....fair...?

Dear sisters-who-remembered ,

Why do u all want to compare ur plight (the ones who remember) with our plight (the ones who forgot). Its nothing personal against u. Its something against SHAPE, but surely nothing against u. Honestly, this has nothing to do with u, unless u are SHAPE or SPH staff in the Branding & Promotions division, or part of the SHAPE Run committee. (Are u?)

If u track back to earlier posts, its obvious that things started to get ugly on 15 Jul 2008, when someone had started some negative talk and branded us (the ones who forgot) as "babies needing to be spoon-fed". There were also remarks like "if you forget, means you are not serious about the run".

Fair? Reasonable?

"Fair to organisers" is exactly what we are being. We are reacting to their actions. We are reacting so strongly because they had not handled their affairs well. What do I mean by this? I mean they had failed to:
(1) send email/sms reminders *****
(2) hire service side people with manners
(3) disseminate information about the 2nd collection in an effective manner
(4) respond to email queries promptly
(5) deal with complainants on the day of the run itself in a satisfactory manner
(6) react to the goodie bag issue in a reasonable manner
(7) (last but not least) respond to complainants promptly subsequent to the event


Ok let me elaborate.

The reminder part is ***** because, if SHAPE had done *****, they would have totally, and i mean totally, covered their @sses. Regular runners, don't u think email/sms reminders are super super-duper-uber-super-duper common tools of the trade? This is totally, totally a common-sense thing to do for event organisers. To whichever event organiser that did not do this, I say YOU FAIL.

If u wanna compare other runs like Stan Chart run (the one that the organisers actually donate the race pack to charity subsequent to collection date), then make sure they are comparable in the first place. I say they are not comparable, because one failed to do something the other had done ---> SEND REMINDERS TO COVER PPL @SSES

[Im gonna skip the rude staff part, this one is like SPH is quite suay to have such staff]

Secondly, the 2nd collection. Sisters-who-remembered, u cant really say SHAPE is being big-hearted to arrange this u noe, because they already flawed at this point, they had... (see point *****)

Next, they took so long to reply to emails, such that people waited.. waited.. and waited.... until they are desperate coz the run day was nearing and could wait no longer!!! Then all start to flood the forums and *presto*! We now have a well used forum.
(This point also serves to explain the higher volume of posting to those who many-a-times said they couldnt understand why we say we not free then suddenly post so many comments.. Now understand already? If still dun understand, u're welcome to PM me, I can tutor u)

Then on the actual day of the run, we turned up to talk to the event organisers, but they only sent people who couldnt make decisions about whether to give out the goodie bags or not. They were sooo unprepared for us, that they didnt even have proper stationery and let us write our contact details on a piece of paper that looks like scrap. Then they say: We regret that there's nothing we can do now. Please go home and wait for our reply.

Then we wait.. And wait.. and we got this reply.

We regret that you were unable to collect your number bib and missed this year’s Shape Run. Unfortunately, without the number bib, we are unable to issue the runner's kit.

Information regarding bib and tee collection, together with other details pertaining to the run, had been listed in the Rules and Regulations section of the Shape Run website as well as in the confirmation slip sent via email after the registration. All participants had also been advised to contact us for assistance should they not have received a confirmation email within 24 hours of registration. To ensure that ample time was set aside for all runners to pick up their bib and tee, the collection was held during the Shape Run Carnival at Marina Square from 11 to 13 July 2008, a week before the run.

The Shape Run is a competitive run and our rules and regulations follow closely to other major competitive running events in Singapore. The event is sanctioned by the Singapore Athletic Association and organised in accordance with the International Association of Athletic Federations (IAAF) rules and regulations.

We understand your disappointment but appreciate your understanding that we are operating within the parameters set for the event. If you had opted for a 6-mths subscription, you will start receiving your magazine from the August 08 issue. As for all unclaimed runners kit, we will be donating them to a charity of our choice.

We look forward to your continued support for Shape Run in 2009 and beyond.

Best regards,

Agnes Tan
Branding & Promotions
SPH Magazines Pte Ltd

Explains anything to u? Doesnt explain much to me.

Conclusion:
Seems to me like they are always regreting this and that, and playing the delay tactic. Cannot deal with it? Delay it. Delay some more. Direct the query to someone else. Delay again. Direct away again. Oops sorry event is over and its too costly to arrange another collection, so goodie bags are going to be given to charity of our choice. Not that Brazilian Bra Top vouchers and expired yoghurt products are going to help society much, but hell, just donate la maybe the charity might need some Brazilian Bra Tops?

I agree and disagree with you on some parts.

Sending a email/sms reminders will be a bonus, but it is NOT compulsory for event organsiers. Perhaps they are short-handled or do not have enough costs to do all these 'bonus'. Even when there are no reminders send out to participants, there are still a majority of participants who collected their race pack on time. So it proves that a reminder is not a 'common sense' thing & most imptly, they DID NOT FAIL!

Now, what happen if reminders is send out to those who forget? U are going to blame next: why don offer special delivery to your footsteps? Coz even with reminders, ple will still forget? So issue here is you have forget, juz admit it your mistakes!

You don expect sgp to provide you with good service operators who answer you with excellent attitudes. Esp when they are so busy answering so many queries regarding the shape run events. At least after the event, they send u a final email, better than disappearing act.

I only agree with your point that the 2nd collection information which was not disseminate efficiently. It was not properly reflected in the shape run websites. And how do participants know that the collection is true? Even if they wan to give a 2nd chance, make sure it reaches out to every participants. If not, their 2nd collection can be considered a failure.

IMHO, organisers who wish to end this mess, you can choose to charge those who wish to collect their items at a fees upon collection. So these fees can pay for your extra OT- transport, booth venue, booth helpers? Then u can reserve these fees for next year to send reminders out or recruit more event helpers, or perhaps donate to charity...

Hi pples,

Let's cool down here... Let's all keep our comments constructive as to how to avoid such instances in the future

As with all things, I'm sure there are hiccups for some of us. Those of us who are unhappy should be allowed to speak to the organsiers. The people who really need to speak up are the SHAPE organisers. Will appreciate if you can give each of us a response.

stephy wrote: Dear sisters-who-remembered ,

Why do u all want to compare ur plight (the ones who remember) with our plight (the ones who forgot). Its nothing personal against u. Its something against SHAPE, but surely nothing against u. Honestly, this has nothing to do with u, unless u are SHAPE or SPH staff in the Branding & Promotions division, or part of the SHAPE Run committee. (Are u?)

If u track back to earlier posts, its obvious that things started to get ugly on 15 Jul 2008, when someone had started some negative talk and branded us (the ones who forgot) as "babies needing to be spoon-fed". There were also remarks like "if you forget, means you are not serious about the run".

Fair? Reasonable?

"Fair to organisers" is exactly what we are being. We are reacting to their actions. We are reacting so strongly because they had not handled their affairs well. What do I mean by this? I mean they had failed to:
(1) send email/sms reminders *****
(2) hire service side people with manners
(3) disseminate information about the 2nd collection in an effective manner
(4) respond to email queries promptly
(5) deal with complainants on the day of the run itself in a satisfactory manner
(6) react to the goodie bag issue in a reasonable manner
(7) (last but not least) respond to complainants promptly subsequent to the event


Ok let me elaborate.

The reminder part is ***** because, if SHAPE had done *****, they would have totally, and i mean totally, covered their @sses. Regular runners, don't u think email/sms reminders are super super-duper-uber-super-duper common tools of the trade? This is totally, totally a common-sense thing to do for event organisers. To whichever event organiser that did not do this, I say YOU FAIL.

If u wanna compare other runs like Stan Chart run (the one that the organisers actually donate the race pack to charity subsequent to collection date), then make sure they are comparable in the first place. I say they are not comparable, because one failed to do something the other had done ---> SEND REMINDERS TO COVER PPL @SSES

[Im gonna skip the rude staff part, this one is like SPH is quite suay to have such staff]

Secondly, the 2nd collection. Sisters-who-remembered, u cant really say SHAPE is being big-hearted to arrange this u noe, because they already flawed at this point, they had... (see point *****)

Next, they took so long to reply to emails, such that people waited.. waited.. and waited.... until they are desperate coz the run day was nearing and could wait no longer!!! Then all start to flood the forums and *presto*! We now have a well used forum.
(This point also serves to explain the higher volume of posting to those who many-a-times said they couldnt understand why we say we not free then suddenly post so many comments.. Now understand already? If still dun understand, u're welcome to PM me, I can tutor u)

Then on the actual day of the run, we turned up to talk to the event organisers, but they only sent people who couldnt make decisions about whether to give out the goodie bags or not. They were sooo unprepared for us, that they didnt even have proper stationery and let us write our contact details on a piece of paper that looks like scrap. Then they say: We regret that there's nothing we can do now. Please go home and wait for our reply.

Then we wait.. And wait.. and we got this reply.

We regret that you were unable to collect your number bib and missed this year’s Shape Run. Unfortunately, without the number bib, we are unable to issue the runner's kit.

Information regarding bib and tee collection, together with other details pertaining to the run, had been listed in the Rules and Regulations section of the Shape Run website as well as in the confirmation slip sent via email after the registration. All participants had also been advised to contact us for assistance should they not have received a confirmation email within 24 hours of registration. To ensure that ample time was set aside for all runners to pick up their bib and tee, the collection was held during the Shape Run Carnival at Marina Square from 11 to 13 July 2008, a week before the run.

The Shape Run is a competitive run and our rules and regulations follow closely to other major competitive running events in Singapore. The event is sanctioned by the Singapore Athletic Association and organised in accordance with the International Association of Athletic Federations (IAAF) rules and regulations.

We understand your disappointment but appreciate your understanding that we are operating within the parameters set for the event. If you had opted for a 6-mths subscription, you will start receiving your magazine from the August 08 issue. As for all unclaimed runners kit, we will be donating them to a charity of our choice.

We look forward to your continued support for Shape Run in 2009 and beyond.

Best regards,

Agnes Tan
Branding & Promotions
SPH Magazines Pte Ltd

Explains anything to u? Doesnt explain much to me.

Conclusion:
Seems to me like they are always regreting this and that, and playing the delay tactic. Cannot deal with it? Delay it. Delay some more. Direct the query to someone else. Delay again. Direct away again. Oops sorry event is over and its too costly to arrange another collection, so goodie bags are going to be given to charity of our choice. Not that Brazilian Bra Top vouchers and expired yoghurt products are going to help society much, but hell, just donate la maybe the charity might need some Brazilian Bra Tops?

i really feel sorry for you..feeling that the world owes you a living...the world owes nobody anything..if the mistake is made...accept the fact that you may face certain consequences...yes the organisers can improve in the future but you should never have this feeling that it is their duty to rectify a situation which you created through your own forgetfulness.
Organiser please bear in mind all feed back given here in the forum and try to improve. Communication can be improve !
Please also learn to take answers given by the organisers instead of doing another action and blaming them for it again. I am sure you were told that you will not be allowed to run or collect the kit without the bib and that no bibs would be issued on the day. if you still choose to go down then it is again a situation you created through your own actions..
By the way, I am one of those that miss the collection dates...!

For Shape run, the goodies bags are not donated to the charity.

It's actually distributed to those volunteer helpers at the event after it has ended.

How do i know? Cos' i saw it with my own eyes. A group of guys wearing the helpers-tee are each carrying a goodies bag after the event walking towards the mrt station. So i believe, whatever that are not collected on the 20th July are all distributed to the volunteer helpers.

So no point emailing the committee requesting for collection of goodies bag anymore.

Oh how I wish the world owes me a living, but sadly, it does not.
But I know, SHAPE committee owes me a goodie bag.

I believe I hadnt said anything in all my previous posts before that I deny my responsibility. Yes?
The ones who are trying to deny responsibilities are... U know who!

There's a phrase ppl use: Cause and Effect.
There's a Cause, and then there's an Effect.
Cause - ***** (as seen in my earlier post)
Effect - unhappy participants
Cause - no bib = no goodie bag
Effect - bewildered participants
Cause - name calling on forums
Effect - retaliation

I feel, if this event organiser had planned properly like any other rational event organiser, they would have considered the point "What if - people.. forgot! They would come and haunt us for 2nd, 3rd and 4th collections! Better send reminders to cover our behinds and reduce the escalation of problems.", and then reminders would have been sent. If not u think other event organisers really so free ar! Can save money save time they dun wan to save meh!

Failure to consider this obvious point = Ineffective organising

And, how does it make sense that no bib = no goodie bag? It makes some sense to deny us of a goodie bag only if the tee, bib and everything else is included in the goodie bag. It was not even stated in T&C that no bib = no goodie bag.
Its like a rigged card game in which u have already started playing, and then at the snap of the fingers, ur opponent says "Hey u cant do this coz we normally have a rule that blahblahblah". Doesnt it seem to u that it tantamounts to cheating?

And now we have a witness who had volunteered information on the status of uncollected (and those that cannot be collected due to no bib = no bag) goodie bags.

Thanks for the information! It's no wonder they are apparently making it so difficult for us to pick up our goodie bags.

Woot woot! I made a $30 donation to the helpers. What have YOU done today to benefit society??

I await SHAPE / SPH's reply with great anticipation... ... .. . .

Have a good weekend.