Events/Trails LCDC 2019 - 5th Anniversary (3 Viewers)
- Thread starter codyaustin5
- Start date
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I actually might try and make this
- Thread starter
- #183
Commentary on Feedback from Last Year's Event + Changes for This Year + Registration Open
First off, thank you very much to everyone who provided feedback on last year's event. Cole and I received submissions from well over half of the participants which is certainly a respectable response rate when it comes to surveys. While this has been, and continues to be, a free event, we take the quality of your experience seriously. People travel from all over the country to great expense in both time and money and we endeavor to do our best to enable positive, memorable, experiences for everyone. Your candid feedback will play a critical role in shaping this year's event.
We asked a few open ended questions and also wanted to solicit thoughts on specific aspects of the event. There were some clear, consistent themes regarding what worked well this year, what didn't, and your recommendations for this year.
You came for the trails and offroad experience but will come back for the community. Virtually everyone cited getting to know the people behind the usernames/vehicles, making new friends, and just the general camaraderie and welcoming nature of this group as the major highlight. People also had plenty of great things to say about the trails, Slee's training day and scenery but the social component definitely resonates with you.
This year we're making a concerted effort to weave in more social activities. In addition to the welcome event and closing dinner, we're working on facilitating more informal gatherings in the evenings. We're also going to do our best to put as many trucks in the same place as possible each morning as we return to all trucks meeting in the same place at the same time.
There was another line of feedback on Telluride as a destination. Without doubt, people enjoyed the town itself in terms of availability of restaurants, bars, shopping, and amenities. However, there weren't many convenient camping options and in general accommodations were expensive. The location of Telluride is also less convenient for some of the trailheads that start closer to Ouray or Silverton. We'll factor this feedback into future destination decisions but are confident that Ouray provides a greater diversity of accommodations and better proximity to trailheads.
In terms of opportunities for improvement, most of the critical feedback focused on the structure, organization, and planning related to trail groups. Just for some historical context, the 1st and 2nd year events were small enough that parking lot planning was simple and effective. In our third year, we did formal group and trail sign-ups in advance and ultimately felt like that was too much structure. This year we did an about-face and didn't put much structure in place at all aside from some general trail recommendations and a meetup spot.
While it's clear that people ultimately had a good time, the lack of structure caused frustration and required too much ad-hoc planning each morning. This also led to groups being a bit too large (which makes it tougher to maintain pace on trails) and very small groups (2-3) who didn't have experienced leaders and somewhat isolated from other groups. This ultimately constrained the number and variety of trails that people were able to experience. As organizers, it's up to us to put a plan in place that works for everyone and we made some mistakes last year — we want to clean up those mistakes going forward. In that spirit, we do want to call out and take responsibility for a specific dynamic from last year that caused some consternation for some of you: the fact that not all groups started from the same location each day. This is on us as organizers, we did not set clear, formal expectations around how groups would be organized and spend their time on the trail. We're sorry if our lack of planning and communication in this arena negatively affected your experience. On the bright side, we have a much better understanding of how to organize the event going forward to essentially have something for everyone.
LCDC was created to enjoy our 200's and meet like-minded people in beautiful settings. As our group has grown it is difficult to maintain close relationships with everyone but our hope is everyone is excited to see past participants and make new folks feel just as welcome. We will add more social evening events so we all have more opportunities to hang out with each other.
Our objective is to strike a better balance of advance planning and day-of flexibility. We have something in mind but want to first get a sense of how many participants to expect and who is interested in leading trails. We'll then update the thread and website with trail planning details.
Finally, we just want to once again offer our thanks to those of you who took the time to share your thoughts with us. It was especially gratifying to read through your kudos, compliments, and thank-yous.
WE ARE PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE LCDC 2019 Registration is Now Open!!!
You can follow the direct link below to sign up:
5th Anniversary 200-Series LCDC in Ouray, CO
We've also updated the website with some high level trail information if you're unfamiliar with the Ouray area. So, go ahead and register for the event and look forward to more updates about the overall schedule, social activities, and our approach to trail planning this year once we get a handle on attendance.
First off, thank you very much to everyone who provided feedback on last year's event. Cole and I received submissions from well over half of the participants which is certainly a respectable response rate when it comes to surveys. While this has been, and continues to be, a free event, we take the quality of your experience seriously. People travel from all over the country to great expense in both time and money and we endeavor to do our best to enable positive, memorable, experiences for everyone. Your candid feedback will play a critical role in shaping this year's event.
We asked a few open ended questions and also wanted to solicit thoughts on specific aspects of the event. There were some clear, consistent themes regarding what worked well this year, what didn't, and your recommendations for this year.
You came for the trails and offroad experience but will come back for the community. Virtually everyone cited getting to know the people behind the usernames/vehicles, making new friends, and just the general camaraderie and welcoming nature of this group as the major highlight. People also had plenty of great things to say about the trails, Slee's training day and scenery but the social component definitely resonates with you.
This year we're making a concerted effort to weave in more social activities. In addition to the welcome event and closing dinner, we're working on facilitating more informal gatherings in the evenings. We're also going to do our best to put as many trucks in the same place as possible each morning as we return to all trucks meeting in the same place at the same time.
There was another line of feedback on Telluride as a destination. Without doubt, people enjoyed the town itself in terms of availability of restaurants, bars, shopping, and amenities. However, there weren't many convenient camping options and in general accommodations were expensive. The location of Telluride is also less convenient for some of the trailheads that start closer to Ouray or Silverton. We'll factor this feedback into future destination decisions but are confident that Ouray provides a greater diversity of accommodations and better proximity to trailheads.
In terms of opportunities for improvement, most of the critical feedback focused on the structure, organization, and planning related to trail groups. Just for some historical context, the 1st and 2nd year events were small enough that parking lot planning was simple and effective. In our third year, we did formal group and trail sign-ups in advance and ultimately felt like that was too much structure. This year we did an about-face and didn't put much structure in place at all aside from some general trail recommendations and a meetup spot.
While it's clear that people ultimately had a good time, the lack of structure caused frustration and required too much ad-hoc planning each morning. This also led to groups being a bit too large (which makes it tougher to maintain pace on trails) and very small groups (2-3) who didn't have experienced leaders and somewhat isolated from other groups. This ultimately constrained the number and variety of trails that people were able to experience. As organizers, it's up to us to put a plan in place that works for everyone and we made some mistakes last year — we want to clean up those mistakes going forward. In that spirit, we do want to call out and take responsibility for a specific dynamic from last year that caused some consternation for some of you: the fact that not all groups started from the same location each day. This is on us as organizers, we did not set clear, formal expectations around how groups would be organized and spend their time on the trail. We're sorry if our lack of planning and communication in this arena negatively affected your experience. On the bright side, we have a much better understanding of how to organize the event going forward to essentially have something for everyone.
LCDC was created to enjoy our 200's and meet like-minded people in beautiful settings. As our group has grown it is difficult to maintain close relationships with everyone but our hope is everyone is excited to see past participants and make new folks feel just as welcome. We will add more social evening events so we all have more opportunities to hang out with each other.
Our objective is to strike a better balance of advance planning and day-of flexibility. We have something in mind but want to first get a sense of how many participants to expect and who is interested in leading trails. We'll then update the thread and website with trail planning details.
Finally, we just want to once again offer our thanks to those of you who took the time to share your thoughts with us. It was especially gratifying to read through your kudos, compliments, and thank-yous.
WE ARE PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE LCDC 2019 Registration is Now Open!!!
You can follow the direct link below to sign up:
5th Anniversary 200-Series LCDC in Ouray, CO
We've also updated the website with some high level trail information if you're unfamiliar with the Ouray area. So, go ahead and register for the event and look forward to more updates about the overall schedule, social activities, and our approach to trail planning this year once we get a handle on attendance.
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Registered
staying here 4J +1+1 RVPark - RV Park, Campground
Thanks Cody, Cole and everyone else who puts this together
staying here 4J +1+1 RVPark - RV Park, Campground
Thanks Cody, Cole and everyone else who puts this together
I'm in.
Yep, I’m registered. Trying to decide on waiting for Ridgway State Park to become available, that 4J+1+1 campground, and just getting a hotel.
Registered.
Registered for Wed->Sat as we haven't planned out our summer trip yet (will most likely do that over the holidays). If history serves as any guide I will probably be there just Friday and Saturday. I'll update my registration as I know more.
I can trail lead if needed, but given my limited experience on Ouray trails I'd prefer to let someone with more experience on the specific trails actually lead. @mcgaskins did a great job as a trail lead in Breckenridge, not just guiding us on Red Cone but being able to share some of the history along the trail, which made for a great run... something I just don't know.
I can trail lead if needed, but given my limited experience on Ouray trails I'd prefer to let someone with more experience on the specific trails actually lead. @mcgaskins did a great job as a trail lead in Breckenridge, not just guiding us on Red Cone but being able to share some of the history along the trail, which made for a great run... something I just don't know.
Markuson
SILVER Star
- Thread starter
- #194
About time we see you again! LOL
I'm in and camped next to @Romer (which he clearly already regrets 
) at 4J +1+1 RVPark - RV Park, Campground
) at 4J +1+1 RVPark - RV Park, Campground
Markuson
SILVER Star
I'm in and camped next to @Romer (which he clearly already regrets
You are brave...
I camped next to Ken at Cruise Moab..
Except that he’s actually a great neighbor, which sucks bc now I can’t talk smack very well on here...
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I’m registered. I wouldn’t mind being the caboose on easy trail runs if there is such a thing - just to make sure no one gets lost. I’ve done a few trails in the Red Mountain area but I don’t think I am qualified to “lead” a run. If there is anything else I can do to help out let me know. I am retired after all.
And a huge thanks to Cody and Cole and the others who work so hard to pull this all together.
And a huge thanks to Cody and Cole and the others who work so hard to pull this all together.
- Thread starter
- #199
This is going to be a great year! 27 200’s registered already!
We are working on some exciting surprises for the 5th anniversary...
We are working on some exciting surprises for the 5th anniversary...
