Survey response about value of membership: It took awhile to figure out how the club works – more comprehensive information when joining would be helpful. And it’s sometimes hard to tell what information is current on the website.
President’s response:
First off, welcome to the club! We are happy that you have joined us and we hope you have figured out how the club works now!
We realize that the club can seem daunting and intimidating at times. After all, the sport of triathlon itself can be daunting and intimidating almost all the time! We strive to provide a very welcoming atmosphere to all members from the moment they join until the time they feel it is right for them to move on.
There are a few things that we (the Club) have for members to peruse upon joining and there are definitely some things that we are working on to make this better.
- We do have a page of Frequently Asked Questions. This was added to the website last year and will be continually under development as we discover recurring questions from members that we could add here. We are playing with the format as well as I am not entirely happy with how the page aesthetically looks!
- We regularly point members to the Club Calendar. This calendar contains the majority of club events including happy hours, training events, meetings, seminars, etc. These are up-to-date with everything that is happening around the DC Triathlon Club! The calendar is fairly utile in that you can select specific groups of events to look at (Races, Club Events, Community Groups, Bike Training, etc) if you want to find something that you feel is relevant to you!
- Something we have in the works but that has not been fully implemented is an email that goes out to members once they join that lists out some ideas on ways to get involved.
- Regarding the website, we are trying to update things now that we are in a new year, so some items might be leftover from 2018. We are volunteers on the Board, so we only have so much time to update pages, but we are moving as quickly as our time allows. We are trying to make sure that dates (especially years) are listed at the top of pages (especially the Club Races page) so that members are aware of whether a page has been updated for the current year or not.
I had the pleasure of attending Coach AJ’s “Strategic Season & Race Planning Seminar” last night and meeting and chatting with several people new to the area who wanted to know how to get involved with the Club. These are the suggestions that I gave them and that I give to everyone who asks how to get involved with the Club:
- Find a club happy hour (club-wide or community group happy hour) and go to it! Look for the group wearing triathlon-related clothing (because our entire wardrobes seem to be made up only of workout gear and triathlon-related gear!) and introduce yourself! Maybe start off with a “Hi, are you all with the DC Triathlon Club?” as a way to break into the conversation. Let them know that you are new to the Club and this is your first event.
- Come to one of the weekly workouts (the Saturday ride, the Wednesday track workouts, a Masters Swim workout (did you know you can go to one of those for free to check out the program? Just email masters@dctriclub.org to let them know to expect you!)) and join the group! Again, maybe start off with a “Hi, are you all with the DC Triathlon Club?” here too! Let them know that you are new to the Club and this is your first event.
- Come to one of the informal member meetings that we are planning (the first one will be in late February/early March) and get to know some members of the club! We will post details about these as soon as we line up venues and dates/times. So stay tuned to the website for those details!
The best way to learn how the Club works is to join us at an event, say ‘hello’ to us, and we will do our best to make you feel right at home get you on the way to enjoying your time with us and feeling like part of an amazing Club!
Bryan
President | DC Triathlon Club
