It is May 2022 and whatever hopes and expectations we’ve all had of 2022 at the end of last year have started to materialize - or have they? It’s difficult to say how strongly our industry’s recovery towards pre-pandemic levels has fared so far this year, particularly when we all individually get to see only parts of the bigger picture. Well, today I’m delighted to be joined by two industry insiders who get to see as much of the bigger picture as any in our industry - Bob Bickel, Founder of US registrations market-leader RunSignup and Chris Robb, CEO of Mass Participation World and a passionate advocate for the endurance events industry. Chris and Bob come armed with data and a deep understanding of our industry and where it’s currently at, and they’ll be discussing with me the latest data on event numbers and registration trends, as well as more profound questions, like “Is it time for race directors to be raising prices?” - a question I’m sure many of you are asking yourselves. In this episode: Market recovery continues, but lagging prior expectations for 2022The effect of Omicron and erosion of trust on race participationHave people fallen out of love with racing?The knock-on effect of losing early sign-ups on overall registrationsRace director sentiment: from optimism to survival modeThe risk of operational know-how loss for the industryWhy are runners not getting back to start lines? Update on participant no-show ratesThe effect of local authority staff turnover on race permitting and event support provisionIs local business and local community support for races waning?Industry lobbying efforts throughout the pandemicNon-returning race rates before and during the pandemicFinancial stresses for mid-tier organizers and the tough 6 months aheadIs it time for race directors to raise prices?Bridging the disconnect between events and participants through year-round participant engagementSponsor sentiment and the shift towards performance-based sponsorshipsMarket forecasts for the next two yearsMany thanks to our podcast sponsors, RunSignup and Racecheck, for supporting our efforts to provide great, free content to the race director community: RunSignup are the leading all-in-one technology solution for endurance and fundraising events. More than 26,000 in-person, virtual, and hybrid events use RunSignup's free and integrated solution to save time, grow their events, and raise more. Find out more at https://runsignup.com/. Racecheck can help you collect and showcase your participant reviews on your race website, helping you more easily convert website visitors into paying participants, with the help of their Racecheck Review Box. Download yours for free today at https://organisers.racecheck.com/. You can find more resources on anything and everything related to race directing on our website RaceDirectorsHQ.com. You can also share your questions about marketing or anything else in our Facebook group, Race Directors Hub.