Planning & Hosting the WLC KICKOFF EVENT - The Prelims

Hosting kickoff event for the WLC is one of the most important steps in setting up a powerful experience for the members of your community.

As soon as you register your team for the Challenge, you should start planning your event.

EVERYONE in your community needs to know that at the start of the Challenge, something DIFFERENT and IMPORTANT is happening at the gym. It's the start of a journey... almost like having a send-off party.

Everything that day should focus on the event. EVERYONE should be invited, whether or not they are planning on participating in the WLC.  It's an opportunity for the community to come together, measure where they are, engage in something fun, exciting, and intense... together. To go through "battle" together!  

Many of your members have no experience participating in athletic events... of competing physically... even if the competition is just with themselves.  This is their chance! Give them an awesome experience by putting in the work to plan and organize. 

Make it feel different, big, exciting. Invite them to invite friends, family to cheer them on. 

Your staff should be prepped and ready, as should your location. With a thought-through timeline, floor plan, and staff responsibilities... ensure every "i" is dotted and "t" is crossed.

Want to really knock it out of the park? Have a guest speaker!  This could be YOU... and it could be someone else that you think your members would like to hear something inspiring or informative from. 

The way you manage your event is a reflection of your business, so spend the time upfront to plan it well. Then have a dry run with your team members to work out any kinks, especially if the workout you chose and location you are using are different than usual.

Here are more thoughts and ideas.

Find a Location

If you aren’t holding the event at your gym or business, we recommend using a large public space like a park, parking lot, or high school track. Even if you have ample space at your own location, securing an outside location for the event can create an exciting atmosphere that can “up” the level of your team member’s participation.

And by all means, don’t just show up and expect the location to be available!

Get a Permit

Many cities have rules that dictate times and time limits for holding public events. Plus, parks host regular athletic events, so get your locations sorted out right away. And while you are getting a permit for your preliminary event, you might as well square away your permit for the finals event as well.

Create a Plan for Body Measurements

• Which one (or all) are you going to use - weight, girths, or bodyfat percentage?
• How are you going to measure?
• Where are you going to measure (and is it private enough)?
• Do you have enough staff members trained for the number of people coming?\
• How about before photos? you should have a station for those too (front and side view). Take the photos on member's personal phones so they feel comfortable about it (you can always get them from them if they have before/after comparisons you want to use).

Design the Workout

• It should be doable by as many people in your community as possible. Remember that you might have guests at the event - they should be able to participate too.
• We recommend it being less than 12 minutes and contain only bodyweight exercises.
• It must be measurable - score, points, or time.
• Counting reps in a competition should never be done by the individual. People should be partnered up, so that each person has a cheerleader/scorekeeper. Make sure everyone knows how to score/count reps properly.

Create a Plan for the Day

Here are a few things to keep in mind when planning your preliminary event.

• The event should be no longer than 2 hours (be respectful of time).
• Have a registration table, preferably underneath an EZ-up tent. Direct people as they arrive to check-in at the tent.
• Have one person registering people in the registration tent, and have two or more people (depending on the size of your team) with laptops with wi-fi access entering scores into the WLC website. These computers can also be used for people who want to register on your team for the Challenge.
• When participants check in, assign them to a workout heat and give them a scorecard to record their body measurements and workout score.
• For body measurements:
  • Make sure you have at least 1 trainer (or trained measurer) for every 15-25 people to measure girths, weight, or body fat.
  • Mark the “body measurement” stations with cones
  • Once a participant’s body measurements have been measured, direct him or her back to the tent to have his or her numbers entered into the system.
• For the workout:
  • Organize your group into appropriate heats.
  • Mark the start/finish line so that it is absolutely clear.
  • Determine how people will count reps (with a partner or by a judge).
  • When participants complete a workout, make sure they return their completed scorecards to the registration tent so their scores can be entered.

The Prelims set the tone for the Challenge

Create a staff timeline in advance with all the necessary job assignments laid out, and do a dry run with at least the 2-5 key people who will help you run the event.

Get your equipment together in advance. At a minimum, you will need:

• Multiple measuring tapes
• Scorecards on clipboards
• Pencils for players to write on their scorecards
• Equipment for the workout
• Water

You might also need:

• EZ-up tent
• Table and chairs for the sign-in sheet
• Laptop computer
• Wi-fi connection
• Bullhorns
• Cones
• Stopwatches
• A camera

Absences and Make-ups

Because you can recruit anyone from anywhere in the world to join your team, you may have members who cannot attend your preliminary event. And others might physically live in your vicinity but be unable to attend the preliminary event for any number of reasons. The way you manage this is entirely up to you.

Some affiliates have asked team members who cannot attend the preliminary to work with a partner to record the workout score and take measurements. And participants in your neighborhood who are unable to attend the preliminary may perform their baseline measurements and final workout at any time at your discretion. There is no time limit for you to enter their preliminary score and measurements. However, the later they perform their preliminary workout, the less time they will have for improvement.