He wrote that the foreign competitors were taking the Worlds a lot more lightly than the U.S. competitors and that he had the impression that it would be more a holiday for the foreigners than something to be taken seriously.
This impression seemed to be based on the perception that some of the foreign competitors saw Battle Creek as a "store that rents an entire line of balloon equipment with a truck rental agency for crew cab pick ups next door."
Oddly enough, I know that a large number of Mr. Rudlaff's "holiday flyers", including myself, did take the Worlds very seriously indeed. I also know that some of us were intending no to use the organization as a "travel agency". However, when I mentioned that I would try to organize reservations for the German team myself I received an angry fax from the organization head telling me that no competitor should make reservations on his own as rooms could not be guaranteed and free pilot rooms would not be paid for. Additionally we were notified with the pilots information that double cabin pick ups were available only through the organization. As most pilots wanted to have a free pilot's room and choose to drive double cabin pick ups they had no choice but to make reservations through the organization bureau.
Having themselves chosen to act as an exclusive travel agency, it would have been nice if the organization had provided the services it insisted on providing. As it turned out the hotel and pick up reservations they faxed me were not worth the paper they were written on. My team and I discovered on arrival that the hotel had no idea we were coming and the pick up was not available either. As a result we lost valuable training time doing what we would gladly have done weeks before from Germany—organizing our stay ourselves.
So much for taking a job seriously.
Uwe Schneider
German Competitor
CIA Delegate
Following is an excerpt from Briefing that Mr. Schneider refers to above.
"The Worlds has consumed lots of time, although not for the same reasons as the other two [Gwinnett, Georgia and Columbia, Missouri]. Due to the fact that the basic organization at Battle Creek is and has been operating for several years with experienced people, we haven't had to start from scratch. As always, Jim Birk has excellent people in place who know the ropes. In fact, we've been working with these very same people for years and have excellent relationships with them. The usual number of international people are in place, and in most cases, are already acquainted with their American counterparts. Barb Haluszka as usual her cooperative self and being really great about putting up with Birk, Lowe, and me. Maps were compiled last year so we didn't have to worry about that.
"The bulk of our time has been spent with the international competitors regarding applications, deadlines, language barriers, time zone differences and attitudes in general. I actually believe that some of them think we have a store in Battle Creek that rents an entire line of balloon equipment and that next door is a truck rental agency that has crew cab pick ups with lifts. They can't seem to understand why car rental agencies don't rent trailers too. You begin to realize rather quickly that there are some major differences in culture and understanding levels between ourselves and our ballooning neighbors. Just conquering international faxing has been a chore. I certainly will be glad when the Worlds are over and things get back to normal everyday English.
"One thing has become very evident during the last several months—our foreign friends take the Worlds a whole lot lighter then U.S. competitors do. I've definitely gotten the impression that it's more a holiday than something to be taken seriously. Although that, once again, might be something to do with the different cultures." Dick Rudlaff, Chairman, BFA Competition Division.