7 hours ago, Mikachu said:

Just a random thought to share... should we maybe put ourselves in organizers's shoes once to go through this petition 'thing'? I'm not saying that COR would definitely discuss within opening the practice, but if there is indeed a possibility that the organizers might be considering it...they must be thinking about the pros and cons. So far we've come up with quite a few pros, but what about the setbacks/obstacles? If we could offer them the solutions at the same time, will it be easier for them to make the decision in favor of us?

 

At the moment, I could think of things like...security, staff and administrative aspects on the day of practice... hopefully the events are always equipped with enough security and staff since day 1.

Another which I think is pretty crucial, is what it means to the athletes. Will opening the practice to the public affect them? And is it good for them or bad for them? If it's positive, that'll be great, but if it's negative or not so positive, could it be controllable to certain degree that is acceptable?

Since I've never been to a practice before, I have no idea what it is like. So this is simply how i imagine...

 

I've been to open practices at Helsinki Worlds, Boston Worlds, Grand Prix Finals in Barcelona & Marseille, Skate America, Skate Canada, Autumn Classic & other competitions.  I think if it were a big hassle for organizers to have open practices, the organizers of those events wouldn't have them.  Figure skating fans are well-behaved.  The only incidents I've seen are a few disputes when someone was sitting in someone else's seat.  The arenas have to be open anyway for the skaters, coaches & journalists.  Any extra cost for ticket-takers & security must be covered by the income from practice tickets (when practice tickets are sold separately, as in Marseille, or included in the all-event pass).  I think some of the ushers are unpaid volunteers anyhow.

 

What's really great is when gala practices are open.  So much fun goes down then.  Not only did Yuzuru do all those jumping passes in Marseille, but he stayed around & joked with fans at the end (the fans being kept at a safe distance by the seating barriers).  The Marseille organizers were criticized for doing things on the cheap (to be fair, I think they were low on funds).  So, if they opened all their practices - including having for the practices the serious security checkpoints necessary because of France's terrorism problems - it must have been worth it financially.

 

I think the situation inside Japan might be special, since there might be full audiences, needing full security & services, for practices, but in all the competitions I've been to in North America & Europe, there were maybe 200 fans, at most, for practices.

 

I'm going to start asking skaters who I manage to talk to how they feel about open practices (it's good to have something prepared to say when meeting a celebrity anyway!).  I suspect that most of them like having a chance to work in front of an audience to conquer some of their nervousness before a competition.  I would think that they must know that anyone who goes to practices is a dedicated fan & it must be nice for them to have such fans around them.

 

Sorry for the long post - but I feel passionately about this & the one thing making me hesitate to go to Rostelecom (& other competitions without open practices) is the lack of open practices, which means traveling so far & seeing Yuzuru for only a few minutes.

I second every words said by @Upnights. Besides OP, gala rehearsals are always full of memorizing moments. I wish we could at least watch gala rehearsal.

Here's my new draft.  Any suggestions for amending it are welcome.  I don't know how to set up a petition, so I would appreciate it if someone who does could help with this.  It would be great if we could get translations into Russian and other languages so more people could understand it and sign it.  There's a bit of time before tickets go on sale, so I think there is time to make a difference.  If I can't get the petition set up, I will at least send this as my own email.

 

I want to note that it's also in the interest of fans who don't attend competitions for practices to be open.  I believe that fans at home enjoy seeing the photos, videos and reports from fans at the practices.  I also know that numerous skaters have liked and reposted photos I've taken of them at practices, so I assume they appreciate the attention.  Also, I wrote before that about 200 fans attend practices.  I think it's more than that, especially when Yuzuru is there.  So, say about 400.  At about 10 Euros a ticket, that's more than enough to cover the extra expense for ushers and cleaners.  Okay, here it is:

 

Dear Rostelecom organizers:

 

We request that you have open practices for Rostelecom Cup 2017.

 

For many fans, open practices are an important part of competitions.  Attending practices allows fans to better appreciate the work that goes into skaters' performances.  Photos and reports that fans post on social media are seen by many fans who can't attend competitions.  This increases the popularity of figure skating.

 

Open practices are standard at many ISU competitions, including the World Championship, the Grand Prix Final, Four Continents, Skate Canada and Skate America.  There have not been problems with allowing fans into practices at these competitions.  We believe that open practices are money-makers - not only for the competition organizers, who can sell extra tickets for the practices, but for local businesses.  Fans will arrive several days early in order to attend practices, and will spend more money at hotels, restaurants and arena concession stands.  For some fans, whether practices are open is a deciding factor in whether they are willing to undergo the travel and expense of going to a competition at all.

 

For these reasons, we urge you to try having open practices.

 

Thank you!

10 hours ago, raebia said:

...don't have time tonight to write much or discuss on text, sorry!!, just wanted to say, I can translate into German, if needed and wished.

 

Many greetings, 

 

raebia

It's really fantastic, but I think if we want COR committee would think about our request of OP better use their language or English otherwise they may ignore our letter. 

12 hours ago, supphear said:

And here is my email. Quite simple, nothing emotional, straightly state my request and their benefits.....

 

WE WANT TO SEE OPEN PRACTICES! IT CAN MAKE YOU MONEY!!!

Here below is the benefits you will have.

1) The profit Moscow government will earn from the tourists who will arrive in advance to see the OP. They will bring huge incoming for hotels, catering service and local tourism.

2) The profit Russian Skating Union will earn. You will definitely sold as many tickets as you want with OP. This year Yuzuru Hanyu will join COR.  We are willing to buy tickets of OP to see him!  But if you cancel it, many fans will cancel their trip to Moscow cause lacking of OP.

 

Taking 4CC as example. There were over 32000 tickets sold in 2017 4CC which held in Korea, and Hanyu joined this competition. But back to 2016, 4CC was held in Korea as well. There were only 6500 tickets sold, Hanyu didn't join it. Both of them had open practices and allow audiences to watch it. Of course, OP was sold with formal tickets as a set.

 

3) Because when Hanyu joined competition in Japan, situation is like COR--NO open practices left to audience but they can watch OP in 4CC. There were more than 4000 people traveling from Japan watching Hanyu and his OP. And for China there were hundreds of people as well.

 

4) Think of how much COR may gain from audience who want to watch OP.

 

Thanks to a lovely girl in weibo.com helped me translate my letter into Russian! @小哥哥的贝尔曼

I don't think actually WRITE a real letter on paper to COR committee will be helpful, but present the benefits they will earn will be much more attractive.

I will keep the frequency that write to COR committee every 2-3 days to declare my/our aspiration of OPEN PRACTICES. I am not sure if it's been worked but like Hanyu said, you just give up without even try it. That would be boring......

 

Мы хотим смотреть Official Practice ISU Гран-при по фигурному катанию Rostelecom Cup 2017

Уважаемый господин/госпожа:
Мы любители фигурного катания и фанаты Юзуру Ханю в Китае и хотим ехать в Москву смотреть COR.Но слышал,что в прошлом году Official practice для зрителей закрыт.Мы очень хотим смотреть тренировки и советовать вам открыть official practice от всей души.

Во-первых, открыть тренировки может приносить большой доход и правительству России и Союзу Конькобежцев России.Потому что это будет привлекать больше любителей ехать в Москве,билеты будут распроданными,и это будет приносить доход в курсе туриста и отели.
Во-вторых,если вы закроют тренировки,много любителей будет отменять поездов в Москве,так как мы можем смотреть соревнования по телевизору,но не можем смотреть official practice.

Например,32000 билетов было продано в 4cc 2017,потому что Юзуру Ханю участвовал и op было открыт.Но когда в 2016 без участия Юзуру,только 6500 билетов продано.В 2017 более 4000 людей из Японии и сотные из Китая ездили в Корею смотреть 4сс ,потому что op был открыт там.

Надеются ,что вы будете продумать о наши советы.
С уважениям
Любители фигурного катания в Китае

 

I get her authorization of sending email to COR, editing the contents in case any solecism.

Please feel free to write to COR asking for OP watching rights!!!

1 minute ago, supphear said:

 

Thanks to a lovely girl in weibo.com helped me translate my letter into Russian! @小哥哥的贝尔曼

I don't think actually WRITE a real letter on paper to COR committee will be helpful, but present the benefits they will earn will be much more attractive.

I will keep the frequency that write to COR committee every 2-3 days to declare my/our aspiration of OPEN PRACTICES. I am not sure if it's been worked but like Hanyu said, you just give up without even try it. That would be boring......

 

Мы хотим смотреть Official Practice ISU Гран-при по фигурному катанию Rostelecom Cup 2017

Уважаемый господин/госпожа:
Мы любители фигурного катания и фанаты Юзуру Ханю в Китае и хотим ехать в Москву смотреть COR.Но слышал,что в прошлом году Official practice для зрителей закрыт.Мы очень хотим смотреть тренировки и советовать вам открыть official practice от всей души.

Во-первых, открыть тренировки может приносить большой доход и правительству России и Союзу Конькобежцев России.Потому что это будет привлекать больше любителей ехать в Москве,билеты будут распроданными,и это будет приносить доход в курсе туриста и отели.
Во-вторых,если вы закроют тренировки,много любителей будет отменять поездов в Москве,так как мы можем смотреть соревнования по телевизору,но не можем смотреть official practice.

Например,32000 билетов было продано в 4cc 2017,потому что Юзуру Ханю участвовал и op было открыт.Но когда в 2016 без участия Юзуру,только 6500 билетов продано.В 2017 более 4000 людей из Японии и сотные из Китая ездили в Корею смотреть 4сс ,потому что op был открыт там.

Надеются ,что вы будете продумать о наши советы.
С уважениям
Любители фигурного катания в Китае

 

I get her authorization of sending email to COR, editing the contents in case any solecism.

Please feel free to write to COR asking for OP watching rights!!!

Talking about efficiency! You guys rock!

just one tiny question: the context in green is just the petition, right? What about the email title? What should it be in Russian?

2 hours ago, Upnights said:

Open practices are standard at many ISU competitions, including the World Championship, the Grand Prix Final, Four Continents, Skate Canada and Skate America.  There have not been problems with allowing fans into practices at these competitions.  We believe that open practices are money-makers - not only for the competition organizers, who can sell extra tickets for the practices, but for local businesses.  Fans will arrive several days early in order to attend practices, and will spend more money at hotels, restaurants and arena concession stands.  For some fans, whether practices are open is a deciding factor in whether they are willing to undergo the travel and expense of going to a competition at all.

This paragraph just make the point of watch open practices. Can I use it in my email and ask a fan translate it into Russian?

The key is: we will arrive early and increase consumption in Moscow if you let us watch OP. Without OP, no extra shopping, tickets charge or maybe not too many audiences!!!

5 minutes ago, Mikachu said:

Talking about efficiency! You guys rock!

just one tiny question: the context in green is just the petition, right? What about the email title? What should it be in Russian?

 

We want to watch OP of ISU Гран-при по фигурному катанию Rostelecom Cup 2017

Мы хотим смотреть Official Practice ISU Гран-при по фигурному катанию Rostelecom Cup 2017

 

Here is subject of the email.

Could you let me have a day or two and I'll translate your message into Russian? I'm afraid I'm very busy until Friday...

10 minutes ago, Fay said:

Could you let me have a day or two and I'll translate your message into Russian? I'm afraid I'm very busy until Friday...

Hi, @Fay! Hope you are okay! I've seen at news that it was a big big storm in Moscow. They showed terrible footages this morning ...

Just now, ralucutzagy said:

Hi, @Fay! Hope you are okay! I've seen at news that it was a big big storm in Moscow. They showed terrible footages this morning ...

Yeah, but I managed not to see or hear any of it. So I'm perfectly fine.

Just now, Fay said:

Yeah, but I managed not to see or hear any of it. So I'm perfectly fine.

That's good! Have a nice day! 

3 hours ago, supphear said:

This paragraph just make the point of watch open practices. Can I use it in my email and ask a fan translate it into Russian?

The key is: we will arrive early and increase consumption in Moscow if you let us watch OP. Without OP, no extra shopping, tickets charge or maybe not too many audiences!!!

Yes, absolutely!

3 hours ago, Fay said:

Could you let me have a day or two and I'll translate your message into Russian? I'm afraid I'm very busy until Friday...

Fay, my aunt lives in Moscow, I hope to see you and others at CoR.... 

14 hours ago, meoima said:

Fay, my aunt lives in Moscow, I hope to see you and others at CoR.... 

 

Looking forward to seeing you and every other PH satellite drawn by the gravitation to Moscow. Sincerely hope we get tickets!