Will Mary Wittenberg Resign?

agip wrote:

let's say you are right - that she should have had the foresight to know that the race was inappropriate and cancelled it on Wed instead of Friday, against the orders of the mayor.

But she didn't. Why is that 2 day gap a fireable offense?

After building the NYRR into the most powerful running org in the nation, two days of bumbling does not equal a firable offense.

A few things. First, there were no "orders of the Mayor." I'm not sure what country you think this is, but a politician cannot order a private entity to host an event. The Mayor issued strongly worded advice, not an order.

Second, the delayed cancellation was not the only offense, here. Her choice to not return entry fees is most likely illegal and absolutely a bad PR move. Any time you're undertaking a large project, whether you're building a skyscraper or hosting a marathon, you need to be prepared for things to go wrong. She needed to have adequate insurance or a sufficient cash reserve to make the refunds.

some new details. They have insurance but they don't know yet how much it will pay. it would be utterly stupid to commit to some kind of refund until they knew what the insurance will pay.

And what the sponsors will want.

I would say committing to a refund until the facts are available WOULD be a fireable offense.

And they have just $7 million cash. 47,000 x $250 = $11.8 mn.

Explain your plan on hwo they should handle refunds.

as for legality - a source inside NYRR claims they have no legal requirement to refund anything:

“Legally, we don’t have to pay runners back a penny, but morally, on the other side of the spectrum, we could give the runners back everything,” this person said. “My guess is that we’ll do something between the two. I think as an organization, we do consider fairness when we make decisions, but the world sometimes doesn’t run on fair.”

I don't know what the truth of the matter is. 9/11 insurance issues are still being litigated, so these things are often very complicated

agip wrote:

Explain your plan on hwo they should handle refunds.

You're looking at their current situation and wondering how they will pay for it. My point not that it will be an easy thing to do now. Rather, my point was that she should have had a plan beforehand. It was her job to know that insurance and cash reserves would have covered the cost of refunding entry fees upon cancellation.

Your comment is kind of like getting your bill at a restaurant and saying "how the heck do you expect me to pay my bill? The check is $70 and I only have $30!" No, I can't tell you how to pay a $70 bill with $30. I can tell you that it was your job to have the money in the first place. The fact that you've created an emergency for yourself doesn't absolve you of responsibility.

fireable offense wrote:

agip wrote:

Explain your plan on hwo they should handle refunds.

You're looking at their current situation and wondering how they will pay for it. My point not that it will be an easy thing to do now. Rather, my point was that she should have had a plan beforehand. It was her job to know that insurance and cash reserves would have covered the cost of refunding entry fees upon cancellation.

Your comment is kind of like getting your bill at a restaurant and saying "how the heck do you expect me to pay my bill? The check is $70 and I only have $30!" No, I can't tell you how to pay a $70 bill with $30. I can tell you that it was your job to have the money in the first place. The fact that you've created an emergency for yourself doesn't absolve you of responsibility.

_____

well, they do have insurance. They are waiting to hear from the insurance company. It can be unclear whether events are covered by insurance.

Remember the 9/11 issue? Guy who owned the two towers had a great anti-terrorism policy. So he is ok, right? Wrong - because two planes hit, the insurance company claimed they would only cover the first tower hit, not the second. Was 9/11 one incident or two?

so to repeat - they have insurance. They are waiting to see what it pays and what deals they have to make with sponsors. I don't see the problem.

agip wrote:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/07/sports/hostility-lingers-over-handling-of-new-york-city-marathons-cancellation.html?hp

some new details. They have insurance but they don't know yet how much it will pay. it would be utterly stupid to commit to some kind of refund until they knew what the insurance will pay.

And what the sponsors will want.

I would say committing to a refund until the facts are available WOULD be a fireable offense.

And they have just $7 million cash. 47,000 x $250 = $11.8 mn.

Explain your plan on hwo they should handle refunds.

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George Hirsch board chair says they are 100% behind Mary as quoted , he as well she step down , his poor council shows he is just as disconnected as Mary is.

I would think that the minute this storm surfaced as a potential problem they would have reviewed all contracts , services and related insurance as to understand where they stood. Im sure they have legal council that could have given them a summary of liability. ( worse case , best case )

Looking past who made the call to start and stop the event you have to judge the management around the fall out. By all accounts you have multiple screw ups committed by Mary and her team. Poor planning , poor execution , poor follow though.

Mary Wittenberg should be dismissed from her job and be forced to make a public apology to the people of the east coast and all the runs from around the world she screwed over. Seriously it has been almost 3 weeks and they are going to continue to get hit until something is done.

why do it anyway wrote:

Mary Wittenberg should be dismissed from her job and be forced to make a public apology to the people of the east coast and all the runs from around the world she screwed over. Seriously it has been almost 3 weeks and they are going to continue to get hit until something is done.

"Get hit" by who? News rags and anonymous fanboys on message boards? I'm sure she's so hurt by anonymous ranting.

No. Or at least she shouldn't. She did the best she could in an impossible situation.

And the whiners should grow up and move on.

Sweep it under the carpet and pretend it didn't happen ok , sounds like a great idea. Best she could , her best didn't work , her best was what most CEO's worst moments in crisis would be.

Fire her now and be done with it !

Fire Wittenberg!Fire Wittenberg!Fire Wittenberg!Fire Wittenberg!Fire Wittenberg!Fire Wittenberg!Fire Wittenberg!

Mary did a really great job and I am very impressed with her poise and professionalism. I wouldn't be surprised if she gets headhunted for other CEO positions after this.

Why didn't Bloomberg administration raise awareness of the situation on Staten Island, until the after the announcement that the Marathon was to go ahead?

Whenever I see her name in my Twitter stream I feel negativity rising in me.

They really screwed runners over that "catastrophy"-scheme.

gotthetshirt wrote:

Whenever I see her name in my Twitter stream I feel negativity rising in me.

They really screwed runners over that "catastrophy"-scheme.

dude, let it go.

Has caught no one with PEDs so she should go

/14,/2341,, wrote:

Has caught no one with PEDs so she should go

Just think about how many runners have gotten away with PED use at NYRR races....

My favorite NYRR trick is when they act like they are against doping and they prop Lance Armstrong in front of the media and act like he is a great role model when everyone was aware of drug use. David Monti just tweeted about ayhletes should steer clear of agents and coaches that are associated with drugs. Meanwhile they will kiss Alberto's rear end. It is pathetic.

they did pop sisay at the last marathon. it's not nyrr's job to be busting people. that would be usada and wada but carry on.