Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

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Detailed Questions

What is the Tropical Adventure Competition?

30 teams each support their own special needs superhero; this can be a family member, friend or member of the community . Teams document what they have done by producing a 22 minute video. This video becomes a 30 minute episode for the streaming web series called “The Tropical Adventure Competition”. Their episode shows what quality of life actions they have accomplished locally and then the joy of a respite adventure with their superhero. The team that has the greatest effect in improving the quality of life for their superhero, wins. Each week for 30 weeks a different episode is broadcast. 5 more episodes have teams that are in the play offs and 1 final episode shows the Grand Prize winner. Some teams may be a family that documents what they have done to improve the quality of life for their superhero. Some teams may be a group of employees who help someone at work. Some teams may be a collection of people from the internet and some teams may be the result of an entrepreneurial investors showing their skills.

What position on a team should I apply for?

You can apply for any position from team owner to passenger. There is a USCG master, paramedic and scuba instructor that is part of the back up safety crew so you can apply as the skipper or divemaster even if you have never been on a boat or under the water. Your goal is to be competent by year 3 or just have a great time until then. In this competition the players and fans are all in it together. Are you going to be a paid contractor, a passenger or something in between? How you function on your adventure is something to consider. Here is a question from your competition registration form that explains how you function on a team.

What is your most desired type of adventure?

As a contractor (all expenses, paid a weekly rate no profit sharing or broadcast revenue, with tax breaks)

As a crew member (with profit sharing but no broadcast revenue, with tax breaks)

As a competitor (with profit sharing and broadcast revenue, with tax breaks)

As a passenger (wait list, you pay weekly, no profit sharing, no tax breaks, no broadcast revenue)

I don’t know at this time

Other

I find it very hard to believe that I could have all my expenses paid for, earn money and raise funds for a disabled family member while on a tropical adventure; how is this possible?

Not every competitor or team will be successful! This is an entrepreneur (business) competition that involves sports, recreation, professional skills, technical ability, actors and entrepreneurial skills to support a person with a disability. This is a formidable task, only the best will succeed. Some competitors and teams may earn nothing or be in debt and some could be paid the same as pro athletes, actors or successful entrepreneurs.

Each of the 30 teams have at least three revenue streams and a lot of tax deductions for their normal income.

Three Revenue streams

1.The business you create for your loved one! (landscaping, dog walking, coffee shop)

Of course you keep 100% and this income is not part of the competition

2.Competition Revenue (concessions, instruction, passengers, merchandise, activities)

Split equally between all teams 50% kept, 50% pooled then split equally

3.Broadcast Net Revenue (first year youtube, second year streaming, then network?)

50% split between all teams, 50% Dolphin Rodeo Inc.

Hero Funds

Hero shows a big check for $3,000 earned from a new job or one they have already worked

Hero must be paid 200% more than anyone else on the team

Hero bonus of 50% of all the team expenses (may be carried on the books until the third year)

Each team decides how much they will pay each person and how they will manage their money.

If teams do not make a profit to pay for all their adventure and business expenses by year three, they are out of the competition.

A team could lose money on a coffee shop business and the broadcast revenue could be flat. In that case the expenses could be similar to going on a great vacation but with a lot of tax deductions. The business created locally for their superhero could break even or be profitable and broadcast revenue could be similar to average sitcoms, cooking or talk shows. This type of success could pay all the expenses and produce a profit for all 30 teams.

Think of the competition structure as being similar to a major league sports team. The team is a business that earns revenue at their own stadium along with a share in the broadcast revenue of the league. A lot of people can play baseball, but only the best players with the best business managers, trainers and team can achieve greatness. Success depends on the effort and strategy of each team of sportsmen, actors, professionals and entrepreneurs as they compete to turn their hero into a superhero!

Do I have to pay a fee to a Team to be chosen?

No. There is a $1 fee to join this website and then you can be picked for a team. You can decide on your own training and qualification expenses. Until 30 teams are qualified, and they have agreed on their competition date there are no other fees or obligations. Also, similar to major league sports teams, a few teams may have investors that pay the players and their expenses along with making them shareholders. Each team decides how they will operate.

What are my expenses? (This could be a very inexpensive vacation or a very expensive one, your choice)

Lets assume you 100% fail in your business and there is no broadcast revenue! (If you are a passenger and not on a team, these prices do not apply) Only people on a team could expect to deduct airfare, equipment, food, accommodation, training and other expenses on their taxes and you will have to calculate this yourself. Right off the bat, with these tax deductions, your expenses should be far less than your typical vacation even if you earn zero revenue.

Think of this sailboat as a production studio. We are renting the production studio to the 30 production companies (teams). We are the parent company. We are providing a licensed captain and other crew, administration and production help. We are not covering your production costs and we can not estimate them. Your production format and costs are up to you whether it is a gopro or a full production crew. We are not going to include your production expenses because part of the competition is the business and skill strategy to produce a high quality low cost episode, especially if you use simple production equipment such as a cell phone or a go pro with a tremendous amount of skill. A cell phone can produce broadcast quality video, if you have the talent to use it.

If you research the rental price of a boat this size it is in the $20,000 / week price range with a two person crew.

Based on a 10 person team.

First 10 teams – $7,500 week ($150/day per person double occupancy)

Next 10 teams – $19,250 week ($275/day per person double occupancy)

Last 10 teams – by auction

Teams cover their food, fuel, travel and all other expenses. We supply the boat, crew and competition administration.

What revenue will this series produce for my superhero and team?

It entirely depends on the team and league effort.

First, you are in direct control of how well your superhero does at the business you create for them, so that is up to you. Second, each team has a tremendous effect on the revenue produced for their episode and the success of the series. You can find your own sponsors to advertise on your episode, for product placement, displaying logos, commercials and you can make your episode exciting so that people watch it to increase web or broadcast revenue. 50% of the yearly broadcast revenue is divided between all of the teams and the other 50% supports the disabled adults working, living and learning at the Marc Alan Lee Aquatic Center.

What is the storyline of this 30 episode docu-series?

Each episode shows how a team rescues their hero and then celebrates their success at turning them into a superhero. Typically each team creates a small business such as landscaping, dog walking or bicycle repair and they train their superhero to work in that business or independently. Some teams will simply improve the quality of life for their superhero if the superhero is unable to work. Each 22 minute episode starts with footage shot locally of the team improving the life of the superhero and ends with footage shot tropically. Each week a new superhero, team and strategy is explored.

The composition of the teams and the strategy they use to rescue their superhero will engage viewers every week due to the wide variety of personalities, strategies, successes, failures and obstacles that the team and superhero has to overcome.

The composition of the teams will be from families, businesses, neighbors, organizations and other groups in the community. During the local footage, teams will meet and help each other and this will show a strong community connection of teams helping each other to compete. Although the Tropical Adventure Competition will produce a final winner, everyone is competing with each other for a common good.

The most striking effect of this true life docu-series is that it will show a community all working together very altruistically to improve the quality of life for special populations and give other people ideas on what they can do to support family members, friends or employees.

We will shoot and narrate this series to show a very connected, warm and friendly community that will be the envy of other communities.

What kind of variety will this series have?

30 different teams with different kinds of superheroes, causes and 30 ways to tell their stories. Although people with special needs are featured, we are hoping a few teams will pick environmental, wildlife other important issues to be the superheroes for some of the teams. Some teams may tell their stories with comedy by pretending they are the Simpson characters or pirates or include some other unusual theme or cast of characters.

Why do you shoot in the tropics and celebrate there?

Two reasons. The first is that a tropical adventure creates a reason for people to train in swimming, scuba and sailing at the Marc Alan Lee Aquatic Center. This employs the disabled adults working there. The second is, when have you ever seen a person with a disability, on medicaid going on an exotic tropical vacation? There are a lot of families that sacrifice everything for their special needs superhero and this little bit of respite time can make a big difference in recharging the caregivers.

What is the Team Leader?

The Team Leader manages the superhero. They may also be the Team Manager or delegate this role. The Team Leader decides how much money the superhero can receive over what period of time so that they do not lose health insurance or benefits through Medicaid. The Team Leader decides who will manage the strategy for the competition and who will manage video production and crew positions.

How do I become a hero, team member or sponsor of this docu-series?

You login to this website and fill out a short questionnaire. There is a checklist and anytime you need help we will phone or email you and help you.

There are actions that increase your chances of being considered for a team such as completing your qualifications and registration with a robust profile. People are considered for teams in chronological order according to what they have completed on their checklist. What you do on your profile to stand out from everyone else is up to you.

Can employees from a business form a team?

Yes. Advertising, branding, marketing, team building, and tax advantages are just some of the benefits for a business forming a team. This is a very real and unique team building event that can bond and inspire employees as they work to create solutions for special populations within their business.

Think of the improvement to existing employee morale or the effect on new employees when during their company orientation, they see how your business produces results for superheros related to employees.

Can footage from our episode be used for advertising and marketing?

Yes. You have unlimited use of your episode and the footage released for it. You have permission to air your episode in the customer lounge of your business, on your web site or use parts of it in your commercials or advertising. You should also think about the placement of your logo on T-shirts, coffee cups, hats and other places during the shooting of your episode.

The local portion of your episode can occur anywhere and this includes at your business. This has a very strong impact for the public on the branding of your image.

This altruistic team effort on display should develop customer loyalty and trust for your business.

How do we know that the teams get our money and not someone else when we buy, sponsor or support them?

All the financial records are public as part of the contest. Each Team Leader chooses how their business earns revenue. The team can simply list their email address or mobile phone number on the team page and you connect with them directly through a service such as Zelle or use a shopping cart on a website. The team can also use services such as paypal that charge fees. How each team sets up their business, is up to them.

Once again, you do not send money to us, you send it directly to the team you choose to support when you buy their goods or services.

How do I get paid to be a team member?

This is one of your goals! To be paid to raise money for your superhero, enjoy a week of tropical adventure and be good at it is an outstanding impossible sounding competition goal for anyone! Your team starts by raising Par ($3,000) for your hero. At the end of the competition, your hero must recieve at least 50% of the teams net profit. The team can freely spend the other 50% but the superhero must recieve at least double of what any other team member or contractor is paid.

How much money does this web site keep when I support a team?

ZERO. When you find a team that you want to support, you follow the link to that team and buy products, services or advertising directly from them. They manage their own finances, strategy and all aspects of their business that supports their hero.

How does this web site earn money?

If you read the free download of our book you will get a complete answer. We are the Home Team. We host the other 29 teams and this gives us home field advantage for sales, web traffic, advertising and much more.

We take in registration and qualification fees as well as manage the Marc Alan Lee Aquatic Center that trains competitors.

What can our team win?

The most coveted prize is seeing the future change for your superhero and knowing that you did that.

The success of the competition overall directly effects what material rewards or adventures you can achieve.

Each team creates the best business and one week adventure that they can. The best adventures go to support the hero, cause or reason the team has chosen. There are all expense paid weeks and many other similar prizes, you should read the download of the rule book for complete details. Winning teams will be able to donate all expense paid adventures to support the hero or cause of their team.

All of the teams share in the broadcast revenue of this series, so in a way, the teams are also small business investors with money they may have normally spent on a vacation combined with their sweat equity.

Winners would be able to donate great prizes such as all expense paid adventures to support a golf tournament, silent auction or other event. They could really change the way a small nonprofit gets support for their activities. Your team might be 10 people interested in supporting horse rescue. If you win, you could donate some great prizes to your cause in addition to raising money for them.

What kind of profit is there?

Obviously, profit is not the motivation for this competition, but it is definitely a goal.

If your team produces an exciting episode you may attract some great sponsors and more for the next year! You could make commercials for them, do product placement in your episode and create other advertising and product sales revenue. Each team can link back to their own business from this site, to get web traffic, sales and more. The amount of profit is up to you, but the competition is set up so that your hero, cause or reason for competing, will do much better than you will.

The three year goal is to have all your expenses paid for and to receive at least a small paycheck for your adventures. Being paid to conquer the very difficult challenge of going on a tropical adventure to support a cause you believe in, will attract people to enter this very difficult competition. This is why your score against par is listed, so people will know exactly how successful you have been.

With a successful series, broadcast revenue could be quite significant! After each year, teams share in the broadcast revenue for that whole year.

What is par?

Par has two parts. The net expenses per team member per day and Hero funds.

Par for each week.

Year 1 $90/day per person – Team raises $3,000 for the hero

Year 2 $0/day per person – Team raises $5,000 for the hero

Year 3 (-$90)/day per person – Team raises $10,000 for the hero (the minus sign means you earned this amount for yourself after all your expenses are paid)

You score against par but this is for the overall competition. There are many other competitions and each team can create and host competitions as a method to earn a profit for their team.

Another explanation of Par is that you have made enough money to lower your expenses to $90/per person per day in year one, by the second year you break even and the third year you earn $90/day.

Why don’t you take donations?

We do have a charity we support FORSYTH AREA SPORTS TEAMS INC. that does business as the Atlanta Volunteers and hosts Pack 114, Special Scouts. Donations to FAST are not part of this competition. Email us for information.

There are two reasons we do not take donations to support people with special needs. Our main reason is that we want people to start businesses to employ special populations and improve their overall quality of life. Donations are a one-time fix and don’t keep you focused on finding solutions that can be more valuable than a one-time donation. If you want to donate to your favorite team, please consider being a sponsor instead of being a donor and forget about taking a tax write-off. You may get your name, comment or recognition on the list of their sponsors. If you have money to spend, the team might have products or services you can buy or they might send you a thank-you note, T-shirt or whatever reward they develop. It is up to them.

The other reason is the tax advantage for our 30 teams when they operate a business instead of a charity. They have three years to turn a profit and get paid to have adventures or their business is disqualified from this competition. In the meantime, by working at their own tropical adventure business for one or two weeks a year they may be able to deduct all of their business expenses from their usual job. Even though this looks like they are having a lot of fun on vacation, they are engaged in business activities. If in three years, they do turn a profit, then they are being paid for a fun part time job supporting a cause they believe in. Being paid to go on tropical adventures is a great reward for supporting special populations and it will in turn keep their hero employed. You also have the satisfaction in knowing that it is you that created the reward while supporting a cause you believe in. Improving the life of your hero better than anyone else is the real competition for what seems like an impossible business goal.

You can be true “Angel Investor” and sponsor a team in year one only, and be the owner for $50,000 or any increment of $5,000. The hero must earn twice as much as you do and you pay for the team expenses out of profit or loss, so don’t expect to get rich. So doing the math, you could be the owner of all the teams for $1,500,000. But you still have to qualify each team and this takes skill and not money!

What kind of business expenses could I deduct from my taxes?

You and your team decide that. Your normal business overhead, utilities and costs such as buying scuba, sailing or adventure gear, paying for air fare, accommodations, food, training, fuel, travel, depreciation on buildings, vehicles and all the other long list of tax deductible expenses are typical deductions you could use for the taxes you already pay, but that is your decision.

You may decide to open a landscaping business for your hero or maybe a bakery, bicycle repair shop or dog walking business. You would of have all of the expenses you decide on that are appropriate for your situation.

Just like Westinghouse, and many other top corporations like Amazon that pay no taxes, you should try to get all of your taxes back from the taxes you already pay.

How many people are you looking for?

Thirty teams each year, which means 200 to 300 people a year on the adventure portion of the competition. But each team can have unlimited crowd sourcing or business help from all over the world for the entrepreneur portion of the competition.

How many heroes and teams do you already have?

We do not announce team status until 40 teams have qualified. Then we will decide and announce the status. Ten teams will be on stand-by.

Where will this docu-series be broadcast?

This will start as an on demand streaming series. Will it go to network? Would we want it to go to network? There are pros and cons to broadcast choices, but if we start as an on demand web series for our first year, we can build our audience, sponsors, teams and adventures. We will be in a much better position to negotiate a network or broadcast deal or just continue to broadcast from our own servers in the following years.

What rating will this docu-series be?

G Rated. In addition to the high standards of a G rating, we ask that you shoot in a format that is completely family friendly.

Lets pretend a team produces a funny episode that is a hilarious pirate comedy but it is not G rated due to language and rum drinking. The team would still be able to produce revenue with this video, but it would have to be from their own web site and not part of this competition. To stay in the competition they have to produce an episode that is G rated.

All material entered into this competition is the property of Dolphin Rodeo Inc. The first step before releasing footage to the public or back to the teams for editing is to ensure that all legal requirements are met for photography releases, location releases and no legal issues exist with the footage. The G rated and legally cleared material shot is released to the team so they can edit and produce the episode for the competition and release the episode they shot.

Where do I start?

What is the judging criteria?

The 30 teams are the 30 judges. There are many different competitions and small family productions may get the most votes simply because of altruistic appeal and beat out large corporations for some categories. Large corporations may win in media production and other business categories. Judging and categories are listed on page 96 of the book or page 104 of the pdf.

What is the difference between a pre-assembled team and a chosen team?

A family, employees or a group can form a team and they are examples of a pre-assembled team. Chosen teams start on Day 1 of the tryouts when team managers pick their teams from competitor profiles.

How Does The Competition Start?

Everyone including the teams, players, sponsors and fans may begin training, producing video and preparing for their competition at anytime. So you can start now.

Pre-assembled teams and individuals can start anytime. Chosen teams start on Day 1 of the tryouts.

When do tryouts start?

When 40 team managers qualify, the tryouts begin one week later. We notify everyone by email when we are getting close to having tryouts.

When can our team book a sailing date?

On day 1 of the tryouts all teams including pre-assembled teams, can choose their sailing date based on the order they apply as a qualified team. This continues until 30 teams have chosen their sailing dates. The remaining teams and players are put on a wait-list.

What is a qualified team?

A team manager or owner has completed the requirements for the team and equipment to be put on a ships manifest. This is a qualified team. Teams can qualify to be put on a ships manifest at anytime. One person can fill as many roles as they want, but each Qualified Team needs a Superhero, Team Leader, Team Manager, Production Manager, Medic, Sailor and Diver. Only the medic position needs to be qualified and this can be at the basic Red Cross level. All other positions can be filled by people with no experience or training. The diver could be a snorkeler and the sailor could be a student on their first day sailing. DOLPHIN RODEO INC. supplies a qualified captain and medic onboard the vessel who are not part of the competition. They only act for the safety of people and the vessel or to provide instruction when asked.

Can we look at competitor profiles and choose people before the Tryouts?

Yes and No. You can assemble a team on your own, but you may not easily look at competitor profiles prior to the start of the tryouts. If you learn the features of the website you may be able to figure out how to contact other people. Discovering how to assemble a team is part of the competition.

What can I look forward to?

Pride in knowing you are a part of improving this world. This is a three year competition, you should see significant results for your superhero which is the reason to compete. Also, in three years or less, our goal is to have enough people that are trained and experienced enough to operate a second or third boat for the competition that will start a boat to boat competition.

What strategy do I use to compete?

Produce the best results for the superhero, cause or reason that you are competing for. You could produce an interesting or inspiring episode, have spectacular viewer support, find great sponsors or focus on a strategy to win one of the competitions listed in our book. download

You are judged on the results of your efforts to turn your hero into a superhero.

There are a lot of ways to compete and each team can challenge any or all teams. You can create your own challenges such as an environmental or rescue competition as a strategy to challenge other teams.

Individual competitors have the best chance at winning competitions if they start as a beginner and then end up as qualified and experienced. The goal is to be competent enough to crew their own boat in year three. Fully qualified people are easily placed on teams but have a harder time winning individual competitions as it may be harder for them to advance.

Do I have to read all of the book?

No. Just login and answer a few questions in the crew profile and you are done. The only people that need to know how this competition works are the 30 Team Leaders. Team leaders pick their teams from people who login and fill out their crew profile.

The information presented here and in the book is available to anyone so that they can help their team

Why is your book called “The Ability Revolution” and not “The Tropical Adventure Competition?”

The Ability Revolution talks about all aspects of our business including other ways to train and support special populations. We list a variety of ways to employ adults with disabilities, the Tropical Adventure Competition is just one of them.

The Tropical Adventure Competition is a marketing device used by Dolphin Rodeo Inc. We are a business that is focused on supporting disabled adults working and living at the Marc Alan Lee Aquatic Center. The Tropical Adventure Competition is a marketing and advertising strategy that will bring people to the aquatic center. The goal of Dolphin Rodeo Inc. is to have the aquatic center create a small boarding school that trains adults with disabilities to work in teams to become Certified Nursing Assistants. CNA Teams will provide care to other people with disabilities or to people needing daily living care. We have manufacturing and other jobs described in our book.

Ability Teams