Mmmmm . . . some posters to this thread seem to think that the Event Structure Review is now being carried out by the combined might of the Operations Team, Development Team and the full Board of Directors,
Call me cynical but I would surprised if "Senior Management" ran to quite so many people.
I'm just curious as to who decided to kill off the colour coded system we have used for so many years.
Updated Event Structure article
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Re: Updated Event Structure article
RichT wrote:I'm just curious as to who decided to kill off the colour coded system we have used for so many years.
The colour-coded system is discussed at great length in the minutes from the last Events Committee meeting. It would seem, however, that Rules Group are responsible for the matrix (and accompanying Very Easy/Easy/Medium/etc naming).
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Scott - god
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Re: Updated Event Structure article
Scott wrote:The colour-coded system is discussed at great length in the minutes from the last Events Committee meeting.
Thanks for posting this extraordinary insight into life on Planet Bof. Should we laugh or cry??
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greywolf - addict
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Re: Updated Event Structure article
Could someone translate/summarise the key points from these minutes? What are clubs and event organisers expected to do?
- SeanC
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Re: Updated Event Structure article
Clive Coles wrote:BOF have still to sort out discounts for local BOF members
See the summary of the last Board meeting that appeared today: from 1st Jan 2009, the £2 discount for national members (and local members at events in their home region) will apply at all events, regardless of level.
I'm not sure where this leaves those wanting to charge £1 to all comers at informal/CATI/summer-evening events (having to give free runs to BOF members, presumably).
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Scott - god
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Re: Updated Event Structure article
SeanC wrote:What are clubs and event organisers expected to do?
Eagerly await somebody actually making a decision? Although that could take a while, seeing as the colour-coded system has now been passed on to Development Committee for (yet more) discussion.
My favourite line was in the RG minutes:
Rule Group wrote:From 1st January 2009, the new Event Structure will:
e) Provide clarity in that it is the Club that has the responsibility to meet the needs of the majority of their participants to the best of the Club’s organisational and planning ability.
Provision of clarity, eh?

In the meantime, the key points seem to be that you should be using The Matrix in your fliers/website publicity for all events, and if you're hosting a L2 event then you should be also enforcing a 12-month embargo, finding an external grade 2 controller, and mapping age-classes to courses (so the ranking list doesn't fall apart). And await the new guidelines, which might well change everything again.
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Scott - god
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Re: Updated Event Structure article
Scott - thank you. You make sense at least!
To clarify, please tell me if I've got this right.
For 2009.
1) For what was a colour coded event: Old colours aren't dead yet. They must just be mapped in The Matrix on event publicity/fliers.
2) The New Colours (short blue, long blue, long orange etc.) are to be phased out as soon as they are phased in.
3) For our existing local events which didn't mention colours in the publicity - no change, no need to display The Matrix, just carry on as normal.
To clarify, please tell me if I've got this right.
For 2009.
1) For what was a colour coded event: Old colours aren't dead yet. They must just be mapped in The Matrix on event publicity/fliers.
2) The New Colours (short blue, long blue, long orange etc.) are to be phased out as soon as they are phased in.
3) For our existing local events which didn't mention colours in the publicity - no change, no need to display The Matrix, just carry on as normal.
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Re: Updated Event Structure article
And regarding the £2 BOF discount as this is entirely discretionary for clubs, it would seem that it is still up to the clubs to decide which event to apply it to.
regarding the rest I have just set up the Moray Mix weekend on Oentries. We have stuck with the colours that people understand for day 1 plus our "classic" (a long defunct IOF term
) elite courses.
On day 2 we just have 3 courses but have mapped ages as per Nopesport Urban League onto them.
In other words we have done nothing different to what we would have done, and I for one cannot see that any of the "changes" will have any effect whatsoever.
The only difference has been forced on us is in that the whole weekend event is lumped in as the same stndard as our 2 short course round £2 entry Saturday morning events.
regarding the rest I have just set up the Moray Mix weekend on Oentries. We have stuck with the colours that people understand for day 1 plus our "classic" (a long defunct IOF term

On day 2 we just have 3 courses but have mapped ages as per Nopesport Urban League onto them.
In other words we have done nothing different to what we would have done, and I for one cannot see that any of the "changes" will have any effect whatsoever.
The only difference has been forced on us is in that the whole weekend event is lumped in as the same stndard as our 2 short course round £2 entry Saturday morning events.

- EddieH
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Re: Updated Event Structure article
Of course if everyone ignores the new rules and carries on using the current (albeit imperfect system) they will just fall be the wayside....... Up with democracy!!
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Re: Updated Event Structure article
e) Provide clarity in that it is the Club that has the responsibility to meet the needs of the majority of their participants to the best of the Club’s organisational and planning ability.
Am I right in thinking that this can be interpreted as clubs can ignore the new structure if it doesn't meet the needs of the majority of their members ?
Maybe democracy really does rule.
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Re: Updated Event Structure article
I hope the members various committees can see the positive sides of these new regional events which seem to me as:
- entry lists by colour makes the event look more popular (nothing sadder than a race with 1 or 2 competitors)
- B class runners not fit enough for the long course get a big choice of courses rather than just one.
- Progressing orienteers get more choice of course and therefore more likely to find a suitable course (ie avoids unintuitive courses such as M/W2lV).
- Existing orienteers are not disenfranchised (as results are displayed by age class).
- Punter orienteers like me who want a serious challenge can run the black course - something not normally on offer on district events. Personally this is something I would like to try before I'm too old. Of course I could run M21A now - but I would feel like a bit of a wally as a slow M40 taking 2 hours + to do M21A.
If the new colours are considered too confusing to newcomers why not use them just for the new regionals and not for local events? Ie local events could plan courses to colours, but the event publicity aimed at newcomers would use natural language (short, medium, hard) as we do for Kent Orienteering League events.
- entry lists by colour makes the event look more popular (nothing sadder than a race with 1 or 2 competitors)
- B class runners not fit enough for the long course get a big choice of courses rather than just one.
- Progressing orienteers get more choice of course and therefore more likely to find a suitable course (ie avoids unintuitive courses such as M/W2lV).
- Existing orienteers are not disenfranchised (as results are displayed by age class).
- Punter orienteers like me who want a serious challenge can run the black course - something not normally on offer on district events. Personally this is something I would like to try before I'm too old. Of course I could run M21A now - but I would feel like a bit of a wally as a slow M40 taking 2 hours + to do M21A.
If the new colours are considered too confusing to newcomers why not use them just for the new regionals and not for local events? Ie local events could plan courses to colours, but the event publicity aimed at newcomers would use natural language (short, medium, hard) as we do for Kent Orienteering League events.
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Re: Updated Event Structure article
I've just read the article in Focus and re-read the posts in this thread, and I wonder if the good intentions of the new scheme will actually be realised in practice. This is for the following reasons:
- Although there are 25 course options in the matrix, very few events will put all of them on (and I don't think it was ever intended that they should). So whereas now, if I find the Blue course is about the level I want, I can be fairly sure of finding one at any District event, this might not be the case under the new scheme if I happen to like the "Medium XL" course. So having more options may actually achieve the opposite of what's intended, because fewer events will offer the same ones.
- Many orienteers like to compete, and while for the ones at the top the incentive might be winning, for those lower down the field, it might be getting a colour-coded or badge standard - it certainly was for me when I started orienteering. Until these schemes are overhauled (and I know this is on the cards), many people will surely tend to enter one of the old colour or age-class courses rather than the new ones on offer.
- The FAQ says that, for the present, the ranking list will be based on certain courses in the table for particular age classes. This will surely drive lots of the more experienced orienteers to run those courses rather than the others - as happened before, I think, when ageless senior courses were tried. I can see "Very Hard L" (M18-50 [except M21, presumably
] and W21) in particular being over-subscribed.
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Re: Updated Event Structure article
Having been an average orienteer for 14 years now, I think the following range of courses would cover all bases at local events in lowland England:
Easy very short (white) 1.5k
Easy short (yellow) 3k
Easy long (runners) 9k
Medium short (orange) 3k
Medium medium (red) 6k
Hard short (light green) 3k
Hard medium (light blue) 6k
Hard long (light brown) 9k
Easy very short (white) 1.5k
Easy short (yellow) 3k
Easy long (runners) 9k
Medium short (orange) 3k
Medium medium (red) 6k
Hard short (light green) 3k
Hard medium (light blue) 6k
Hard long (light brown) 9k
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Re: Updated Event Structure article
I've just looked at the published BOF fixture list in CompasSport.
Under Event Descriptions, it says "District events offer ..." There can be no clearer demonstration of the chaotic suddenness of what is going on.
Reading the list it's worse. Many conventional local and informal events go in without the name local attached including tghe first 8 entries. It makes the Moray Mix weekend which we are targetting internationally look even odder. Who decided to append the words "local event" to each day of that weekend but not to Edinburgh City race, Warrior O Trial, Kent League etc.......... ?
Under Event Descriptions, it says "District events offer ..." There can be no clearer demonstration of the chaotic suddenness of what is going on.
Reading the list it's worse. Many conventional local and informal events go in without the name local attached including tghe first 8 entries. It makes the Moray Mix weekend which we are targetting internationally look even odder. Who decided to append the words "local event" to each day of that weekend but not to Edinburgh City race, Warrior O Trial, Kent League etc.......... ?

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Re: Updated Event Structure article
I'm perplexed as to how the matrix is supposed to give clearer information about what's on offer than the simple list format such as this
http://www.orienteering.ilkley.org/clubdocs/Courses.htm the like of which is already successfully used at many course (as against class) based events
http://www.orienteering.ilkley.org/clubdocs/Courses.htm the like of which is already successfully used at many course (as against class) based events
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