Scottish Champs are now a WRE

[Paul Frost]

The Scottish Individual Championships on 29th May are now a World Ranking Event.
Online entry via oentries, more details on the Scottish Orienteering website.

There seems to have been a bit of a push to get events in Scotland upgraded to WRE status recently and it got me thinking...

• Does it make the event more attractive to non-elite competitors?
• Does it attract extra foreign entries?
• Does it guarantee a quality event?
• Is it worth any extra work required by the organisers?

As a non elite competitor I've never really concerned myself about it much, but with the number of Scottish events having WRE status I thought I should try and understand the benefits.

[Gross]

Won't encourage overseas runners with dual pricing... BOF member costs less than non BOF members.... other IOF member countries should get the same price as BOF members....

[Snail]

Won't encourage overseas runners with dual pricing

But not likely to discourage them either.

If the Brittany / Valais / Alberta / South Australia Championships is upgraded to a WRE, I won't decide not to enter just because my entry fee is a few €/CHF/C$ /A$ different to the locals!

[Oldman]

I have been told that orienteers from other countries pay the BOF rate - a concession that not all other countries extend to us when we go to their events

[Gross]

I have been told that orienteers from other countries pay the BOF rate - a concession that not all other countries extend to us when we go to their events

That is my understanding as well... having entered a few competitions as another IOF Federation member.... but the Scottish Champs entry makes no mention of this
neither does the FVO WRE but I'm trying to fix that

[graeme]

Having controlled the last WRE.. and another one many many years ago ...


Does it make the event more attractive to non-elite competitors?
Several "non-elites" ran the WRE course, so yes, it does make it more attractive.

Does it attract extra foreign entries?
Not at the six day. With proper marketing, the Scottish would get more people (so that would be a no then)

Does it guarantee a quality event?
No, there was no improvement to the courses on account of WRE.

Is it worth any extra work required by the organisers?
There's hardly any extra work, unless you do foreign marketing (see above)

Interesting to see the Scottish becoming more outward looking. I even heard rumour of a plan to make it the centrepiece of the Autumn season.

[andypat]

Well there's the naming rights for a kick off!

I'm already packing my bags for the "Advertisign direct" Scottish Championships in 2011! With added "unbiased" commentary by Scott McKendrick of course.....

[Electrocuted]

Re pricing for foreign non BOF members - I am dealing with entries for this event so will check the position and confirm. The entries website was set up before the event became a WRE and will be updated to reflect the position asap.

[Gross]

Re pricing for foreign non BOF members - I am dealing with entries for this event so will check the position and confirm. The entries website was set up before the event became a WRE and will be updated to reflect the position asap.

Well this is typical for GBR... very late in awarding the WRE status... and the fees have to (should) be agreed with the IOF EA.... but I guess there isn't one yet...

BOF / GBR are so far behind the timescales decided by the IOF........

[DJM]

•Does it make the event more attractive to non-elite competitors?
•Does it attract extra foreign entries?
•Does it guarantee a quality event?
•Is it worth any extra work required by the organisers?

Experience over the 10 years since the WRE scheme started suggests that, as with many things in life, you get out of the event what you put into it. Canny organisers can use the IOF brand to attract a large entry, both from the elite and the non-elite (who also see a quality event worth travelling for). The Portuguese have staged a couple of WREs on an annual basis in February and regularly get a large non-Portuguese entry for example.

The key, as Graeme points out, is marketing. Just relying on the event's presence on the IOF website isn't anywhere near good enough. Neither does burying mention of the IOF and/or WRE status deep within event literature help. Someone has to be deputed to be i/c promotion, both in the UK and in Europe.

Regarding quality, nothing can guarantee quality of course, but I'm certain that a good IOF Event Adviser can contribute quite a bit to raising standards - unless they are perfect to start with ...

Extra work? The WRE Guidelines (and the 2010 version should be on the IOF website within a day or so) show what is necessary, and many top BOF events will meet the criteria already. So, in most cases, the extra work should be minimal. If not, it's probably because the extra work needed to be done anyway.

[andypat]

Should that be a SOA job to market the event or is it left up to the club? For me the SOA should take this on as marketing at club level varies tremendously depending on the time and expertise of the individual members.

[Gross]

The Portuguese have staged a couple of WREs on an annual basis in February and regularly get a large non-Portuguese entry for example.

The key, as Graeme points out, is marketing.

David, I don't agree that the success of the Portuguese has anything to do with WRE status. Having been in at the start of the Portuguese revolution (when it was the Mafra O Meet) the success of POM has been a result of warm weather training camps... Halden were one of the first along with PWT and myself etc... then came National Squads lead by GBR with Goran, Finland with Totte etc.

What the Portuguese did well and continue to do well is market... and WRE status is now an added bonus to the competitions but I doubt it is the reason many travel to Portugal, it's more to do with the fact that even at
+10 it's much warmer than the -25 in Finland.

Marketing is the key... the Scottish Champs has little or no hope of attracting a large European entry this year... it is far too late, there is no website up and running etc. The big elite decisions are made in the planning stages of late Autumn / early Winter... market well to the clubs in Scandinavia and Europe and you'll get club elite squads coming... whereas the traditional GB approach is to market to individuals... and that's part of the success of Portugal.... sell well to Halden and you know your getting 20 good elites who attract others, sell well in Britain and you are targeting individuals and decisions on travel are much more likely to be made because Halden as a club are going rather than gg or scotia as individuals...

It also helps that there are plenty of budget airlines flying to Portugal

[andypat]

It also helps that there are plenty of budget airlines flying to Portugal

So wheres the nearest world class area to Prestwick then.....?

[andy]

Does that mean we have 4 WREs in the Uk this year?

Trossachs SOL
2 * JK
Scottish Champs?

[Scott]

JK Day 2 (Cookworthy) is not a WRE.