4 Levels

[Blonde bombshell]

Apologies AWK - no offence intended

[awk]

Apologies AWK - no offence intended

None taken - some have written auk for some time, and it's not been noticed (BTW the Little Auk is still knocking around!). We all know who you mean, and that's the important bit.

Yes I was part of the event review group, appointed by the YHOA chairman of the time. We were disbanded once the recommendations went to Events Committee. They then went through the usual processes, of batting backwards and forwards between regions, various committees, and finally Council, pretty much all of which had regional reps and/or directly elected members.

The short answer why some people don't understand the change, is that the introduction was messed up, and is only in the past couple of months starting to sort out. As you saw from Spookster's recent post, the structure is very simple.

It's fine if you don't care about the level of management - we never intended the levels to be part of the marketing. They were simply administrative. We maintained that that people go to events for a wide variety of different criteria, and that the levels were irrelevant, and previously often misleading (e.g. a lot of C3s weren't at the same quality level as a lot of C4s), which led to a lot of frustration, and comment not least about fees (neatly forgotten or at least slid over by the 4-tier proponents).

You may look at levels, but that I would suggest is only because of what went before. In pretty much every other sport I do, any NGB level is irrelevant; indeed in most, the competitors haven't got a clue if there is or isn't one. What matters is how the organisers promote their event.

Take your selection of our events. You say you differentiated depending on whether they would have been old regional or old district - but how did you know, given that they are all level 2, and we certainly don't promote them like that? Somewhere along the line, you must have applied your own personal criteria, but that may well be different to somebody else (certainly mine!). Does that matter? I'd suggest not. (Out of interest, which ones have you been too, and what criteria did you apply?).

I am not good at explaining the difference, but as I said before, the new formats should be able to fit in (JK sprint = 1, 'casual' urban = 4). There are people out there who are far better at explaining then I am.

Actually, that is the problem - there aren't. You only have to read the various posts, letters etc supporting 4-tier schemes, and they are all different, with no current consensus on what they should be. There are all sorts of issues surrounding the definition of these events where it all falls down, particularly with the new formats. That's why I continue to ask what the criteria are. The devil is very definitely in the detail!

[roadrunner]

It's fine if you don't care about the level of management - we never intended the levels to be part of the marketing. They were simply administrative.

While I don't doubt that for a moment, it's a fact that when you search for events on the BOF website, apart from the geographic options (club, region, distance) and the date, the only other search criteria are "type" (cross-country, urban, etc) and "level". So it seems that BOF see the level as part of the marketing, even if (seemingly like so many things) it wasn't part of the plan. Clearly, there should be some way of searching for different "levels of competition", otherwise as has been said before, it will be hard to distinguish the big events from the small training ones; any ideas?

[Clive Coles]

Roadrunner

If you want some idea of the number and variety of courses on offer why not use Olli's Interactive Location map & Diary facility

http://www.oobrien.com/map/?p=cb8

Just substitute CB8 for the postcode where you want to centre your map.

I did ask BOF to include some form of display showing the colours on offer at an event on both their diary and the first screen of find event ~ so far nothing has been delivered.

[seabird]

As they do not seem to have a public forum, thanks to SYO for a thoroughly good and enjoyable event at Wombwell on Sunday, with both wood and weather in prime condition. It got a deserved excellent turnout from around the Region and a few beyond.

The fact that it went under the cumbersome title of a "Local Colour Coded District Event" perhaps illustrates what a tangle we have got ourselves into.

As many have pointed out, the basic advertising for the Event meant that nobody was under any illusions about what was on offer, whatever the title/level.

[Spookster]

As they do not seem to have a public forum, thanks to SYO for a thoroughly good and enjoyable event at Wombwell on Sunday, with both wood and weather in prime condition. It got a deserved excellent turnout from around the Region and a few beyond.

Thanks, I'll pass that feedback on to the organiser Phil Haywood, who won't see it here.

The fact that it went under the cumbersome title of a "Local Colour Coded District Event" perhaps illustrates what a tangle we have got ourselves into.

As many have pointed out, the basic advertising for the Event meant that nobody was under any illusions about what was on offer, whatever the title/level.

Phil is a highly experienced organiser, but is not up to date with what has happened in the sport over the last 12-18 months. Hence the flyer read "COLOUR CODED DISTRICT EVENT, (LOCAL EVENT UNDER THE NEW BOF TERMINOLOGY)" which made me smile.

I think SYO needs some template event flyers, for use by organisers creating their event flyer, to make sure all our events properly describe all the features. Although the flyer will mention what Level it is, much more important will be:

• what the terrain is like (forest/moor/park/urban, difficulty, etc);
• which courses are available (colours, lengths/climbs);
• whether the event is suitable for beginners, young juniors, dogs, pushchairs, etc;
• whether the event features a specific competition, and if so then which course must you run if you want to compete in that;
• what other attractions are available nearby.

and the basic stuff about time, cost, place, directions, etc.

[SeanC]

Even better, could you arrange for these event templates be on the BOF website for all of us to use? If they were given a marketing makeover we might all get some event fliers that are less intimidating/clearer for newcomers and cut through the jargon for the rest of us. Maybe with some good pictures that don't soak up too much bandwidth?

For example sometimes event fliers sometimes end rather abruptly with "You MUST report to download, even if you have not finished", which could be interpreted by a newcomer as "There will be lots of complicated admin, and we will shout at you if you get it wrong". It's quite a skill to get these important messages across without giving the wrong impression I think.

[Mrs H]

we have an flyer template available from this page third item in list.

[distracted]

Like the idea of having a set of flyers on the British Orienteering website for use, similar to what they've done with the print portal perhaps.

The standard black and white orienteering "flyer" is particularly unattractive, and generally contains far too much unnecessary information and jargon. This can be quite offputting for those new to the sport who just want the simple details.

[Scott]

The standard black and white orienteering "flyer" ... generally contains far too much unnecessary information and jargon.

But at the same time, it's often not informative enough. "Where?" is a particularly key question for newcomers, and, sad to say, I'm not sure the sport can survive by marketing itself solely at people who can interpret six-figure grid references...

EDIT: I don't mean that flyers should contain minute details on how to drive to the parking field. What's needed is "a five minute drive north of Xtown" or "three miles off the AXX at Xbury" (plus maybe "one mile walk from Xville station", if appropriate). Give people an idea of where the event is, and how much effort it will be to get there.

[Tatty]

Great flyer template from HOC Mrs H. Thanks for the link. Unfortunately I got mine for our next event printed out last week

[SeanC]

But at the same time, it's often not informative enough. "Where?" is a particularly key question for newcomers, and, sad to say, I'm not sure the sport can survive by marketing itself solely at people who can interpret six-figure grid references...

I understand SO have a policy of putting the postcode on their event fliers, after having a debate about satnavs.

I must admit even a former OS map geek like myself doesn't use grid references, preferring to use the road map that's (usually) in the car rather than searching through the OS map collection that might not cover the area, or more likely contain a map from 1976. I know many still use them. I think it's unlikely that they are of use to newcomers.

[RJ]

Give them directions to somewhere easy and easily recognised...... and then use loads of road signs to bring them into the event. The new road signs are colourful and look good.