AGM News In Brief

[AndyC]

12 month embargo for your summer evening events- surely not!

Ah but if you only use the venue once a year............. (possibly too poor or small for more than an evening event anyway)

[Spookster]

Ah, I see, that's what the quality criteria are going to be. Going to make a lot of difference, I can see that.

There was another criteria (or maybe differentiator?) mentioned at the AGM (I think it was by RJ).

Level 1 = full page ad in Compass Sport
Level 2 = 1/8th page small ad in Compass Sport
Level 3 = advertised by flyer
Level 4 = advertised in Club newsletter.

[EddieH]

So is he seriously saying that if the SOLs become the new level 2, as I assume he would think they should be, that we would be required to pay for a CompassSport ad for each one

[Spookster]

So is he seriously saying that if the SOLs become the new level 2, as I assume he would think they should be, that we would be required to pay for a CompassSport ad for each one

No, I think his point was that if you think SOLs are that good, you will WANT to advertise them in CS, in order to attract people from outside the region.

[binman]

So is he seriously saying that if the SOLs become the new level 2, as I assume he would think they should be, that we would be required to pay for a CompassSport ad for each one

No, I think his point was that if you think SOLs are that good, you will WANT to advertise them in CS, in order to attract people from outside the region.

Depends on the region and where you are in it surely (particularly relevent to EddieH's location)!

I think the most important bit of this thread has been the participation bit - everyone reading this, log off now and spend your time trying to get publicity for your events instead!!!

[SeanC]

Yes definately, or contact your club's publicity officer and offer to help... one of those jobs that there is always more work if there are people to help.... or if your club hasn't got a publicity officer.....

Also now is a good time to put an article in your local council newspaper. They look ripe for cutbacks after the election and they often justify their existance by saying they publish articles to support community groups like sports clubs.

[seabird]

Perhaps this whole participation and levels (and indeed levies) debate comes down to much the same thing.

The baby boomers amongst us (I'm one) have struck on a historically privileged time in which to live, where racing around the country (and the world) for all manner of events has been a perfectly attainable, acceptable and affordable way to carry on. I think it is reasonable to assume the boomers form a very significant percentage of the 4 level camp.

I have heard a good number of the M/W21s who attend our local events in good numbers as observed by awk, say they no longer prepared to travel far except for the most significant of events; BOC, JK and not much else. After all they can get quality racing from fell-racing, a shared sport for most of them, without travelling far.

I fear the eagerly awaited revised guidelines are unlikely to up their participation at the proposed "quality" events. But we will see. Maybe 3 levels would have similarly failed. Shame we never got to find out.

[Mrs H]

You are very right Seabird and I don't think it is just the younger people who are taking this approach but many of us baby boomers also - travelling is just so expensive and time consuming now.

It seems to me that many of the "quality" events this year (Branded ones that did not require a separate level to set them apart ) have not ben attracting the numbers. Look at next week's Boktrot - less than 250 entries - we can get half that many to a MADO. I suppose we would have gone if it was in the forest of Dean but I can't face going that far down the M5 again so soon.

If it was not for the Urban league (and associated events like the Midlands champs) - many of which we have managed to justify by tying in with university pick ups/drop offs - the only events we would travel for more than an hour this year would be the JK the Tamar Triple and the O-ringen (oh and possibly an event on Formby Sands Mr H thought he spotted so we can see the Gormley sculptures )

I think if events want to attract the numbers they are going to have to make a weekend of it - perhaps offer some simple free/cheap camping (field/stand pipe/loos) near pub.

[DM]

I think if events want to attract the numbers they are going to have to make a weekend of it - perhaps offer some simple free/cheap camping (field/stand pipe/loos) near pub.

Like MDOC Town and Country weekend will be this June,
Middle Distance race in Macclesfield Forest (the best part of it!) on Sat
Ultrasprint race in a park area on Saturday early evening
Stockport Urban race on the Sunday
Basic camping arranged in a field next to a pub that does good food for Sat night.

[SeanC]

There's definately a concensus that lots of local events is the way to go. Another big advantage is that there are many more opportunities for publicity if there are more events to publicise. A few years ago we were doing 1 regional, 3 district and 6 local each year, and now we've shifted to 1 regional, 1 district and 20 local - this seems to suit the increasing number who don't want to travel for more than an hour, or who have other things to do so only dip in and out of orienteering.

One of the amusing things about the great level 3/4 debate is how irrelevant it becomes when you move to this kind of model. If you look at SLOW's list of London events this summer (http://www.parkrace.org/summer/) you'll see 35 events. In the current event structure 34 are "level 3" events. In the new event structure 34 will be "level 4" events.

[Red Adder]

If we move more local it will certainly change financial models. Local events generally only charge £ 1 - £ 2 so probably just about cover printing but won't give BOF much levy or subsidise other club activity. It will also need lots of [u]volunteer[/u] mapping / organisation / planning effort effort. This may well work but I suspect most of us old timers will be itching for a fix of big forests.

[Spookster]

If we move more local it will certainly change financial models. Local events generally only charge £ 1 - £ 2 so probably just about cover printing but won't give BOF much levy or subsidise other club activity. It will also need lots of volunteer mapping / organisation / planning effort effort. This may well work but I suspect most of us old timers will be itching for a fix of big forests.

A £2 local event with maps at a cost of 50p each is making a good surplus, if you have no other costs (which is often the case). Hold 20 of them a year, with say 50-70 people at each, and you'll have a surplus of about £1500 to re-invest as the club chooses. Yes, you need lots of volunteers, but each event only needs 1 or 2 people to plan and organise, and these are good opportunities for beginner planner/organisers, as well as good for beginner orienteers.

But you're right, BOF doesn't get much (or any) event levy from these.

[SeanC]

We're charging £4 adults for Kent Orienteering League events. With attendances now averaging 80-100 they are making a reasonable profit to plough into club development. As the areas are often small, mapping costs are much less.

More grants from BOF would definately help clubs who are building up their local leagues to the point where they have sustainable numbers, though there are grants out there from Sport England etc.

Yes it's more work, but in more manageable chunks. Personally I'd rather organise 3 or 4 local events spread out over the year rather than one big stressful regional. It does sometimes mean sacrificing a run at a bigger event to plan or organise a local event.

I like the big events too, but the way I see it is that a small minority of newcomers schooled at the local events will become keen enough to move onto district and regionals and the long term future of the district/regional tier is therefore dependant on a healthy local tier.

[awk]

If we move more local it will certainly change financial models. Local events generally only charge £ 1 - £ 2 so probably just about cover printing but won't give BOF much levy or subsidise other club activity. It will also need lots of volunteer mapping / organisation / planning effort effort. This may well work but I suspect most of us old timers will be itching for a fix of big forests.

We now find that the local events are increasingly becoming the core of our income generation, along the lines outlined by Spookster. Bigger events are becoming much riskier with narrower 'profit' margins. There appears to be less stress on volunteers with locals.

Looking at the structure for 2011, what is/are the incentive(s) to register an event at level 2 rather than level 3?