Scottish Championships 2011

[frog]

Maybe 1 area supplying all the helpers for the Scottish champs is unrealistic then. We didn't have enough helpers to put on a string course on the Saturday. Perhaps some flexibility with other clubs helping out would make things run smoother. In general if I'm going to an event and don't have to charge off or have a cold bored teenager with me I'm happy to help. Maybe we should be more flexible about it being certain clubs' "turn" to do stuff.

[smf]

EUOC made it clear that we were hindered by having to rent a minibus and that we had previous plans (AGM etc.)

So you had your AGM planned years ago did you? The Scottish Championships is organised on a three year rota and it should have been known that EUOC would be helping. Its your bad planning to have your AGM on the same date.

1) The AGM was actually to do with AROS, not EUOC.

VCA didn't say it was an AROS AGM, they said EUOC AGM. Why would EUOC members be going to an AROS AGM anyway? AROS is for ex EUOC members. Don't you have to be members of an organisation to go to its AGM?

2) The AGM was planned approximately 2 months ago in order to try and re-launch AROS at a time when we were most likely to be able to organise former members to meet. One could argue it is therefore good planning.

In that case, yes it is a good time. What has this got to do with helping during the day when the AGM was in the evening?

3) Whether or not EUOC technically are supposed to help every 3 years, members actually have helped at the majority of these championships held in recent years (of which we all have been extremely happy to do so).

I didn't say they had't helped or were unwilling too, I was pointing out that it shouldn't be a surprise that they were being asked.

IMO, the organisation over the weekend was very good.
Members of EUOC were not reluctant to help and i believe that VCA is suggesting that the comments of mappingmum are not fair given the level of help provided by EUOC, whilst members (mainly beginners) struggled to fit their runs in before we left for the AGM.

As I said in a previous post EUOC asked for very late starts. They could have asked for earlier starts for their beginners.

As I said before everyone should be able to finish their course without the finish units being taken away on the dot of the course closing time.

[brooner]

Most events seem to rely on having too many helpers, doing (often) rather pointless tasks (20 odd people doing car parking etc), resulting in the smaller numbers of core helpers doing too many tasks, many of which could easily (with a bit of pre-planning) be handed over to others.

I know it is a national championships, but a bit of planning and prioritisation could go a long way. Anyone who has been to the OOcup will know that it is typically a very well organised multiday event (and at a guess, much bigger than the Scottish Champs were in terms of numbers), which seems to be run by a very small handful, but to an ever high standard.

Maybe it isn't actually the national championships that are the problem, but the other events in the calendar which seem to be over volunteer heavy, causing general volunteer fatigue? Maybe all the event guidelines and hoop jumping puts an emphasis on having too many helpers?

[RWK]

VCA didn't say it was an AROS AGM, they said EUOC AGM. Why would EUOC members be going to an AROS AGM anyway? AROS is for ex EUOC members. Don't you have to be members of an organisation to go to its AGM?

Last year EUOC members have now finished their final exams so can join AROS. A few wanted to stand for commitee positions etc.

In that case, yes it is a good time. What has this got to do with helping during the day when the AGM was in the evening?

Because of helping early on we then finished late (more so than usual due to longer course times). The AGM was then an hour away from the event.

[VCA]

VCA didn't say it was an AROS AGM, they said EUOC AGM. Why would EUOC members be going to an AROS AGM anyway? AROS is for ex EUOC members. Don't you have to be members of an organisation to go to its AGM?

Like I said earlier some members of EUOC are going into AROS so the whole minibus had to go! You're blind to the fact that we are hindered when it comes to transportation. When asking for our help you must understand that we will always have restrictions.
We are always willing to help and this weekend we tried are hardest but we must be respected by the fact that we are one unit and aren't flexible.

[Big Jon]

If the controller and organiser decided to allow the last starter only 2 hours to complete their course (and removed the finish control bang on the closing time of 1730) then the only fair option is to disqualify everyone who took longer than 2 hours.
At the World Vets in Strathspey (a good few years ago...) the decision was taken to disqualify from finals anyone who took longer than the time between last start and course closing time. its the only fair system - all competitors have the same amount of time to finish the course and those failing are not counted in the results.

[andypat]

Tell that to 180 minute man who lived up to his moniker (and then some) in the quest for masters cup points......

[Gross]

Love it..... AROS is back where it belongs.... less than a week old & it's causing a strop already

[Sheila S.]

If the controller and organiser decided to allow the last starter only 2 hours to complete their course (and removed the finish control bang on the closing time of 1730) then the only fair option is to disqualify everyone who took longer than 2 hours.
At the World Vets in Strathspey (a good few years ago...) the decision was taken to disqualify from finals anyone who took longer than the time between last start and course closing time. its the only fair system - all competitors have the same amount of time to finish the course and those failing are not counted in the results.

Is that not what happens at O-Ringen? I seem to remember that it does.

[Sheila S.]

surrounded by desparate ladies.

With starts delayed by 20mins for a computer glitch, it was a bit odd not to delay the mini-mass starts too. And the ladies last leg was, by all accounts, worth waiting for with three runners swapping the lead back and forth.
I'm a fan of big mini-mass starts (done several at Jukola, they're brilliant, especially compared with setting-out-on-your-own-an-hour-down as happens in the UK).

The mini-mass starts were delayed. The first one went at 12.31 (scheduled for 12.15) and included all remaining second leg runners and those third leg runners who wished to go then. The second mini-mass start was at 12.48. Note that participating in a mini-mass start did not make runners non-competitive. The soft-ware calculates team-time from the mini-mass start data.

[madmike]

Shelia,
last ORINGEN I went to said that it was their policy to DQ if you took more than 2 hrs but they didn't actually carry out the threat- I suspect their motive was to encourage less experienced/less able to enter shorert courses. 2 of the guys on our trip exceeded the time allowed and were not disqualified.

[bendover]

gross, we start as we mean to go on - a motley crew of primadonnas, ruffling the beards of brown o-suit wearing jobsworths everywhere.

[Electrocuted]

Tell that to 180 minute man who lived up to his moniker (and then some) in the quest for masters cup points......

And he succeeded - 37 of them to be precise!

[distracted]

I think Brooner has a very valid point - and has direct experience being a major part of the Purple Thistle team. This event seems to do fine despite having very few people running it - although I recognise they each put a lot of effort in to make it a success. But there does seem to be a big jump in volunteer numbers used even from your 1 or 2 person local event to a standard colour-coded, when the participant numbers may only double.

I'm not advocating clubs cut back completely on the number of volunteers at the bigger events, as at some point the quality of the event will probably suffer. But, as a club/clubs, think about how to use your workforce effectively. I'd much prefer to spend 2 hours of volunteer time organising a local event rather than unnecessarily holding a giant yellow hand in a car park field.

[Spookster]

But, as a club/clubs, think about how to use your workforce effectively. I'd much prefer to spend 2 hours of volunteer time organising a local event rather than unnecessarily holding a giant yellow hand in a car park field.

Indeed. Here's something I learnt at BOC. Why do you need someone at the start who checks you have the correct e-card? There is no benefit in doing so. I asked the lady at the Scottish Champs start why she was checking e-card numbers. Apart from "because I've been told to", she didn't know. If you happen to have the wrong e-card, it'll become evident at download, where it's easy to correct.