Scottish Championships 2011

[RWK]

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.

I was wondering this. My only thought was that, seeing as it was a timed start, it was to stop people just saying yes to a random name and going through the system a minute or so early.

[Spookster]

I was wondering this. My only thought was that, seeing as it was a timed start, it was to stop people just saying yes to a random name and going through the system a minute or so early.

Punching a check box at -2 catches that (and so does a review of leg 1 split times, unless it's a long leg).

[Mrs H]

Yes and Brooner and Distracted are picking up on another pet theme of mine - I think the buzz word is Ownership. If the lady does not know why she is doing the job she may not also care whether she is doing it well. I have noticed my own level of application varies according to my level of commitment and I'll work my socks off if I feel my name is on the job (like this last weekend) but I also accept I may be unusually vain and fickle

[Lucy.F.]

Gosh! What a response! Wasn't quite expecting that.

Apologies to mappingmum - none of my comments were intended to be critical of anyone or any group (I have been an ESOA committee member for the last 3 years and therefore also involved in discussions etc). I also wasn't taking the moral high ground as a helper, rather pointing out why we didn't ask for earlier start times. Also, if we asked for earlier start times for our 'beginners' then the euoc helper workforce would have been significantly depleted.

Instead, I was posing a question about what to do in such a situation. As a young person starting to organise events then I am still coming across new situations and am keen to know other opinions. It is certainly interesting what Big Jon says about disqualifying others who took >2hrs and what others have said about leaving the finish stuff out till last to bring in.

As for the timings - usually in the past we have had a university minibus which we can pick up anytime and therefore can make the effort to be there early. However competition for these buses is fierce and because we have to prioritise other weekends such as the British University Championships, we lose out on others. This weekend was such a case - the hire bus we got meant we couldn't set off any earlier than 09:20.
The agm was the first ever AROS agm - therefore it needed to be at a time when lots of people would be together (the nature of AROS meaning that people are spread all over the country, or even the world). In future it can be held in conjunction with other AROS events, enabling us to attend other things such as the SOA agm. In hindsight, the start time could have been a bit later but at the time of booking and arranging I didn't know anything about the helping situation or how long the courses would be.

Also, as jjjl mentioned, euoc members often help more than some may realise. A lot of us are members of open clubs and still help them, as well as helping when it's 'euocs turn'. For example, one of our members was asked to help on Saturday as euoc and Sunday as RR. We don't mind helping as we know events need helpers to run but just something that's perhaps not recognised by others.

[EddieH]

Very interesting points raised by Brooner, Mrs H at al.

I remember when adults were forbidden from running their day of the 6 day. I can remember car parking for a long time, but still with plenty of start times left - utter frustration.

Worse was being allocated to the start when we already hadmore than enough people there. I actually invented a job - separating an individual map for each competitor, which was not then the norm. Had I not done so I'd have been even more frustrated by the pointlessness of being there.

As an occasional organiser with few helpers, I am inclined to let people park themselves if the area is large - once you informally start the first arrival it normally just sorts itself. Thus we need registration and download, and 1 on the start - the poor computer team get the brunt of it. The planner can also do with control collectors allocated so they don't all go home if it's raining.

[Homer]

Just got internet access for the first time since the Scottish. Interesting reading.

From an outsiders point of view, I really enjoyed the Scottish Champs weekend. Yes, Auchingarrich was tough (well, actually it was the Mill of Fortune bit that was really tough) but I enjoyed the variety of terrain. The courses which went onto Mill of Fortune were undoubtedly the toughest and M16 was most affected by this. With hindsight M16 probably should have been combined with a course which stayed in Auchingarrich.
However, Bart (who is still 14) enjoyed the challenge and wasn't put off the sport. He was even up for his first go at the Men's Open the following day! Hopefully it'll make him a top elite inside 7 years....

Thanks SOA for a great weekend. Can't wait for the 6 Days!

[andy]

the poor computer team get the brunt of it.

Unless you're SIMan who pretty much single handedly ran a 6-day scale of computing infrastructure on his own on Sunday

[andypat]

Resulting in a very unorthodox handover from Mrs SIMan which appeared to originate somewhere within the download tent!

[greywolf]

Not making any comment on the Scottish ( I wasn't there and this post probably isn't relevant)... but if we want to reduce volunteer workload at mid-size events (like SOLs & most Level B events, which seem to be the ones that are heavy on volunteers) then one simple and effective way to do so is to pre-enter
I know there are sometimes good reasons why folk have to EOD (and it's ideal for newbies and moody kids), but it places a significant extra load on registration and start teams - if entry fees were pitched to reflect this then the EOD surcharge for non-novice adults would be £5+

[smf]

Not making any comment on the Scottish ( I wasn't there and this post probably isn't relevant)... but if we want to reduce volunteer workload at mid-size events (like SOLs & most Level B events, which seem to be the ones that are heavy on volunteers) then one simple and effective way to do so is to pre-enter
I know there are sometimes good reasons why folk have to EOD (and it's ideal for newbies and moody kids), but it places a significant extra load on registration and start teams - if entry fees were pitched to reflect this then the EOD surcharge for non-novice adults would be £5+

The EOD at the Scottish Champs was low, at 34 compared with 540 pre-entries (of which 53 didn't compete).

[frog]

I think sometimes we do allocate more people than necessary to tasks though and they trip over themselves.
I'm string course co-ordinator for day 1 of the 6 days and my instructions suggest I need 6 people manning the string course at all times, which seems way over the top considering we're not keeping names and times and just issuing splits, and no money is changing hands.
3 is the maximum I can think of jobs for.

[smf]

I'm string course co-ordinator for day 1 of the 6 days and my instructions suggest I need 6 people manning the string course at all times, which seems way over the top considering we're not keeping names and times and just issuing splits, and no money is changing hands.

You will have to record names to comply with British Orienteering insurance requirements,

http://www.britishorienteering.org.uk/i ... e_faqs.pdf

"Our new insurers require a record of the names of all participants at events including nonmembers and volunteers to be kept."

[frog]

The String Course manual for Oban says "The course is for enjoyment and should not be competitive. There is therefore no need to keep a record of names or times. This considerably cuts down on administrative time. "
Perhaps only competitive orienteering events need names.
Has anyone ever sued anyone or made a claim at the string course? Not that common sense ever enters into BOF insurance discussions.
If names are needed for BOF someone had better tell the string course co-ordinator. I don't recall seeing the string course results for Tay 09 and can't see any string course results on the website for the event.

[Scott]

Matching names with results is the time-consuming bit, and I don't think you have to do that to satisfy the insurers. A getting people to write their name on a clipboard before they head off for their stringy adventure would be a bit of extra faff, but I don't think it's that bad.

[andypat]

The String Course manual for Oban says "The course is for enjoyment and should not be competitive. There is therefore no need to keep a record of names or times. This considerably cuts down on administrative time. "
Perhaps only competitive orienteering events need names.
Has anyone ever sued anyone or made a claim at the string course? Not that common sense ever enters into BOF insurance discussions.
If names are needed for BOF someone had better tell the string course co-ordinator. I don't recall seeing the string course results for Tay 09 and can't see any string course results on the website for the event.

Hypothetically if you dont take names how do you defend yourself against a false claim of injury from someone who wasnt even there? I understand why insurers insist, even if its just a paper list that you file away.