Hello Race Directors,
We are pleased to be sending you our very first edition of the Race Director Hotline Newsletter. We hope to send out a new edition about every four weeks. The content will primarily be technical and cover all aspects of event management both Internet and non-Internet based. We will maintain a low-key format and encourage every one of you to contribute some of your own advice and experiences.

The first edition contains a piece written by my partner (Dave Camire) on a subject called "Smooth Registration Equals Good Results". It makes a good read for streamlining your race day entries. I have developed an ever evolving list of tips that help race directors and associated organizations effectively use the Internet for their event promotion and productivity. Today I will share the list of tips and for the rest of the year expand in some detail on each of the items in the list.

Tips on Effective use of the Internet in Event Management (promotion and productivity)
Kevin Molloy

Promotion:

• Have a permanent web site for your event(s). The web site is then working for you 24 hours a day. Over the next few editions we will discuss the basic elements and the "dos" and "don'ts" of a event web site and how to effectively use search engines as an aid in helping people find your event.
• Update the web site in preparation for next year's event the day or week after this year's event.
• Start your main event promotion at least four months before race day. You can never start too early.
• Have a unique event name for the web address (www.eventname.com), not a long name tagged onto the end of someone else's domain. You can buy web space (without ads) for $11 a month and obtain a web address for as little as $10 a year.
• Update the content on a regular basis, no stale or broken links please.
• Keep the design simple and avoid too much animation. Some guidelines on design templates will be provided later.
• Try and find the most appropriate person in your club to design and maintain the web site. If nobody has the skills then send the person with the most potential to a local school. There is no need to spend a lot of money on web design but there is a need to spend considerable time on content maintenance.
• Integrate your sponsors into the web site, not just a separate page for sponsor's logos.
• Consider developing a non-spam newsletter service and encourage runners to give you their email address. Never sell that email list.
• Do not use a free service resulting in your web pages being cluttered with non-event related ads.
• Use all of the free running calendar services available. Cool Running provides an excellent service but other services should also be used.
• On-line registration today is a must. It is an effective way to increase your numbers and improve your productivity. Consider a discount system for folks using online registration method. We will dispel any fears of online registration in later editions.
• Consider using the web to sell your event merchandise. There are a lot of secure companies you can partner with.
• Have a dedicated person(s) capture all the moments and memories of the event on race day, to be used for the promotion for the next event. This includes photos of the runners, volunteers, crowd and sponsors. It can also include written word from interviews with runners, volunteers and sponsors. If you have a great event and capture the moment then it will help you engage sponsors and attract runners for the next event.

Productivity

• Every member of your race committee should have an email address and be on-line on a regular basis (home or work or both)
• The race should have a generic contact email address so that multiple people can maintain it.
• You need a budget for all of your Internet services but you can do it all for under $250 a year.
• Use a subscriber service (list manager) for maintaining the membership list.
• Try to use the Internet to schedule all of your race planning meetings and use email to work issues that do not need a meeting to resolve.
• Attempt to schedule all of the planning meetings 12 months in advance and send one or two reminder messages before each meeting.
• If some members have difficulty in using the Internet, they have one of the members spend time bringing them up to speed.
• Use the Internet, particularly to perform research on event management, to engage sponsors and to improve overall communications.

Smooth Registration Equals Good Results
Dave Camire

In college I had a professor who lectured that "Output = Input + Garbage." Although he was speaking about the efficiency of an electric motor, he very well could have been referring to the scoring of a road race. One thing I have come to realize over the years is that Race Results = Registration + Garbage.

There is a direct correlation between your registration and the accuracy of your results. A poorly run registration will often lead to a poor set of results. However by following a few simple suggestions, you can avoid the pitfalls of inaccurate results by running an organized registration. Here are a few simple suggestions:

1. Provide an easy to fill in race application on race day.

On race day competitors are thinking about competing and not paperwork, so it is important to make this process simple. An entry form that is well designed will improve the registration process (for more info see http://yankeetiming.com/newsletter/dec2001/entry_design.htm). Designed a simple one-page entry form for race day entries. Use large blocks instead of straight lines. Even the most hurried participant is forced to print, thus saving valuable time during data entry and reducing the need for name spelling corrections after the race is over.

Instruct entrants to "Please Print Legibly." It is also a good idea to add, "Age and gender must be supplied to be eligible for age group awards". Print the race day applications on white paper. Avoid using colored paper; particularly gray paper if you plan on supplying pencils to fill them in. Gray (pencil) on gray (paper) is virtually impossible to read.

2. Make sure you have a sufficient number of race bibs and safety pins.

When it comes to ordering race bibs and safety pins, it is better to error on the side of too many than not enough. How many times have you been at an event where the organizers are handing out make shift numbers because not enough bibs were ordered? Also make sure to order enough safety pins to put the numbers on.

3. Do not double assign bib numbers.

This is a common problem. It sometimes occurs when two different people handle pre and post registration. Typically what happens is the person handling pre-registration does not instruct to the person handling post-registration where to begin assigning bib numbers for race day applicants. If for example pre-registration had assigned bib numbers that ended at 1000 then post-registration begins at 990 there is an overlap of about 10 numbers. On the surface this may not seem like such a big deal, however in the mad rush of race day registration the problem is amplified.

4. Instruct competitors to wear their numbers on the front.

The reason runners need to wear their numbers on the front is so that they can be recorded easily at the finish. It has always amazed me that someone would take the trouble to pin a race number on their back. It is not an easy task, you have to either remove your garment to attach it or have someone assist you. Whenever I see someone wearing their number on the back I asked them why they put it on the back instead of the front. After many years of asking this question a young lady gave me a logical answer. She said, "I put it on my back because that is where baseball players wear their numbers."

5. Work on your people flow.

Organize your post registration similar to how a bank handles their customers. Use one line (or chute) with multiple tellers (registration personal) serving the next available customer (race entrant). This will help eliminate much of the confusion that is associated with multiple lines.

6. Label your numbers (mom, dad, daughter & son).

It is not uncommon for an entire family to sign up for an event. A problem that often occurs is one family member will pick up the numbers and hand them to the other family members. If the correct number is not handed to the right person this can cause problems. The next thing you know mom is being announced as the overall women's winner because dad was wearing her number. Putting individual names on the race numbers can help prevent this from happening.

Dave Camire is a co-founder of Cool Running and President of Yankee Timing & Event Management (www.yankeetiming.com).

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