Competition Organizing Know-How

[trux]

I think this thread would deserve the "sticky" flag. Since our club plans to (possibly) organize an indoor competition in Lyon next year, I searched the forum for a similar thread, or for some tips, but did not find anything (though I bet there are some tips in diverse unrelated threads).

To manage such an event so that it is pleasant, smooth and stress-free for the participants, and in the same time that it does not consume more resources than available is certainly a difficult (if not impossible) task for someone doing it the first time. There are surely dozens of issues one won't think of until it turns out to be missing. There are issues with timing, but also with material, human resources, etc. I'd appreciate if people with great experience posted their tips (or even their biggest mistakes) here. I hope that those who are experienced in organizing such event are not too concerned about sharing their know-how with the community.

Tips on organizing, finding sponsors, promoting, securing, judging, technical advices for different tools (i.e. I saw photos from the Czech Open, where they've put about half a dozen of tables under water in the pool to reduce the depth and facilitate so the static apnea).

I'll also appreciate comments from competitors (non-organizers), both positive and negative, telling us what they liked and what they did not, on diverse competitions they took part on (you do not need to name them though, if you prefer keeping negative comments anonymous).

Many thanks in advance for any tips or comments

 

[jome]

I found a mindmap-tool (there is a very good free one called "freemind") very useful when planning and executing a competition for the first time. I would just list everything down that I could think of during a few months and then I would assign "branches" of it to different people and mark things "done" as things started to realize. Or if mind mapping is not your thing, maybe some sort of check-list. The good thing is that if you do it well once, the next time is much easier.

I think it would be a very good idea and beneficial to a lot of people, if we'd compile some kind of general check-list type of thing for organizing events. It's not rocket science, but there's a lot of details that can be hard to keep track of, especially for first timers.

 

[trux]

Yes, thanks, Jome. That's what I am expecting from this thread and from the posters. I think that every organizer of past events had to have some kind of checklist (or a mind-map), so if they posted theirs here, we could combine them, and it would certainly help us all to raise the overall level of competition organizing.

 

[jome]

Giving this a bump...I don't know why, but I've been having a creative period this week so catching up on old promises.

So here is a draft version of what orginizing a pool competition might look like from the top of my head:

http://www.freedivingfinland.net/Pool competition.mm

(right-click the link and save)

You can open that file with the excellent freeware tool called Freemind:
Main Page - FreeMind - free mind mapping software

Not perfect, for sure, but something to build on. At least for a complete novice, it should give an idea what is involved

My single most important advice is that delegate everything! Find people you trust and give them their own pieces of the cake.

For example: Safety responsible (Head safetydiver) - responsible for finding the rest of the safety divers, training them and keeping them informed

Main judge - responsible for finding the other judges and keeping them informed

Media guy - respobsible for contacting and dealing with media. Writes press releases

Etc etc...You get the idea.

If you try to do everything your self, it will be exhausting. But of course, some people are just born with it and can handle it that way too...

Comments and development ideas are welcome!

Anyone fancy having a go at open water competitions? (consider this a challenge

 

[island_sands]

I didnt see this thread in the beginning. I would also be interested as people have expressed interest in staging a competition in Dubai too.

 

[island_sands]

http://forums.deeperblue.net/629349-post4.html

truxie
see this from another thread

 

[trux]

Thanks Jome! That's great and will certainly help many! I just exported the file into an image, because I am sure most people will be lazy installing the software. Seeing the image they may realize they can edit the MM file and use it better.

Hmm, for some reason this thread allows neither images nor attachments, so I just post the URL: http://apnea.cz/img/db/comp.png

Sara, thanks for the link! I am aware of the counter balance thread and followed it, but since I live inlands, with the max depth of just 18m in a close-by quarry, I do not think we'll ever organize depth competitions here. Still, it definitely belongs here, because others who will organize such events may profit from it.

 

[jome]

I don't know how many even read the last "work of art", but here is another detailing the different resources and people you might consider before going a head with organizing a competition.

Again, this is specific to pool competitions only, but with a little imagination, you got yourself a depth comp...

http://www.freedivingfinland.net/FreedivingCompetitionPersonnel.doc

At least no one can blame me for withholding information

 

[trux]

Thanks Jome! I cannot open the document in my Word (telling file is corrupted), but I'll find out another way.

 

[jome]

Hmm, something was wrong with it...

Should work now

 

[trux]

Absolutely fabulous, Jome! As soon as I can send you some rep again, I'll do so! Hope that organizers will build futher on it. I think that AIDA and other federations should ask you for permission to post the document on their websites too! It may improve the overall level of competitions considerably.

 

[Paul Kotik]

Absolutely fabulous, Jome! As soon as I can send you some rep again, I'll do so! Hope that organizers will build futher on it. I think that AIDA and other federations should ask you for permission to post the document on their websites too! It may improve the overall level of competions considerably.

Yes. In the garden, growth has it seasons. First comes spring and summer, but then we have fall and winter. And then we get spring and summer again.

 

[trux]

Yes. In the garden, growth has it seasons. First comes spring and summer, but then we have fall and winter. And then we get spring and summer again.

Hm. Well, Mr. Gardner, I must admit that is one of the most refreshing and optimistic statements I've heard in a very, very long time.

 

[trux]

I owe an explanation to those who are not perfectly in picture about Paul's post above and my reply, and about another related remark of Paul in this thread. All the three posts are quotes from the movie Being There with Peter Sellers.

As the regular visitors of DB certainly noticed, Paul often likes to drop rather sarcastic but very enigmatic comments on different members and events reported on DB. This was one of them.

Paul's message is as follows: the movie is about a really extreme moron (on the level of G.W. Bush) working as a gardener in Washington DC, and who by accident gets into the politics and high society (well, that's not the case at W - in his case it was hereditary). He is practically brain dead and only able to bubble complete stupidities about gardening, which are then accepted as profound wisdoms and he is considered an exception intellectual.

Hence, by quoting "Mr. Gardner" twice today in a reply to my posts, Paul sent a diplomatic and parabolic message that my posts are as stupid, empty, and as useless as Mr. Gardner's "intellectual" comments. To certain extent I can well understand Paul's view. Since Paul is a gentleman, he would never tell his opinion directly avoiding so the direct offence, and rather relies on quite secretive messages that he hopes only souls very close to his own one would understand and enjoy with him. I guess he hoped that myself, due to my stupidity and cultural distance would not get the message. He mistook. He forgot that Google is my brain.

Although it is not really pleasant to find someone posting hostile comments about myself (despite them being well masked), I still think that Paul is a quite adorable person when faced personally. Paul is a gifted man with great literal talent, and just a little bit weird sense of humour. In fact I quite enjoy his sarcasm, and do not think it is really ill born, but rather just a product of boredom and frustration.

So, I am looking forward to the next Paul's provocation

 

[Paul Kotik]

//:textbot - **sigef דג
بل

 

[fcallagy]

Trux if its any consolation (not that you sound like you need any ) pauls last comments went way over my head possibly due to my stupidity and cultural distance but some of his comments crack me up when i do get them, especially the one liners.

/extbot - **sigef
דג

 

[trux]

Trux if its any consolation (not that you sound like you need any ) pauls last comments went way over my head possibly due to my stupidity and cultural distance but some of his comments crack me up when i do get them, especially the one liners.

/extbot - **sigef
דג

Yeah, I admit that this time Paul really got me. Even Google does not help me with this comment. That must be some deep conspiracy and only members of Paul's secret brotherhood who own the key for decrypting it understand and roll on the ground laughing

 

[gaiadiver]

I cannot resist the temptation of contemplating this analogy, which, I think, he might have carried further, very much to the advantage of his argument. He might have shown, that these "hunters, whose game is man," have many sports analogous to our own.

 

[jome]

Kimmo pointed out to me that CAFA has a pretty good set of instructions on their site as well:

Freedive Canada - Competition Manual

I've also been tinkering with an automated announcing system. Currently it works ok, but has a nasty bug - it looses time (starts to lag about 2 minutes per hour). If some computer literate person wants to help debugging, I wouldn't mind

I've given up on trying to make sense of Paul a long time ago. Obviously he lives on a higher level of existence I enjoy the one's I get. The one's I don't I've learned to live without. But usually what ever he says is a refreshing reminder of the rest of us taking ourselves a little too seriously

 

[SanSan]

great thread..

I'm currently working on a programe in excel VB. I've integrated automatic starting list creation and judges lists as all results combination. I was thinking on automatic website publishing but I doubt I'll have the time to finish it using xml. Rather I'll just produce html code to copy/paste onto the server.

I'll make the programe availiable to everyone after it has been tested in beggining of march on our competition in Maribor.

If it works U should be able to see the results on line in about 2-3 minutes after each performance.