The Good and Bad of Online Event Management

Having all the event information online is both convenient and environmentally righteous, but it also leads to entry delay and possibly poor event attendance.

Let’s compare online entry lists to the party announcement which says the event will be from 7pm to 10pm. How often do you get there at 7pm? Probably never, as you want to show up when the party is buzzing. But that doesn’t work for regattas, as is explained by Tim Finkle, co-chair Can Am Challenge on July 25-26…

I have to take to the podium for a second to vent about something that has bothered me lately. We have been planning for our event at at the Youngstown YC, and have been asking boat owners to sign up early on YachtScoring.com, especially our local boats. You don’t have to pay now, but we need people to sign up if they have plans to attend. Why? It’s simple, the earlier you sign up the better attraction for others who may be on the fence about attending.

The difference between 5 boats registered versus 8 is huge. From a competitors stand point, you see 5 and think it’s a small fleet, but at 8 you think there is a chance at a double digit fleet. It can be a tipping point that brings in a bunch of boats from a yacht club that was on the fence about which regatta to attend that summer.

We all want good size classes to race against, the party is better and we all win in the end. So PLEASE, if you are at all thinking of attending an event, just sign up now and see how the fleet builds!