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What we'll do for the Falcons Competitions is:take the scoresheets as they come in - sort them into entry order and check them off in the system as received.Those scoresheets are then taken off to a friend's business with a big document center type scanner and scanned and mailed out to a free email account.Scripts login to that account, pull down documents, name them properly and sort them into entrant buckets. After all the scoresheets are received, the scripts verify that all sheets have been properly sorted, upload them to our website and then email all the entrants with a link to their score sheets. (a link email seems to have far better penetration rate / lower bounce rate than directly attaching the pdf's) We've turned around the Mayfaire - a 500-700 entry competition in about 5 hours in the past.
Quote from: JT on January 29, 2015, 06:58:08 amI wasn't at all implying that running a comp is a one man job.I know you weren't implying that. Quote from: JT on January 29, 2015, 06:58:08 amSetting up a central data gathering solution? Yes. Sadly, I have yet to find someone that will do this for us. Hell, I can't even get someone to build me an Access database! The problem with going digital is that you would have judges filling out score sheets on some sort of device. Here's some potential issues (I'm listing so we can talk about them an try and find a solution, not because I'm throwing it back at you):- Many judges are older, with poor eyesight, and may be stuck in their ways of filling out a paper sheet.- Does everyone bring their own device? What about the people who don't have smart devices?- Comps depend on judges filling out sheets in about 10-12 minutes. Any longer than this and a 2.5 hour judging session turns into a 3.5-4.5 hour judging session - that's where you start to talk about judge fatigue. Imagine a 600 bottle comp, which is usually broken down into 2 early flights, 2 Friday flights, and 2-3 Saturday flights. If those sessions took longer than 2.5-3 hours a piece, it would be a disaster. Judges would drop like flies from fatigue and the organizer would likely not be able to do weeknight judging sessions. That's a huge issue. My point is this: many people take longer to type than write, especially on a mobile device or tablet. How can that be overcome?- If they aren't full typed out score sheets, then how do you communicate to entrants that they might not get the traditional set of feedback?- Who is going to set this database up? Do you have a reliable volunteer?- How are you going to integrate it with something like the BCOE&M? From what I understand, it is updated every now and then, and you would have to patch your system in each time it is updated - who is going to do that?My point is, there is a lot that goes into this and I don't see (at least our group) being able to pull it off. I'm open to suggestions.Back to my other point of poorly run competitions, Jimmy hit the nail on the head:Quote from: Jimmy K on January 29, 2015, 07:20:52 amThe trouble is just that many organizers don't think ahead about the process.
I wasn't at all implying that running a comp is a one man job.
Setting up a central data gathering solution? Yes.
The trouble is just that many organizers don't think ahead about the process.
Quote from: dbarber on January 29, 2015, 09:09:06 amQuote from: reverseapachemaster on January 29, 2015, 08:49:58 amScanning and emailing judging sheets is probably the easiest option available although for a large comp you need a fast scanner and somebody, or preferably multiple people, who has a good process in place to sort forms before they go in the scanner and afterwards as the files are being created. It's faster and cheaper to send forms by email with the cost of postage these days. This is what we do for Malt Madness. Our competition is around 500 entries and we have 2-3 to people to scan score sheets. We used to stuff envelopes and have them available for people to pick up the day of the competition and send the rest out by mail, but we switched to scanning to save on postage. Dave, what type of scanner are you using?
Quote from: reverseapachemaster on January 29, 2015, 08:49:58 amScanning and emailing judging sheets is probably the easiest option available although for a large comp you need a fast scanner and somebody, or preferably multiple people, who has a good process in place to sort forms before they go in the scanner and afterwards as the files are being created. It's faster and cheaper to send forms by email with the cost of postage these days. This is what we do for Malt Madness. Our competition is around 500 entries and we have 2-3 to people to scan score sheets. We used to stuff envelopes and have them available for people to pick up the day of the competition and send the rest out by mail, but we switched to scanning to save on postage.
Scanning and emailing judging sheets is probably the easiest option available although for a large comp you need a fast scanner and somebody, or preferably multiple people, who has a good process in place to sort forms before they go in the scanner and afterwards as the files are being created. It's faster and cheaper to send forms by email with the cost of postage these days.
Quote from: AmandaK on January 29, 2015, 11:16:01 amQuote from: dbarber on January 29, 2015, 09:09:06 amQuote from: reverseapachemaster on January 29, 2015, 08:49:58 amScanning and emailing judging sheets is probably the easiest option available although for a large comp you need a fast scanner and somebody, or preferably multiple people, who has a good process in place to sort forms before they go in the scanner and afterwards as the files are being created. It's faster and cheaper to send forms by email with the cost of postage these days. This is what we do for Malt Madness. Our competition is around 500 entries and we have 2-3 to people to scan score sheets. We used to stuff envelopes and have them available for people to pick up the day of the competition and send the rest out by mail, but we switched to scanning to save on postage. Dave, what type of scanner are you using?I'll check with our IT guys.
So does that mean we should see scoresheets from the DKM comp soon?