Bob Schwartz wrote in message ...
Eric Hollenbeck wrote:
"Online registration simply proved too difficult for some to
comprehend. The night before the race, we had about five guys show up
with transaction reports that had been automatically sent to them."

I laugh my ass off when I hear promoters complain how difficult it is
when riders don't register in advance.
Never organized a race, have you?

Never hit on someone for sponsorship money for a race, have you?

Never even been within 50 kilometers of a race organization meeting,
have you?

Never compiled a race budget, have you?

Never worked at a registration table, have you?

I have done all these things... More than once.

Now that we have gotten the pleasantries out of the way, what is soooo
impossible about what I suggest? I'll be the first to admit it sounds
utopian but I've seen it work and the main reason it hasn't here is
that most grass roots race promoters (and local racing associations)
who make an effort to streamline and optimize race organization
eventually want a piece of the pie. That works fine for "pro" racing
where the athletes are compensated but for grass roots racing

I can't help but wonder what happened to the $5-$7 entry fees of old.
Bob, you have been around longer than me, tell us how much you paid
for race entry back in "the day".... OK..now, HOW did THEY possibly do
it?

I will bet that the Belgians were working from a license database
with all the information you had on that race program and only had
to record who had actually shown up in order to generate the start
list. Which is a good idea, that is for sure.

I never saw a single computer when I signed in at more than 200 races
there. They had someone typing and someone (No ****) using one of
those old hand crank presses..

But until YOU have figured out how to get enough sponsorship
money to get away with charging low (if at all) entry fees, and
YOU have tried to round up enough volunteer labor to do that amount
of race day entry, and YOU have secured finances such that you
can tell the 50 guys that showed up with illegible entry forms
5 minutes before the scheduled start time to buzz off...

1. Find a place that serves affordable food and (alcohol) drinks
outdoors and is open in the afternoon
2. Tell them you want to have A (Yep just one , not 15 in a day) bike
race which starts and finishes in front of their establishment which
only will last 2-3 hours on a afternoon.
3. Tell them if they give you $1000 you will guarantee a return (not
to mention exposure and a chance to enhance the community)
4. Have the race pass the restaurant a minimum 10 times.
5. Have the sign-in and awards at the restaurant.
6. Find another restaurant in another community and start at step 2.

Sure you might not score with the first café… whoops, I mean
restaurant, you approach but eventually you will. Oh no, I've let the
long lost secret out of the bag.

Eric