Entry Stats

General slalom chatter...rant about the bad, rave about the good
Dee
Posts: 1444
Joined: Sun May 08, 2005 8:34 pm

Entry Stats

Post by Dee » Tue May 22, 2018 11:38 am

For those that like stats.....

Out of curiosity I thought I'd look at the percentages of competitors that enter online via www.canoeslalomentries.co.uk

PREM: number competed: 932, percentage pre-entered: 99%, percentage entered online: 99%
DIV1: number competed: 486, percentage pre-entered: 100%, percentage entered online: 99%
DIV2: number competed: 609, percentage pre-entered: 93%, percentage entered online: 88%
DIV3: number competed: 307, percentage pre-entered: 73%, percentage entered online: 67%
C2: number competed: 56, percentage pre-entered: 39%, percentage entered online: 39%
'VET: number competed: 82, percentage pre-entered: 88%, percentage entered online: 87%

Notes:
  • I have only looked at ranked paddlers whose results have been added to ranking database.
  • I have only looked at races which were open to online entries and which have had their results uploaded.
  • I've ignored paddlers that entered and did not appear on the results.
  • percentage entered online is the percentage of competitors that had a result and entered and paid online.
  • percentage pre-entered includes postal entries that were uploaded to canoeslalomentries by the organiser
  • I can't easily do div 4s/officials as their results do not end up on the ranking database
Not sure it tells me anything...
but I am surprised at how high the overall percentage of Div 3s pre-entering is. Is this normal at other div 3 comps (ie those without online entries)? A sign of the times or the impact of entries being available online?
Kit Washer, Entry Clerk, Chauffeur, Reluctant Organiser, Online Entry Advocate .....
Anything I post under this user is my personal opinion; I am not posting as a member of the Slalom Committee!

JimW
Posts: 570
Joined: Thu Oct 08, 2015 2:17 pm
Location: Pinkston

Re: Entry Stats

Post by JimW » Wed May 23, 2018 11:15 am

Having online entries greatly reduced our number of div 3 on the day entries this year, in fact I'm pretty sure most on the day entries were recent K1W promotees who couldn't enter online because they hadn't been allocated bib numbers yet, although most of those who emailed me I was able to put in as NR postal entries with RTC to pay fees on the day which helps streamline things too.
One of our on the day entries was a K1M who had other commitments on the Sunday, which after enjoying himself so much on the Saturday he cancelled them and entered Sunday too!

It also reduced our number of officials entries on the day, which is nice because it helps with planning, and although filling in an officials entry is quite quick by the time you get the cards in order in the pile and transpose the details to SS (or other system) it all adds to workload and stress on the day.

Dee
Posts: 1444
Joined: Sun May 08, 2005 8:34 pm

Re: Entry Stats

Post by Dee » Wed May 23, 2018 12:19 pm

JimW wrote:
Wed May 23, 2018 11:15 am
... I was able to put in as NR postal entries with RTC to pay fees on the day which helps streamline things too.
These will show as on-the-day in my stats because I'm only matching on bibid which the NR postal entries won't have!
Kit Washer, Entry Clerk, Chauffeur, Reluctant Organiser, Online Entry Advocate .....
Anything I post under this user is my personal opinion; I am not posting as a member of the Slalom Committee!

JimW
Posts: 570
Joined: Thu Oct 08, 2015 2:17 pm
Location: Pinkston

Re: Entry Stats

Post by JimW » Wed May 23, 2018 2:34 pm

Dee wrote:
Wed May 23, 2018 12:19 pm
JimW wrote:
Wed May 23, 2018 11:15 am
... I was able to put in as NR postal entries with RTC to pay fees on the day which helps streamline things too.
These will show as on-the-day in my stats because I'm only matching on bibid which the NR postal entries won't have!
Not to worry, it was easier for me to allocate temp bibs and print the cards by doing it that way, I'm not afraid to mess up stats a bit :)

I did have a couple of thoughts/suggestions/requests at the time which I am struggling to remember now!

One was about downloading and printing cards (I was using plain card in case I ran out of pre-printed) - it looks like the PDF is created on the fly, would it be possible to have an option to create a PDF of cards for entries made after a certain time, so that semi-organised organisers can print a batch of cards in advance and then download and do more recent entries at a later date without having to choose which pages to print and throwing 2 duplicate cards away?

Oh yes, and the other one relates to my own inventiveness!
We can already download by division or all, could we get an option to download a separate PDF for each class?
The reason I ask is that I had the brilliant idea (no really, other people have told me they liked it!) of printing a coloured border at the top of each card to roughly match the bib colour for the class to make it easier for clerks to find and display cards and for competitors to find the results when posted. Unfortunately in Adobe I could only add one border per whole sheet so again had to throw away some cards where there were 2 classes on a sheet. I think for most people (several organisers asked how I did it) it would be easier to use a graphics program or even word to make the border first and pre-print it onto either printed cards or blank cards before printing the entry details on a second pass so again would be easiest if they could download each class on its own. I had to make an image up with the black (grey) and red diagonal to use as a border representing C2 bibs.
I realise of course that this is not an officially sanctioned defacement of slalom entry cards, but it did seem useful. :)

jke
Posts: 119
Joined: Mon Oct 24, 2005 7:33 pm

Re: Entry Stats

Post by jke » Wed May 23, 2018 3:28 pm

JimW wrote:
Wed May 23, 2018 2:34 pm
I had the brilliant idea (no really, other people have told me they liked it!) of printing a coloured border at the top of each card to roughly match the bib colour for the class to make it easier for clerks to find and display cards and for competitors to find the results when posted.
How about coloured marker pens and a swipe across the top of the card? Hang on that gives me an idea...
John Kent

Dee
Posts: 1444
Joined: Sun May 08, 2005 8:34 pm

Re: Entry Stats

Post by Dee » Wed May 23, 2018 4:14 pm

JimW wrote:
Wed May 23, 2018 2:34 pm
Dee wrote:
Wed May 23, 2018 12:19 pm
JimW wrote:
Wed May 23, 2018 11:15 am
... I was able to put in as NR postal entries with RTC to pay fees on the day which helps streamline things too.
These will show as on-the-day in my stats because I'm only matching on bibid which the NR postal entries won't have!
Not to worry, it was easier for me to allocate temp bibs and print the cards by doing it that way, I'm not afraid to mess up stats a bit :)

I did have a couple of thoughts/suggestions/requests at the time which I am struggling to remember now!

One was about downloading and printing cards (I was using plain card in case I ran out of pre-printed) - it looks like the PDF is created on the fly, would it be possible to have an option to create a PDF of cards for entries made after a certain time, so that semi-organised organisers can print a batch of cards in advance and then download and do more recent entries at a later date without having to choose which pages to print and throwing 2 duplicate cards away?

Oh yes, and the other one relates to my own inventiveness!
We can already download by division or all, could we get an option to download a separate PDF for each class?
The reason I ask is that I had the brilliant idea (no really, other people have told me they liked it!) of printing a coloured border at the top of each card to roughly match the bib colour for the class to make it easier for clerks to find and display cards and for competitors to find the results when posted. Unfortunately in Adobe I could only add one border per whole sheet so again had to throw away some cards where there were 2 classes on a sheet. I think for most people (several organisers asked how I did it) it would be easier to use a graphics program or even word to make the border first and pre-print it onto either printed cards or blank cards before printing the entry details on a second pass so again would be easiest if they could download each class on its own. I had to make an image up with the black (grey) and red diagonal to use as a border representing C2 bibs.
I realise of course that this is not an officially sanctioned defacement of slalom entry cards, but it did seem useful. :)
You don't ask for much do you :lol: :lol: :lol:
Kit Washer, Entry Clerk, Chauffeur, Reluctant Organiser, Online Entry Advocate .....
Anything I post under this user is my personal opinion; I am not posting as a member of the Slalom Committee!

Dee
Posts: 1444
Joined: Sun May 08, 2005 8:34 pm

Re: Entry Stats

Post by Dee » Wed May 23, 2018 7:29 pm

jke wrote:
Wed May 23, 2018 3:28 pm
JimW wrote:
Wed May 23, 2018 2:34 pm
I had the brilliant idea (no really, other people have told me they liked it!) of printing a coloured border at the top of each card to roughly match the bib colour for the class to make it easier for clerks to find and display cards and for competitors to find the results when posted.
How about coloured marker pens and a swipe across the top of the card? Hang on that gives me an idea...
It's given me an idea too.

@jke/@JimW . Can you try creating your card pdfs again and tell me what you think?

Not sure if the colours 100%, but if someone can let me have more accurate colours (backgrounds and numbers, then I'll give it a go).
Kit Washer, Entry Clerk, Chauffeur, Reluctant Organiser, Online Entry Advocate .....
Anything I post under this user is my personal opinion; I am not posting as a member of the Slalom Committee!

Dee
Posts: 1444
Joined: Sun May 08, 2005 8:34 pm

Re: Entry Stats

Post by Dee » Fri May 25, 2018 6:03 pm

PS I've now added to this so.....

If you choose to print cards in colour then paddlers who are ranked have their name and club in their bib colours.

You can choose bib colours (from a list) for the non-ranked paddlers to match those you have available.

Let me know if any of the ranked colours are wrong or if you need any other bib colours added to the list
Kit Washer, Entry Clerk, Chauffeur, Reluctant Organiser, Online Entry Advocate .....
Anything I post under this user is my personal opinion; I am not posting as a member of the Slalom Committee!

jke
Posts: 119
Joined: Mon Oct 24, 2005 7:33 pm

Re: Entry Stats

Post by jke » Fri May 25, 2018 6:47 pm

Wow impressed. One small point, do Officials normally wear their ranking bib or are they given a scratch bib as with div 4?

And from my lowly position C2 is still Red/Black, although I've "raced" against Pale Blue. But to deal with that in canoeslalomentries would just be adding unnecessary complication.
John Kent

Dee
Posts: 1444
Joined: Sun May 08, 2005 8:34 pm

Re: Entry Stats

Post by Dee » Fri May 25, 2018 8:18 pm

I believe there is an intention to move all ranked C2s to pale blue by next year so not worth the fiddle to split for this year.

Not sure about officials. Traditionally yes, but I've found that with online entries they are on the list with their ranked bib so just tend to wear that one. I'm not sure whether this is a general trend or just a glitch but it does sort of simplify things a bit.

If I get a chance though I'll look at providing an option to override own bibs for officials and opens
Kit Washer, Entry Clerk, Chauffeur, Reluctant Organiser, Online Entry Advocate .....
Anything I post under this user is my personal opinion; I am not posting as a member of the Slalom Committee!

CeeBee
Posts: 331
Joined: Sun Aug 19, 2007 9:12 pm
Location: Falkirk

Re: Entry Stats

Post by CeeBee » Fri May 25, 2018 9:13 pm

The coloured entry cards are a fantastic enhancement - very impressed with the genius's that thought up the idea and who set it up on the system to work. It worked really well at Pinkston when displaying the cards.

Please can you add purple and olive green as an option. (Scotland have purple, Olive green, yellow and blue bibs).

Dee
Posts: 1444
Joined: Sun May 08, 2005 8:34 pm

Re: Entry Stats

Post by Dee » Fri May 25, 2018 10:24 pm

CeeBee wrote:
Fri May 25, 2018 9:13 pm
The coloured entry cards are a fantastic enhancement - very impressed with the genius's that thought up the idea and who set it up on the system to work. It worked really well at Pinkston when displaying the cards.

Please can you add purple and olive green as an option. (Scotland have purple, Olive green, yellow and blue bibs).
Colours added.

What was done at Pinkston was thought up and implemented by Jim. I've basically copied his idea, as mentioned on here, though the implementation is slightly different.

I agree that the idea is a really good one. The only potential issue I see is where a paddler forgets their bib and has a loan - the card will reflect their real bib rather than the borrowed one, but I think the benefits outweigh this.

Will be good to hear how it goes.
Kit Washer, Entry Clerk, Chauffeur, Reluctant Organiser, Online Entry Advocate .....
Anything I post under this user is my personal opinion; I am not posting as a member of the Slalom Committee!

Dee
Posts: 1444
Joined: Sun May 08, 2005 8:34 pm

Re: Entry Stats

Post by Dee » Fri May 25, 2018 10:38 pm

JimW wrote:
Wed May 23, 2018 2:34 pm
...
One was about downloading and printing cards (I was using plain card in case I ran out of pre-printed) - it looks like the PDF is created on the fly, would it be possible to have an option to create a PDF of cards for entries made after a certain time, so that semi-organised organisers can print a batch of cards in advance and then download and do more recent entries at a later date without having to choose which pages to print and throwing 2 duplicate cards away?
....
It does create a pdf on the fly.

I'm a bit wary of adding another question to the pdf process:
  • there are now quite a few steps/options and I don't want to make the process too cumbersome
  • I can understand the desire to 'get ahead', but the printing doesn't take that long - for Pinkston we were talking about 20 sheets per day.
  • if the printing is done in one go then they are pre-sorted by Division/Class.
  • If I look at entry date then someone will also ask for ones with details that have changed etc. and so it goes on.
I'm not saying a forever 'no', but I'd like to give it a bit longer first. I just have a feeling that the early part-printing may be partly due to 'nerves' and once organisers are more confident of success they will leave until later. If it was me, I would download a pdf as a just in case backup a couple of days before, but not bother printing until I had closed online entries at which point I'd do a fresh download and single print run for each day.
Kit Washer, Entry Clerk, Chauffeur, Reluctant Organiser, Online Entry Advocate .....
Anything I post under this user is my personal opinion; I am not posting as a member of the Slalom Committee!

Dee
Posts: 1444
Joined: Sun May 08, 2005 8:34 pm

Re: Entry Stats

Post by Dee » Mon May 28, 2018 8:34 pm

jke wrote:
Fri May 25, 2018 6:47 pm
Wow impressed. One small point, do Officials normally wear their ranking bib or are they given a scratch bib as with div 4?
It now allows you to state colours for 'Officials' bibs which will override the ranking bib colours - if you don't select colours for officials it reverts to standard ranking colours, so as organiser you have the option.
Kit Washer, Entry Clerk, Chauffeur, Reluctant Organiser, Online Entry Advocate .....
Anything I post under this user is my personal opinion; I am not posting as a member of the Slalom Committee!

JimW
Posts: 570
Joined: Thu Oct 08, 2015 2:17 pm
Location: Pinkston

Re: Entry Stats

Post by JimW » Wed Jun 06, 2018 1:04 pm

Apologies for not replying sooner, I was in Switzerland enjoying the WWR worlds and am just back!

Brilliant work on the colour coding - I'm so glad others find that useful and you have been able to incorporate it so quickly.
I don't think we need to worry about temporary bibs, or C2s / Vets that are using 2/3 colours instead P/1 colours - my main objective was to make it easier for clerks putting cards out and competitors to find the right group of cards when looking at results, I think competitors will be fine with looking for the proper bib colour even if it isn't the colour they are actually wearing that day. Obviously for the people actually timing/scoring they will be told a different bib colour over the headset than is in the pile, but again if the competitors are racing within their class it should be fairly obvious.
I did use different shades of yellow for div 2 K1M and div 2 C1M but I'm not sure how differentiatable they were in the end, the bibs themselves are mostly identical and most of us who double up will have worn the wrong one at some time or other and been sent to change it! :D

I understand your point regarding extra, possibly confusing, options to the output so I'm happy to let that idea go!
The reason I printed most of my cards in advance was that I have terrible trouble connecting my windows 10 laptop to the WIFI at Pinkston, and in fact I wasted many hours on the Friday evening failing to connect it, although fortunately Chris Baillie saved me with her 4G dongle... I allowed online entries on the day, which is perhaps taking it too far?

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