Yet Another Cycling Forum

General Category => Audax => Topic started by: LiamFitz on 17 July, 2019, 06:54:15 pm

Title: Helping at events
Post by: LiamFitz on 17 July, 2019, 06:54:15 pm
A comment by Manotea in the London Orbital tread below make me think the topic of helping at events is worthy of discussion here.

Until recently, I was responsible for LWL and was constantly reminded that the event and its popularity was only possible because of the over 30 people who put their hands up and gave their time to make it all happen.

I was about to say "selflessly" gave their time but I think we should celebrate the fun and enjoyment that can be had helping out on an event - I recommend that everyone does something every year if they can just because it's a blast.

At a control you get to catch up with a regiment of people you know from a ride you have done in the past - but probably never see because they're normally well ahead of you or miles back on the road. People are almost universally delighted to see you (not a regular experience in my life!) and there's a real pleasure in watching a knackered AUK come back to life after drinking stewed tea and eating a ton of cherry bakewells.

On LWL, feeding riders and hearing their stories at the end of 407km was always reward enough for the stress of running the event (even when I'd heard some of the same stories a few times before).

I can be a little boring on the subject, but audax for me is all about the community and volunteering is where it really comes to life for me.

So, if you haven't done it yet, I can strongly recommend taking a day off the bike from time to time. (plus there are always tons of cakes left over that have to be eaten by someone). And if you can spare a few days, I had one of the best holidays working at St Ives for a week on LEL... Danial should be charging for places next year!
Title: Re: Helping at events
Post by: S2L on 17 July, 2019, 07:07:39 pm
Completely agree.
I've helped at more events than I have ridden this year, which is probably because i rode very few...

As a result, I have a guaranteed entry for LEL 2021, but you know what? I might just help there too, it seems more fun than slogging my bum around the length of the country twice...  :thumbsup:

Helping got me into organising and seeking others help... it's fun, especially in busy buzzing events, but it is very important also in less glamorous ones
Title: Re: Helping at events
Post by: hellymedic on 17 July, 2019, 07:27:35 pm
I fully agree.
I've had a great time helping out but gave up when I became a negative help.
Sorry and thanks for the craic!
Title: Re: Helping at events
Post by: Peat on 17 July, 2019, 08:00:48 pm
How about some sort of AUK resource for regional volunteers?

Several times I have learned of an event (usually during or after) that controls nearby that I would've been more than happy to help at.

I know organizers probably have their own trusted controllers, but it could be good to encourage some fresh blood. Perhaps sweeten the deal with AUK points?

I remember when going for my (car) racing license, you had to get a certain number of event signatures to graduate from the Rookie plates. You could substitute a race meeting for a days marshaling to get a signature and it was actively encouraged in order to give racers a proper appreciation of what the volunteers do to make their races happen.

Anyway, I'm Peat of South Oxfordshire. Will help for cake.
Title: Re: Helping at events
Post by: FifeingEejit on 17 July, 2019, 08:10:15 pm
I remember when going for my (car) racing license, you had to get a certain number of event signatures to graduate from the Rookie plates. You could substitute a race meeting for a days marshaling to get a signature and it was actively encouraged in order to give racers a proper appreciation of what the volunteers do to make their races happen.

Think that's still the case, though marshalling has recently had to get significantly more organised and structured.

Quote from: LiamFitz
People are almost universally delighted to see you

In Audax this may be the case; in my Motorsport assisting history I've mostly been part of the equivalent of the Broom Wagon; nobody wants the Closing Car* to catch them!

* Closes the controls, dismisses the marshalls from their post, collects the timepieces and control cards.
The AUK equivalent is I suppose a manned control once the controller has gone home.
Title: Re: Helping at events
Post by: Martin on 17 July, 2019, 09:09:52 pm
Remember also that by helping you still get to ride the event a week or two before, usually as a social leisurely ride too  :)

I've had many volunteers helping on my events over the years; whether they be previous riders who like to see the event keeping going, kind souls of This Parish just being excellent  :) or even of the exchange help where we each help on each other's event variety.

I like the idea of a helper pool list. The only regular requests I get for help are on TT's in my club (of which I've also given my fair share)
Title: Re: Helping at events
Post by: grimpeur du sudocrem on 17 July, 2019, 10:15:08 pm
I helped for the first time at Manotea's recent Ditchling Devil, and I thoroughly enjoyed it as well as feeling like I was doing something worthwhile. Will certainly look for more opportunities to get involved, and would encourage others to do so too  :)
Title: Re: Helping at events
Post by: bludger on 17 July, 2019, 11:33:25 pm
I've really enjoyed supporting two brevets. I think there are thousands of people who would be very happy to support rides, the problem is linking them to the organiser. I found out about my first volunteer brevet from scanning the calendar events and seeing one was near me (I supported the sign on for the 200, which started earlier, and the 100, which I then did myself). The next time I saw Paul's post here for the Ditchling Devil.

Perhaps the Audax UK IT could be used to automatically let members know which calendar events are coming up with start points near their postcode which they might be interested in supporting? Or organisers could list 'help wanted' in the calendar section of arrivée?
Title: Re: Helping at events
Post by: Jaded on 18 July, 2019, 12:06:28 am
Running a control is as satisfying as riding a ride, in my opinion.

I agree there could be some kind of postcode related database doohickey webthingy. Currently I do one control each year, but i have done more in the past and could be persuaded in the future to provide stamping succour at other events...

If you ride, then provide help, even if only once. The events only happen because people give up their time, give up yours.
Title: Re: Helping at events
Post by: quixoticgeek on 18 July, 2019, 01:33:02 am
Perhaps the Audax UK IT could be used to automatically let members know which calendar events are coming up with start points near their postcode which they might be interested in supporting? Or organisers could list 'help wanted' in the calendar section of arrivée?

Actually the more useful is to base it on where the controls are. When I lived in Canterbury, it's be real easy to help at any control east of Ashford. An event starting hundreds of km west of Kent night be using such a control. If the alert was only based on start/finish location, then it would miss many intermediate controls where help could be really useful.

It's a similar problem to the way events just describe starting in a village, and a list of villages it goes through, locals may know where those are, but non locals won't.

I'll stop there before I get attacked on twitter for saying something that might not be 100% positive about AUK, but just consider it's a non simple problem and alerting on intermediate controls would be useful too...

J
Title: Helping at events
Post by: citoyen on 18 July, 2019, 06:12:59 am
I'll stop there before I get attacked on twitter for saying something that might not be 100% positive about AUK, but just consider it's a non simple problem and alerting on intermediate controls would be useful too...

No, I think you make a fair point.

In practice, though, organisers of longer events (ones that go well outside their local area) are usually very experienced audaxers who have a good network of contacts, and they will proactively seek help from people in the areas their rides go to - not just with running controls but also in coming up with suitable locations for controls.

I think it’s mainly inexperienced orgs (like myself) who would benefit from such a resource, and they’re usually restricted to shorter events anyway. But that’s partly what the mentoring system is for - my mentor was very helpful in this respect when putting on my first event.
Title: Re: Helping at events
Post by: citoyen on 18 July, 2019, 06:18:59 am
I was about to say "selflessly" gave their time but I think we should celebrate the fun and enjoyment that can be had helping out on an event - I recommend that everyone does something every year if they can just because it's a blast.

Indeed. On the subject of the London Orbital, I helped out at the Gravesend ferry control last year and had a jolly good time (sitting in a pub garden on a sunny day... such a chore).
Title: Re: Helping at events
Post by: kegere on 18 July, 2019, 08:00:59 am
This year I've helped in two overnight controls, not only was it very rewarding experience I also learnt a lot from observing the riders, using some of these lessons in the following rides. I'd definitely recommend it, as anyone who's ridden with me recently will be fully aware ;D

Next year I'm already intending on helping on at least one overnight control, I will get round to telling the organiser sometime soon.
Title: Re: Helping at events
Post by: frankly frankie on 18 July, 2019, 10:21:30 am
There's no such thing as altruism.  Everything we do, we do out of self-interest, at some level.  Helping at events is a very good illustration of that general point.

So, if you haven't done it yet, I can strongly recommend taking a day off the bike from time to time. (plus there are always tons of cakes left over that have to be eaten by someone).

I think on big and long events with lots of helpers, the helpers eating more than their share of the food can be a real problem - it was certainly flagged up as an issue on one edition of LEL that I was peripherally involved with.
Title: Re: Helping at events
Post by: grams on 18 July, 2019, 10:51:58 am
I've always though it's weird how rare open calls for volunteers at audaxes are. Even if there's an adequate supply of volunteers from "contacts", making sure there's a clear path in for new people is a worthwhile thing in and of itself.

Quote
Perhaps the Audax UK IT could be used to automatically let members know which calendar events are coming up with start points near their postcode which they might be interested in supporting?

It's not an IT problem. A boring old mailing list, maybe one per region to reduce noise. Done.
Title: Re: Helping at events
Post by: telstarbox on 18 July, 2019, 10:58:03 am
OTOH if orgs aren't asking for help that suggests they've got a well drilled team in place (particularly for events which have run for several years?)

Agree that controlling is fun and at least as rewarding as riding the thing :)
Title: Re: Helping at events
Post by: quixoticgeek on 18 July, 2019, 11:11:13 am
It's not an IT problem. A boring old mailing list, maybe one per region to reduce noise. Done.

Except what happens with rides that cross regions? Your ride may start in Essex, but it goes to the west country and back?

It's not a simple problem.

J
Title: Re: Helping at events
Post by: grams on 18 July, 2019, 11:17:36 am
Except what happens with rides that cross regions? Your ride may start in Essex, but it goes to the west country and back?

The organiser posts in the list for the region where they want volunteers?

Title: Re: Helping at events
Post by: quixoticgeek on 18 July, 2019, 11:19:51 am
Except what happens with rides that cross regions? Your ride may start in Essex, but it goes to the west country and back?

The organiser posts in the list for the region where they want volunteers?

BRB, I need tea.

I'm awake, honest...

J
Title: Re: Helping at events
Post by: FifeingEejit on 18 July, 2019, 11:52:18 am
It's not an IT problem. A boring old mailing list, maybe one per region to reduce noise. Done.

Well you're right in that it's not an IT problem it's an organizational problem but that is an IT solution whether done by e-mail, message board or carrier pigeon...
IT problems are problems in the solutions.

#pedant
Title: Re: Helping at events
Post by: Philip Whiteman on 19 July, 2019, 08:56:21 am
I occasionally put out a request for volunteers on the Audax Facebook Group and has yielded some great volunteers.   

Recently when supporting Alfapete's control at the Worcestershire control on the WCW audax, we had another volunteer who had travelled down from Leeds - now that is commitment!
Title: Re: Helping at events
Post by: Jaded on 19 July, 2019, 09:45:05 am
I don’t do FAcebook and I only look at the AUK forum when there’s a fight on, so I get any requests for help by word of mouth or on here.
Title: Re: Helping at events
Post by: S2L on 19 July, 2019, 09:45:32 am
Recently when supporting Alfapete's control at the Worcestershire control on the WCW audax, we had another volunteer who had travelled down from Leeds - now that is commitment!

And he travelled with home made cake, let's not forget the important details
Title: Re: Helping at events
Post by: CrazyEnglishTriathlete on 19 July, 2019, 09:55:31 am
Happy to help with the catering on events that haunt Hampshire, Berkshire or West Sussex, or act as a card stamper.  At the moment still need tons of advance notice due to work/family. 
Title: Re: Helping at events
Post by: D on 19 July, 2019, 05:29:13 pm
volunteering is so nice to give something back, I have volunteered twice at the LEL driving others to Scotland from England, also helped out at a few events, its great to see others and give them my support as you know how it feels yourself when the chips are down, and get them back on the road with good spirits
Title: Re: Helping at events
Post by: Phil W on 19 July, 2019, 05:43:57 pm
I like to volunteer once or twice a year as suitable events present themselves. As said up thread , it's nice to catch up with others you usually only see on the road. Seeing how bad they look reminds you how bad you must look at stages ;D. I don't always do helpers rides though as that can lead to taking a significant portion of two consecutive weekends away from family. I prefer to help at controls within cycling distance or easy enough to get to by train.
Title: Re: Helping at events
Post by: Wobbly on 20 July, 2019, 12:29:23 pm
I think on big and long events with lots of helpers, the helpers eating more than their share of the food can be a real problem - it was certainly flagged up as an issue on one edition of LEL that I was peripherally involved with.

Quite the opposite problem on events I've helped on; loads (and I do mean loads!) of food left. No doubt some entrepreneur will make a fortune combining Audax controls with pop-up food banks...


-snip-
A boring old mailing list, maybe one per region to reduce noise. Done.

You did done what, exactly?


I don’t do FAcebook and I only look at the AUK forum when there’s a fight on, so I get any requests for help by word of mouth or on here.

When there was only YACF then requests on here for volunteers were the sensible option. Now, sadly, there's Facebook and the official AUK forum diluting the audience. (https://i.postimg.cc/BvQnqmt9/frown.gif)

In my opinion there should be a page on the AUK web site where organisers can put out a call for volunteers. However, I'm sure that'll be another King's ransom going to the web developers (https://i.postimg.cc/Lhdcn8Tg/mad.gif)
Title: Re: Helping at events
Post by: S2L on 27 July, 2019, 11:20:55 am
I think on big and long events with lots of helpers, the helpers eating more than their share of the food can be a real problem - it was certainly flagged up as an issue on one edition of LEL that I was peripherally involved with.

Quite the opposite problem on events I've helped on; loads (and I do mean loads!) of food left. No doubt some entrepreneur will make a fortune combining Audax controls with pop-up food banks...


-snip-
A boring old mailing list, maybe one per region to reduce noise. Done.

You did done what, exactly?


I don’t do FAcebook and I only look at the AUK forum when there’s a fight on, so I get any requests for help by word of mouth or on here.

When there was only YACF then requests on here for volunteers were the sensible option. Now, sadly, there's Facebook and the official AUK forum diluting the audience. (https://i.postimg.cc/BvQnqmt9/frown.gif)

In my opinion there should be a page on the AUK web site where organisers can put out a call for volunteers. However, I'm sure that'll be another King's ransom going to the web developers (https://i.postimg.cc/Lhdcn8Tg/mad.gif)

The problem with fora is that the audience they reach is extremely limited. It is very likely that the all traffic on this Audax part of YACF is less than 100 users, always the same, very aware of what's going on and when... in other words, a waste of time for organisers to post here. The AUK forum has even lower numbers

Facebook on the other hand, will be seen by pretty much all those who have subscribed to the Audax page, which are as of today 9948.
In simple words, fora are dying a slow death, in my opinion because they all inevitably turn into places to spread negativity and vitriol
Title: Re: Helping at events
Post by: Jaded on 27 July, 2019, 11:31:10 am
You’ve made he assumption that your guessed number of 100 on here have the same desire to help at events as the 9948 that are displayed as members of the Facebook page. I very much doubt that.

My experience of Facebook pages (I see one that has 6,000 members) is that almost all the members do not contribute. Plus many of them are not directly active in the subject matter. Plus stuff just disappears into the Facebook vortex, dealt with by Facebook algorithms that are designed to hook users and monetise their habits.
Title: Re: Helping at events
Post by: S2L on 27 July, 2019, 11:40:38 am
You’ve made he assumption that your guessed number of 100 on here have the same desire to help at events as the 9948 that are displayed as members of the Facebook page. I very much doubt that.

Even if the desire was 10 to 1, you are still better off on Facebook... besides, on a forum you know personally a few people and probably have already asked, the others are just nicknames and anything can hide behind... are they trustworthy? Will they show up?


With Facebook (most) users have a name, typically a face and if they say they will come, I am more inclined to think they will, because they have publicly put their face...

I don't think I trust fora, instinctively... but maybe that's just me (although falling numbers suggest it's not just me)
Title: Re: Helping at events
Post by: grams on 27 July, 2019, 11:50:06 am
Even if the desire was 10 to 1

If it's 1000 to 1 I'd be shocked. And I reckon most of the "1" are also on here, and much more likely to see anything posted.

Most of the members of that group have only at best a passing interest in audax, and almost all of the posts are unfunny memes or non-audax holiday snaps. I'm close to unsubscribing (you can unsubscribe and still be counted as a "member").

This here place seems to the only place on the internet to reliably find people interested in audaxes.
Title: Re: Helping at events
Post by: citoyen on 27 July, 2019, 12:56:36 pm
In simple words, fora are dying a slow death, in my opinion because they all inevitably turn into places to spread negativity and vitriol

QED
Title: Re: Helping at events
Post by: S2L on 27 July, 2019, 01:17:43 pm
Even if the desire was 10 to 1

If it's 1000 to 1 I'd be shocked. And I reckon most of the "1" are also on here, and much more likely to see anything posted.

Most of the members of that group have only at best a passing interest in audax, and almost all of the posts are unfunny memes or non-audax holiday snaps. I'm close to unsubscribing (you can unsubscribe and still be counted as a "member").

This here place seems to the only place on the internet to reliably find people interested in audaxes.

It doesn't have to be THAT page... we have a local group on Facebook with about 50 members, when I asked for help, two stepped forward and others apologised for not being able to help on that day.
The other thing about fora is that half of the time I don't know what people are on about... it the attempt to be funny or witty or to recall shared experiences of the past, I miss what they actually are trying to say... Facebook is a more primitive way to communicate (approve, like, brief sentences to the point) but effective...
Fora are for rambling on... the classic example is trying to organise a ride (or anything) on a forum... 50 pages later nothing has been achieved and the discussion has moved to which cafe' makes the best sarnie and whether Bojo will manage to get Brexit done by the 31st of October
Title: Re: Helping at events
Post by: Kim on 27 July, 2019, 01:42:43 pm
It's not really about the technology, they all have their disadvantages:  Facebook hides things and excludes people, while a web forum puts things in plain sight where people don't bother to look, and mailing lists are basically useless when your target demographic includes a substantial number of people not equipped for handling large volumes of email.

Organising things always goes round in circles if nobody's prepared to pin things down.  Say it'd be a nice idea to do a ride sometime and you'll get that effect, regardless of whether it's in a web forum, newsgroup, social media or physical pub.  Say you're meeting at 10am on $date at $station for a ride of 80km with a CAKE stop at $cafe, and you'll get some people saying they can't come, and others actually will.  (I elaborate on this here (https://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=109583.0).)  If subsequent discussion causes the ride to re-route around a road closure and visit a different cafe in search of more than one vegetarian option, that's fine, it still happens.  I'm not on Facebook, but my understanding of it's 'events' user interface is that it encourages this decisiveness early in proceedings, and makes it easy for people to engage (in order that they be advertised at), in a way that's almost a polar opposite of the way it buries archive information.

But mostly it's about people, and if you want to reach more of them, you have to use more than your pet medium.

Title: Re: Helping at events
Post by: bairn again on 27 July, 2019, 02:51:27 pm
If I was putting out a call for help at an event Id either ask folk face to face (most likley at an audax event) or would post here.

Forum identities in my experience (based only on yacf) make for no difference in reliability - my guess is that most folk here use a nom de plume as a bit of fun ("can you guess who that is?") or in the way that a teenage nickname might be used, but not to hide or shirk out.  If doubts exist a DM exchange ("so who the f**k are you exactly?") can help iron things out.   yacf and audax however is a match made in heaven - its a bit quirky, its not "the latest thing" and practitioners dont care.     

I no longer have a Facebook account but when I did it was also under a nom de plume.  I find that the most prolific Facebook users tend to suffer from Top Gear Syndrome (a mistaken belief that everybody shares their enthusiasm).

Martin F.     
Title: Re: Helping at events
Post by: LiamFitz on 27 July, 2019, 05:12:15 pm
I find that the most prolific Facebook users tend to suffer from Top Gear Syndrome (a mistaken belief that everybody shares their enthusiasm).

Martin F.   

I think that's because FB serves you up with stuff they think you'll like with the inevitable side effect that you see more and more stuff that is similar to your world view and less and less that challenges how you think. This has proven disastrous when politicians have worked out how to micro target people.

Separately, I do tend to avoid YACF as too often I have seen simple discussions degenerate into pedantry or aggression and swearyness (remember the debate about women on events which slowly turned into a bunch of blokes shouting at each other?). What puzzles me is that a few of the worst offenders on line are some of the nicest people you could want to meet on a bike.
Title: Re: Helping at events
Post by: S2L on 27 July, 2019, 05:30:31 pm
Separately, I do tend to avoid YACF as too often I have seen simple discussions degenerate into pedantry or aggression and swearyness (remember the debate about women on events which slowly turned into a bunch of blokes shouting at each other?). What puzzles me is that a few of the worst offenders on line are some of the nicest people you could want to meet on a bike.

Fora in a nutshell...
Title: Re: Helping at events
Post by: Exit Stage Left on 27 July, 2019, 08:47:58 pm
I see that no-one has mentioned money. Some events build expenses for their volunteers into their calculations, others don't.

I've taken the view that volunteering for events is payback for the unpaid work that enabled the events I rode. I have had expenses for filming and editing for a small number of events, for which I'm very appreciative, but in general I've been giving my time and money to help develop Audax.

Curiously, the events I generally rode had fairly focused volunteer support. Chris Crossland's Two and Three Coasts 600km rides were one example of that. The Depart/ Arrivee was also the sleep control, and volunteers came from the CTC groups of the immediate area. The amount of travel involved for volunteers was minimal, there were volunteers at Glasson Dock, and I don't know if they were local.

My involvement with Andy Corless's rides was a bit more complex. I wouldn't have entered them, as they're too hilly for my tastes. But hills are easy to film, and the scenery looks good, so I was getting a lot out of following them. However, the Langwathby control on the Pendle 600 was pretty remote, with no real chance of local involvement, so I tended to end up involved in cooking activities. The same happened on the first Mille Pennines.

I've also seen how LEL volunteering has evolved, as my partner Heather ran a control in 2001, 2005, 2009, 2013 and 2017. She relied on friends and family initially, but as the event has grown, volunteers have been recruited from around the world, mainly thanks to Danial. That has considerable cost implications.

So I'd see helping at events as a very varied phenomenon. Some are doing it for the satisfactions it gives them. Some are helping to develop the activities of the club they belong to, some are helping friends and family. While others are involved in a sort of cultural exchange.

Underlying those differences are a variety of monetary arrangements, some organisers provide expenses, some don't. To add a layer of complexity, events vary in remoteness, so local volunteers are hard to come by. On top of all that, there is no cross-subsidy between organisers.
Title: Re: Helping at events
Post by: alwyn on 28 July, 2019, 01:59:31 am
I think on big and long events with lots of helpers, the helpers eating more than their share of the food can be a real problem - it was certainly flagged up as an issue on one edition of LEL that I was peripherally involved with.

I don't find that to be a problem at all these days.
Title: Re: Helping at events
Post by: hellymedic on 28 July, 2019, 02:10:32 pm
I think on big and long events with lots of helpers, the helpers eating more than their share of the food can be a real problem - it was certainly flagged up as an issue on one edition of LEL that I was peripherally involved with.

I don't find that to be a problem at all these days.

[Ancient history]

Thorne Rugby Club seemed to be a drop-in centre for old cyclists in 1997.
Title: Re: Helping at events
Post by: Exit Stage Left on 28 July, 2019, 02:47:22 pm
I think on big and long events with lots of helpers, the helpers eating more than their share of the food can be a real problem - it was certainly flagged up as an issue on one edition of LEL that I was peripherally involved with.

I don't find that to be a problem at all these days.

Prior to 2009 food for riders was charged for, as at PBP. If the catering is to break even, the cost of food for the volunteers has to be factored in. A variety of approaches were used; from pricing per item, a blanket charge, and even the choice of a microwaved ready-meal.
Title: Re: Helping at events
Post by: S2L on 28 July, 2019, 05:37:34 pm

Prior to 2009 food for riders was charged for, as at PBP. If the catering is to break even, the cost of food for the volunteers has to be factored in. A variety of approaches were used; from pricing per item, a blanket charge, and even the choice of a microwaved ready-meal.

You are overthinking it, most events have the opposite problem... it's not unknown for organisers to live off leftovers for weeks after an event.
If you have 50 riders, you budget for 50 mouths + volunteers, but ultimately half of the riders will eat very little or nothing at all at the depart/arrivee... maybe intermediate controls are more popular...

How many events in the calendar have catered for intermediate controls? 10% of the lot?
Title: Re: Helping at events
Post by: CrazyEnglishTriathlete on 29 July, 2019, 09:09:51 am
I'm not on FB, and it doesn't let you look at anything unless you are on FB.  I don't want to maintain a FB profile so if things are run from there I won't be able to help.  Apologies for making things difficult but there are some places I don't trust with my data and FB is one of them.
Title: Re: Helping at events
Post by: Kim on 29 July, 2019, 12:40:20 pm
I'm not on FB, and it doesn't let you look at anything unless you are on FB.

That's not strictly true:  If the owner sets a group to sufficiently public permissions, you can squint at it past the un-dismissable bouncing log-in popups for the couple of minutes that your patience will stand.
Title: Re: Helping at events
Post by: alwyn on 30 July, 2019, 05:53:19 pm
Personally I find Facebook to be a superb recruiting tool. Admittedly I run an especially exciting event, but I still have to work at it and sell the event to people. But you have a bigger audience and far more capacity to appeal using graphics and images.
Title: Re: Helping at events
Post by: LiamFitz on 31 July, 2019, 07:22:39 am
Personally I find Facebook to be a superb recruiting tool. Admittedly I run an especially exciting event, but I still have to work at it and sell the event to people. But you have a bigger audience and far more capacity to appeal using graphics and images.

Already looking forward to LEL helping next time. It was one of the best weeks I've had off 'work' for a long time.

Title: Re: Helping at events
Post by: Philip Whiteman on 31 July, 2019, 08:38:02 am
Personally I find Facebook to be a superb recruiting tool. Admittedly I run an especially exciting event, but I still have to work at it and sell the event to people. But you have a bigger audience and far more capacity to appeal using graphics and images.

Totally agree.  For may audaxes I have a dedicated FB group with around 350 members and it is a great advertising and notification mechanism.  It also assists in the recruitment of volunteers.  On the latter score, Yet Another Punch Up has been a dead end.
Title: Re: Helping at events
Post by: BlackSheep on 04 August, 2019, 01:01:00 pm
I've really enjoyed supporting two brevets. I think there are thousands of people who would be very happy to support rides, the problem is linking them to the organiser. I found out about my first volunteer brevet from scanning the calendar events and seeing one was near me (I supported the sign on for the 200, which started earlier, and the 100, which I then did myself). The next time I saw Paul's post here for the Ditchling Devil.

Perhaps the Audax UK IT could be used to automatically let members know which calendar events are coming up with start points near their postcode which they might be interested in supporting? Or organisers could list 'help wanted' in the calendar section of arrivée?

As you have found out, helping at events can be very enjoyable/interesting/therapeutic/and a few other things.

It's a pity that the new website doesn't have a section (similar to entry) for would be volunteers to offer their help.