Re: [OUSA-ClubNet] Digest for clubnet@orienteeringusa.org - 7 updates in 3 topics

9 views
Skip to first unread message

Don Watenpaugh

unread,
Sep 24, 2022, 8:18:34 PM9/24/22
to clu...@orienteeringusa.org
Interesting thread; thanks to all for the thoughtful inputs.  A few ideas concerning the social aspects of orienteering and its clubs:

 - Some of my most enjoyable orienteering moments have been AFTER running a course.  Impromptu meetings will form at a picnic table near the finish with others who ran the same course.  Everybody will have their half-destroyed maps at the ready and debrief about the approaches to control #7, where/how they crossed the creek, how they startled an armadillo, visiting the "lost and found" department, maybe carping about map fidelity, alternative routes between 12 and 13, score-O event strategy, whatever.  It's huge fun!  I've laughed hysterically with complete strangers.  I've also learned a LOT from others about my orienteering "game" at these debriefs.  
What if these post-event discussions were an actual thing, an organized and scheduled part of every event for every course?  Depending on weather and club size, it might require setting up a few extra tarps, asking people to bring camp chairs, reserving more park pavilions, etc.  I would go!  

 - Orienteering is traditionally a solitary sport, but could occasional inclusion of team/small group events increase its "social score?"  One of the most fun and memorable events I ever attended was a small group Night-O.  It was a cool, misty, and moonless night.  The combined need for night nav, flashlight shielding, and quiet made for an exhilarating and creepy experience!  And, we had a great post-event session.  (It was a camp at the event site weekend.  Still more social opportunities?)

 - Two words:  food trucks.  

All for now,

Don W.
 - 
Don Watenpaugh, PhD
Studio Videnda LLC
https://www.studiovidenda.com/data-art#/orienteering-olympics/


On Fri, Sep 23, 2022 at 3:32 PM <clu...@orienteeringusa.org> wrote:
Gord Hunter <gor...@rogers.com>: Sep 23 07:58AM

Well, yes, all perspectives are interesting. 
Let's, for a moment, presume that we have a discussion going on how to grow the sport of orienteering locally, regionally and nationally.The discussion is taking place in two forums - here on ClubNet and on AttackPoint.It is a topic with a wide range of issues and solutions. It is not a single one-way street. There are lots of side streets, some are dead ends, some have pathways to new neighborhoods.Let's say it is like an orienteering route choice. There is not going to be a single way to get from where we are to where we want to be. There is not even a single course. In making a route choice what is the first thing the orienteer does? Collect and assess the options, right?
In the corporate world they may call that a User/ Non-user study. 'Why do the people who use our service like to do so?'  'What is keeping the others away?' Leading to 'How can we bring some of those non-users over to us?' They are prone to terms like 'low-hanging fruit'. Those are the customers that should be easy to attract. When they are ready they go after them first. I hope we keep that in mind as we move forward.
But first let's look at the 'users'. The ones who have posted comment who are already orienteers.Some have said they are long time orienteers who are frustrated with the apparent lack of growth. Others suggest that so what if there is a lack of growth nationally. We get our one event per month locally and that is just fine. There is also the perspective that we have to have growth in the younger age classes to replace the inevitable loss of participants in the older classes. Local events or NRE's, it doesn't matter, both need new orienteers so they can keep 'going', not even keep 'growing'.
So with that in mind I want to share with you an opinion posted on AttackPoint. It is by Bruce Metz of Indiana. He is what we could class as a 'travelling orienteer'.  Althoiugh he doesn't mention it, he has even been to one of our Suncoast Orienteering local events in Florida. In business terms his opinion would go in the 'User' category.  Bruce wrote:
 I too have been orienteering for 40+ years and usually don’tget involved in these discussions. This one has my interest however. It seemsthat the topic has moved from getting club ideas for improving attendance tothe importance of NRE’s. And if we judge the state of the sport by theattendance at NRE’s (which may be a mistake), then perhaps the conversationshould be about improving attendance at NRE’s. I hate to say “back in the day”but years ago I went to “A” meets for one of the following reasons:
-High quality maps
 
-High quality courses which had been reviewed by a seasonedorienteer
 
-A chance to compete against high level competition
 
-The opportunity to meet others with the same interest
 
-National ranking points and the chance to earn gold/silver/bronzeranking in my class
 
 Most of these no longer apply. Compare the same reasonstoday:
 
 -Local meets are all held on high quality maps, manypreviously used at NRE’s
 
-Most clubs seem to have their courses reviewed by others,some even vetted.
 
-I can get all the competition I need by attending localevents
 
-I meet many other people with the same interest at localmeets (I’m not including my home club). At times the local meets even exceedthe NRE’s in opportunity to share orienteering or travel stories with eachother.
 
-Ranking points, while still computed, seem to have fallenby the wayside. There was a time when I would strive to achieve the 70%necessary to reach the bronze level. I would even attend a national event in aneffort to improve my ranking and achieve a goal. What was once heralded is nowhardly even mentioned. We don’t even designate gold/silver/bronze in therankings anymore.
 
 So what then are the reasons for attending (or notattending) an NRE? For each of us it is different. If we want to know how toimprove attendance at NRE’s then this is critical information. My reasons havecertainly changed over the years. I am trying to visit all 400+ National ParkService sites and when I can combine a visit with an orienteering event thenI’m there. This includes both NRE’s and local events. (Over the past few yearsin my travels I’ve attended local events held by QOC, NEOC, OCIN, MVOC, NEOOC,AOC, VOC, ALTOS, WPOC, INDY, OCIN, TUS/PHX, COK and SMOC – all of which Iconsider quality events) So obviously my reason for attending NRE’s isdifferent than most. If it’s an NRE, great but if it’s a local meet, that’sfine as well.
 
 One thing that will make me try to attend an NRE islocation. If it’s a state that I have not orienteered an NRE, I’ll try to makeit. To that end, perhaps OUSA needs to put effort in helping new clubs such asNashville or New Mexico, among others, to host an NRE. Not only would itattract others like myself, but would be a publicity boost for new clubs. I’llalso try to attend any event at an NPS site. I doubt many others have thiscriteria on their list. Next, I look for interesting locations. West Pointcampus and Dartmouth campus sprints come to mind of areas that drew me to theNRE. Finally, previous attendance and experience. GA Navigator Cup and OCINFlying Pig are yearly events for me because of my enjoyment at them previously.
 
 The point is, find out why people attend NRE’s and try touse that to encourage greater attendance. That should be our starting point.Why do you attend an NRE?
 
Right. Bruce makes several points to keep in mind as we move forward and hopefully collect other opinions. Does a consensus emerge? Then the marketing minded among us should aim the event message to finding others who would be attracted for the same reason. Do we find others who won't come because of a certain reason. Then we try to break down that barrier.   Just a quick for instance. Some people won't come orienteering because they just do not like nor are they confident in the great outdoors. So it seems some clubs are finding success with that audience with events in more urban settings. And so it goes. Find the market and meet their need.Who is with me there?Gord HunterSuncoast Orienteering
RWorner LKohn <worne...@gmail.com>: Sep 23 09:40AM -0400

Gord, Bruce and myself make a good case for what orienteering used to be
and why we are lifelong participants and promoters of the sport. But, it
seems like the more important question moving forward, is what is
orienteering going to be like in the future in order to survive and
prosper. Urban and knockout sprints are some of the new approaches being
taken to keep the sport going and growing.
 
What does the younger generation see as the future? I would prefer to put
my remaining energy into the efforts they see as most promising and not
dwell in memories of the past.
 
Rick Worner
 
 
 
 
Ruth Bromer <Ru...@treklite.com>: Sep 23 10:11AM -0500

BOK gets new people all the time of all ages and we never advertise because
the parks limit our numbers. We have regular JROTC groups and occasional
boy scouts, who never return. We also get lots of military people who need
land nav experience. Some who are more permanent, return.
 
As far as NRE's, no one in BOK wants to do the extra work. We can usually
get as many locals at our regular meets as we used to get at NRE's. And we
are finding new areas to map, but many are too small for NRE's.
 
BOK puts on various forms of foot orienteering, as well as radio
orienteering. Meet directors are free to create fun versions and everyone
loves them.
 
I have no ideas about how to grow the sport, even though we have two OUSA
board members in BOK.
 
Ruth
 
Tony Pinkham <runner...@gmail.com>: Sep 23 08:58AM -0700

CROC has nearly doubled in membership (~85 to ~140) in the last couple of
years. It is difficult to say why we have grown but some of the following
changes might have contributed:
 
- Instead of just having 6-8 monthly events in the summer, we now have
events year around. During the wet and cold winter months, we do urban
events, which actually have some of our largest number of participants.
Having more events means that the membership discount has a lot more value
to members.
- We are currently changing our view of our club from being small to
medium or large, especially when we found out that our club ranked either
8th or 10th out of over 60 clubs in the US. When we thought that we had a
small club, we automatically believed that our volunteer base was too small
to expand our offerings.
- We reactivated a volunteer program with a coordinator who emails
members asking them to fill open event jobs. The response rate from members
is actually quite positive -- nearly everyone is just happy that they are
wanted. Respondents seem to greatly prefer less invasive email messages
instead of phone calls, so we use email.
- To better help the volunteer coordinator, we have recently created a
database that tracks the volunteer preferences and experience of our
members so that when the volunteer coordinator needs people for control
pickup, he asks for that information from the database and gets a list of
interested and qualified people. Ideally, the coordinator calls on people
who have not contributed recently to prevent burnout and to get more people
active.
- Later on, we might work on a volunteer incentive program that
encourages people to sign up for event jobs before we send emails. We might
offer food at the events, free events, swag, etc. based on the number of
hours volunteered. Currently, we aren't doing that as it would take another
volunteer to administer that and the coordinator's efforts are already
producing great results.
 
Some things that I've also discovered along the way are as follows:
 
- Boy scout troops might return but they typically only bring scouts who
are going for their orienteering merit badges. After they get their badge,
they need to focus on other badges and we don't see them again.
- Girl scouts have a better return rate -- they seem more focused on
having fun as a group than going after an equivalent of badges. We don't
see a lot of girl scout groups but when one group discovers and enjoys the
sport, they come back over and over (that was the experience with my
previous club, BAOC).
- We discovered recently that 20-25% of our participants don't want
their times listed in results -- they just want to solve a puzzle in the
woods and not be ranked above or below anyone. It turns out that SportIdent
has a checkbox in one of their dialog boxes that lets you specify not to
print results for a participant or for a recreational class of
participants. Those participants are much happier and they return to
orienteer over and over. The percentage of non competitive members
volunteering is typically higher than the percentage of competitive members
volunteering. Don't forget your quiet non competitive orienteers--their
money, social, and volunteer contributions are significant.
- I know from my own experience that encouraging the social side of a
club does more to get me to join and participate in a club. Don't forget
that your club is a social entity.
 
Tony Pinkham
CROC
 
 
 
 
ddavi...@carolina.rr.com: Sep 23 01:44PM -0400

Much of what Ruth Bromer posted is the same as what COK is experiencing. We get good turn outs but are having difficulty finding new people to fill club spots, especially Meet Directors. Average age of those that actually keep club going is probably around 70.
I like Tony Pinkham’s idea of a volunteer coordinator. We can get volunteers, especially for control pickup, but takes a lot of individual contact effort on part of busy Meet Director to make the contact.
Maybe more social activities would help.
Dan Davis
COK
 
Sent from my iPhone
 
Clare Durand <pres...@orienteeringusa.org>: Sep 23 09:49AM -0700

The IOF is looking for nominations for their commissions. Any US orienteers
interested in being nominated, please contact me or another board member.
 
*Clare Durand*
President, Orienteering USA
pres...@orienteeringusa.org
 
 
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Sondre Sandre Gullord <sondre....@orienteering.sport>
Date: Fri, Sep 23, 2022 at 5:47 AM
Subject: Nomination of Candidates to IOF Commissions
To:
 
 
Dear Member,
 
 
 
IOF is inviting Member Federations to nominate candidates for IOF
commissions for the period 2022-2024. You nominate candidates through this
online form: https://forms.office.com/r/5HUKABHYB8
 
 
 
*Deadline*: *16 October 2022*
 
 
 
Please note that IOF Council and Commission members should be reimbursed
for their traveling expenses etc. via their national federations. *When
nominating candidates, you also confirm to undertake these financial
obligations if the candidate is selected*. IOF's commissions are mainly
working through digital means, but some meetings are held in hybrid or
in-person format.
 
 
 
Support for existing members of commissions will be handled in a separate
process. Existing members do not need to be nominated through this form.
 
 
 
You can read more about the IOF structure and the different commissions at
here:
https://orienteering.sport/iof/governance-and-organisation/iof-structure/
 
 
 
Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions.
 
 
 
Best regards,
 
 
 
Sondre Gullord
Secretary General
 
International Orienteering Federation
 
orienteering.sport
 
 
 
<https://orienteering.sport/event/orienteering-world-cup-round-3-2/welcome/>
Steven Tylock <sty...@gmail.com>: Sep 23 09:24AM -0400

Hi all,
 
Guess I have to consider myself a reasonably long time member of ROC at
this point...
 
I'm all for conversations about how to grow the sport at both local and
national levels.
 
I'd like to suggest that the current three-year stretch might not be the
most statistically valid period to make any observations about. (and have
said such to our local club)
 
Given the worldwide pandemic, I've suggested a goal of simply returning to
a modestly healthy schedule of local events is very reasonable. Year 1
(this one) - regular events, remind everybody that we're here / we have
events / and we'd like them to get out in the woods. Year 2 - that's
perhaps a time to solidify what was a tenuous year and reach out.
 
Yes - it's also a good time right now to plan - but let's not put too much
worry into seeing lower participation over the last three years.
 
steve
--
Steven Tylock
sty...@gmail.com
You received this digest because you're subscribed to updates for this group. You can change your settings on the group membership page.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it send an email to clubnet+u...@orienteeringusa.org.
Reply all
Reply to author
Forward
0 new messages