Switching name format for results?

[Adam Engst]

I have a question about the best way to handle names in Webscorer for bib handout and results.

For assigning and handing out bibs, keeping the name format at Lastname, Firstname makes the most sense since that’s what most people are accustomed to around here.

However, for results, I vastly prefer Firstname Lastname so they read naturally.

Generally speaking, after I assign bibs and print a runner list the night before a race, I change the name format from the former to the latter so when I set up the race in the Webscorer app, everything is in Firstname Lastname format.

But with everyone wanting to register at the last minute, we’ve been seeing an increasing number of registrations after I assign bibs and print the list. That’s fine—Webscorer can automatically assign them a bib from the next sequential number—but they’re a pain to add to the runner list for bib handout. (I don’t want to do this early in the morning before leaving for the race.) It hasn’t been a problem in the past when it was just one or two, but the last race I did had 12 people sign up between 8 PM and race time the next day.

I was thinking that the solution would be to use Webscorer on an iPad instead of a printout, since it would be easy to update it before leaving for the race, just as I do with the iPhone that’s the main timing device. 

The only hitch is that Webscorer doesn’t seem to be able to sort the start list by last name once the name format has been changed to Firstname Lastname. It can sort by bib number, which will mostly match, but all the late registrants will sort to the bottom of the list regardless of their name. Workable, but not ideal.

Is there any way to:

• Sort the start list by last name when the name format is Firstname Lastname?
• Change the name format on the Webscorer timing device so the iPad can be Lastname, Firstname while the timing device is Firstname Lastname?
• Do something else that makes bib handout easier when done from an iPad?

It seems like it would be easy to add or modify people (which is necessary for one or two usually) and then merge back to the iPhone via Bluetooth. 

I’ve never used Racer Check-In: it seems like that might make scanning the list in the iPad easier, as the green checkmarks fill in. Since we’re not planning to time with the device, it shouldn’t make a difference that people who don’t check in would be DNSed, correct?

Thanks!

cheers… -Adam

[Victor Gonzalez]

Hi Adam

I don't know if this is exactly what you're asking, but my spreadsheet is separated into columns for first name and last name. But I added another column, NAME. In this column, I sort it however I want, using a formula: first name first, then last name. If you'd like, you can do it the other way around. When uploading the spreadsheet, I'll just leave the NAME column.

Combine data = =A2&" "&B2

Victor Hugo González

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[Adam Engst]

Thanks, Victor, but the only thing I use a spreadsheet for is printing a list of runners for bib handout (and for Wilderness Search & Rescue at other races). The goal is to have less spreadsheet involvement. 🙂

cheers… -Adam

[Vesa Suomalainen]

As you know, Webscorer online reg allows you to choose the “Name” format out off the following options:

You’ve already discovered how to change the name format via reg setup for printing and then back for timing.  This can be done at any time before downloading the reg list to the app.  The app is not aware of “First name” or “Last name” - the app deals with the “Name” field only.  The reason is that in some sports the racer is always not an individual person, but it can be a team (e.g. K2 kayak) or a car or a boat.

Once you’ve downloaded the reg list to the app, the “Sort list by name” function will sort the name only by whichever character is first given the chosen name format. 

We will be updating the “Search by bib” function in the next app update to be a generic “Search” function as follows:

Tap the “Search” toolbar button on the “Start List” panel

Enter numbers (for a Bib search) or characters (for a Name search)

The search results will include all racers that match the search parameters

Would this help in your case?  

My 2 cents advice is to not to condition your participants to allow registering at the last minute.  There must be a cutoff for the hectic few minutes before the race when most operator mistakes take place.  Or introduce a (hefty) penalty for signing up late.  

[Adam Engst]

It sounds like we’re on the right track. Searching by name could be a help, though our races are small enough (100-150 for the most part) that as long as most people are in order, it shouldn’t be necessary to search. The main thing I’ve realized (duh!) is that I can get a sufficiently good printed start list from the Webscorer app that I don’t need to download the spreadsheet from the website and fight with Excel to make it print reasonably. That means I can probably get up in the morning and then fairly quickly: 

1. Assign bibs on the Webscorer website
2. Load the race into the Webscorer app
3. Print a bib handout list from Webscorer with Lastname, Firstname (I could also load on an iPad at this point to keep it Lastname, Firstname)
   
4. Go back to the website and change the format to Firstname Lastname
5. Return to the app on the timing device and merge the start list again to get the new name format.

My guess is that it would take me less than 5 minutes, which is acceptable at stupid hours of the morning. 🙂 

We’ve played with ways of reducing late registrations, but there are always tradeoffs:

• When we increase the price, we learn that a fair number of people aren’t price-sensitive. And since we’re a non-profit, making more money doesn’t really change things for us.
• Raising prices requires fussing with our free-entry coupon (we provide free entry to all our races for anyone who needs it and isn’t already free because they’re 18-and-under; between 5% and 12% use the coupon)
• Cutting off registration early generates email to the race director from people who always have a good excuse for why they missed the deadline. That then creates more work for us (always the night before the race, and the race directors then need to involve me) or makes the race director feel bad about turning people away, often people we know, since it’s a small community.
• When I’ve suggested cutting off registration early, I always get pushback from the race directors, who feel it will hurt attendance at their races and don’t want to disappoint runners.
  

In the end, we’ve found that cutting registration 2 hours before the race start is deemed reasonable by everyone, and since we’re often timing where’s there’s no cell service, it allows the timers to load the race before leaving home. So the goal is to make dealing with the late registrations no more difficult than dealing with early ones.

cheers… -Adam