Competition Web Sites

[motoeric]

As a competitor or a judge, I would really appreciate hearing what you want to see in a comps website.

What's important to you and what's not? What information should be on the front page of the site and what can be on subsequent pages?

Do you have any sites that you can point to that you particularly like?

Thanks!

Eric

[Hub]

As a judge I like a site that makes it easy to put in an application if I want to. The best ones let you do it on line. The worst ones make you hunt for it.

In general, I like a sponsor's site that is clearly aimed toward the contestants and judges and frequently updated. I like to see how many teams are "in" and a list of them, too.

To these preferences I'd add the "usuals" like good directions to the venue, complete schedules, contact list, etc.

[bbq.tom]

Originally Posted by Hub

As a judge I like a site that makes it easy to put in an application if I want to. The best ones let you do it on line. The worst ones make you hunt for it.

In general, I like a sponsor's site that is clearly aimed toward the contestants and judges and frequently updated. I like to see how many teams are "in" and a list of them, too.

To these preferences I'd add the "usuals" like good directions to the venue, complete schedules, contact list, etc.

I TOTALLY agree with Hub on what he likes! Additionally, I'd like to add that not only a list of teams, but also a list of confirmed judges is always a good thing! Too many times a judge has no idea if they are confirmed or how many judges have applied until practically the day of the contest.
ALso, hotel contacts, prize breakdowns, and local interests are good too.

[Fat Freddy]

Originally Posted by bbq.tom

I TOTALLY agree with Hub on what he likes! Additionally, I'd like to add that not only a list of teams, but also a list of confirmed judges is always a good thing! Too many times a judge has no idea if they are confirmed or how many judges have applied until practically the day of the contest.
ALso, hotel contacts, prize breakdowns, and local interests are good too.

I agree with bbq.tom on this completely. More than a couple of times in the past few years i have signed up to judge a contest and have never heard anything one way or the other. When i had gotten within a week I would send an email again usually with no response. But then I will get an email the day before or something. This has happened to me 4 times in the past 2 years. Once I was told the organizer never got my judging application and the other 3 I got notified only a day or two in advance.

So I would love to see on a website the name of confirmed certified judges signed up for a comp.

[Divemaster]

Originally Posted by Hub

As a judge I like a site that makes it easy to put in an application if I want to. The best ones let you do it on line. The worst ones make you hunt for it.

In general, I like a sponsor's site that is clearly aimed toward the contestants and judges and frequently updated. I like to see how many teams are "in" and a list of them, too.

To these preferences I'd add the "usuals" like good directions to the venue, complete schedules, contact list, etc.

While I agree with the above, the most important thing is that the site is frequently updated.

[AZScott]

http://musicbrewsbbq.com/

This is the best website I've seen for a competition in our area. They really do a great job making sure just about everything you need to know is on it.

[Rookie'48]

Easy to use on-line applications for cooks and judges.
E-mail addy's & phone numbers for the contact person for both cooks & judges.
Conformation of my judging application so that I know if I'm in or not.
A street address so that my Garmin can find "on the east side of City Park".
A list of close by motels or RV parks for us out of towners.
A map showing how to get to the comp / judging area.
Frequent updates on what's happening or e-mails from the organizers.
A listing of confirmed teams.
A listing of confirmed judges.

[motoeric]

Thanks for all the replies.

For those that applaud the use of an online form to fill out for team and judge applications, do events that you've seen use this also have you mail them a hard copy with your signature that includes a waiver?

Thanks again,

Eric

[bbq.tom]

Originally Posted by motoeric

For those that applaud the use of an online form to fill out for team and judge applications, do events that you've seen use this also have you mail them a hard copy with your signature that includes a waiver?

Most do NOT. Actually, and this may be rather surprising to most non-judges out there, but MOST applications do not require a waiver for judges. I'd say no more than about 15-20% of contests that I've sent in (on-line or mail) applications for judging have required waivers.

One more CRITICAL item that is needed (or at least nice) is a map of where the judging is to take place and parking for judges.

[dmprantz]

Originally Posted by motoeric

do events that you've seen use this also have you mail them a hard copy with your signature that includes a waiver?

Just a quick note on this. I once worked on a fairly strict legal document website that had to get electronic signatures, so I researched it rather heavily at the time. Long story short, federal law states that an electronic signature (faxed document or checkbox stating "I sign") is required to be just as accepted as a paper signature. The big caveat that I recall is you have to have some way to reasonably verify that the person electronically "signing" the checkbox is who he says he is. I solved that issue by using an eMail verification system along with the electronic signature.

The bigger issue I've found is credit card payments, as it's difficult to get a merchant account for such a short period of time. I found third party processors who would do it, but it was costly. I'm thinking a PayPal Business, Amazon Payments, or Google Checkout account is the way to go. All charge slightly higher than the "standard" credit rate, but don't require monthly fees. Some give discounts for not-for-profits.

dmp

[motoeric]

Thanks guys! Good information.

I'm working on a site for WilliePallooza here on Long Island and I'm trying to make it as participant friendly as possible.

I'm sure that your input will help everyone who has to create or have created a comp website.

Eric

[SmokinGuitarPlayer]

I would like to see what CITY AND STATE the contest is in on the website somewhere obvious!
FB/SGP

[HarleyGirl14226]

Making sure the information provided on your site is CONSISTENT.
For example: Don't have your check in times listed as 10am - 5pm in one section of the site, and then another show them as noon to 6pm somewhere else...
Or worse, have two different lists of your ancillary or grilling categories and the competitor is left to try and guess which ones are correct!

A site map showing where the comp. sites and judging tent will be is a nice plus, especially in relation to where all of porta-pots, water, electric and parking will be...

Just my two cents...

[gmholler]

I've done websites for various contests around here, and while I personally like seeing a list of judges and/or teams coming to a particular contest on a website, I don't usually do that (mainly because none of the contests have requested it). See, when my oldest played traveling team soccer and I did the team website, one of the moms came to me and asked (very nicely, mind you) that I *not* include her daughter's picture on the site and if she was in any, please black that out, and furthermore, don't list her name anywhere - she said that her ex-husband had taken to going to their daughter's games (he knew the schedule from the website), which "creeped her daughter out" and her daughter was now afraid that her Dad would try to kidnap her at a game, if her Mom wasn't there (and often all the parents weren't, like when the team played out of town).

I wondered about this as time passed and I did various websites which listed various people's names and/or their pictures, and I was about to come to the conclusion that in the current day and age, what with Facebook and Twitter and all, what I had been dealing with was an isolated case and I shouldn't let it control my actions...but then, at the university where I work (doing "computer and web stuff"), a student mentioned that while it was convenient for the instructors to have class rosters online, even with the measures we have in place where only the class instructor can see that class' roster online, he was afraid of "the wrong person" seeing the rosters and being able to figure out where he was all day, and that made him feel like he was being "stalked"! Now, we added a few security measures and after a talk with the university's computer security officer the student was put at ease, but I still have to wonder if by putting judge or team names online for a particular contest, am I inadvertently subjecting those names to someone's malicious intent?

Lynn H.

[motoeric]

Thanks Lynne. That's food for thought (no pun intended). I guess that team names would be safe for competitors and I'd have to allow an opt out for judges to be listed.

Eric