Event registration "throttling?"

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Gerry Hernandez
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Event registration "throttling?"

Postby Gerry » Wed Mar 21, 2012 12:44 pm

Please read the following dialogue:
buddy bodean wrote:
Loren wrote:
Loren wrote:Ladies and gentlemen, we have sold out an event in 111 hours and 33 minutes. Less than 5 days to get 60 entries.

I'm going to take a peek at the "guest" count tonight. If there enough (or any) openings, I'll try to add a few more entries.
Okay, there are a handful of entries that I could open up, but I'm not going to just throw them out there. Just in case there are any of our regulars out there who haven't figured out that pre-reg fills up this fast, I'm going to hold out for them just a bit.

So, think of this as a waiting list. If anyone reading this is a regular FAST competitor who missed registration, PM me and I'll try to get you in. As long as there are still open slots, I can. Otherwise, you'll be standing by awaiting a cancellation.
Wow, I would like to be on that wait list, since I will probably be towing the trailer...
Well this is good for the club that we're maintaining such a high popularity and demand for our events, but situations like the above are quite an issue. Not everyone is addicted to their computers and constantly on watch for when registration opens for our events, so some of our regulars miss out while total strangers make the cut.

Don't get me wrong, we should definitely let newbies into our event (as I was some months ago), but it's kind of unfair to those who have a history with FAST, especially in the current points season. Look at Ed's situation, for example: he missed the short 111 hour registration period, yet he's expected to bring the trailer. I just feel bad, at this point.

So thinking out loud here, what do you guys think about slowly opening the flood gates? In other words, when registration first opens, it should be invite-only based on some threshold (number of events attended within the last year? points standing? Whatever...). Then after some amount of time, lessen the threshold. Keep doing so until it's completely open. Basically, this is similar to how we ran registration for the FAST Duel.

Thoughts? Suggestions?
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Re: Event registration "throttling?"

Postby Loren » Wed Mar 21, 2012 1:26 pm

It's been discussed. (very recently... like a couple weeks ago)

The general vibe, even from those who have missed registration a time or two, is that it is the entrant's responsibility to KNOW when event registration opens and KNOW that our current situation requires them to register EARLY if they want in.

That's pretty much it. And, since that's how folks feel and it requires no additional effort on our part, we're okay with it.

This is a fairly recent development, though. Within the past 4-6 months we've been hitting the pre-reg limit hard and fast. There's going to be a bit of a learning curve for people. They'll get it.

And, in the end, it beats on-site registration with limits where you wouldn't know until you SHOWED UP that you couldn't get in.

We can only do what we can do.

Oh, and the way Duel registration was done worked... but was a big ol' pain in the ass.
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Re: Event registration "throttling?"

Postby Gerry » Wed Mar 21, 2012 2:10 pm

Loren wrote:...
Oh, and the way Duel registration was done worked... but was a big ol' pain in the ass.
And what if it was automated?
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Re: Event registration "throttling?"

Postby Loren » Wed Mar 21, 2012 2:25 pm

Gerry wrote:
Loren wrote:...
Oh, and the way Duel registration was done worked... but was a big ol' pain in the ass.
And what if it was automated?
I appreciate the sentiment, Gerry, but you're not going to recreate all of the functionality of MyAutoEvents. I'm not saying you couldn't. You could. *I* could. But, it would be a lot of work and a lot of testing, and a LOT of ongoing support. MAE works pretty well, even though it doesn't offer us any "flexibility" to change things. In short, it's not THAT broken, we don't need to fix it.

Let's not make this problem bigger than it needs to be.

Like you, I brought this very issue up about a month ago (go ahead, look for the thread, it's here) because I didn't want to see our regulars getting turned away. But, a lot of people, INCLUDING some of the guys who had been turned away, insisted that it wasn't a problem that needed to be addressed. So, we're not addressing it.

I'm not saying we won't end up revisiting it someday. We may have to. Time will tell.
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Re: Event registration "throttling?"

Postby Gerry » Wed Mar 21, 2012 2:57 pm

Alrighty then. Maybe a little "wish list" email to MAE might turn into a useful feature some day? Maybe have a list of approved members that can sign up, and we can just change it over the course of time. Everyone *does* have a username on MAE already, so it's not like we're inventing some entire new process. We can't be the first club to have mentioned it. If nothing comes of it, then who cares; it's not like we invested any time. If they do ad the feature in the future, we still have the option not to use it.

For the time being, I'll just watch the registration like a hawk. If the general consensus is that it's not a problem, then it's not a problem! I still got registered, so that's all that matters. Heh :bouncy:
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Re: Event registration "throttling?"

Postby Loren » Wed Mar 21, 2012 3:02 pm

I did post on their support forum about our issue and asked if they had a means to deal with it. (specifically, I asked if there was a way to limit registration to members only based on some sort of member list... similar to how they do permanent numbers) They didn't have a solution but their ear has been bent.
Gerry wrote:For the time being, I'll just watch the registration like a hawk. If the general consensus is that it's not a problem, then it's not a problem! I still got registered, so that's all that matters. Heh :bouncy:
Yep. That's pretty much what we came up with. If your heart is in it, you'll remember to register, just like you remember to show up on race day without anybody calling to remind you. (oh... wait... :d )
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Re: Event registration "throttling?"

Postby Jamie » Wed Mar 21, 2012 8:49 pm

Gerry wrote:Look at Ed's situation, for example: he missed the short 111 hour registration period, yet he's expected to bring the trailer.
Well, not necessarily. If Ed says, "I'm not towing the trailer if I can't run," no one would blame him, and we'd just have to find another means of getting the trailer there. At one point, the deal was "don't volunteer for a position before you register" -- in fact, that's why there's a spot on the registration form to fill in a work assignment request. Up to the registrar to enforce that.

Also, 111 hours is not short -- it's four and a half days, most of which came after the discussion Loren mentioned above, so there was plenty of time and reminders to jump on MAE for five minutes and register. Short is when events fill in 111 minutes...or less. We may get there (others have), but not yet.
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Re: Event registration "throttling?"

Postby buddy bodean » Wed Mar 21, 2012 9:02 pm

It's my fault for not getting to it sooner. I wasn't holding the trailer hostage or anything like that. The trailer got there before me and it will get there well after me. I just asked to be included on the wait list.
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Re: Event registration "throttling?"

Postby rojeho » Wed Mar 21, 2012 9:17 pm

Loren wrote:Yep. That's pretty much what we came up with. If your heart is in it, you'll remember to register, just like you remember to check the weather forecast three weeks ahead
FTFY
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Re: Event registration "throttling?"

Postby Gerry » Thu Mar 22, 2012 12:23 am

rojeho wrote:
Loren wrote:Yep. That's pretty much what we came up with. If your heart is in it, you'll remember to register, just like you remember to check the weather forecast three weeks ahead
FTFY
:double: LOL!

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