Step-By-Step Guide

As a meet director, you will be responsible for planning and carrying out a meet. Successful meets are the key to the club’s success. But you need not shoulder the entire load, please consider asking one or more volunteers to help with designing and running your meet.

Electronic Punch: in 2022 we are transitioning to electronic punching. Instructions on how to set up and use the electronic punch system.

Plan the Event
The location, time, format and type of courses is usually set as part of the schedule, but there may be some details to decide, such as:

  • Start location
  • Score-O format: Mass start, time length, penalty for being late
  • Relay: number of teammates, format
Get Copy of Permits & COI
Check with the VP of Events to get a copy of the permits you may need and the certificate of insurance.

  • If your meet is in a Municipal park, the VP of Events should have sent a Municipal permit to you.
  • If your meet is on military land (Fossil Creek, Elmendorf, and Pia’s maps), check with the VP of Events for the current participant registration process (it changes from year to year), and then inform the VP of Media, so they can let others know.
Design the Courses
You can begin to design the courses by printing out a base map or using course setting software.  Check the previous meet maps to get ideas and to make sure your routes aren’t too similar to recent meets.

Field Check Your Courses
You must field check your proposed routes and control locations because you will find some of the locations you choose will not work well due to mapping problems, vegetation problems, etc.

Make the Maps
After field checking and making any adjustments to your courses, you need to place the circles on the map and make clue sheets using course setting software.

We recommend that you do it yourself with Purple Pen. If you need help, contact the VP of Mapping to find out who is available to help with your maps. Please have your information ready at least several days ahead of the meet!

Double-check the course maps to make sure they are accurate and readable:

  • Control locations and codes are correct
  • Scale is appropriate
  • Circles, lines, and text do not hide features

Note that you should adjust appeareance in Purple Pen to make the purple much easier to see for color blind folks. OCAD is fine.

  • Purple Pen > Event > Customize Appearance
  • Uncheck “Use purple color from map”
  • Change Cyan to 30% and save
Vet the Courses
It is extremely important to have your courses checked (vetted) by someone other than yourself.

Vetting typically consists of two tasks performed by someone other than yourself:

  1. Review of course layouts to ensure that the courses follow the course design guidelines.
  2. Field checking to ensure that controls are not hung in a confusing place or an incorrect place.

Ideally, both tasks will be done for every meet by an experienced orienteer other than the course setter. Please contact an experienced orienteer using the volunteers mailing list or one of the club’s board members for assistance with vetting.

It is sometimes harder to find volunteers for field-checking your courses, mainly because the potential field-checkers will likely want to participate in your meet. If possible, find an experienced orienteer who will not be participating in your meet and request his/her help. Or arrange to have helpers check courses other than the one they hope to run.

Send Meet Information
Send information about your meet to the VP of Media a few days before the meet so they can let others know. Details should include:

  • Any changes to the published schedule or format
  • Enticing descriptions of the venue, terrain, and courses
  • Any other pertinent information
Get Meet Equipment
Contact the VP of Equipment for club equipment, or utilize the self-service checkout. The VP of Equipment should have stocked the meet boxes, but double check to make sure you have everything:

Meet Box Contents

  • Blank participation forms on clipboard
  • Sign-up sheets for each of the 5 colored courses on clipboards
  • Punch cards
  • Safety pins
  • Ziploc bags for maps
  • Money jar
  • Key jar
  • Loaner compasses
  • Whistles for sale
  • Bug dope
  • Meet fee sheet
  • Symbol reference sheet
  • Map legends
  • Napkins
  • Garbage bags
  • Promo materials (schedule cards, magnets, free passes, etc)
  • Pens, pencils, and markers
  • String for hanging results
  • Stapler and staples
  • Paper clips, scotch tape, duct tape, scissors, flagging
  • First aid kit
  • Airhorns & bearspray
  • Safety notebook (dangerous wildlife incidents, medical emergencies and search & rescue proceedures)

If something is running low, either buy more and give the receipts to the Treasurer, or tell the VP of Equipment – who keeps extras of many consumables. Check to make sure there are lot of participation forms in the box, especially for the first few meets of the season.

Other Stuff You Can Borrow

  • Controls
  • Clock with stand, instructions, wall and car chargers
  • Information and safety sign (with dry erase marker)
  • Table(s)
  • Tent/Canopy(s)
  • Water jug and cups
  • Garbage bucket
  • Orienteering club banner
  • Directional signs to starting location
  • Sign board to post additional notices

Other Stuff You Will Need to Bring

  • Permit & Proof of Insurance (see VP of Events)
  • Course maps
  • Clue sheets
  • Score cards (for Score-Os)
  • Cell phone for emergencies
  • Snacks – optional, but expected.
Hang Controls
When and how to hang the controls.

  • Controls for Advanced courses can be hung up to a week before the event
  • Controls visible from trails should be hung just prior to the meet to reduce the risk of having them stolen
  • If controls are hung early, you may need to check them before the meet to make sure they are still there
  • Ideally the feature should be noticed before the control
  • Controls should not be hidden (in a pit)
  • Controls for advanced courses may be hung as low as two feet from the ground
  • Controls for beginner courses should be hung higher so they are visible, but must be low enough so that kids can reach the punch and see the control codes
  • Controls should be tied securely to a tree, stake, fence, etc. Tying them on with many knots or even with wire can help prevent them from being stolen.
  • Be sure that the control code matches the code on the clue sheet
  • Punch a sample punchcard for each course so that you can check the competitors punches, if there is any dispute
Print Maps
Print copies of the final course maps, the cluesheets, and any other materials (like customized score card for Score-Os).

In addition to the topo and course, each map should have:

  • Meet name, date, and location
  • Course (e.g., Red, Green)
  • Map scale written in text (e.g., 1:10,000) and a graphic scale bar
  • North arrow
  • Club logo
  • Legend (for White and Yellow only)

The map scale, north arrow, club logo and legend are available for download as images from the base maps page.  Downloaded images can then be added to the map in Purple Pen just be sure to resize the scale bar so it matches the blue lines on the map (usually at 500 meter intervals).

Note that you should adjust appeareance in Purple Pen to make purple much easier to see for color blind folks.  OCAD is fine.

  • Purple Pen > Event > Customize Appearance
  • Uncheck “Use purple color from map”
  • Change Cyan to 30% and save.

We have a printing account with Great Originals. You need to send them a PDF.  If you use Great Originals, get a receipt and give it to the Treasurer. Use attendance from last year’s meet at your venue, and recent club meets<, and the predicted weather to estimate the number of maps to print.

Don’t forget to print the cluesheets and any other materials (like customized score card for Score-Os)!

Snacks & Water
Someone other than the meet director can easily take care of this, but the meet director has to find that person.

At a typical meet, there are oranges (cut in eighths), bananas, pretzels, and/or muffins (quartered). There should be trash bags and napkins in the meet box. Be sure to clean up after your meet, so that the land owners will welcome us back the next time.

Meet Finances
If you have any financial questions regarding your meet please contact the Treasurer, they are ready to help you!

Before the Meet

  • Please limit your meet expenses to about $50. This amount should cover refreshments and any other small supplies you might need.
  • Bring all receipts to the meet to give to the Treasurer for reimbursement. Write your name, date of meet, and  description on each receipt.
  • Maps may be printed at Great Originals and charged to the club account. Bring a copy of invoice  to the meet to give to the Treasurer.

During the Meet

  • Online payment is available on the website for meets, season passes, and donations but people can still pay in person by cash or check.
  • Please do your best to check completed waiver forms to see that the membership/fee/donation spaces are appropriately filled out. This allows the club to track income categories and tax deductible donations.
  • Please keep an eye on money during the hubbub of sign ups.

After the Meet

Please place the receipts for meet expenses and the cash and checks collected for fees in an envelop.  On the outside of the envelop, list the:

  • Date of meet
  • Director
  • Amount checks
  • Amount cash
  • Amount deducted from cash for expenses
  • Reimbursement request (if any) for expenses

The Treasurer will come towards the end of most meets and pick up the money and arrange reimbursement.  If they do not come to pick up the money, take it home and contact the Treasurer to arrange transfer and reimbursement.

Run the Meet
Tips for managing the event itself.

Note: Please familiarize yourself with the club’s COVID19 protocols.

  • Two to four people at the start/finish is best.  There should always be at least two people for the entire duration of the meet just in case there is an incident (someone lost or an injury).
  • One table for sign-in, money jar, keys jar; the other table for start lists, maps, control cards, clue sheets.
  • Whistles – everyone needs one. Meet box has them – we sell them for $1 each.
  • Be sure the Safety sign is up and that it indicates the safety bearing and when people are to return, regardless whether they have finished. Generally we want everyone DONE by 9 pm.
  • Be sure to tell people to check-in upon return.
  • Loaner compasses – If someone wants a loaner compass for a meet, please have them leave a driver’s license or car keys in the money box as collateral; we otherwise lose compasses steadily.
  • To help prevent dog bites and fights, please ask people with dogs to keep them on leash and away from the tables in the start/finish area.
  • Hang punch cards at the finish
Pick Up Controls
The meet director should not have to do this, so ask for volunteers, and keep careful track of who is supposed to pick up what and whether or not they have done it.
Return Meet Equipment
Return the meet box, canopy, etc. to the VP of Equipment or coordinate the hand-off with the next meet director. Make sure the clock gets charged.
Turn in Paperwork
Save your waiver forms and signup sheets from the meet and give them to the Treasurer the next time you see them along with the meet finanaces.

We use the signup sheets to help calculate participation numbers and archive the waivers for insurance purposes.

Post Results
Prepare the results in a spreadsheet and email them as an attachment to webmaster at oalaska.org.  Also send your OCAD base map and PurplePen course files as attachment to webmaster at alaska.org so we can add them to RouteGadget.

If you are using electronic punch for results, it generates results in a csv spreadsheet that you can clean up to match the example.  You can also manually add the results for those who did not use electronic punch.

In the email to webmaster at oalaska.org , please also include a description of the meet.  For example:

Ellyn's Wacky Orienteering Meet

Tuesday, December 21, 2005, at Hillside Trails

Suggest adding some comments about the winners, unusual/funny occurrences,
weather, mosquitoes, etc. such as…... Bill Spencer, competing in the 90 minute
division, raced to the only perfect score in the Wacky-O event at
Ellyn’'s Orienteering Wednesday evening. Spencer found all 27 controls in an 
amazing 71 minutes and 18 seconds.  Ian Moore topped the 60 minute division 
with 770 points and Jen Jolliff led all women with 490 points.

Thanks to volunteers x, y, and z for their assistance in putting
on the meet.
Fill Out Director Questionnaire
Fill out the online questionnaire. This form collects important statistics to help the club plan future meets.
Archive Your Maps
Email PDF (and optionally OCAD) files of your meet maps to the VP of Mapping so they can be included in our archive of previous meet maps.

You Are Done!
Thank you for all your hard work. Our club would not exist without our great meet directors!