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Cheers - Bryan
Poll for Online Race Entry
- Thread starter admin
- Start date
I voted "good" instead of "great, no problems" because I somehow managed to get stuck in some loop where I had to individually reconfirm all my data or quit the entry process. I might have somehow wandered into setting up my boat profile, not my intention, but man there are allot of questions! Besides that, beats looking for a stamp!
Synthia
Synthia
SSS.ScottP
Cal Twenty-Nine
Poll for online ...
I think I got stuck in the same loop as Synthia and had to answer all the questions one at a time over again. So if I am all signed up I say "if it works it works."
I think I got stuck in the same loop as Synthia and had to answer all the questions one at a time over again. So if I am all signed up I say "if it works it works."
online registration
I'm actually pretty unhappy with the new online registration system. I received 3 emails this morning from passport.compete-at saying my registration is incomplete. And it's amazing how much information they want about me. My passport number? The date of my last tetanus shot? Whether I have a history of psychiatric problems?
This is really pretty intrusive. Is this really necessary to sail a race in the Bay?
Maybe my days of sailing with the SSS are over...
www
I'm actually pretty unhappy with the new online registration system. I received 3 emails this morning from passport.compete-at saying my registration is incomplete. And it's amazing how much information they want about me. My passport number? The date of my last tetanus shot? Whether I have a history of psychiatric problems?
This is really pretty intrusive. Is this really necessary to sail a race in the Bay?
Maybe my days of sailing with the SSS are over...
www
Critter
Desert Ratfox
WWW, please choose a response in the poll as well as adding your comments, so that we can get a clear picture of people's feelings.
I agree with you that many of the questions are too intrusive, and I've been lobbying Regatta Manager to revise their software so as to allow us to eliminate some of those fields or at least make them optional.
I'm very dissatisfied with the registration system as it stands now. In my dealings with Regatta Manager, I'm getting a clear picture that they regard their system as a pretty good one-size-fits-all design. They need to be convinced that it is sorely lacking in flexibility and customizability. IMHO.
Hopefully future versions of their software will be improved in this respect. In the meantime, please have patience and stick with SSS.
Max
race chair
I agree with you that many of the questions are too intrusive, and I've been lobbying Regatta Manager to revise their software so as to allow us to eliminate some of those fields or at least make them optional.
I'm very dissatisfied with the registration system as it stands now. In my dealings with Regatta Manager, I'm getting a clear picture that they regard their system as a pretty good one-size-fits-all design. They need to be convinced that it is sorely lacking in flexibility and customizability. IMHO.
Hopefully future versions of their software will be improved in this respect. In the meantime, please have patience and stick with SSS.
Max
race chair
Sorry for the cranky post, Max. I muddled through it, and I think I'm registered for the race now. Still need a new PHRF certificate, and, of course, to renew my SSS membership.
A couple of things about the registration site, fwiw:
- I think the loop people are getting stuck in is just the way the site handles an invalid login attempt. It just loops back to the login screen, without any message about why.
- On the registration form, at least half of the intrusive questions disappear when you click the "only sailboat racing" box.
See you on the water,
www
A couple of things about the registration site, fwiw:
- I think the loop people are getting stuck in is just the way the site handles an invalid login attempt. It just loops back to the login screen, without any message about why.
- On the registration form, at least half of the intrusive questions disappear when you click the "only sailboat racing" box.
See you on the water,
www
WWW, thanks for the feedback and your patience. As you probably know, SSS dosen't have an office, staff, big budget, etc. We do have a few folks who seem to step up when we need them and, somehow, we put on some pretty good races. I don't know who you are and maybe you're one of the people who has stepped up. If so, thank you for that also.
We're hoping that the on-line registrations will be a big improvement over the paper system. There were big problems with paper too. Unfortunately, we don't have the budget to get a customized system but should be able to get Regatta Manager to work for us. Also, unfortunately, we start our season with the biggest race of the year and don't have a lot of time between the skippers meeting and the gun. We hope that getting boats registered and memberships tallied beforehand will take some of the excitement out of the event for the race committee and board and actually make things easier for the racers.
See you on the water,
Bill Merrick
We're hoping that the on-line registrations will be a big improvement over the paper system. There were big problems with paper too. Unfortunately, we don't have the budget to get a customized system but should be able to get Regatta Manager to work for us. Also, unfortunately, we start our season with the biggest race of the year and don't have a lot of time between the skippers meeting and the gun. We hope that getting boats registered and memberships tallied beforehand will take some of the excitement out of the event for the race committee and board and actually make things easier for the racers.
See you on the water,
Bill Merrick
I sympathize with the effort to "online-ize" the registration process. However, I'm not willing to give this internet company that I know nothing about, all my personal information. So as it stands right now, I'm not registered for the 3BF, and that's pretty frustrating.
solosailor
New member
Paper Entries Still Allowed
In reading the 2009 SSS Standing Sailing Instructions it appears that you can still enter via paper forms at the skippers meeting or mail. I thought I had heard that you could only enter via the web but was relieved when I saw in writing that we could still enter in person at the skippers meeting with a paper entry form.
In reading the 2009 SSS Standing Sailing Instructions it appears that you can still enter via paper forms at the skippers meeting or mail. I thought I had heard that you could only enter via the web but was relieved when I saw in writing that we could still enter in person at the skippers meeting with a paper entry form.
I much prefer online entries to paper and am glad it's helpful for you guys but that form is in desperate need of help. Having each little bit of information need its own page at the end was tedious (couldn't my t-shirt size and my crew's t-shirt size have been on one page?). That being said, I'm willing to put up with a little inconvenience to help you guys organize the race with less difficulty.
According to George, the boats entry wasn't finalized because I hadn't entered.
so in order to race I went ahead and gave a f@@@load of personal information...mailing address, telephone number, birthdate, BIRTHDATE??????? WHY do they need my BIRTHDATE? everything that anybody would need except for social security number to do an identity theft.
just merrily handed all that to ...I have NO idea whom. Who are these people that are running this site? How do they make their money? Do they charge for their services? Do they make it by selling off contact information to spammers? They may SAY they don't but when was the last time you went up on a website and there it was, loud and clear "We give your information to people who will saturate you with advertising for penis-enhancement drugs".
Why should I trust these people?
I am not happy about this.
...and while I totally sympathize with the ginormous headache that the RC goes through to organize a race with over 300 boats, I'm not happy at all about being told that I have to hand over a crapload of personal information to people I don't even know, in order to race.
There. I said it. Now I'm going to be even more clear. If I have to do it again...register online with a DIFFERENT company because the Board isn't happy with this one, I will stop racing with the SSS.
Once is bad enough. Please don't ask me to do it again. I'll give YOU my personal information, because I know where you live and where you park your car at night....but these guys?
so in order to race I went ahead and gave a f@@@load of personal information...mailing address, telephone number, birthdate, BIRTHDATE??????? WHY do they need my BIRTHDATE? everything that anybody would need except for social security number to do an identity theft.
just merrily handed all that to ...I have NO idea whom. Who are these people that are running this site? How do they make their money? Do they charge for their services? Do they make it by selling off contact information to spammers? They may SAY they don't but when was the last time you went up on a website and there it was, loud and clear "We give your information to people who will saturate you with advertising for penis-enhancement drugs".
Why should I trust these people?
I am not happy about this.
...and while I totally sympathize with the ginormous headache that the RC goes through to organize a race with over 300 boats, I'm not happy at all about being told that I have to hand over a crapload of personal information to people I don't even know, in order to race.
There. I said it. Now I'm going to be even more clear. If I have to do it again...register online with a DIFFERENT company because the Board isn't happy with this one, I will stop racing with the SSS.
Once is bad enough. Please don't ask me to do it again. I'll give YOU my personal information, because I know where you live and where you park your car at night....but these guys?
Matt
Tinker - Wilderness 21
Team Requirements
Alan,
We don't want you to stop racing SSS just because of the online registration process.
I can see where there is some confusion on the requirements for registering team members. There is a requirement for the boat registration that is a field called crew name and crew T-shirt size. When the boat skipper registers for the race entry they put this information in and this part of the registration is complete. Steve can order your T-shirt in the correct size and we know who else is on the boat with George.
The is also a place in the race entry form where you can add team members. This is not a requirement for entry into the race. If you have not completed the team setup in the compete-at system, you get a red incomplete message under the team setup. This is not a race requirement. In order to setup your team, all of the team members have to be registered in the system.
That's a long winded way of saying that when I looked in the compete-at system for George's boat entry he's got all the race requirements completed, his PHRF rating is approved and he's got you added to his team. None of the other doublehanded entries that I looked at went to the extra step of getting their team members to register in the system and add them to their team. They just put the crews name and t-shirt size in the required race entry fields and ignored the incomplete team setup. Their race entry is complete. Going the extra step of putting in the team members is not necessary. Sorry for the confusion.
I'm not the one that designed the system but I am doing my best to figure out when people are having problems what is happening. There is also some confusion about needing to fill out all the items in the compete-at passport which is not needed for SSS race entry. We are working with the compete-at support people to resolve issues but some of what is happening is just confusion with the new system, what is required and what isn't required.
What Max said earlier still stands as far as I know:
I don't want to answer your forum post with anything snide or contrite. The compete-at company is a legitamite business making their money through online credit card transactions. They charge the SSS only if you process an online credit card payment and do not charge the SSS if you pay us by check. They do have extensive information about their secure database and privacy policies online at: http://compete-at.com/corporate/policies.htm
If there is anything else I can do to alleviate your concerns or further answer your questions, let me know.
Matt Beall
Tinker
SSS Web Editor
Alan,
We don't want you to stop racing SSS just because of the online registration process.
I can see where there is some confusion on the requirements for registering team members. There is a requirement for the boat registration that is a field called crew name and crew T-shirt size. When the boat skipper registers for the race entry they put this information in and this part of the registration is complete. Steve can order your T-shirt in the correct size and we know who else is on the boat with George.
The is also a place in the race entry form where you can add team members. This is not a requirement for entry into the race. If you have not completed the team setup in the compete-at system, you get a red incomplete message under the team setup. This is not a race requirement. In order to setup your team, all of the team members have to be registered in the system.
That's a long winded way of saying that when I looked in the compete-at system for George's boat entry he's got all the race requirements completed, his PHRF rating is approved and he's got you added to his team. None of the other doublehanded entries that I looked at went to the extra step of getting their team members to register in the system and add them to their team. They just put the crews name and t-shirt size in the required race entry fields and ignored the incomplete team setup. Their race entry is complete. Going the extra step of putting in the team members is not necessary. Sorry for the confusion.
I'm not the one that designed the system but I am doing my best to figure out when people are having problems what is happening. There is also some confusion about needing to fill out all the items in the compete-at passport which is not needed for SSS race entry. We are working with the compete-at support people to resolve issues but some of what is happening is just confusion with the new system, what is required and what isn't required.
What Max said earlier still stands as far as I know:
I don't want to answer your forum post with anything snide or contrite. The compete-at company is a legitamite business making their money through online credit card transactions. They charge the SSS only if you process an online credit card payment and do not charge the SSS if you pay us by check. They do have extensive information about their secure database and privacy policies online at: http://compete-at.com/corporate/policies.htm
If there is anything else I can do to alleviate your concerns or further answer your questions, let me know.
Matt Beall
Tinker
SSS Web Editor
I want to make sure that the Board and Race Committee knows that I grok the enormous headache that goes into running a 3BF. Ask Dan Alvarez about the 3BF when he and I ran around like crazies at midnight after the race was over, chasing down an errant Coronado 25 that hadn't cleared off the racecourse. I've done 4-5 3BF race decks, a couple of times I've stayed on the deck all day, from start until the last finisher came through. The logistics of setting up the race, processing the entries and handling the money, t-shirts and the Coast Guard is a freaking nightmare. And this year, you've got over 300 boats!!!
I get that!
And OK, so I've done it.....I've handed over personal details to some company that I've never heard of that has lovely privacy policies on their website. I've screamed and shouted about it on this forum. I'm sure they're great guys.....until their main server goes down, a few thousand people start screaming at them about misplaced Master Card and Visa transactions, and in desperation to make some $$$ to shut people up, the "New Owners" since the old ones disappeared when the servers died make a few bucks by quietly handing over their database to a "Marketing Company that Respects Our Customers Privacy". Again, have you ever visited a website which says in their privacy policy "Our Privacy Policy is that we're going to sell your contact information to as many people as we possibly can." A "Privacy Policy" is a load of bunk, it means absolutely nothing, and once your private information is dished up to the bad guys..it's *GONE*....it's fair game to any jerk that can get it. Trusting that some guys are nice guys because they have an online "Privacy Policy" is flight of fantasy.
OK....OK, then. All well and good, and now I'm in their database and it's done. Fine. I can live with it, I'm done bitching about it. I've pissed and moaned enough.
Just DON'T decide, now that 300 people have dished up their private information to this outfit, that gosh, we don't like them so much after all...now we're gonna go with this OTHER company.....who also wants all your personal information. That's all I ask. You picked one company, now stay with them.
OK. 'nuff. Let's go race.
Oh, one last thing.
I gave them my correct mailing address and primary phone number.
but the secondary and third phone number...they require THREE TELEPHONE NUMBERS??.......are made-up bunk.
And I didn't give them my correct birthday, either.
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Ever gotten a phone call asking if you really, truly just spent about $18,000 on your credit card?
I have.
I admit that I'm a bit sensitive to the issue.
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Critter
Desert Ratfox
I encourage everyone to put phony information in the fields that are unjustifiably required. I was born in 1891, and I'm a citizen of Burkina Faso. Did you know that Vince Swerkes is an Afghani woman?
But seriously, I complained about these requirements to the vendor, and their answer was that these are important bits of information to international regatta organizers, and therefore they require them of everybody. Clearly, what they need to do is let administrators (the likes of Matt, Thom and me) customize their registration requirements. Then, if one of us goes on to use our "passport" to register for a regatta that requires more information, we can enter it then.
Max
But seriously, I complained about these requirements to the vendor, and their answer was that these are important bits of information to international regatta organizers, and therefore they require them of everybody. Clearly, what they need to do is let administrators (the likes of Matt, Thom and me) customize their registration requirements. Then, if one of us goes on to use our "passport" to register for a regatta that requires more information, we can enter it then.
Max