Organising a Competition

1. Set a date for your competition that does not clash with other competitions. If you overlap with another competition, it will be harder to get other schools to sign up. Even if you are targeting a different student pool, the limited pool of judges may not be sufficient for both competitions on the same day.

2. Download our “Organising a Competition” Resource Package. This package contains a step-by-step guide, as well as all the forms, scoresheets, and briefing materials you will need for your event. Read through it in advance, and contact us if you have any questions. Settle the resource requirements as early as possible with the hosting venue. You will need ushers, timekeepers, chairpersons, classrooms, holding rooms, and a lecture theater to gather everybody and brief them.

3. Find Adjudicators. We can assist you in emailing our list of qualified adjudicators to find the right judges for your level of competition. Try and use multiple judges per room, and always have some backup judges in case there are last minute cancellations. Get schools to sign up early. Have a swing team ready in case a school has to pull out.

4. Publicise the competition to your target audience. We can email schools for you, and you can make announcements using the forum.

5. Remind the participants and judges with the required details just before the event. People fall sick, cars break down, and people can get lost, so have a contingency plan available. Also, it helps to start your competition at a reasonable hour, and don’t ask judges to come down too early. Nobody wants to wake up at 7am to attend your briefing at 7:30am, only to find out that the first round only starts at 10am. Be nice to the judges, they’re all volunteers.

The WSDC has published a detailed “how-to” guide which covers the specifics of running a competition.

Tags: Competitions