Discussion: Want to be an IOF event advisor?

Okay North American orienteers, here's your chance to help us put on more World Ranking Events.

The COF and USOF are joining forces to offer at least one IOF event advisor clinic in North America within the next year, possibly as early as this fall. We would like to ensure maximum participation by pinging for interest now.

As an IOF Event Advisor, you would be available to work with the meet director/controller and course setter for World Ranking Events. I don't think I need to point out the trouble we've had putting on our share of WREs and finding event advisors... If you think you would like to be an advisor, see if the following requirements seem interesting and feasible to you.

The IOF requirements to become a WRE event advisor in foot orienteers are:
1. Be an active foot orienteer.
2. Have competed in countries other than your own.
3. Have successfully controlled major national events in the last 3 years.
4. Be competent in the English language.
5. Have attended, and have been an active participant in, an IOF Event Advisers Clinic
6. Be familiar with the following IOF Publications:
· Competition Rules for Foot Orienteering Events
· International Specifications for Orienteering Maps
· Control Descriptions
· Principles for Course Planning
· World Ranking Events Handbook
7. Be recognised as a top standard controller/event adviser and endorsed as suitable by your Federation.

You can take the event advisor?s clinic before you?ve controlled a major national event. The requirements don?t need to be done in a specific order. So if you think you might like to become an event advisor down the road, you can take the clinic now and submit your application later.

If you are interested in attending a clinic please let me know (email through profile) and indicate when you'd be able to attend and how far you'd be willing to travel. Ideally we would offer one clinic in, say, Western Canada and one the following weekend in the Eastern US, but nothing is settled yet. The clinic takes two days and USOF/COF will pay the costs of holding the clinic - you'll just have to get yourself there.

Send along those questions and inquiries!

Cristina

This is a great initiative to be taken on by the two Federations. If you have always thought that you have ideas about event quality, this is your chance to contribute to said quality. Unlike Canada, we really don't have a formal structure of event control in the U.S. We have Rules, but their part that concerns event control is rarely read, much less implemented. We also have Eric Weyman, but he can't possibly give his advice to all forty-something A meet course setters each year, and cannot physically be at all sites.

I think that most will agree with me that event quality of the past A meets that were also WREs was generally good. There were initially some problems, but not in the past two and a half years. WRE status is a path to ensuring event quality because it enforces formal oversight. This status is not a guarantee against mistakes, but it is better than no oversight.

So, I think we can get a good-sized crowd to show up at the Clinics. I'm sure the IOF will be super excited about this development, too, so those who are interested in becoming an Adviser should pounce on the opportunity.

Just to clarify - the clinic is free, but not necessarily the lodging and food costs once you get there. Sometimes I get a little excited when I type and I forget to make sure things make sense.

We probably should have an open discussion about cost, as for myself it is a consideration. If there are enough prospective controllers for which it is not, then perhaps the issue is moot. The goal is to have plenty of controllers, I don't necessarily have to be one of them.

That said, I know personally I'd be willing to go about $100 out of pocket to do this (not counting food, which I would not expect USOF to pay in any case), which is enough to get a reasonable radius from Philly (unless Uncle Ben continues this stupid and reckless de-valuation regimen further), but that would indicate holding the clinic near where lodging can be had for free, or USOF paying for it.

So I guess that depends on who wants to do this, and where they live, so it is a bit of a chicken and egg thing. I also understand USOF's reluctance to put on incremental risk for expenses of people who may never end up being endorsed.

The other issue I would want to consider is cost to the controller when controlling. It is my understanding that USOF or the host club provides for their travel expenses. It would be nice if this were stated up front, for I would not want to lead USOF down the garden path of doing this, and then being reluctant to control an event if asked if I had to cover my travel expenses to do so and was unwilling to.

I'm betting that other prospective controllers would be interested in these clarifications, but if not, I would be. Not trying to be a pain, but better to discuss up front, I think.

In Canada, the COF pays the 250 euro levy for each WRE event to the IOF. The expenses of the WRE event advisor are the responsibility of the club hosting the WRE event. It's not unusual to see the entry fee to WRE events to be higher than other events.

From the WRE handbook:
The Organisers cover the costs of the IOF Event Advisor's accommodation, meals and transport during visits and during the event.

Just like in most situations in life, if one wants quality one should be prepared to pay for it.

P.S. Orienteers are um frugal.