From ECCC

Policy: RaceProposalRequirements

Race Proposal Requirements

The following are procedures for proposing to host an ECCC race. Any team wishing to engage in such an endeavor should closely read and utilize available documentation and resources!

Meetings

All teams proposing to host a race must have a representative at the annual meeting where that season is scheduled:

• Road: Fall Meeting (mid November)
• MTB: Winter Meeting (mid February)

Cyclocross and Track season are currently generally scheduled via email; contact the relevant season coordinator for details.

At the meeting those representatives must present a brief overview of their race and answer questions. Scheduled road races must also have a representative at the Winter Meeting to report on the status of their event.

Race Proposals

Before the meeting, proposers must submit basic information and a race proposal. Specific details will be published over the mailing list and on the web page specific to the upcoming meeting. In general they involve emailing in contact information, filling out a spreadsheet calendar draft, and submitting proposal slides. Deadlines for these materials are also published on the mailing list and meeting page but are typically a week beforehand.

Basic information submitted must include the following:

• Name of proposed event
• Promoting team(s)
• Proposed location(s)
• Possible event dates; please note if this event is to be considered for Easterns
• Preferred event dates
• Name and contact information (phone, email) of lead promoter
• Name and contact information (phone, email) of co-promoter
• Name and contact information (phone, email) of school administrator overseeing team (e.g., club sports director)

Race proposal slides must be submitted as PDF or PPT documents.

Each presentation will be granted ten minutes with an additional few minutes for questions. Time will be strictly kept, use it well! Presentations must follow the basic template available at:

2009-road-proposal-template.pdf
2009-road-proposal-template.ppt

In summary, each presentation must have no more than five slides to be presented, including the title slide, and must include all of the information noted in the template:

• Race title
• Host clubs
• Race locations(s)
• Promoter contact (email)
• Day 1 information
  • Course description & map (optional, highly recommended)
  • Previous history w/ course and venues, i.e. race held recently or courses used in past
  • Permitting status! You should already have had serious discussions with your venues and have solid tentative agreements to use the courses & a good handle on marshals, police, etc
  • Nearby food and lodging availability
• Day 2 information
• Safety measures
  • Emergency services that will be on site
  • Nearby emergency rooms and hospitals
  • Course control measures: Hard fencing, caravans, etc
  • Marshaling plan: How many course marshals will be needed, and where will you get them from? This is a significant issue, particularly for road courses! You must be credibly able to field the number of marshals required for your courses...
• Summary
  • Briefly review key highlights
  • Quickly note additional features of planned event

An excellent draft presentation courtesy the Columbia team has also been made available online at:

draft-grants-tomb-2009.pdf
draft-grants-tomb-2009.ppt

The following are some additional guidelines to consider:

• Please make sure your slides are readable! We will be in a large room; keep your background simple and colors well contrasted.
• Keep in mind the time limits, they will be zealously enforced! In general, budget no more than two minutes per slide.
• Practice your presentation beforehand. We're all friends and the setting fairly informal, but it is a large group and you want to have a great first impression of your race. In particular, practice to make sure you will cover your material within the time limit!
• Make sure you and/or the teammates with you are prepared to answer any questions that may be posed about your event.

Remember that the presentations are not just a requirement toward having your event put on the calendar. They're also the first step in getting people excited about your race and getting everyone to come to town and participate when it finally comes around.

Handouts

Many of you will have more information about your event than can reasonably fit into a ten minute presentation. Feel free to produce a handout to be distributed at the meeting with that information. Twenty copies should be sufficient to give out one per team. Please consider the environment by using space effectively and printing on both sides of the page. All handouts should be submitted electronically along with the race proposal before the meeting so that they may also be posted online along with the presentation slides.

Nota Bene

No proposals will be considered which have not met all of the above requirements! ECCC races are among the best in the nation, and all of this is just one small part of keeping them that way.

Please contact conference director or season coordinators if you have any questions or comments.