The 2022 RunSignup Summer Symposium is coming up July 26-27 in Philadelphia, and we’ve started fielding some questions from race directors and timers wondering if the event is for them. So here’s a little snapshot at who attends the Symposium – and what you can expect if you join us!
By the numbers…
Due to space constraints, our 2022 edition of the Symposium has a lower participant cap than in previous years, and is currently 80% full. Thus far, we have attendees 25 states, including locals from Pennsylvania and New Jersey, as well as events as far away as California and Texas.
Event organizations of all sizes join us, from local race directors looking to improve their event to national event management companies that serve more than 100,000 participants each year. That’s one of our favorite things about the Symposium – unlike a lot of industry conferences, we value bringing together race professionals with a range of experience levels. We heavily subsidize the actual cost of the event to keep it as affordable as possible and ensure that smaller events are able to join us to network and exchange ideas with some of the country’s premier events organizations.
By creating multiple education tracks that run concurrently, we’re able to provide a broad range of educational sessions targeting different types of users. While nearly half of all attendees consider their primary role to be that of a race director and a third are focused mostly on race timing, we know that many race organizations are small operations that rely on everyone to do a little of everything.
What to Expect from the 2022 Summer Symposium?
If you’ve never been to a Symposium, you should two jam-packed days of education and training.
Educational Sessions: We don’t cover a lot of theory – the two main emphases of our sessions are practical, actionable advice to help you get more out of our technology, and encouraging peer discussion. You make your own schedule (the official agenda will be released soon, but in the meantime, you can peruse some of the session topics here).
Hands-On Training: One of our favorite elements of the Symposium is our Demo Room, where you can view and participate in a full RaceDay flow, see examples of technology usage, and ask questions of our team. In addition to the Demo Room, we host a (fun) 5K in the morning that allows you to see everything from the RaceDay CheckIn App to RaceJoy to RaceDay Scoring in action. Join us for the run or stay behind and watch the technology behind-the-scenes.
For Timers: 80% of our currently registered timers are Certified in RaceDay Scoring, with 66% Certified in RaceJoy and 60% Certified in RunSignup. This allows us to focus our timer sessions on more advanced topics and troubleshooting. If you are attending (or would like to attend) and aren’t currently certified, we recommend reaching out to Crisp (crisp@runsignup.com) to coordinate a virtual Certification to ensure you can get the most out of every session.
Networking: We keep all our meals and social activities as casual as possible – we know you’d rather talk to each other than hear more from us. To get the most out of your experience, force yourself out of you comfort zone and talk to someone new…or if you’re shy, ask someone on the RunSignup team to help introduce you to a peer that might be a good resource.
We have greatly missed seeing our endurance customers in person over the last two years, and are looking forward to gathering everyone for industry updates, new ideas, and technology training. We hope you can join us!