This week we welcomed race directors and timers from across the country to Philadelphia for our 2022 Summer Symposium. After several years without an event, it was a joy to see so many familiar customers, meet new people in the industry, and learn about the amazing events our community is organizing.
If you missed the event (or just want to review some of what was covered), we document and share as many elements as possible (sadly, we can’t really replicate happy hour digitally). You can find links to presentation slides and currently available session recordings below; the remaining sessions are premiering on YouTube throughout the next few days.
Recapping the Events…
If you want to understand a little more about how RunSignup Symposiums work, we break down the highlights below.
Educational Sessions
This is the nitty-gritty: two days of sessions with multi-track options. Some sessions are high level, industry discussions, like Kickoff: State of the Industry, Thinking Beyond Endurance to Grow Your Business, and the Timer Business Session: Helping Races Rebuild. Because it’s important to us to send attendees home with actionable information, other sessions are much more technical, like Gamifying Peer-to-Peer Fundraising Events, Mastering Email V2, Financial Reporting, and RaceDay Registration and CheckIn (Timer Flow).
With industry-wide participation numbers down about 20%, this year’s program had a heavy emphasis on marketing tools to re-grow events, including a session actually called Re-Growing Your Event, Email Marketing Strategy, Building Race Websites, Activating Groups & Teams, and Strategic Pricing & Discounting.
Timer-focused sessions also looked at included panel discussions around business challenges, but took a deeper dive into the technology with sessions like RaceDay Tech Updates, and Registration 101 for Timers, along with updated training for Certified Timers.
Networking Opportunities
Now the fun part! RunSignup Symposiums intentionally avoid any programming or speeches during meals, receptions, and our Dinner event in order to encourage discussion and networking. This year, attendees enjoyed light receptions on-site at the Warwick Hotel on Monday and Wednesday, along with Tuesday night Dinner Reception at a nearby venue.
The Suite Run
Our standard morning run is also an opportunity to test out RaceDay technology live and in action, with on-site CheckIn, scoring by RaceDay Scoring, and an interactive experience on RaceJoy. This year’s run featured the Rocky Steps and statue, the popular running path, the Schuylkill River Trail, and for most runners, some bonus mileage navigating a tricky part of the open course. Prizes were awarded to the speediest, the most cheered on RaceJoy, the most tracked on RaceJoy, and the most total mileage.
The Suite Run isn’t all about the results or the runners, though – it’s also about the “Technology Spectators” who stuck around on the mezzanine to watch scoring in action!
Technology Demo Room
The Demo Room was a one-stop spot for all questions, with a setup of the full RaceDay flow from On Site Registration to Results, as well as tables for questions around email, websites, fundraising, and tickets. For anyone who couldn’t find a table for their question, the Ask Me Anything table served as a live and instant version of emailing info@runsignup.com.
Final Notes
It’s a founding principle of our company that employees, owners, and customers are all an equal and integral part of our business. While we work to listen to and learn from all our customers throughout the year, we really value the time we have in person to hear your stories and understand your challenges in person. Thank you to everyone who made the trip, and everyone who takes the time to watch some of the sessions from home!