Event Information

What “Beta” Means Right Now

• Available to all races in the Race dashboard to enable.

• Works best with good site content (especially a strong FAQ). It can still be wrong at times.

• Actively improving: Team is monitoring behavior, testing daily, and rolling out incremental features over the next year.

• Feedback wanted: If you see issues or have ideas, please share them.

Requirements to Enable

1. Website V2 must be ON.
   If it isn’t, you’ll see a warning and a link to upgrade.

2. FAQ component with ≥ 3 questions on your V2 site.
   You’ll see a warning until you add at least three.

Note: If your race is in Draft, the bot will not train or answer. Publish first.

Customization Options

• Name your chatbot (e.g., “GobbleBot – AI Assistant” or “{Race Name} AI Assistant”).

• Greeting message (short welcome and prompt).

• Contact email fallback (shown if something goes wrong / needs human help).

• Chat icon/logo for the lower-right chat bubble.

• Colors auto-match your V2 theme.

Training & Ongoing Updates

• Primary source: Your Website V2 content + FAQ component (most direct control).

• Auto-retraining: Any change you publish in V2 triggers retraining. (Give it up to a minute to reflect.)

• Improve Response (in Dashboard → Chatbot → Conversations):

  • Find a question → click Improve response → write the exact answer you want.

  • The bot will use your wording on future, similar questions.

• Iterate: Review conversations regularly, spot trends, and:

  • Add missing Q&As to the FAQ.

  • Tighten wording (be specific: “long-sleeve shirt,” not “shirt”).

  • Remove outdated details (old dates, past-year fees, etc.).

Live Setup (Demo Flow Recap)

1. Enable Website V2 (Race Dashboard → Website V2 → Settings).

2. Create an FAQ page (Website Builder → Add Page → Add FAQ component) and enter at least 3 relevant Q&As.

3. Publish the race (exit Draft).

4. Open AI Chatbot (Dashboard → AI Chatbot) and configure:

   • Name, Greeting, Contact Email, Logo → Save.

5. Test on your site:

   • Ask common questions (parking, packet pickup, refunds, dogs, etc.).

   • If an answer isn’t right, go to Conversations → Improve response and save the ideal wording.

6. Promote the dedicated chatbot page:

   • Enabling the bot auto-creates an AI Chatbot page (share this URL in emails/social).

   • You can also add the Chatbot component to any page (e.g., Home, Contact) for a self-service hub (FAQ + Chatbot + contact).

Best Practices

• Your bot is only as good as your content. Keep Website V2 and FAQ accurate and up-to-date.

• Start with your top 10–15 questions (parking, packet pickup, start time, course, strollers/dogs, refunds/deferments/transfers, results/photos).

• Be concrete and unambiguous (times, locations, rules, policies).

• Review early & often: first weeks are the “training” phase; it stabilizes after.

• Give a human fallback (contact email/section) on the chatbot page.

• Market it: Link the chatbot page in race emails, social posts, and on the website (especially race week).

Beta Stats Snapshot (since public launch)

• ~14 new chatbots/day created.

• 137+ live chatbots.

• 3,700+ conversations and 6,400+ messages so far.
  Avg. ~2 messages per chat (quick, last-minute questions).

• Sample event volumes:

  • Baltimore Running Festival: 759 chats / 1,282 messages

  • Suffolk County Marathon: 223 / 445

  • Race to Wrigley 5K: 154 / —

  • Popular virtual challenge: 142 / — (multi-language Q&A handled well)

What’s Next

• Dynamic Results (near-term): Ask “What was my time?” → bot returns name/time directly; compare runners, etc.

• Better ingestion & grounding: Continual improvements to how site data is read and used.

• Tickets support (soon): Parallel beta for TicketSignup sites.

• Longer-term: Evaluate membership support once races & tickets are solid.

Quick Troubleshooting & Tips

• In Draft? Bot won’t train—Publish the race.

• Changed a page/FAQ? Wait ~1 minute, then re-ask.

• Bad/partial answer? Improve it via Conversations → Improve response (authoritative wording wins).

• Last-minute changes (e.g., weather cancellation):

  • Add/update a top FAQ entry immediately.

  • Verify by asking the bot.

  • If needed, Improve response with exact language.

  • Announce + share the chatbot page link so participants self-serve.

Q&A

• Will it work for Tickets? Yes—coming soon to beta.

• Membership sites? Desired long-term, not scheduled yet.

• Generic “how do I change my registration?”
  Not auto-included yet because race policies differ. You can:

  • Add your specific policy/process in FAQ, or

  • Link to relevant RunSignup support articles inside your FAQ answer.

• Unrelated/off-topic questions?
  The bot is prompted to stay within race context but can provide light local help (e.g., hotels). Keep your site content clear to reduce drift.