RunSignup April Newsletter

Make Money, Save Money The novel coronavirus has rocked the endurance industry, freezing in-person events and the income stream that comes with them.  While the future is unknown, we are seeing a rebound – not because things are returning to normal, but because the industry is full of innovative and resourceful race directors, timers, and […]

Race Registration Market Analysis

We usually do a Race Registration Market Analysis twice a year. We usually include a bunch of stats from different sources to compare the various registration platforms and track general industry trends. Usually, we publish the spring one in March. This year is obviously different because the Coronavirus really started impacting normal life in the […]

Virtual Races: Auto Results in RaceJoy Now Available

We are excited to share that auto result submission for virtual events is now available in RunSignup’s race day app, RaceJoy. Those participants using RaceJoy for GPS tracking and cheer sending, will have their GPS-based results automatically submitted to the race as they cross the finish line. For events using RunSignup’s Virtual Results, this data […]

Community Roundup 4/27/20 – The Long Game

We’re checking in regularly to see what the endurance community is doing to keep the industry running forward in the midst of the coronavirus crisis. For more ideas, view you can find all the previous highlights archive here. Today’s creative events are a mashup of longer virtual events – a four 5K series, a 50 hour […]

Coronavirus Impact on Races Week 9

Please see RunSignup.com/Coronavirus and RunSignup.com/GoVirtual for recommendations and tools. We also released Looking Forward: Guidelines for Races this week as well. Things continue to evolve as of April 11, 2020 from Week 8, Week 7, Week 6, Week 5,  Week 4, Week 3 and Week 2 of the Coronavirus.  The transaction volume we saw the past week is 44% lower than the same week last […]

Timer Business Strategies During Covid-19

Timers, like many businesses, are facing difficult times in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic. Yet more people are getting outside and running than every before.  We expect there will be a surge of interest for running events as things begin to open up. We also expect the need to have virtual race options is […]

Webinar Recap: (Free) Virtual Events with Donations and Fundraising

Nonprofits are dealing with canceled fundraising events and a severe decrease in donations. It’s time to go back to basics: engage your communities while saving money and making money for your nonprofit. People need connection more than ever, and free virtual events (or a small registration fee) with donations and fundraising are a perfect way to […]

Using our own Free Race Websites

Over the past few weeks, we have had to put out a LOT of information quickly. We wanted to do that with a website. However, our main website has a lot of restrictions on it for PCI compliance purposes where every line of change requires code review and special deployment procedures. This put several people […]

Custom Countdown for Cover Pages

We have added another feature to cover pages – Custom Countdown Clock. Like all cover page components, it is simple to add and set up – and takes effect immediately. Yet another reason to use free RunSignup Websites to help save money, improve your brand, and offer participants all the information in one place.

Endurance Industry Vendors Offer Coronavirus Solutions

We’ve been seeing some social media posts and press releases about industry vendors who are changing manufacturing goals, repurposing products, and supporting virtual races. If you’re an endurance industry vendor with something to contribute, email us and let us know! Manufacturing PPE PPE (personal protective equipment) is in short supply across the country. These vendors […]

New Custom Digital Bibs!

We are excited to share that events are now able to issue Virtual Bibs to participants for traditional and virtual events. These pre-race bibs are an effective way to communicate bib numbers and add another tangible component for virtual event experiences. Participants can share their official bib on social media, which in turn helps promote […]

Looking Forward Guidelines

We are happy to share a rough draft of our Looking Forward Guidelines: https://runsignup.com/lookingforward. With input from dozens of race directors, timers, governing bodies, and other industry partners, this living document is intended to provide ideas for a suggested path forward for races in the post-coronavirus environment that different groups in the endurance industry can […]

New Virtual Race Website Hub

Since mid-March, we’ve been rolling out Virtual Race content and new features to help races convert their physical events to virtual ones, quickly and efficiently. But as social distancing has become the norm, virtual races are becoming more than just a stop-gap option – they are creating a bridge in the endurance community to keep […]

Starting Line Bottleneck Analysis Post COVID-19

While there are many considerations about how to hold a race in the new normal of Coronavirus and 6 Foot spacing, one of the most prominent bottlenecks is the starting line. While there are many other complicating factors like bib pickup and finish line clearing and course design including width, combined start/finish lines, out and […]

Free Virtual Results Bot for Virtual Events

Flexible User Submitted Virtual Results & Alerts We are very pleased to announce our RaceDay Virtual Results solution for virtual race events. RunSignup’s RaceDay Virtual Results provides outdoor events with flexible user submitted results through multiple mediums, including FREE TXT-to-event submissions, multiple web-based points, and auto submission through RunSignup’s mobile race day app, RaceJoy. Events […]

Coronavirus Impact on Races Week 8

Please see RunSignup.com/Coronavirus for recommendations and tools. We are also releasing RunSignup.com/GoVirtual this week as well. Things continue to evolve as of April 11, 2020 from Week 7, Week 6, Week 5,  Week 4, Week 3 and Week 2 of the Coronavirus.  The transaction volume we saw the past week is 53% lower than the same week last year. The 53% is a pretty […]

RunSignup’s Internal Coronavirus Response

We wanted to take time to document what has been happening inside RunSignup since the Coronavirus started. We have seen lots of different speculation from all sides – that we are small and therefore will be crushed by far larger competitors to speculation that we have all this money and are stealing from races by […]

Community Roundup: Healthy Kids

We’re checking in regularly to see what the endurance community is doing to keep the industry running forward in the midst of the coronavirus crisis. For more ideas, view you can find all the previous highlights archive here. Today’s highlight is a look at a single program taking hundreds of races virtual: Healthy Kids Running […]

Virtual Results Dashboard Updates and Webinar Recording

We have updated our Dashboard screens for the Enhanced Virtual Results setup, making it easier for you to let participants submit their own results for Virtual Races. Catch up on the webinar and slides, or just get an overview of the updates below. Virtual Race Resources This webinar specifically covers the updates to the Dashboard […]

Make Money with RunSignup

Every event organizer is trying to figure out how to generate revenue right now. Here is an overview of ways to can use RunSignup to potentially make some money. We also have a sister blog for ways to Save Money with RunSignup. Here is a quick list: New Virtual Race Replace/Extend Your Race with Virtual […]

Webinar Recap & Recording: Breaking Down Financial Reports

More than ever, race organizers are reviewing their financial reporting and trying to make sense of the numbers – particularly, when and how much they will get paid. Kevin and Bryan took some time to walk through the Financial Summary and Payment Account reports that you can access. If you missed it, we have all […]

Race Reserve Requirement Drops from 20% to 10%

We are happy to announce that we are dropping our standard race reserve requirement from 20% to 10%, and the overall payment account reserve requirement from 10% to 5% effective immediately. You should see these new numbers appear in the various race financial reports and payment account reports. This drop is due to analyzing the […]

RunSignup’s Optimist’s Perspective for the Endurance Community

Things are bad. Period. Our Weekly Updates cover the overall net pain of revenue across our community falling off a cliff. This mean many people do not have the income to pay their bills or pay their employees – resulting in horrible personal choices and experiences. And the customers we serve are isolated at home […]

Community Roundup 4/13/20

We’re checking in regularly to see what the endurance community is doing to keep the industry running forward in the midst of the coronavirus crisis. For more ideas, view fundraising efforts, creative virtual events, virtual challenges, and creative use of the Postponement Tool. Today’s creative events are a grab-bag of virtual options, including a scavenger […]

Coronavirus Impact Week 7

Please see RunSignup.com/Coronavirus for recommendations and tools. Things continue to evolve as of April 11, 2020 from Week 6, Week 5,  Week 4, Week 3 and Week 2 of the Coronoavirus.  The transaction volume we saw the past week is 65% lower than the same week last year. The 65% is a pretty good improvement from the 76% the previous week but […]

Guest Blog: Launch and Manage your Virtual Runs with Virtual Race by Field General

Field General (FG) a real time GPS asset tracking software company has retooled its flagship product to provide a simple and powerful solution to launch and manage Virtual Runs: Virtual Race by Field General (VR). (vrace.us )  “With races being canceled across the world, Race Directors need a fast, simple and power solution to convert […]

RaceJoy Monitoring Dashboard How-To

More race organizers and timers are turning to RunSignup’s RaceJoy mobile app for their virtual events to offer the more tangible experiences that go with a race. Such features include every mile updates, directional cues, remote cheer sending and tracking by spectators, and off course alerts. Race organizers can use RaceJoy’s Monitoring Dashboard for an […]

Net Promoter Score Survey

We have added a Net Promoter Score Survey to every race at the bottom of the main Race Info page as another great addition to your free Race Website. Net Promoter Scores have become the standard way of evaluating your level of customer satisfaction. It measures how likely your customers are to recommend your product […]

Webinar Recap & Recording: Understanding Small Business Financial Relief Programs

There are a lot of questions floating around about the new financial relief programs for small business. While some of those questions don’t have answers yet (for either business owners or the banks working on the loans), Shawn Daugherty of Good Times Event Services  and RunSignup’s CFO & COO Kevin Harris led a discussion today to […]

Community Roundup 4/08/20: Fundraising Efforts

We’re checking in regularly to see what the endurance community is doing to keep the industry running forward in the midst of the coronavirus crisis. For more ideas, view creative virtual events, virtual challenges, and creative use of the Postponement Tool. This time, we’re taking a look at a few creative solutions for raising money […]

Registration User Experience Update

Although our development schedule and priorities have changed a little lately, we haven’t forgotten about our user experience. We have made some significant updates to the first page of our registration path. We have added some clarity to the registrant display by adding a container around each registrant. This helps users easily distinguish between each […]

RunSignup Announces RaceDay Experience for Virtual Events

Solo Participant and Remote Spectator Interactive Race Experience RunSignup is pleased to announce its RaceDay Virtual Experience for virtual events, for an authentic, socially connected race day experience with RunSignup’s mobile app, RaceJoy, and RaceDay Virtual Results – all while supporting the requirements for social distancing. RaceJoy connects solo participants with remote spectators and offers […]

Understanding the Financial Summary Page

Races have a Financial Summary page that has drawn more attention than usual. Let’s take a look at a simple use case to understand the basics. We will also take a look at the Payment Account, which is where you can see your estimated next payment. Transactions: $62,836.27 – This line is the total transactions […]

Coronavirus Impact Week 6

Please see RunSignup.com/Coronavirus for recommendations and tools. Things have changed drastically in Week 4 ending Saturday March 21, 2020 from Week 5,  Week 4, Week 3 and Week 2.  The transaction volume we saw the past week is 76% lower than the same week last year (and since we were seeing growth of 29% from Jan. 1- Mar 7 because […]

New Defer Via Race Transfer Option

We just released a new option to make the deferral process much more streamlined for both races and participants. The new Defer via Race Transfer option will allow participants to automatically claim their deferral and register after renewing your race the following year. This eliminates the need to compile reports to generate coupons and reserved […]

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