We wrapped up our 2021 Virtual Winter Symposium on Thursday. Like all of our customers who had to go virtual this year, we missed seeing everyone in-person, but we were grateful for the chance to move forward in some capacity. The bonus? While our in-person capacity usually maxes out at around 300 attendees, we were able to welcome a lot more people virtually, with more than 1,000 race directors, timers, and nonprofits registering to attend.
If you missed out, it’s not too late to catch up. We recorded all sessions, and you can access the recordings, presentation slides, and follow-up links below.
Highlights of the Symposium included:
- Overview seminars reviewing the requisite setup of events in 2021, including Virtual Races, Virtual Challenges, Modified In-Person Events, and Hybrid Events that combine both virtual and in-person elements.
- RaceJoy Certification for timers interested in joining the 450+ providers certified to offer the runner tracking app for virtual and in-person events.
- An update on the state of the industry and the technology releases from RunSignup | GiveSignup that can help events adapt.
- The first peek at RaceTrends, RunSignup’s annual analysis of the endurance industry, including a discussion of the drop in participation (races that held events in 2019 and 2020 saw a 48.1% drop) and the impact of virtual (33.9% of 2020 events were virtual races and another 6.3% were virtual challenges).
- Twenty technology-focused mini-sessions on the essential tools needed to succeed with virtual, hybrid, and modified in-person events.
- A panel of event organizers discussed their lessons learned from a year of successfully hosting safe hybrid and modified in-person events. Panelists included Denise Piercy from Running Zone, Ken Racine from Racine Multisports, and Ryan Hite from Negative Split.