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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Every event organizer is trying to figure out how to reduce expenses right now. Here is an overview of ways to can use RunSignup to potentially save money. We also have a sister blog for ways to Make Money with RunSignup. Here is the quick list: Free Website Free Email Participants Pay Part of Timer […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
We have added a new report to the Manage Payment Account page. You can find this from your Profile page, or you can find it from a link under the “Payment Account” tab on your individual Race Summary page. The new report appears at the bottom. We will go thru each of these fields individually, […]
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 […]
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 […]
It has been a full month since we shifted into Full Coronavirus Mode on March 9. At our core, we are a technology company. We have been in hyperdrive mode this past month on a bunch of different fronts and wanted to take a moment to give an overview and some depth of insight on […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
We wrote about Chargebacks what seems like a long time ago, but was less than a month. It is one of the most read blog posts we have ever done. But there has been a lot of things we have developed, and a lot of common questions we get, and a lot of data we […]
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 […]
For races who are deferring all or many participants to next year’s event, we have a new bulk deferral tool to help you process them. Navigate to Participants >> Participant Management >> Bulk Deferrals. You will get to a screen that allows you either add participants to defer either by Registration ID, or by one […]
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 […]
COVID-19 and the Endurance Industry Like everything about March 2020, this month’s newsletter is a little different from our standard roundup of technology updates. We’ve sent a lot of emails recently, but with more and more races modifying their events, we wanted to use this newsletter as a central resource for your path forward. First up: we’re […]
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, and creative use of the Postponement Tool. A Ultra-Flexible Virtual Challenge, with Semper-Fi Fund Semper Fi & America’s Fund Community Sports One of […]
Please see RunSignup.com/Coronavirus for recommendations and tools. Things have changed drastically in Week 4 ending Saturday March 21, 2020 from Week 4, Week 3 and Week 2. The transaction volume we saw the past week is 81% lower than the same week last year (and since we were seeing growth of 29% from Jan. 1- Mar 7 because of more […]
The $2 trillion COVID-19 Stimulus Plan was signed into law this afternoon. Among the many benefits, the emergency relief plan contains several measures that directly apply to nonprofits that we would like to highlight: The plan includes a temporary universal charitable deduction. The bill enables all Americans to give up to $300 to charities, tax-free, […]
4/15/2020 Update: We have lowered the standard race reserve requirement from 20% to 10%. The Payment Account Reserve requirement has been lowered from 10% to 5%. The Coronavirus is impacting us all. We did a webinar that explains chargeback liability as well as these new reserve and payment policies on Wednesday this past week. If […]
Further your mission–but first, take care of your people This is and will continue to be an extremely difficult time for nonprofits. It’s time to go back to basics: engage your communities. People need connection more than ever. Focus on your employees, beneficiaries, and volunteers first, and keep any donations and fundraising messaging simple, actionable, […]
We have added a new section Business Resources section to our Coronavirus Resource Site with two pages: Small Business Financial Resources with links to information about national SBA loans, private program, and local initiatives. Industry Action with information about petitions, letter campaigns, and other collective action that could benefit the industry. Both of these resources […]
Bob took some time today to give an update on the impact of COVID-19 on the endurance industry, our financial policies and chargeback response, what race directors can do, and our upcoming priorities. If you missed it, we have all the content for you here. Additional Resources More Webinars Upcoming: Donation Websites and Donation Forms […]
We wanted to take a minute to check back in with the endurance community to see what industry leaders are seeing and doing in their areas to keep running forward. A Virtual Running Store, A Virtual Community Like many running stores, Philadelphia Runner does more than sell shoes – they run multiple group runs each […]
Please see RunSignup.com/Coronavirus for recommendations and tools. Things have changed drastically in Week 4 ending Saturday March 21, 2020 from Week 3 and Week 2. We have decided to throw out the YOY comparison we were using as so many events have postponed or cancelled this year’s event they are now useless. The overall volume of transactions decreased […]
Like many events, the Probility Ann Arbor Marathon converted its race to a virtual event in response to Covid 19 and the need for social distancing. Finishers still get a medal and t-shirt and are able to complete the official course routes. What is different? Participants complete their chosen course within a span of a […]
With the endurance industry facing uncertainty due to COVID-19 and related restrictions on gatherings, we have decided not to hold a 2020 Summer Symposium. This year, we want to focus our attention and efforts on providing virtual tools and resources to help the endurance industry navigate the coronavirus. We started our Symposiums in 2014 to […]
It’s been a crazy few weeks since Bob first posted some suggestions for races that may be impacted by the Coronavirus. Now, with races across the country getting creative, we wanted to take a moment to collect all the updates in one place. Postponement Tool The Postponement Tool (which can be used for more than […]
With more and more races embracing Virtual Events, we’re working on improvements to our results options. The first update is here, and RaceDay Product Manager Matt Avery ran through the new elements that will make it easier for your Virtual Participants to report their times. New to virtual events and want to take a step […]
As the concern about industry impact from chargebacks increases, we have implemented a new notification to let races know when we receive a chargeback. We have written in depth about chargebacks, but for a quick refresher: A chargeback is where the credit card network allows a credit card holder to get their money back if […]
With the flood of races offering deferrals and transfers to virtual events, participants are also flooding our inbox (and yours, I’m sure) looking for guidance. Luckily, Andrew Sigwart both monitors the info@runsignup email inbox, and creates all our video content. We have a few short videos you can share with participants to help them out, […]
Races are looking for ways to add something to their newly formed virtual events and we’ve adjusted the backend so RaceJoy’s live tracking, cheer sending, and progress alerts at every mile can be offered. This is a safe and healthy way for participants to get outside and run different courses designed for your virtual event. […]
If there are two thing that we have found inspiring through this crisis, it is the creativity of the people in this industry, and way the community has shared information, messaging, and advice to help each other out. Of course races are competitors, but at the end of the day, maintaining a good relationship between […]
As races are forced to postpone their event dates, one of the big threats our industry faces is chargebacks. Our industry’s potential credit crisis can be partially mitigated if credit card companies do not process chargebacks on races for as long as restrictions on events are in place. Below is a draft of a letter […]
Note: Update to Policies were made on March 27 and detailed here: https://runsignup.blog/2020/03/27/post-race-payment-policy-update/. As the coronavirus continues to impact events and gathering in the US, we have amended our Reserve and Payment policies. We know that events are working hard to make responsible decisions, communicate with participants, and deliver value to their participants wherever possible. […]
Please see RunSignup.com/Coronavirus for recommendations and tools. Things have changed drastically in Week 3 ending 3/14/2020 from Week 2. When we announced our Tools for helping races with Coronavirus on March 10 there were some upset people. By Saturday everyone realizes the impact this is having and will have for the next couple of months […]
