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Meet Manager

Purpose

This document covers the role of the Meet Manager as it is currently undertaken at Bo’ness ASC (BASC).

Main Functions & Duties

At BASC the Meet Manager role is based around the use of “Meet Manager for Swimming” (MM software) swimming management software.

The Meet Manager has a technical role in ensuring that prior to the meet; on the day of a meet; and immediately after the meet, that there is enough redundancy in terms of the hardware to allow for any one piece of hardware to fail completely. The approach is that in essence, more or less any item can fail and the running of the meet can continue.

The role favours somebody who is technically minded and who has a process driven mind-set.

  1. The Meet Management Team
    • The managing of meets requires a team effort.
    • The Meet Manager should always seek to have support at the meet itself, particularly at the beginning and end of each session. For larger meets one assistant, plus another person to post results after each event is usual. The Gala Convenor is the first point of contact to arrange this.
    • Ideally, for a multi-club meet, three people are needed (one time-keeper plus two runners - for printing, doc handling etc.). At least two of the team should be familiar with using the MM software to ensure that any problems can be resolved as quickly as possible.
    • Prior to the meet the Meet Manager works closely with the Competition Secretary, Gala Convener and Coaches to ensure that the meet is correctly set up and populated with the correct athletes. In addition, the Meet Manager provides reports on the fees charged to clubs/participants.

  2. Primary Duties
    On one level the Meet Manager role may be described as learning to use and master this software prior to, during and after a meet.

    The Meet Lifecycle
    Every meet has a lifecycle that starts with the Gala Convener applying for a licence and ends with the submission of the final results after the meet. The phases of the meet lifecycle can be summarised as:
    • Prior to the meet
      • Phase 01 - Readiness
      • Phase 02 - Set-up & Test – the night before the meet
    • During the meet
      • Phase 03 - Pre-Session – the hour before the meet
      • Phase 04 - Session – during the meet
      • Phase 05 - Post Session – during the meet
      • Phase 06 - Post-Meet – closing the meet
    • After the meet
      • Phase 07 – Publish the Results and Archiving the meet

      There is a separate handbook covering the activities undertaken at each phase.

  3. Secondary Duties
    At BASC there are a number of additional tasks which are not directly related to the role but, over time, have become associated with it:
    1. BASC Stopwatches
      The Meet Manager maintains the stock of BASC’s 25 stopwatches. This means checking them prior to the meet to make sure that they are all working correctly, replacing stopwatches that have failed and storing them correctly after the meet has completed. The stopwatches are held in a case which is fitted out for the purpose.
    2. The BASC Stationary Crate
      The Meet Manager holds and replenishes the stock of pens, clipboards and related stationary items necessary for running a meet – an indicative list is shown below:

      Item

      Requirement

      A4 Paper

      a minimum of two to three reams

      Printer Cartridges

      a minimum of two spare cartridges for each printer

      these should be wrapped in plastic bags to minimise moisture penetration.

      Staplers

      a minimum of three (heavy duty), all with the same sized of

      staple

      Blu Tack

      a minimum of two packs

      Sellotape

      a minimum of full two rolls

      Highlighters

      several colours (two or three) are required to administer scratches and substitute / reserves on the day

      Communication cord

      Confirm availability of the piece of string / large bulldog clip –

      essential if MM is located in gallery and needs to send paper to the poolside

      Batteries

      Confirm stock of spare batteries for stopwatches (appropriate to each model)

      Kitchen Roll

      For spills and dealing with condensation on hardware.



      The stationary is held in a crate which the Meet Manager brings to the meet on the day. In this sense the Meet Manager is the “quartermaster” and has responsibility for making sure that the stock is maintained at the right level.
  4. BASC emails and other tech admin
    The BASC Meet Manager also owns the relationship with the club’s hosting provider (123-reg.co.uk) via the club email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. The hosting provider hosts the BASC email services and the club’s domain (bonessasc.org). The key task here is ensuring that the appropriate fees are paid as required.
    1. Backing up the Meet PCs
      When in use, the Meet Manager PC’s are regularly backed up to an external hard-drive for additional resilience.

      Options to consider for the future:
      • External (portable) Storage or Cloud Storage for backing up the data for current and previous meets. BASC does not currently have

 

Skills & Attributes

The role favours somebody who is technically minded and who has a process driven mind- set. There is also a lot of equipment in the form of stationary, printers and PCs etc which the Meet Manager will be required to store.

  1. Hy-Tek Meet Manager for Swimming Software (MM software)

    The Meet Manager needs to be familiar with the use of the Hy-Tek Meet Manager for Swimming Software.

    The MM software is provided by Active Hy-Tek Ltd (http://www.hy-tekltd.com/swim- meet-software.html). By policy BASC has chosen to maintain the software at the latest level (at the time of writing this is version 6.0). BASC has two laptops both running the latest version of Windows 10 and Version 6.0 of Meet Manager for Swimming. The Meet Manager also need to know how this software interacts with other meet related software, most notably:
      • Team Manager For Swimming (TM Software)
      • Electronic Timing/Scoreboard Software (if applicable)

    The Meet Manager does not need to know how these applications work or are used – only how to interface to them as and when required.

  2. Electronic Timing (Omega/ARES21 etc)
    Some clubs combine the Meet Manager role with the role of electronic time-keeper. BASC does not do this. The club does not have its own electronic time-keeping equipment and is reliant on resources at the pools it runs meets at to provide this.

  3. Project Management / Process Management
    The Hy-Tek Meet Manager for Swimming software has a built in checklist which acts as a guide for the Meet Manager with respect to the tasks that need to be undertaken at the key stages in what might be described as the meet lifecycle (i.e. creating the meet, loading the athletes and maintaining the list; set-up prior to the meet, during the meet; closing the meet and issuing final reports after the meet)

  4. Database Skill (advantageous rather than necessary)
    The Hy-Tek Meet Manager for Swimming software is built on a MS Access platform and whilst no knowledge of MS Access is necessary to use the application experience of the way that databases work is definitely an advantage.

  5. Maintenance of Club Laptops and Meet Manager Related Hardware
    BASC is risk averse with regard to the hardware and software used for meets. To that end the club has two laptops (both running windows 10); two printers and the associated cabling and power leads to allow a meet to be successfully set up and run.

    The Meet Manager is responsible for running regular updates to ensure that:
    • the operating system, security patches (windows defender) are up to date
    • the Hy-Tek Meet Manager for Swimming software is up to date
    1. A note on Printers
      Meets use a lot of paper, a lot of toner and critically reliant on printers. Active Hy-Tek Ltd does have a mobile application, however it is subscription based and does not offer revenue share outside the USA. As a result adoption outside the US is pointless.

      BASC uses two printers linked to the Meet Manager PC on the day by way of a USB hub. Both have two USB extension cables to accommodate space constraints at different pools. It is part of the MM role to ensure that spare cartridges are available. A minimum of two for each printer is considered normal.

      Check printer drivers for each printer are loaded onto the laptops. BASC currently use Samsung ML1915 and HP LaserJet P2035.

      With regard to the printers the Meet Manager is responsible for ensuring that:

      • both printers are in working order – this normally involves setting them up 24 hours prior to the meet in order to warm them up;
      • storing the cartridges in a warm dry
        • The printers can be boxed up and stored in their boxes in a garage or similar location – but the cartridges are sensitive to damp and this can lead to problems on the Storing them separately inside has proven effective in eliminating this issue.
      • There is sufficient A4 paper and spare cartridges available – the Meet Manager buys these and is compensated by the

    2. Summary of hardware checks (for reference)

      Item

      Requirement

      Printers

      Warm up for 24 hours prior to meet

      Print test pages using MM computer to verify printers working and that drivers are loaded on laptop.

      USB, USB

      Check they are present and working by pre-testing everything

      extension and

      using the USB hub.

      power cord for

       

      printers

       

      Wandering lead

      Check it is available

      MM PC’s (two of)

      Make sure both are enabled, up to date, have a copy of the

      plus USB stick

      meet loaded.

      with drivers and

      Laptops should be fully charged

      back-up of meet.

       

      Stopwatches

      Check that they all work and are set to the correct time.

 

Role Requirements

  • BASC Committee Membership
    At BASC the Meet Manager is a member of the Club’s Committee and should attend monthly Committee meetings.
  • Member of Scottish Swimming
    The Meet Manager should be a member of Scottish Swimming (BASC arranges this).
  • PVG Clearance
    The Meet Manager will be poolside or required to go poolside during meets. It is prudent that the Meet Manager should work with the BASC Child Protection Officer to obtain the appropriate PVG clearance.
  • Code of Conduct
    The Meet Manager should sign and adhere to the Club’s Volunteer Code of Conduct.

 

Training & Support

  • Training
    There is copious amounts of training material available to allow the Meet Manager to familiarise him/herself with the software and the tasks prior to, during and after the meet. However, there is no substitute for gaining experience “on-the-job”. To that end anybody considering becoming the Meet Manager, should first become part of the Meet Manager team and gain experience of using the software at the meet prior to learning how to use it before and after the meet. This is the best way of breaking the learning process down into manageable chunks.

    This a role that benefits from careful succession planning – there should ideally be an extended handover period of at least six months where the new Meet Manager gains experience of internal and inter-club meets, using both electronic and manual timing.

  • Support – Interaction with Coaches & Gala Convener
    The Meet Manager needs to understand the boundaries between their role and those of the Coaches and the Gala Convener in particular. Working closely with these individuals makes the doing the job much easier.


Time Commitment

The Meet Manager’s commitment varies according to the meet schedule.