The Bologna Open. One third of the entries arrived during the last week after the closing date. This resulted in the program being continuously changed. Kids and Youth events were held late without knowing when they would be on. The venue was far too small. The parking was inadequate. There were not enough seats to sit on. The change rooms were too small for the amount of competitors.It would appear that most of the problems was because of the high amount of late entries that were allowed. Why have a closing date if it is not going to be adhered to. Unless people are educated into knowing that a late entry will not be allowed it will only get worse.
Try to enter Blackpool after the closing date and see how far you will get.

Not quite the same to compare intern. recognised events such as B/Pool US champ. etc who are not totally dependant on filling their venues to the rafters.

I have run numerous comps and every entry is sometimes the difference between viable and loss.

till you have operated from both sides of the profession, you would readily change your opinion ( unless you like losing money ! )

First we are talking about a major event such as Bologna and not some little studio event. This was a Grand Slam Event. I think it would be safe to say that in the main IDSF event all the entries would have been early. Anyway Terence why have a closing date at all. Why not in your advertising state that its OK guys to enter just a few minutes before your event takes to the floor. As long as you have payed your money that is...
I tell you what would fix the problem. Late entries will be accepted at double the cost.

In the US, amateur competitions give entrants a break on the fees if they register early. The difference can be substantial for a couple.

Of course, these are amateurs and not professionals who should be expected to plan their competitions and avoid late entrance.



jj

Well, I know that this anecdote will be discounted because it's about an NDCA event and because, to many poster I'm nothing but a scum-of-the-earth pro-ammer.

Nevertheless:
Not too long ago I thought, for work- related reasons, that I would have to forego a competition that I really, really wanted to enter. It was well after the entry deadline that my work-related project was resolved on an accelerated schedule. It meant that I would be able to enter the competition after all. I spoke to my pro, who spoke the organizer, who let me enter late. My pro and his partner decided that, since they were going to the comp after all, that they wanted to enter the Pro event for their style. The organizer allowed it, even after the deadline. The organizer even waived the late entry fee for both myself and the pros. So, yes, my Pros entered their Pro event late, but it was not because of poor planning on their part or because of any disrespect to the organizer.

No spectators were harmed by the late Pro entry and the failure of its appearance in the program.

Clary. What would your reaction be to 1/3 of the entries being received after the program has gone to the printer. What use would this magnificant souvenir $12 program be if 1/3 of the names are not listed. Plus the events are not being run according to the program.
I suppose there could be in the program numbers with no name beside them. The names could be announced from the stage. All 70 or so.
There is a right and a wrong way of running a competition either very professional or slap happy.

A program is indeed just a souvenir. I certainly don't expect it to be a Bible for the event.

As a competitor, at recent events I've attended, I've been able to get my a separate heat list for my own events. So competitors should know what's going on.

If spectators feel left out, well, that happens sometimes. If your experience is that you can't trust the information in the program, then don't buy one. I have attended some events where the program was thrown out the window, and as a spectator I just had to go with the flow. It didn't kill me.

Ballroom Dancing is very orderly, How many times have you travelled a hundred miles or so to a competition. Had your first round early and the next round hours later. Is that orderly or is the program just thrown together. If you are willing to accept this, then you would accept that if you went to a stage show it would be OK to put Act 2 on before Act 1. which is not according to the program
At least in a Professional Competition there can only be 20 minutes between rounds. In this day and age with computers ect there is no excuse for a badly organized competition. If it is not so then put in a complaint to the comittee.

In answer to your question, the great majority of the competitions I attend are a lot more than 100 miles from where I live (which is in a rural area in the middle of nowhere). Yes, sometimes there is a long wait between rounds and I don't know whether I've been recalled during that time. (But I'm a pro-am dancer, remember, so by definition that means I'm really, really bad and usually I don't make the cut. But if my biggest problem during a day is that I've waited around a ballroom longer than I "needed" to, well, a lot of people would think I'm pretty lucky.)

I'll also admit that I'm not the smartest person on the block - so I don't understand your analogy between dancing and a play. Maybe dancing itself is "orderly", and maybe a play is "orderly" but I don't understand why the definiiton of an "orderly" competition. Some competition organizers deliberately stretch out the day in the hope that it will keep more people in the room spectating - they consider that "orderly". They run ALL the first rounds of waltz events from newcomer through open, and then subsequent waltz rounds from newcomer to open, and then all the finals of the waltz. Only then will they start the tango rounds. After tango, they might run the first rounds of the Am Champ or other multi-dance events. But they might not run the next round of Am Champ until a few more syllabus events are completed. If the program indicated that there would be a long, long wait between rounds, would you consider that OK? There IS order to it - maybe not to your taste. So would you still object to "bad" organization? I'm just trying to understand.

Also, I'm a bit confused by your reference to the Pro events and the implication that subsequent rounds have to be held within 20 minutes. I'm mainly familiar with NDCA rules, which state that 20 minutes is a minimum time between rounds for Pro and Am Champ events - the maximium is 60 minutes, but that can be extended under reasonably circumstances. (Art. III(D)(8). I acknowledge that it may very well be that you are basing your statement under the rules of a different organization.

This is quite obviously a big issue for you, and yes, you should discuss your objections with the organizer if you dislike the scheduling. But for me, well, I just don't find myself worked up about it - I'll pick a different battle to fight. I just watch the other dancers while I wait.

I watched a couple just back from the UK where they had spent the last five years. They were to have a private lesson later. For over an hour they went through this ritual of warming up. Not with each other but apart. Before they even came together into a dancing position about an hour and a quarter had elapsed. Even then their movement was very modest. I asked the teacher who herself had just returned from Europe. Do all dancers over there go through this sort of warm up. Her answer was . My partner and I haven't been together for a couple of weeks he is in the USA, I think she said Ohio. We wont get into a close hold for probably two days before we start to practice full bore. If at a competition having warmed up there is a great gap between rounds they would have cooled down which would not be good.
Even myself at my level of dancing I am dancing better when its time to go home than I was at the beginning. A bit weary but definately dancing better. Much more feel for the floor and the music
Lesson to be learn. We had a Senior who was the National Champion. In practice one day he went full bore into a Natural Turn in the Waltz and never danced again. Had he warmed up correctly who knows.
For those who are really interested they might take the trouble to find out exactly how much of a warmup these top dancers do.
Stop Press. Entries for the UK in January at Bournmouth are now closed. If you haven't entered don't bother.