AMG Objectives:

Sport Industry Australia (SIA), owners of AMG, have defined their objectives in staging the games as follows:

* To deliver a high quality and well-organised event which enhances the
reputation and standing of the Games, maintaining its position as the
pre-eminent event of the masters sport calendar

* To provide participants with an experience which encourages their
ongoing involvement in sport and in future Masters Games.

Before SportingPulse.....

Lachlan Clark, General Manager of the Healthpact 9th AMG, talks about how technology was utilized before using SportingPulse solutions "Previously the Games used a registration software solution built on a Microsoft Access database platform. There was no ability to enter online, besides downloading PDFs of the entry form and mailing or faxing them into the Games Office. Accreditation passes were all pre-printed on mailing addresses and laminated with the registration system used as a back up to search for participant data. Results were all done manually and posted on a board or printed in a result booklet on a sport basis. No results were online."

Why SportingPulse?

Lachlan identifies the deciding factors for choosing SportingPulse as follows: "Initially AMG was only looking for an online registration system, but were attracted to the SportingPulse end to end solution that would allow for; online entry and payment, allow sports to download data into competition software and then upload results to sport specific web pages." Lachlan then goes on to say "The SportingPulse price was extremely competitive compared to the rest of the market and probably one of the crucial factors was that the SportingPulse team were prepared to work with the Games as partners, in the process to developing a system that would bring cutting edge solutions to the multi-sport event environment."

Cost Reductions:

Costs were reduced significantly. "The system dramatically lowered data entry costs with 40% of all registrations received online". Lachlan goes on to say, "The cost of the system cannot compare to purchasing other stand alone accreditation, registration or results systems with the added advantage that there is no integration required"

End to End Integration & Flexibility

"A totally integrated system from registration to results"

The Healthpact 9th AMG was the first time an AMG event used an end to end technology solution. Typically in the past this meant that accreditation information was not passed onto competition organisers to use for results. "The entry data can be downloaded in just about any format to suit any competition management software, which in turn saved the results processors valuable data entry time and allowed them to focus on running their competitions" says Lachlan.

The addition of online registrations and payment for participants added another level of efficiency, reducing paperwork and allowing participants to join from anywhere in the world, which was important as the event attracted participants from 20 countries.

Increased Efficiency:

Overcoming the problem of long queues and waiting times for participants when receiving their accreditation cards was cricitcal. "The accreditation system produces accreditation passes in a print time of 10 seconds allowing an extremely high throughput" says Lachlan.

Registrations Co-Ordinator of the Games, Renee Thrupp, states "Participants rarely had to queue for their accreditation passes - even at peak times which is highly unusual for an event of this size. We managed to process 1,500 participants in two hours which is an AMG record!"

Another benefit of the SportingPulse Events system was the financial reporting. "The system allows sports organisers real time access to all entry and financial data with login and password access from any computer attached to the web".

Improved Communication:

"Individual sport information web pages allows communication by sport organisers directly to participants through a content management system" This allowed sports organisers to add news stories and photographs to their websites. Lachlan goes on to highlight the new efficiencies created through the results system provided by SportingPulse Sportzware solutions "Results are available online immediately after the competition has been concluded, this was an AMG first!" This allowed family members and friends of participants to find out how they fared almost in real time. The sport websites received a total of well over 1 million hits for the event.

Positive response from peers & participants:

The ultimate test for the system came from the ultimate critics, the system users. Lachlan states "Ernst and Young completed an Economic Impact Survey which found that on a five-point scale from Very Poor to Excellent, visitors indicated their level of satisfaction with the Online Registration System was exceptionally high with 80% of respondents recording a 4 or 5 (excellent)."

Lachlan goes on to comment on feedback received from peers: "Other organisations such as the World Fire and Police Games, Adelaide 2007, Pan Pacific Masters Games and Rugby World Cup Venue Managers were extremely impressed with our operation and expressed this to the General Manager of the Games during the event. The solution has allowed us to take our organisation to a whole new level of professionalism and service for participants."

Brief
The Games are a biennial multi-sport festival providing an opportunity for participation and competition for mature aged sports people aged thirty years and over. While the competition is important, one of the key attractions of the Games is the social interaction and spirit of camaraderie experienced by participants. The Games will offer approximately 50 sports and will attract an estimated 10,000 participants from throughout Australia and overseas.

Location
Canberra, Australia

Size
The Australian Masters Games offer approximately 50 sports, and attracts over 10,000 participants. In 2003 participants entered from as many as 20 countries, not only from Australia

SportingPulse Apps
SportingPulse Events
Sportzware Central
Sportzware Websites

Benefits
• Flexible Accreditation
• Online registration and payment gateway
• Results Application with web capability
• Self-editing websites for sports
• All integrated system to eliminate double-handling of information

To find out how SportingPulse can help your sporting organisation call 1800 200 733