Planning for Registration#

The following description of contest structures applies to the old registration system. This will be updated shortly.

Getting started#

Recruit a contest registrar. The registrar is responsible for setting up and managing the on-line registration system, collecting any fees, ordering T-Shirts and supplies, preparing certificates, badges, and on-site registration materials, registering teams on-site, preparing certificates for the winners, and preparing the standings. Typically, the registrar is also the treasurer.

To access your management page, login to your ICPC account at the ICPC home page at http://icpc.baylor.edu. When first entering the system, Setup the contest and registration. If you manage a multi-site contest, you need to Setup each site. When setting up a site, you can create site director accounts for the Site Director Web Site.

Next, you will be managing team reservations. You can use a bulk email facility. You can view many useful reports. You can enter your staff members. You can access helpful information. You can get a t-Shirt report and attendance report to help you manage t-shirt and food function requirements. There is a helpful timeline and checklist there as well.

Registration ends 7 days before the end of your contest. All teams must be fully registered by that date including reserves. Only substitution of registered reserves will be permitted. Download the Print Utility and the site data several days before the contest and print out badges and certificates. You can make last minute changes with the Print Utility as well. Play with it a little before you use the forms provided for you.

Cancel any no-shows and enter substitutions and corrections in the RCD Web Site before the contest starts. If network problems occur, email or FAX the changes to the ICPC Manager and enter them as soon as possible.

Finally, within a day of the completion of your contest, enter the finals standings and the links to your report web site (report.html, standings.html, and problems.html) in the RCD Web Site and notify the ICPC Manager that you are done! Remember to volunteer for another year or nominate your replacment by October 1. We must have time to assure that you have time to shop for an inexpensive airfare and, where needed, apply for and deal with any visa issues.

Some good news!#

With the on-line registration system, it is the coaches' responsibility to enter the data - not yours! You will need to periodically check on reservations, marking those accepted when all requirements have been met.

Past coaches, staff, contacts, and participants are automatically notified about your contest. You can also use Bulk Mail to get mailing lists of current and past participants.

It is a lot easier if you "batch" your work. That is, only check and service reservations twice a week. This will set your mind at ease and will save time. As the deadline approaches, use the Bulk Mail facility to send reminders and to notify teams that have not completed registration. Be sure to verify that the team meets all requirements (only one graduate student on the team, graduate student must not have completed two years of graduate school) before approval.

Collecting fees#

You can download data from the on-line registration system for inclusion in your spreadsheet for tracking fees. Fees are generally collected from the coaches by mail in advance of the contest. Some fees may be paid during on-site registration. Receipts must be issued to the coaches.

On-site registration#

Teams check-in and complete registration on-site. If there are a lot of teams, you might want to assign registration times.

On-site registration should collect any uncollected fees, verify team information, and provide a Team Registration Packet. No matter how hard you work, expect some changes and typographical errors. The Team Registration Packet should include:

• print out of registration information for verification
• the final program
• badges
• banquet tickets
• T-shirts
• ACM Student Membership forms

and typically:

• last minute announcements
• a contest site map, and
• contest environment information.

Regional contests that do not require ACM membership should include ACM student member applications in Team Registration Packets. Regardless of regional requirements, all members of teams advancing to the Contest Finals must be ACM members by the date published in About the Finals on the ICPC web page.

A local stand-alone database can be downloaded that can import the data from the on-line registration system. It is used to print certificates and badges on-site. Try out the software several weeks before the contest so that your are comfortable with the system when it comes times to use it. You should adjust layouts to the actual printer that you will use to print badges and certificates.

Don't forget the staff!#

Call a staff meeting several hours before registration starts to discuss assignments and to distribute badges, certificates, T-shirts, and the final schedule. Bring-your-own contests...

In a bring-your-own contest, teams will also be assigned a Systems Certification time when they register. During this time, the team sets up its system in the Contest Area. The contest systems staff then verifies that the system meets the certification requirements as specified in the Contest Rules. Updating the database and printing individual certificates.

After on-site registration and before the actual contest, add any new teams, cancel no shows, update name spellings, and make personnel changes in your database and the on-line database. After the update is complete, you are ready to print team certificates. You can print individual "Honorable Mention" certificates at this time. Printing team certificates

Once the results are known, you can print team certificates for teams in the top 25%-50% for distribution at the Awards Dinner. Remember, everything you hand out now is something you don't have to ship later. Reporting

Within one day of the end of the contest, publish your report, standings, and problem set on your local web site, promote your winners, enter your successor as staff if not continuing, and notify the ICPC Manager, manager@icpc.baylor.edu that you are finished. If publishing them on your local web site, be sure to enter the URLs in the RCD Web Site Setup so that your homepage will correctly point you your results.

Also, enter the standings in the RCD Web Site. This includes the number of problems solved and the total elapsed time for each team. A single page form will make this pretty easy. Relaxing

Afterwards, thank all those that helped. Do it again, then again, then sit back, kick up your heels, and relax!