Notification of changes/cancellation of events

With the heavy rain and storms that we have seen throughout the state recently it seems timely to remind everyone about the importance of notifying competitors, volunteers, judges and officials of any changes to your scheduled events.

In this age of social media, it is very common for updates to be posted on facebook. This is a great tool for getting your message out there, however there are times when facebook has not been checked (and there are still a few people without facebook, twitter and insta accounts- yes, really!) and so your message may not reach everyone it needs to. This can lead to competitors, volunteers, judges and officials turning up to events to fulfill their commitment, only to find out that the event is not proceeding!

We all appreciate that inclement weather is out of the OC's hands, and that in the majority of cases the decision about whether to cancel is held off until the last possible moment as it often only takes a few hours of sun for the grounds to be rideable again, and everyone is desperate for the event to go ahead! It is important, however, to have a plan in place in case events change or are cancelled. Do your members/competitors/judges know how you will communicate this information? Is it via your website, facebook, or both? Will you email everyone? By what time will you notify everyone of this? (Bearing in mind that often competitors will be up extremely early to get ready and travel to the event!) If you have a plan, and everyone knows this plan, it will also save event organisers a lot of time answering emails and phone calls from competitors needing to know whether to load up their horses and get on the road!

Interestingly, results from the EQ survey that was conducted earlier this year showed that 60% of people rely on the EQ website and newsletters to get their information. This highlights the need for information to be placed on the website as well as facebook.

And on that note, everyone keep your fingers crossed for good weather on competition days! (Ok, good weather on ALL competition days may be pushing it, but we can always hope!)