[CQ-Contest] Appropriate wait time for contest results?

Wed Apr 5 10:00:05 EDT 2017

Thank you – and yes, I do volunteer to adjudicate different contests and am an active participant in PL259’s sponsorship of the Makrothen RTTY Contest.

Those activities have included manually editing hundreds of broken logs, running/writing log check automation, printing/mailing certificates, contest promotion and many other tasks.  I have spent many hundreds of hours over the years volunteering to the behind the scenes work of sponsoring a contest.

I also said “Delays and unforeseen issues happen” and that the “decision and timing of results lies with the sponsor”.

I have two day jobs, a family, two dogs and do my best to have a life, exercise and stay healthy – including honoring commitments I make when I volunteer my time.

It was in that context I asked the question – and went to much effort to make it clear I wasn’t posing my question as an attack –it would appear you took it as such – I’m sorry you have that (incorrect) impression.

I was simply asking a question regarding people’s expectations.

For some sponsors, publication (emphasis on publication) drives the schedule – in some cases out to 6 months or a year.  Print schedules being what they are and the sponsors other activities, one must respect this.

But with the availability of the Internet, publication of contest results is no longer bound by printing schedules.

I am simply trying to understand expectations and desires for the availability of results – both as a general question and in setting the appropriate goals for the contests in whose sponsorship I am actively involved.

73 – Keep calm & carry on!
Stu K6TU

On 4/5/17, 6:04 AM, "CQ-Contest on behalf of Kelly Taylor" <cq-contest-bounces at contesting.com on behalf of ve4xt at mymts.net> wrote:

    Are you under the impression sponsors don't want results out sooner? That there's some kind of conspiracy to delay the work involved?

    Have you volunteered to assist with adjudication?

    The economics of running a contest aren't fantastic. There are no entry fees and sponsorships are generally restricted to plaques and awards, so most of the work is by volunteers, from the contest directors to the folks who do log-checking. 

    These people have jobs, wives, husbands, kids and lives. Automation may have simplified much of the work, but it's still a lot of work, especially if there's plenty of pressure to detect cheating. 

    One major contest sponsor is having trouble keeping the lights on, witness the problems with delivery of a certain magazine. Another sponsor is well-funded, but has much more on its plate than contests. 

    If it was easy to get results out quicker, don't you think sponsors would? Publication schedules are set around the time it takes to compile results. It's not that the time it takes to compile results is dependent on publication schedules, especially since results once available are online before they are in print. 

    73, kelly, ve4xt 

    Sent from my iPhone

    > On Apr 4, 2017, at 13:50, Stu Phillips <stu at k6tu.net> wrote:
    > 
    > 
    > I’m curious what folks think is an appropriate time to wait for contest results?
    > 
    > The wait time is all over the map:
    > 
    > - NAQP’s – preliminary results published in small number of weeks, definitive around 4 months or so
    > - ARRL contests – seem still to be driven by the print schedule of QST and around 6 months
    > - CQ Magazine contests (WW & WPX) – claimed results a couple of weeks, definitive seem about a year
    > - State QSO Parties – no normal value – one to several months
    > - Others – weeks to years
    > 
    > I know from personal experience that the log gathering, normalization and checking process is typically NOT the issue.  That claimed (!), it depends on how much effort the contest sponsor places on automating that process (some manual intervention is still required – no small task for a large contest like the WW or WPX) but 4 to 6 weeks with appropriate coordination of logistics shouldn’t be unrealistic.
    > 
    > I appreciate that the decision and timing of results lies with the sponsor but in a world with real time access, a need to attract a new generation of contesters who have less tolerance for delayed gratification, it would seem we should be aiming for almost instant results (a point recently argued here by Ward N0AX).
    > 
    > Delays and unforeseen issues happen – this is the real world.
    > 
    > SO - what do you think is a reasonable time for issuing contest results?
    > 
    > Stu K6TU
    > 
    > PS: As the newly minted sponsor of the Makrothen RTTY Contest – PL259 (Pizza Lovers 259) is aiming for results within one month of the contest end. https://www.pl259.org/makrothen/
    > 
    > 
    > 
    > 
    > 
    > 
    > 
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