How to be a Meet Director
The meet director is responsible for the overall event for the day, and is typically the first to arrive and the last to leave. He/she is in charge of organizing all the volunteers, getting the equipment (except E-Punch) to/from the event, handling the collected funds, and dealing with any issues that appear.
Before the event, he or she works with the course setter to make sure that course locations work for the event, with land owners to understand any restrictions, and determining locations for bathrooms, parking, and registration areas. (If necessary, the meet director arranges for a portable toilet.)
The meet director checklist below contains a full list of things that the meet director should manage. The meet director should have a good understanding as to how events are conducted, be well organized, and be willing and able to teach all the appropriate jobs (except E-punch software) to other volunteers. Although it may seem a bit daunting, no specialized knowledge or skills are required and the club officers are very willing to help first time meet directors through the process. It's a great way to meet new people!
Resources:
- Meet Director Checklist
- List of volunteer roles and job descriptions.
- Guidelines for using radios at O' meets from Mike Schuh.
Resources from Other Clubs
Several clubs have published various guides to organizing O' meets. Among them:
- USOF Meet Director's Guide
- The Canadian Orienteering Federation has a brief list of resources for organizers
- Bay Area OC Meet Director's Guide
- The Bay Area OC web site also lists numerous other guides and resources
- The New England Orienteering Club's Event Director's Handbook is comprehensive, but does not include electronic punching or print-the-night-before O' maps.
- The USOF USOF "Virtual Binder" contains a lot of very useful information