If you run Masters meets using Hy-Tek's Meet Manager software, read on.
Your LMSC Registrar now has the ability to provide you with a file that contains the names, USMS numbers, clubs, and birthdates of the swimmers in your LMSC. This file (of filetype .RE1) can be imported directly into the Meet Manager program.
When you import the .RE1 file, the "Athletes" list in Meet Manager is automatically populated with names, clubs, USMS numbers, and birthdates. All you have to enter are the swimmer's events and seed times.
This does three things:
1) It saves you, the meet director, a lot of typing as you enter swimmers into the meet, and
2) It ensures that the swimmers' names appear in the meet results AS THEY APPEAR ON THEIR USMS CARDS, and
3) It ensures that the swimmers' USMS numbers are stored in the meet results.
To obtain an .RE1 file, contact your LMSC registrar and ask for him/her to create an .RE1 file from the Club Assistant registration software. He/she can then e-mail the file to you.
To import the file into Meet Manager:
From the main Meet Manager menu, select "FILE"
Select "IMPORT"
Select "REGISTRATION FILE"
Locate and choose the .RE1 file that was sent to you
After the meet you can delete the names of everyone who didn't enter the meet. (You do this by going to File >> Purge >> Remove Data Selectively, and deleting athletes with no entries.)
My LMSC has used the .RE1 file for our past three meets. It really helps improve the accuracy of the meet results!
Anna Lea
To further clarify what Rob is pointing out...
Nobody is arguing that a meet director needs to know the names, teams, and ages for all of the swimmers who are entered into their meet.
However, is it reasonable for all meet directory to know all of that information for everybody in the LMSC?
If you provide the RE1 file, you provide the information for everyone in the LMSC, whether they ultimately enter your meet or not.
Personally, I only use the RE1 file for the purpose of double-checking information already in Meet Manager. (I run the large SCY Championships in New England.) I actually prefer to type the information from an entry form by hand, rather than have it already in the computer. For me, it's a lot faster to just type in the next name and ID number, rather than to search through the list of athletes looking for that particular name, double-check that it's the right person, and then type in the event seed times. Searching and scrolling takes forever. I can type in the name and ID in about 10 seconds.
A year ago, we rolled out online entries for that meet, which has helped enormously. We did online entries for the New England SCM meet in December, and will do it again for the SCY meet this spring.
Given a world where USMS centrally has good data about registration in all LMSCs, I think some services that would be extremely useful are, especially if RE1 files aren't distributed:
* An online registration check system. I put one of these together for the New England LSC (USA Swimming club level). Internally, it has the registration data for everyone in our LSC. As a meet director, you can upload either your meet entry file or meet results file from Hy-Tek, and it will check all of the registration data (names, DOB, ID numbers, clubs) for the people in the meet against the registration database. If there are any problems, it tells you what the problem is (although it doesn't give you the correction). For example, it will tell you that "RIKK OSTERBERG 010174RIK*OSTE - found match on last name and bithdate. Check spelling of first name". So it doesn't give away any sensitive information, just tells you what doesn't match. All of our local meet directors use it, and it helps keep our registration data accurate. And we don't give the meet directors any information that they don't already have.
* A web service call oriented system to validate an individual USMS registration. Last year, I setup online entries for the New England SCY meet. Unfortunately, I can only do online entries for New England LMSC people because that's the only data I have access to. It would be useful if there were a programmatic interface, with security, such that I could be authorized to do repeated one-time checks for registration. I.e., someone comes to my online entries page, types in their name, birthdate, club, and then I do a real-time check against a USMS interface to get a "yes" or "no". If it's "yes", then I know the registration is valid, and I allow the swimmer to process the online entry. This way, I don't need all of the information for everyone in the country. I only see information about people who are actually entering the meet. It could be setup to be securely restricted to authorized users, perhaps as "blessed" by local LMSC officers.
-Rick
To further clarify what Rob is pointing out...
Nobody is arguing that a meet director needs to know the names, teams, and ages for all of the swimmers who are entered into their meet.
However, is it reasonable for all meet directory to know all of that information for everybody in the LMSC?
If you provide the RE1 file, you provide the information for everyone in the LMSC, whether they ultimately enter your meet or not.
Personally, I only use the RE1 file for the purpose of double-checking information already in Meet Manager. (I run the large SCY Championships in New England.) I actually prefer to type the information from an entry form by hand, rather than have it already in the computer. For me, it's a lot faster to just type in the next name and ID number, rather than to search through the list of athletes looking for that particular name, double-check that it's the right person, and then type in the event seed times. Searching and scrolling takes forever. I can type in the name and ID in about 10 seconds.
A year ago, we rolled out online entries for that meet, which has helped enormously. We did online entries for the New England SCM meet in December, and will do it again for the SCY meet this spring.
Given a world where USMS centrally has good data about registration in all LMSCs, I think some services that would be extremely useful are, especially if RE1 files aren't distributed:
* An online registration check system. I put one of these together for the New England LSC (USA Swimming club level). Internally, it has the registration data for everyone in our LSC. As a meet director, you can upload either your meet entry file or meet results file from Hy-Tek, and it will check all of the registration data (names, DOB, ID numbers, clubs) for the people in the meet against the registration database. If there are any problems, it tells you what the problem is (although it doesn't give you the correction). For example, it will tell you that "RIKK OSTERBERG 010174RIK*OSTE - found match on last name and bithdate. Check spelling of first name". So it doesn't give away any sensitive information, just tells you what doesn't match. All of our local meet directors use it, and it helps keep our registration data accurate. And we don't give the meet directors any information that they don't already have.
* A web service call oriented system to validate an individual USMS registration. Last year, I setup online entries for the New England SCY meet. Unfortunately, I can only do online entries for New England LMSC people because that's the only data I have access to. It would be useful if there were a programmatic interface, with security, such that I could be authorized to do repeated one-time checks for registration. I.e., someone comes to my online entries page, types in their name, birthdate, club, and then I do a real-time check against a USMS interface to get a "yes" or "no". If it's "yes", then I know the registration is valid, and I allow the swimmer to process the online entry. This way, I don't need all of the information for everyone in the country. I only see information about people who are actually entering the meet. It could be setup to be securely restricted to authorized users, perhaps as "blessed" by local LMSC officers.
-Rick
