We’re excited to announce that our offline packet pickup, check-in and bib/tag assignment tool is officially ready for beta testers. The 13th Annual Pat’s Run recently used the tool (called “Launch: Packet Pickup”) at their packet pickup for over 30,000 participants. Here’s what they had to say about the tool: “Using Launch for this year’s race has been a huge improvement from previous years.  The onsite experience has been great because we do not have to worry about having a bad internet connection since Launch operates all offline.  Now we have happy athletes who do not have to wait in the sun in long lines to get their bib numbers; it’s a streamlined process.” – Sandy Flynn, Pat’s Run Event Director.

What exactly is Launch?

Launch is a software that allows events to manage packet pickup and bib/tag assignment seamlessly, regardless of whether or not there is internet connectivity (think crashing, slow or worse, no connectivity at your packet pickup stations). Plus, athletes can manually look themselves up (or scan a barcode) to find their bib number and check their entry info for accuracy, and even sign an electronic waiver upon check-in. No more paper posters of bib numbers, no more growing lines because the internet fails, and no more paper waivers. The admin, volunteer, athlete and even announcer kiosks are all synced together through a router and will all sync automatically to CT Live data in the cloud whenever internet connectivity becomes available.

How does it work?

Users can pull down their athlete database from ChronoTrack Live into Launch and run packet pickup operations in a completely offline state (or a hybrid online/offline state if connectivity permits) through the usage of a router that broadcasts a local network to their athlete, volunteer, and announcer kiosks on-site. Volunteers can work offline with the current athlete information from ChronoTrack Live that lives in the cloud. As connection to the internet becomes available, any new information will be shared back and forth between the computers and the CT Live cloud info, creating a truly seamless experience for athletes and volunteers alike.

What are the beta features?

ADMIN KIOSK FEATURES:

  • Pull down athlete database from CT Live
  • View entry information
  • Assign bib/tag
  • View number of entries checked in
  • Download csv file of entries
  • Set a backup location for the entry database
  • View internet connection status and status of changes
  • Customize kiosk settings

VOLUNTEER KIOSK FEATURES:

  • Enter access passphrase on connected machine to open kiosk
  • Live search functionality for entries
  • Entry lookup by scanning receipt barcode
  • View customized display of entry information
  • Assign only bib, or both bib and tag
  • Electronic waiver

ATHLETE KIOSK FEATURES:

  • Volunteer enters access passphrase on connected machine to open kiosk for the day
  • Live search functionality for entries
  • Entry lookup by scanning receipt barcode
  • View customized display of entry information
  • Read-only display of bib

ANNOUNCER KIOSK FEATURES:

  • Enter access passphrase on connected machine to open kiosk
  • Display read number, name, race, bib, and hometown
  • Stream tag reads from Fusion or Simple Client

SYNC ENGINE:

  • Changes made on Launch sync to the cloud when internet is available
  • Changes are queued in a pending state when no internet is available
  • New entries in the cloud are pulled down to Launch when internet is available
  • Edits to existing entries in the cloud are pulled down to Launch when internet is available (not yet implemented)

So sum it all up. How does Launch help me?

Here are some of the key ways Launch can help you on race weekend:

  • Event organizers can have a real-time count on how many people have checked in, making volunteer staffing more accurate as the day goes on.
  • Piles of paper lists and boards with paper stapled to them with athlete bib numbers go away. The self-service athlete kiosks allow athletes to manually look themselves up or scan a barcode to find their number and check for accuracy of their information.
  • All of your volunteers can continue to check-in athletes and assign bibs/tags without the need for internet connectivity due to our unique kiosk router connection. Any information updated on one volunteer kiosk will update in real-time with the other volunteer kiosks so no duplications can occur.
  • Whether it’s your volunteer, athlete, admin or announcer kiosks, whatever changes are made offline will auto-sync with CT Live as soon as an internet connection becomes available. Everything appears on the front end as ‘business as usual’ to the volunteers and athletes. And no manual syncing ever needs to happen when a connection does become available. Everything syncs automatically.
  • Athletes can sign electronic waivers at packet pick-up. This allows organizers to store waivers with their event information electronically instead of in boxes of waivers they may need to comb through in the future in the event of a legal issue with an athlete.
  • Athlete bib look-up, packet pick-up, plus bib and tag assignments not only are all processed faster but counts are accurate, manual processing errors are eliminated, and no post-event admin work has to be done after the race.

Can I be a beta tester?

We are looking for the following types of events for our current beta testing program:

  • Smaller events running dynamic bib/tag assignment (500 – 3,000 entries)
  • Larger, pre-assign events that need an athlete facing bib lookup solution

If you think your event fits the bill, please contact our Launch Product Manager, Nick Wiegand at  nwiegand@chronotrack.com.