Points updated - inaccurate

[Jeff]

Brian, over the past 5 years I've seen things improve and things stay the same.  All in all, I suppose I could b1tch about it, but I'd rather try to be constructive with solutions that can work.

Todd, personally, I'd rather see things get better than get worse.  Complaining has historically never resolved a problem.  Focusing on what is going right and exploiting those things works.  I guess I'm the odd man out.

R1owner.  if it were really that simple, do you not think they would do it?  Do you have any idea of the software they use for timing/scoring/grids/results,   and then for online posting?  

I personally don't have a clue on the software they use.  While the concept you mention sounds and IS technically feasible and realistic, I do not know the constraints in the system they are using, nor do I know the corporate issues with spending on development for a decent system which will provide this functionality.

I don't know...  I'll keep doing what I can.  If nothing changes, I can still say I did my part to make things better vice just b1tching about things.

[AZ-MilleR]

It can be fixed.  This past weekend the Southwest region was told it will become a seperate affiliate and not part of the overall CCE envelope and announced a new website.  On it, they have all the points for the year including the Vegas twin sprints that just happened this past weekend.  They had them up there on Tuesday.  Kudos to the Southwest group, but it does show with dedicated people it can happen.  The SW region's new website is at:
http://www.ccssw.com.  

[extrakt0r]

It can be fixed.  This past weekend the Southwest region was told it will become a seperate affiliate and not part of the overall CCE envelope and announced a new website.  On it, they have all the points for the year including the Vegas twin sprints that just happened this past weekend.  They had them up there on Tuesday.  Kudos to the Southwest group, but it does show with dedicated people it can happen.  The SW region's new website is at:
http://www.ccssw.com.  

Holy Crud  :o That site rocks, man I wish the GP and MW Regions had that going on for them  :o ;D

[251am]

Holy Crud  :o That site rocks, man I wish the GP and MW Regions had that going on for them  :o ;D

  That site DOES rock!!  Hey AZ Mille, how did those changes come about?

a. Is the site updated and managed by racers/c.workers/volunteers of the SW or is it still run by Ft. Worth directions?

b. How was the agreement come to that this adjustment was necessary for the SW? Was a poll taken at a racer's meeting, etc.,?

c. Any recommendations on how we can get this done for the MW/GP region?

TIA

 Jeff, I hear what your saying pertaining to the b1itching. It gets old and it's an energy drain for some. For others it is a valid gripe that needs  venting. Do you have a specific recommendation for dealing with this points updating? Need some help?

         I went to look at the "update" and couldn't even find results from August's BFR? Did someone lose all the results for that whole weekend?    

[Jeff]

Todd,

I don't think the current situation needs any help.  They know the problem exists and will fix it.  Hopefully today, but I do not know what is on Ryan's schedule, so I can't say.

I am very interested in the new branch-off for the southwest and what it might mean for the midwest, etc.

So...  While people say that "nothing ever changes, don't waste your time" etc...  I submit the news of ccs southwest...

4 years ago points weren't online.
3 years ago points were updated once maybe twice in the year online.
2 years ago everyone relied on Jack's points system so CCS didn't need to be current/accurate
Last year points came more consistently but still not frequently enough.
This year I've seen points up as quick as the monday after a race weekend.  Points have almost always been updated before the next race weekend.  Totally unheard of before.

It IS getting better.  

Is it perfect?  No.  But considering where we've come from, we're heading in the right direction.

A branch-out may be a step in the right direction too.  Smaller groups can get things done faster in certain settings because they deal with less "mass" bureaucracy and decisions can be made much easier in a small group.  Common sense prevails over process.

However, I don't know what the CCSSW 'branch' looks like as far as organization, responsibilities, etc.  Last year, there was talk of Fasttrax taking over CCS Midwest.  That would have been a change which most people would not have liked.

It would have allowed a smaller regional control situation, but the structure and event organization/classes/rules/etc were dramatically different.  Fasttrax is very casual while CCS is not.  It works for Fasttrax because they're a smaller org.  However, I had my doubts that it would work in an org as large as CCSMW...

[Super Dave]

Holy Crud  :o That site rocks, man I wish the GP and MW Regions had that going on for them  :o ;D

Never will happen.

The MW region, which really the GP and previous GL regions were just underneath it, really, are too good of money makers for them to be let go of by CCS.  We've got Road America.  With Daytona becoming so expensive, that might be the last volume entry track that CCS has to make some fair money.

As a result, CCS events in the Midwest region, etc., although we pull pretty big numbers for entries, have no press coverage.  A very generous photographer tried to do it but ran into so many problems that it wasn't really worth doing.  We go unnoticed.  As a result, when you go talk to your sponsors, where's the press...unless you're making your own, you might as well go race someplace else.  

Changes have been virtually none.  I've had a CCS license since 1988.  There are cycles in the numbers of entries, yes.  The internet has existed for quite sometime.  Many things should be simple, and they would be if they were simply executed.  I've tried to offer input, but often information, valuable or not, makes no difference.  

Complaining?  Will it help?  If no one recognizes a problem, there is nothing to fix.  Most people, when unhappy with a product, just leave and tell others how awful things are, even if they aren't that bad.  

[r1owner]

Jeff,

I agree... My point is that the data is there.  I'm sure it can be easily retrieved and posted.

It's been offered several times in the past by multiple people to write something to help them out only to be turned down.

Just get someone to write the damn software.  It can be done for probably less than a couple thosand dollars.

The time saved by them making these points into a pdf alone would probably have it paying for itself in a year.  Why not do it to save money in the long run AND make your customers happy?

I personally like the way the race weekends are run and think the people at the track do a good job.  But I can tell you that not getting something as simple as results posted really pisses me off.  

If there were another organization that ran this many races in the midwest, I would certainly give them a try based on that alone.  I think that's part of the reason we get little to no response as CCS is the only org running most of these tracks.

I stand by the fact that there is no reason we shouldn't have a site for all of CCS as they have in the Southwest.  Notice how it's dynamic instead of static as the main CCS site is?

[Super Dave]

So...  While people say that "nothing ever changes, don't waste your time" etc...  I submit the news of ccs southwest...

4 years ago points weren't online.
3 years ago points were updated once maybe twice in the year online.
2 years ago everyone relied on Jack's points system so CCS didn't need to be current/accurate
Last year points came more consistently but still not frequently enough.
This year I've seen points up as quick as the monday after a race weekend.  Points have almost always been updated before the next race weekend.  Totally unheard of before.

In a vacuum, that would be fine.  However, there are other organizations that have done it differently and with more activity.  

WSMC has regular releases about there races in RRW.  CRA does at times too.  

We can talk all about manpower and all, but if we have to talk about revenue, then CCS has it covered better.  CCE, and as a result CCS, is a public company.  Therefore, efficiency is the thing that keeps business alive.  If one puts on so many races in all these places, then at some point in the five years that CCE has owned CCS, something reasonable should have been figured out.  CCS has existed for 21 years.  What has really changed?

[Super Dave]

And as a final thought.

It's not that we won't race with out CCS.  You can race, but it will be with another organization.  Racers don't race because of an organization.  Organizations a developed because racers exist.

Todd, I'll be at Blackhawk.

[Jeff]

R1, I completely agree with you...  Hell, any one of more than a dozen people involved in CCS Midwest would be glad to develop, implement and run the points system for FREE.

The problem involved is that it's not just that simple.  CCS answers to CCE.  There's no way that CCE is going to let some outsider gain access to any corporate owned or affiliated server to do this.

So it goes back to the drawing board, over priced RFP's, budgets that get cut...

At least that's how I envision it...  I could be wrong...

[TommyG]

I also am a long time ccs license holder(but younger and better looking than Dave  ;D) and I think things are WAY better then it used to be! You should have tried to chase points and plates in 1994!

[AZ-MilleR]

Apparently CCS decided the Southwest region was not profitable enough so they were going to drop the region completely for 2006.  I'm sure we are a small region and don't generate large grids.

The local race director started a new organization that would be a CCS affiliate, but not under the CCE umbrella.  The website was created by a racer in the region along with help from the local staff.