As I mentioned in the previous post, I initially keep all of the event planning sheets clipped together with a cover sheet, and, as promised, the form and purpose of that cover sheet is today’s topic. I call it a weekend planning sheet—but calling it an event cover sheet probably is less confusing. I use it to make sure that I’ve got all of the key players identified for a given weekend and this sheet helps me to negotiate across weekends. A copy of that form is here...
Before I print the sheet, I put the year that I am planning on the tab, which will show up in the header when printed. Referring back to my event planning sheets, I fill in the dates, club, events, and location. Those are the things I need to remember when I start asking folks about being a chairman, secretary, or judge for one or more weekends. I used to worry about other things like having enough lure operators and food, which is why there are line items for those further down, but I’ve not used either in quite some time. I’m just using this sheet to make sure that I’ve got a chair, secretary, and judges for each of the events. And, I do, at this point in time, for all of MGA’s events. This is what my event cover sheet looks like this morning…
I often use the back of the sheet to write down possible judges and track who I have asked. Lining up judges happened rather quickly this year, and the back of the sheet is pristine—I think that’s a first. Selecting judges is a topic for another day.
This form has an interesting shelf life. I find it useful at the beginning of the year until all of the events have the key players identified. At that point, I will usually break up the pack of the event planning sheets and file the cover sheet away. I don’t throw it away. If a judge later can’t make an assignment, for example, I might refer back to this sheet to help figure out a replacement. Taking the example further, if I got an email from Katie Kaltenborn next month that she cannot make the May trial, it would be tempting to find another person who is running greyhounds to take her place, as the running order published in the premium wouldn’t need to be modified. A quick reference to this sheet would remind me that if I were to ask Laurie Soutar that would mean that she would be judging all of our trial weekends that year, and it also tips me off to check my email, as Laurie may have declined that weekend anyway when I asked her about judging.
The other reason that I file this sheet away is for reference in subsequent years. Next year, I can look back at the collection of cover sheets to remember who has been doing what for our club recently, mostly to try to not overuse any one individual year to year.
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