Getting NAC results live

[FencerMom]

Is there anything in the works to be able to get NAC fencing results live? When they had the Senior World Cup in NYC in June of 2004, the results were up on the local web page as soon as it happened. There must be a way for the USFA to be able to do the same for our NACs. This is the USA, where whole towns are up on wifi, computers are in classrooms, almost everyone is up on e-mail. The USFA must be looking to do this. Those of us who can't be there are just dying to know what is happening.

[jrgunn]

Unfortunately, real-time posting of results isn't happening at the organizational level. The best I've seen so far is done by individuals posting from the event (i.e. Albuquerque NAC info), rather than anything from officialdom.

[dsapery]

Is there anything in the works to be able to get NAC fencing results live?
There must be a way for the USFA to be able to do the same for our NACs. This is the USA, where whole towns are up on wifi, computers are in classrooms, almost everyone is up on e-mail. The USFA must be looking to do this. Those of us who can't be there are just dying to know what is happening.

Are you volunteering to write the software? When you say "The USFA must be looking to do this," you obviously forget that the USFA is an organization of volunteers, where just about everything is conceived, planned, and executed by its volunteer members. [That's not to say that it's done the RIGHT way]

What you're asking for is nice, but it would require that the tournament software be reprogrammed. It would also require internet connectivity at the tournament venues. Whole towns where NAC's are held (read: cheap venue rental) aren't on wifi, and the venues don't provide Internet access for free. They typically charge hundreds of dollars per day.

All that said, I was on a task force a few years ago that was discussing a complete revamp of the tournament software to include lots of new features, including live Internet results. That task force fizzled and won't be reinstated unless some other volunteers step up to the plate.

[noahz]

What you're asking for is nice, but it would require that the tournament software be reprogrammed. It would also require internet connectivity at the tournament venues. Whole towns where NAC's are held (read: cheap venue rental) aren't on wifi, and the venues don't provide Internet access for free. They typically charge hundreds of dollars per day.

I provided the live World Cup Results that fencermom mentioned. This was challenging, and was only possible at all because we were using Engarde, which now has an "export to Html" feature. Aside from setting up the web site, we didn't have Internet Access from the venue (Hunter Column gym) and had to jury-rig shared internet access over a dial-up modem and some proxy freeware.

For the finals that were held at the Roosevelt Hotel, I was able to get (paid) WiFi access, but they didn't extend to the actual ballroom where the fencing was taking place, so the "live" coverage involved a lot running back and forth.

Unfortunately, among the list of priorities, "Live Online Results" ends up on the bottom. "Start the Competition On Time" and "Finish the Competition Before 10PM" are usually above that in priority.

I have a pretty good idea of how Live Results could happen, however:

1) Someone volunteers for the Bout Committee with the single goal of providing live, online results.
2) Volunteer makes arrangements with USFA webmaster to upload live results on the web site.
3) Volunteer brings laptop with PDF writer installed (Acrobat, et. al.).
4) During competition, volunteer prints pool sheets, etc to PDF and uploads to USFA format.

Optional Tasks:
- Someone donates $$$ to pay for Internet Access at venue where NAC is being held.
- Someone modifies XSeed to have an "Export to HTML" feature (if it doesn't already exist).
- Someone pays for development of FencingTime Enterprise, which will provide all the features the USFA has in XSeed already (customizable formats, Referee tracking, Seeding by National Ranking, etc.)

Remember folks: the USFA is a non-profit, so that's a tax deductible donation!