I've done card sorter a couple of times this year...if they're put into
the card box numerically, it's not that hard to do; just check to make
sure the car corresponds to the number. Of course, Rnd 14 was a bear
because there were hardly any cards, and my hat's off to the crews who
handled THAT problem! :-)
--Pat Kelly
James Creasy wrote:
>
> i was the scorer for the 7th group. there was one car left to run and i
> handed the card to the next scorer and told him "this car has one run in the
> 7th run group left". there was also one car with two runs that did not
> re-appear. were there other cars that did not get back to the card sorter?
>
> i have done the changeover before the end of the current group (with mom
> kelly IIRC) and normally is not a problem as long as the new crew knows what
> cars/cards are running or havent run yet.
>
> it is *necessary* to double check the car type with the number, sometimes
> people run different numbers than on the cards, forget to change numbers for
> two drivers (car type doesnt help here!) or have duplicate numbers in
> different classes.
>
> when i work as scorer, i double check the car type and number before the car
> crosses the finish to make sure i am holding the right card. problem creep
> in when there is a car coming in and i dont have the card for it because
> someone is looking at for whatever reason and it gets put out of order. you
> also have to make sure the time poster doesnt snatch them up before a late
> cone call or correction comes in. but the #1 problem is not having the card
> (or right card) for a car on the course.
>
> ive done card sorting too, and it is the hardest job, especially with 40+
> drivers in a group. if we are posting times and the cards get back late it
> is even harder. having someone to sort the cards back into the box would
> help, esp in the bigger run groups.
>
> -james creasy
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Kelly, Katie <kkelly@spss.com>
> To: <ba-autox@autox.team.net>
> Sent: Tuesday, August 29, 2000 9:51 AM
> Subject: Streamlining the Trailer
>
> > Josh Sirota writes...
> >
> > >The target to shoot for is 25 seconds. Everyone >should shoot for that
> > >and if we pull it off with room to spare, great.
> >
> > Absolutely. 25 is the magic number.
> >
> > And now I would like to address the issue of expediting the worker change
> > overs.
> >
> > The event where I completely lost it, which is rare for me, what with my
> > last name being Kelly and all, was at the Candlestick event where, in an
> > effort to cut back the changeover time, the event chair decided, wisely,
> to
> > just meld the eighth group with the conclusion of the seventh group.
> >
> > In THEORY, the plan was solid, except for one oversight: the replacement
> > timing crew, that being the eighth group crew, had no idea that there were
> > still cars left over from the seventh group.
> >
> > What this means is that ALL the cards from the seventh group, even the
> cards
> > for drivers with one run to go, were all now hidden somewhere. And we
> didn't
> > know where they were. We had no idea that there were drivers with runs
> left.
> > All we heard was, "Okay, let's send a car out, let's go!"
> >
> > The result was more red flags, yelling, missed times, and confusion than I
> > have ever seen. It wasn't pretty.
> >
> > On-the-fly changeovers are possible, and even necessary, but it's not a
> > simple matter of, "Okay, hurry up, let's go." There has to be some form of
> > communication between the two crews, particularly between the cardsorters,
> > as in, "These cards still have runs left, these are done," blah blah blah.
> >
> > Now I'd like to bring up a second, really important issue:
> >
> > Card sorters need to look for more information than just the car number.
> You
> > have to look at the class, the car make, the car color, the name of the
> > driver, etc. I say this, because the OTHER thing that just made me
> > completely loopy was the amount of duplicate numbers... in ONE CLASS. We
> > were writing down all the right times on all the wrong cards. Then all
> these
> > people came screaming at us.
> >
> > What really helped at that event, once we got into a rhythm, was that our
> > starter announced on the radio the car at the line, including the class,
> and
> > car color, and then one car directly behind it. That was all. It totally
> > simplified the process.
> >
> > Once you get into the rhythm, and relax a little, it's really not such a
> > tough job. After awhile, you recognize the actual driver of the car (which
> > REALLY helps) even if the drivers don't change numbers (ahem).
> >
> > Things can, I've seen it, be really calm yet exciting in the trailer. I've
> > seen it. It really can be fun working in there, especially when the
> > announcer can actually describe the drama as it unfolds, and, you know,
> > announce.
> >
> > Katie
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: Josh Sirota [mailto:jss@marimba.com]
> > > Sent: Monday, August 28, 2000 9:06 PM
> > > To: adozzell@sc9.intel.com
> > > Cc: ba-autox@autox.team.net
> > > Subject: Re: 2000 Winter Slush Series-revised
> > >
> > >
> > > Tony writes:
> > > > Kevin highlights one of my pet peeves with recent events.
> > > > The trailer should be able to handle a 15 second overlap
> > > > with no more than 3 people in the trailer if they know what
> > > > they are doing and are paying attention. A solid trailer cew
> > > > is essential to a smooth event and maybe we should restrict the
> > > > trailer crew to those folks that can do the job.
> > > > At the 8/13 GGF event Jim Ochi and I ran the trailer alone and
> > > > we averaged 21s overlaps for our run group and we had time to
> > > > hold the start and run out onto course to reset cones that had
> > > > been knocked over and missed by the crew on course.
> > >
> > > While I agree that a well-coordinated timing crew can (sometimes) pull
> > > off a 15-second start interval, that doesn't mean we should be using
> > > 15-second start intervals.
> > >
> > > Even a good crew can have trouble with short intervals. Cars that run
> > > while their card is still "in the process" (posting, re-insertion) can
> > > wreak havoc. Duplicate car numbers, even in different classes. Etc.
> > > Interruptions by non-T&S folks.
> > >
> > > But even in the best case when none of those conditions occur, it just
> > > isn't safe. I know you mentioned this, but: cones need to be reset,
> > > workers have to be watching for cars coming from multiple
> > > places, etc.
> > > It's just a mistake.
> > >
> > > The target to shoot for is 25 seconds. Everyone should shoot for that
> > > and if we pull it off with room to spare, great. I agree with Kevin
> > > that less than 25 seconds will more often than not result in a net
> > > loss. Just because the T&S crew may have been able to handle
> > > it easily
> > > doesn't mean that faster is better.
> > >
> > > This from someone who has made a 13-year career out of
> > > figuring out how
> > > to do T&S at autocrosses. We do really well for the turnouts we have.
> > >
> > > If you want to concentrate anywhere, do this:
> > > Get the start intervals to 25 seconds, no quicker, no slower
> > > (At GGF this weekend, part of the problem was the course layout,
> > > with
> > > cars barreling towards each other when the interval was just
> > > wrong)
> > > Reduce downtime between groups. 10 minutes at the non-walkthrough
> > > breaks
> > > means a total of 1 hour of downtime. That's a lot.
> > > Start on time. I haven't run much this year so I don't
> > > know how well
> > > we're executing there.
> > >
> > > That's about it.
> > >
> > > Josh
> > >
> > > PS: I loved the course this weekend too. I have no idea why
> > > Charlie is
> > > apologizing.
> > >
> > > Josh
> > >
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