So I wanted to give a brief rundown/showcase the new CFB software for on demands we used in Vegas. Big props to Joe Hughto for its creation.

1. The Main Screen: http://imgur.com/mH3yC9I
This allows you to browse currently active events, and displays event type, current status, location, and time. Events are also color coded by type and status.

2. An Event: http://imgur.com/08DI9gi http://imgur.com/iOZFJwV
You can click on an event from the main screen, and it takes you here. The system figures everything for you, from pairings, to draft seatings (to faciliate correct Rnd 1 pairings), to prizing.

3. The Map: http://imgur.com/6wWIP6Q
This screen shows a customized layout of our physical tables, and what events are where. This will update as events are added or completed, and you can click a table to go to the event page for the event.

Our system:

1. Reg: The player fills out a small form with their name/DCI/desired event, and then gives it to a reg worker in exchange for a buzzer. Each set of buzzers is tied to a certain event, so when that event is full its buzzer set can be set off.
   
2. Gathering: Reg worker gets a full event, she buzzes its corresponding buzzers. Those players now gather at our ODE point. As a judge, once I get 8 players with similar buzzers, i collected them and take them back to reg. While there, I check with the scorekeeper to make sure there are no signup/DCI problems. If there are, I need to help him correct them. Otherwise I can return to my players (meanwhile the scorekeeper has created an event for me)
   
3. Seating: I can now pull up the event the scorekeeper just made for me, set my new event to a free location on the map, and take my players there. The site gives me player seating, so I take them to their table, seat them, explain the event etc. They begin drafting, playing, etc.
   
4. Reporting/Prizing: Now when players have scores to report or prizes to collect, they can visit any judge in the area with a mobile device. Their scores are recorded by that person, new pairings given, etc. Once the finals are complete and prizes given, the event clears from the list, and that table is again marked free for new events.
   

Pros

• You can tell at a glance how much space you have available, and where free space is to put an event.
  
• Any judge with a smartphone/tablet can record scores for any event out on the floor.
  
• Things like pairings and seatings are all calculated for you at the start of the event, so you can tell ppl their pairings ahead of time
  
• Its paperless, so your area can stay clutter free, and we can save some trees!
  
• Event information like number of rounds or prizing for any event is at your fingertips if someone asks.
  
• I'll say it was surprisingly stable for “new” software. We had only had 1 hiccup, and it was due to a scorekeeper computer restart, not the site.
  

Cons

• Ideally would require tablets for floor judges (so personal smartphones arent needed)
  
• Requires active WiFi for many devices (another reason tablets are necesary, judges from abroad often have exorbitant data rates while traveling)
  
• Requires some amount of training/setup at the start, as you're unlikely to use anything like this before working a major event
  
• Being online, security is definitely a concern (this was a major concern day 1 because the site was open access)
  
• We often had people get busy and forget to mark someone prized or even to mark an event seated. This can cause a lot of orphaned events that we're not really sure if they're done or where they're at.
  

Recommendations:
I used this for 3 of the 5 days at Vegas, and we talked quite a bit about how we would like to see things improve. We were overall super happy and honestly really impressed with how everything ran.

The biggest complaint was lack of a secure login, but that was solved midway through the event (hurray!). Definitely more transparency/coordination during/before the event. We scrambled to get the map set up correctly on days 1 and 2, or to resolve any issues like cmdr prizing being wrong on the app all weekend.

We also had a lot of headaches coordinating with registration/scorekeeper (though they all worked really hard with us, shoutout to Jason Howlett, our scorekeeper). There were definite holdups in the process, from having to walk the buzzers back to reg from the ODE area, to having to track down players with illegible handwriting, to correcting DCIs, scorekeeper computer updates, etc.

It would also be cool to have individual logins, and then when a judge records a score/prizes out a player, it marks which judge performed that action, so we could track the appropriate person down if we have problems/questions about a certain event.

Edited Justin Rentz (June 28, 2017 08:45:48 AM)

I believe the author of this software is Joe Hughto, but don't quote me on that.