This user guide is divided into two sections below:



How the Competition Feed Works


During the competition, you can engage followers of your competition by adding posts related to events in the venue (i.e. photos, videos and video interviews, organizer's/organiser's messages, etc.) which will appear in the FEED on the Roster Athletics app. Please note that the FEED is an interactive feature that allows app users to communicate and connect with the organizer/organiser.



Enabling/disabling the Feed


The feed is enabled by default and can be edited from the Details → Extra→ Feed mode field.



The feed status can be changed to:

  • Restricted - only organizers/organisers with access can add to the feed via the web admin portal, and consumer app users cannot comment on the feed.
  • Disabled - feed capability is removed and disabled for all.
  • Enabled (default) - feed capability is fully enabled, and all non-anonymous consumer app users can comment into the feed.



Steps to using the Feed


1. To add a comment, click on the Feed link in the left-hand side menu.



2. To add a text-only comment, write a text in the What's the news? field and click on either (a) the Post comment button, or (b) the Post & notify button if you would like to send a notification to all of the followers of the competition.



3. To add a comment with a picture, write a text in the What's the news? field and then click on the camera icon to choose a picture from your hard disk. To post the comment and picture, click on either (a) the Post comment button, or (b) the Post & notify button if you would like to send a notification to all of the followers of the competition.



You can crop and rotate the photo before uploading.


4. To add a comment with a Youtube video (currently the only supported video format), write a text in the What's the news? field, then click on the video camera icon and paste a YouTube video link. To post the comment and video, click on either (a) the Post comment button or (b) the Post & notify button if you would like to send a notification to all of the followers of the competition.



5. As the competition organizer/organiser, you can monitor and moderate the comments in the FEED. To delete a comment, click on the three dots icon in the top-right corner above the comment, and choose the Delete option. You can also select Block commenting in this meet/meeting to block the specific user.



Please note: users can access the FEED in the app only if the competition status is set to the Open or Finished.



Tips and Tricks - How to Best Utilize the Feed for Your Competition

 

The FEED is a real-time communications tool that allows organizers/organisers to broadcast directly to their fans through the app at any point during the competition and interact with them collectively. It can be used and animated in several ways, with the ability to target the FEED contents for different groups of users who will see this information on their Roster app. The purpose of this FEED is to allow organizers/organisers to reach the following:

  • Athletes
  • Coaches
  • Fans (both at the venue and away from the venue following remotely)
  • Parents and families of athletes (both at the venue and away from the venue following remotely)
  • Team managers

 

Since these followers are not necessarily all physically present at the competition, a more visual approach to create a rich user experience while using the app is highly recommended.

 

By taking the extra time to optimize usage of the FEED, you will allow users of the app to engage and follow the competition with more interest, resulting in a better fan experience while building the popularity of the competition for the next edition.

 

As described in the guide above, it is possible to animate the FEED with comments, photos or videos.

These can be broadcast before, during and after a competition. As a note, remember to set the competition as Open to allow users to view the FEED on the app.

 


Before the Competition Tips


As soon as the competition is set to Open in Roster admin, users can view the following types of information:

  • Geographical location of the competition, e.g. photos or videos of the stadium and the surroundings.
  • History of the competition, e.g. the number of years it has existed, records, etc.
  • Name of national or international top athletes who are participating in the competition.
  • Background of top athletes or the competition itself.
  • Important practical information, e.g. nearby restaurants, transport, parking, etc.

 


During the Competition Tips


During the competition itself, competition information may change and thus need to be updated to the crowd. The organizer/organiser may also want to provide other interesting useful information. Note that the FEED is interactive and thus any fan can also comment or ask questions as well.


Changes competition information examples:

  • Changes in the start times of one or more events (or stages of an event).
  • Cancellation of one or more events (or stages of an event).


News examples:

  • Competition records, national or international.
  • Other records, e.g. participation of an athlete for the 10th consecutive year.
  • Background or information about athletes participating in an event, e.g. world records of Armand Duplantis through the years.
  • Length of the indoor track, number of hurdles on a 100m hurdles, etc.

 

Examples for users who are not physically present at the competition:

  • Comments related to specific events.
  • Video interviews.
  • Live-streaming of the competition and events via Youtube (visit the YouTube website to see how to setup a live stream and go to point 4 of this guide to see how to add it to the feed).
  • Photos or videos of different events (comments on a record, participation of one or more athletes, etc.).
  • Photos or videos of the medal ceremonies (if the competition is a championship).
  • Information on LOC (Local Organizing/Organising Committee), e.g., the jury, timing system, etc.
  • Answers to questions asked by users in the FEED.

 


After the Competition Tips


The organizer can further engage with the fans and provide useful information after the competition has ended, such as:

  • List of the different records set during the competition, e.g. PB’s and SB’s.
  • Summary of the competition.
  • Information about the next edition of this competition.
  • Information about the winner(s) of the Fantasy Game.

 

Important note: please be very careful with copyright of photos and videos. Make sure you have the right to use any photos/videos you post.