Remember: organizers are people too.
We have received quite a few entries that were incomplete and were returned to sender for more information and documentation. Last year we almost drove the registrar to fits. Imagine last year we had 120 "entries", with about 50 data elements and 5-6 pieces of documentation per team. That's a lot of information to crunch. And, when it comes in in dribs and drabs it's a nightmare. So this year we simply asked that teams take the responsibility to make sure their entries were complete, current, and legible when they were submitted. So, a lot of entries have been returned for the rest of the information.
Since this turned out to be such a formidable task, we extended both the entry deadline and the early entry fee an extra week. Keep in mind that we did NOT pass along any entry fee increase based on the increase in insurance this year. Our fees are the same as last year. Likewise, we made PayPal available as a payment option and we are eating the cost of that, instead of passing it along to the entrant.
There are at least 20 entries somewhere in the postal service loop, and we are receiving more each day.
We do apologize for the "technical difficulties" which delayed posting of the entry list for so long. I guess next year I won't go on vacation around the opening of entries date. The list was updated today and we will continue to do so as often as we have meaningful information to share.
We thank those of you who had nice things to say about the event. We look forward to seeing many of you in just 2 weeks.
Debbi Segall
Assistant Chairman, STPR