The small town of Ulricehamn in Västra Götaland County is so lucky that they get to arrange World Cup cross-country skiing every other year. As a thank you, they deliver a successful event every year they arrange.
Therese Andersson has recently resigned from her role as human resources manager, but will probably never withdraw completely from the WC circus in Ulricehamn. For that, she thrives too well.
Taken to bed
- When we started with this in 2016, we had some old systems to deal with. It was simply cumbersome and without an overview. We also had no idea what awaited us ahead of the first competitions in 2017, and expected around 10,000 visitors per day. It was 30,000, and we quickly realized that we needed better solutions before the event in 2019. With so many people, you have to have a good system to be able to organize and keep control of all officials, which gives a full overview. If not, we would hardly have been offered to arrange in 2021, Therese smiles.
Good planning is important
It requires planning to get everyone on new systems, and therefore it is important to be at the forefront and think a little long-term.
- Actually, we were called by Mobilise already in 2017, but then it became too close to the competition for us. At that time we had a partner who used a system we could "borrow". It gave us opportunities to get information, see volunteers etc., but it was more tailored to business than sports events. That is why we chose Mobilise for the 2019 event, as a complete solution, Therese explains.
- We started using Mobilise in early spring 2018, so that we would get into everything properly before the 2019 event approached. The organization map was already ready, and it was thus easy to get started in Mobilise. Later in the spring of 2018, we ran an introduction to everyone in the administration and the group leaders, who could thus keep everything to themselves after the training. It gave everyone plenty of time to learn and understand, and gave early ownership of the solution.
"It works incredibly well and I would actually call it absolutely brilliant!"
Therese Andersson
Convenient to use
When setting up lists in Mobilise, volunteers and group leaders can fill in everything about themselves. This leaves less room for error and a good overview for those responsible.
- We search for volunteers in different channels and everyone registers themselves directly in Mobilise. We have made a specific layout ourselves, based on exactly what information we need. It works incredibly well, and I would actually call it absolutely brilliant !, says Therese enthusiastically.
- Once salaried employees have been admitted, it is easy to run approvals of the GDPR, which means that we meet the authorities' requirements. In addition, we have set it up so that you fill in clothing sizes, which makes it quick and easy to run out lists to the profiling manager.
Easy follow-up
There is sometimes a need to follow up people who have not yet registered, or those who have not yet set up guards.
- If someone has not registered, we always know who it is. We can follow these up via email, SMS or telephone, because we have a full overview of reading confirmations in Mobilise. It is therefore easy to urge in Mobilise, and it is also easy to move people to other groups if there are too many in a group. We give all our volunteers three choices for places they want to work, but it is very easy to still move them when needed, Therese says.
Easy to create meeting places
- We have also used the system to train the officials in advance, plus we have meetings in the groups. We distribute notices of the meetings through Mobilise, whether they are physical or digital. During the pandemic, of course, all meetings were held digitally, but it also worked excellently. We are a small town, so we also have officials who live 8-10 miles away.
Good overview of time use
- Part of the profits from the event in Ulricehamn goes back to the clubs and organizations that have contributed. Therefore, we use the form functions for timekeeping, in addition to everyone entering who they work on behalf of. That way, we can run a completely fair distribution of the profits, based on the number of volunteer hours each club has delivered, Therese says proudly.
You MUST have control
Those who are responsible are naturally those who are most concerned with having full control before, during and after events.
- We never have any problems following the information flow, and can easily check that information is received and read, thanks to the function for reading confirmation. During the corona pandemic, this was all the more important, as a large part of the officials had to be tested. They submitted their test results themselves and we could easily see who was missing testing and what the test results were. It was incredibly valuable, and made it quick and easy to find out where we needed more people.
Remember to see people
- The morning before the first competition, we used to send out a nice SMS to everyone. We think it is important to "pepper" people a little, so they understand that the event stands and falls on their efforts. In addition, the top manager always sends out a thank you after the event, so that everyone feels seen and taken care of. It is nice. We also send out an evaluation form, so that everyone can make suggestions for improvements. Only then do we get better year by year.
Many advantages
- I dare not say that the first solution we had is directly comparable, but we really feel that we get a complete solution with Mobilise. The little that had to be adjusted in the beginning, we got good help with. It is also a strength that the support at Mobilise is good. We also get an incredibly good overview of the entire organization, see when groups are full, where there is a lack of people - and it is not possible to double book people. It's very smart!
- If you are going to carry out a major sporting event, it is very easy to get a full overview with Mobilise. You can share tasks or do everything yourself, or you can give limited access or access to everything. We think it is very easy to use for everyone, it is a real total solution, and it gives full control over the organization, concludes a satisfied Therese.
