Stef Malbos writes:

Published today on our website is the latest completely revised
edition of ‘Practical Guidelines for Organising CIVL/FAI Category 1
Championships’.

It can be found at: http://www.fai.org/civl-documents under Event Organisers/Practical
Guidelines...

It can also be found through the "Box" in the lower left of our website Front
page. This comprehensive document covers the entire process of organising a CIVL
Category 1 event from preparing the bid to post-championship tasks. It has been
completely re-written and includes chapters outlining the roles of key personnel
(Competition Organiser, Meet Director, Safety Director) as well as aspects such
as Logistics and Media and PR. Of course, these Guidelines might be useful for
organisers of Cat 2 events.

The Guidelines are available as a complete document in a single download, or in
individual chapters. The aim of the modular version is to enable key organising
staff to select the sections relevant to them. It will also enable easier
updating, as the Guidelines are designed to evolve as rules and technology
change.

The revised Guidelines have been written and compiled by Louise Joselyn, herself
a past FAI Category 1 Championship organiser, together with Heather Mull and
Nicky Moss, experienced Meet and Safety Directors for hang gliding and
paragliding, and competition organisers. The work has been reviewed by Davis
Straub and Flavio Tebaldi, both of whom have been extensively involved in the
organisation of FAI Category 1 events.

“Ever since we ran the FAI World Hang Gliding Championships in Laragne in 2009,
I have wanted to rewrite the Organiser Guidelines,” Louise Joselyn stated.
“Running a Cat 1 event is a three year task, and I felt it was important to
share our hard-gained knowledge, in an effort to make it easier for other
organisers,” she added .

“I hope that recent and upcoming Cat 1 organisers will take the opportunity to
comment on the Guidelines so that they can be regularly updated and expanded
where necessary. This is a start point!” she confirmed.

Davis Straub commented: “I like the writing style. It is easy to read and
friendly.” He added: “It seems you have much more helpful information for meet
organizers than we had at the last Worlds. Of course, it makes running the
Worlds look very expensive - which it is!” He picked out one particular pointer
that he liked from the ‘Role of the Meet Director’ chapter: ‘Run all briefings
on time. Pilots will learn to turn up on time if you stick to the set schedule.’

Flavio Tebaldi was also favourably impressed with the revised document. “I think
that this is a great work that will help every future organizer.” He added: “Now
we have highly detailed guidelines for all the key people involved in organising
a Cat1 competition. I appreciate also the chapters about logistics and about all
the things that previously were not so clear and open to many interpretations.
Importantly, it clarifies that the stewards will be verifying that the
organisers are applying the rules.”