Club Focus: Summer 2010

Scorer's Corner

The transition to the new P2P systems has gone very well, and the vast majority of club scorers are now happily uploading their P2P session file to the EBU at the end of scoring each event. It is normally best to do it immediately rather than wait for a batch to accumulate, and the process should normally only take a minute or two. In any case, the EBU recommends that the P2P file be uploaded within three days of the event if possible. If you subsequently find that there has been an error, you can re-upload the result later (see below).

Club P2P Help

If you need help using the system, it's always worth having a look at our club help page. There are tutorial videos to help scorers get started, and a 'Frequently Asked Questions' section for some of the more common problems. It gets updated fairly regularly so if you've seen this page before it may be time for a revisit.

New members

One of our biggest issues is that duplicate records are being created for many of our members. This commonly happens when a club doesn't realise that a player is already a member, and so creates a new record and EBU number — in some cases multiples of them!

A typical scenario is when a new player comes to your club and you don't have any details for them. When you submit the P2P file a red cross will appear (image above). Clicking on the red cross presents this menu:

A trap which a few scorers seem to fall into now is to assume that since they don't have the player's EBU number they must not have one. They choose option 3 or 4 and create a new record, not realising that they are already on the system. This can be fixed, but it's an administrative job that can be avoided.

The simplest solution is to ask newcomers to your club who they are and if they are already a member. We have now issued key-fobs in the hope that members will keep their EBU number close to hand. If they don't know their EBU number, they ought to know whether they are a member — if they are do not create a new record!

In some clubs this may not be practical, though, and the scorer will need to do the research later on. Before choosing options 3 or 4, it's always a good idea to try option 1. Enter their name and click on 'Search' and you may find an existing record. You can also refine the search by entering part of the postcode — useful for finding people with common names. If in doubt, another option worth considering is option 2 — make them a guest. This will allow you to upload the result of the event and then you have a bit of time to find out who the mystery guest was.

This isn't supposed to be a chore. If somebody is hard to identify then let them contact you with the correct information. If they don't want to do that, then they simply won't get their master points.

Once you have found — or created — an EBU number for your player, you need to update the database in your scoring software with this number. Otherwise the Red Cross will appear again next time the player is included in an upload.

In summary:

1. Try to find out their information while they're at the club.
2. Before creating a new record, check to see if they already have one.
3. If they're already a member do not create a new record.
4. If in doubt, consider making them a guest. You can amend it later.

Re-uploading a P2P session file

If you have uploaded a result, and subsequently find that there was an error, you can re-upload a P2P file, but don't forget that you have to delete the original session. To do that:

• In your club's member area click on the 'Sessions' tab.
• Click on the relevant session.
• Click on the 'Delete Session' button on the top.
• Check your sessions list to see if it has been removed.

For a minor amendment, such as changing a player or adjusting master points, it might be quicker to edit the session file directly in the member area.

For more information on this and many other issues, please see the Help Page mentioned above.

Master Points

Members can now view their master points by logging into their own individual member area on the EBU website. Note that the individual session master points are amalgamated by club and only added to the member’s total in the month following the upload of the session files. This is to allow time for scorers to make any corrections to their session files. For more details, please see Updated Master Point Information.