{"id":3339,"date":"2015-09-21T18:33:46","date_gmt":"2015-09-21T18:33:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/articles\/?p=3339"},"modified":"2015-10-12T20:39:36","modified_gmt":"2015-10-12T20:39:36","slug":"using-trello-as-a-gp-public-event-manager-pem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.magicjudges.org\/articles\/2015\/09\/21\/using-trello-as-a-gp-public-event-manager-pem\/","title":{"rendered":"Using Trello as a GP Public Event Manager (PEM)"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Written<\/a>

Written by Jeremie Granat<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

Magic has seen a constant growth of players attending GPs. To offer a better play experience to the growing crowd, last-chance Grand Prix Trials on Fridays have been streamlined to start as often and as quickly as possible. Public-event tournaments are becoming more numerous and bigger as well. It is becoming increasingly difficult to manage event size and complexity and keep a comprehensive overview of who is doing what and when. The public event manager cannot do everything by himself and needs to share information with others to delegate tasks, which is itself problematic. <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>The tasks of a Public Event Manager (PEM) differ a lot between days of a GP. On Friday, the biggest task is handling the On-Demand Grand Prix Trials. On Saturday, the most important task is finding the space to handle the different tournaments as well as staffing them. On Sunday, the bulk of the staff is in the PEM\u2019s hands. On each day, the PEM will need to staff the different tournaments depending on attendance, make sure the head judge of each tournament is on time and gives their team regular breaks, handle happy hour in the on-demand section and place the different tournaments in such a way that the break-down crew can start dismantling the venue early. Of course, the PEM is not alone and can delegate some of the tasks to someone else (the PM shift leader when on duty or other \u201ccaptains\u201d responsible for different management aspects).<\/span><\/p>\n

The first few times I was put in this role, I had a few sheets of paper allowing me to keep an overview of who was where, who had been sent on break and which tournament was at what table and in what round. Most of the time, the papers were obsolete as soon as I made a new version and it was very difficult working with someone else on it as we could not duplicate the documents without wasting too much time syncing our copies.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Going Digital<\/h2>\n

At GP Paris 2015, I asked the TO (Bazaar of Moxen) if I could try a new management tool to \u00a0track everything and everyone. It\u2019s always a good idea to ask the TO and\/or the Head Judge if they are okay with trying something new, as they are ultimately responsible for the whole event. <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>The tool is named Trello, a Web interface with an app for easier access on mobile devices and is used in iterative computer science projects. The basic tools are Boards (like a blackboard), lists (columns) and Cards (analog to post-its). The application allows multiple users to edit the boards at the same time and sync the different opened views. It is also easy to drag-and-drop cards to change lists (horizontal shift) or the order of the cards in a list (vertical shift). Lists themselves can also be reordered through drag-and-drop. The cards themselves can have rich text comments, pictures and checklists as well as labels or \u201ctags\u201d (small colored ribbons).<\/span><\/p>\n

A few weeks before the event, I created a Trello board with each judge being a card and each tournament being a list as well as a few \u201cinternal\u201d lists (ex.: available judges). The tournament lists had cards at the top to allow me to add starting table, number of players \/ rounds and other information. On top of that each judge had a tag to tell me their shift and a checklist allowing me to easily see if the judge had taken their breaks yet.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Some Example Boards<\/h2>\n

Sunday Board – Click for an Example<\/a><\/h3>\n

Here is a fictional Board from GP Paris Sunday. From this screenshot, the following information can be read:<\/span><\/p>\n