Creating and hosting an event
This covers everything from the first entry to the final result sheet. You build the schedule, take card payments straight into your own account, manage the running order, let your judges score from their own logins, and publish the results. It works the same way for a championship, a fun day or a weekly training class.
Set up your account and payouts
Joining is free. You connect Stripe once, and the entry money goes to your bank rather than ours.
Register the same way a competitor does, then connect a Stripe account from the Payments page. This is what lets you take card payments, and it is the one thing that has to be in place before you can create an event. The create form will keep sending you back here until it is done.
Payments, Connect with Stripe. Until this is done, event creation is blocked.
Onboarding happens on Stripe's own pages, covering your business details and payout bank account.
- The money goes to your account. Entry fees and extras are paid into your connected Stripe account. We do not hold them.
- You never handle card details. Payment happens on Stripe's hosted checkout.
- There is nothing to install. If onboarding gets interrupted, the Payments page has a Resume button to pick up where you left off.
Create the event
One form covering what it is, when and where it is, and what it costs.
Event Information covers the basics: title, discipline, venue, the event date and the date entries close, plus a description where your schedule notes and directions go. Max Class Size sets the default capacity that every class in the event inherits, so you set it once rather than class by class.
Create New Event. If your discipline is not in the list, type a new one and it is created with the event.
Pricing and Extras sets what people pay. Give a standard entry price and, if you run a club, a lower member price. Then add any extras such as parking or camping, each with its own price. Competitors tick the ones they want and they are collected in the same payment.
Standard price, member price, and any extras you want to sell alongside entries.
- Drafts are private. New events start unpublished, so nobody sees them until you say so.
- The entry close date is enforced for you. Entries shut themselves off, so there is no manual step to remember on the night.
- Everything can be edited afterwards, including prices and dates.
My Events keeps drafts, upcoming and past events separated.
Add your classes
Tick the classes you are running, then drag them into the order they will be judged.
Classes are added from a single dialog. You tick the class types you are running and apply. Any class type you make up is remembered, so setting up next year's show is a few ticks. Each class inherits the event's capacity and shows its entry count against it, so you see 0/20, then 18/20, then FULL.
Manage Classes. Tick what you are running, or type in a new class type.
Your event's class list, each with its capacity and its own Edit, View and Scoreboard buttons.
Open a class to adjust it. You can rename it, override its capacity, and set whether it has a live scoreboard. On the event page you can drag classes into order, and that order becomes the running order of the day. Once you publish it, it is what competitors see too.
Per-class settings. Name, capacity, live scoreboard, and the judges and helpers assigned to it.
- Overspill. Switch it on and a class that fills up opens a second section automatically rather than turning entrants away.
- Capacity per class can differ from the event default whenever a ring needs it to.
- Class order is drag and drop, and can be published separately from the event itself.
Add your judges and helpers
You assign people by email. Judges get their own login and score their own classes.
Add a judge to a class with their name and email. If that email belongs to a Dog Events account it links to it, shown as Account linked, and they can sign in and score their own classes from their own device. If they have not registered yet, the link forms as soon as they do.
Helpers work the same way, with a role picked from the standard list - ring steward, ring steward in or out, judge's helper, scribe, score runner, timekeeper, whipper-in or commentary. They appear on the event page and in the catalogue, so everyone knows who is where.
Judges and helpers per class. The green badge means the judge's account is linked and they can score.
- You can have more than one judge on a class. Each scores independently, and a result is only final once all of them have confirmed.
- Scores are protected. Once a judge has recorded scores they cannot be quietly removed from the class.
- You get told about clashes. If a judge or helper is also entered near the top or bottom of the running order, a warning banner says so.
Publish and open entries
One tick makes the event public and opens entries.
Visibility Settings on your event page holds the switches that matter. Tick Display and the event appears in the public event search with an Enter Event button, and the status badge changes from Draft to Published. Tick Display order once your running order is settled and competitors can see that too. Allow overspill decides what happens when a class fills up.
Display, Allow overspill, Display order. Untick Display at any time to take entries offline again.
From that point competitors can find the event, pick classes, upload music where the discipline needs it, and pay. Every entry appears on your event page as it happens.
Published: the event is now in the public list with entries open.
Manage the event
Entries, running order, complimentary entries, email, and paperwork you can print.
Open a class to see its entrants in running order, with their dogs, handlers and music. Randomise Order gives you a draw in one click, or you can drag rows into exactly the order you want. It saves as you go.
Entrant list and running order. Drag to reorder, or randomise the draw.
Sometimes you need to add someone yourself, whether that is a late entry, a complimentary place, a demo dog or an entry that came in by post. Manual entries are free and never go near card payment. Fill in the owner and dog details and they join the class like anyone else.
Manual entry. Free, organiser only, and with music upload if the class needs it.
Email Participants reaches your entrants without exporting anything, either everyone at the event or just one class. Two PDFs cover the paperwork: a catalogue with the schedule, classes, running order and your own instructions, and a results sheet once scoring is under way.
Email everyone at the event, or a single class, from inside the event.
Screenshot coming soon
images/guides/host-15-catalogue-pdf.pngPayments shows the money side. There is an income summary, then a row per event with the entry count and what you actually received after fees, and you can open any event for the detail behind it.
Income summary and payments by event, with a per-event breakdown.
Score and publish results
Judges score from their own logins, or you enter the marks for them. Results go out as they are confirmed.
Scoring uses the judging categories set up for your discipline. Each one has a maximum mark, and any of them can be a deduction that subtracts from the total instead of adding to it. The totals are worked out for you.
A judge who signs in sees Judging in their sidebar with their classes, each showing progress such as 0 / 12 scored. They score one competitor at a time and confirm each one. You can also enter scores yourself from the class page by filling in a grid of every judge against every category, and it saves automatically as you type.
The judge's own dashboard. Their classes and their progress, and nothing else.
Score entry. A column per category, deductions in red, totals calculated and saved as you type.
Switch on a class's live scoreboard and anyone with an account can open it. It ranks confirmed entrants by total and refreshes itself as scores come in, so the tent, the ringside and the people at home are all looking at the same thing. When you are done, Download Results gives you the ranked tables as a PDF.
Screenshot coming soon
images/guides/host-19-scoreboard.pngWhat this does for you as an organiser
You are paid directly
Card payments go into your own connected Stripe account, and entry fees and extras arrive in full.
Entries look after themselves
Capacity limits, closing dates that enforce themselves, and overspill classes if you want them.
Running order
Randomise the draw or drag it into place, and you get told when a judge or helper is also entered nearby.
Manual entries are free
Add late, postal or complimentary entries yourself at no charge, without card payment being involved.
Email your entrants
Message the whole event or a single class from inside the event, with no spreadsheet to export first.
Catalogue and results PDFs
A printable schedule, running order and your own instructions, plus ranked results once scoring is done.
Judges with their own logins
Judges score and confirm their own classes on their own devices, and you can still enter marks yourself.
Live scoreboard
Optional and set per class, open to anyone with an account, and it refreshes itself as scores are confirmed.
Music collected for you
HTM and freestyle entrants upload their MP3 with the entry, so you have every track before the day.
Common questions
What does it cost to run an event?
Creating one costs nothing. Competitors pay a service fee per purchase on top of your entry fees, which covers card processing and running the site. You keep the entry fees and extras you set.
When do I get the money?
Payments go into your own Stripe account as entries are made, and Stripe pays out to your bank on its normal schedule. You can see the totals per event on the Payments page at any time.
Do I have to publish straight away?
No. Events start as private drafts. You can build the whole thing, including classes, prices, judges and running order, then tick Display when you are ready. You can take it back offline the same way.
Can I take entries that did not come through the site?
Yes. Manual entries are free and only you can add them, which covers postal entries, late entries, complimentary places or demo dogs.
Does it work for things that are not competitions?
Yes. Anything people sign up and pay for works the same way, whether that is a weekly training class, a breed meetup, a fun day or a workshop. Classes become sessions and entries become bookings.
What if my discipline is not listed?
Type it into the event form and it is created along with your event. If it needs its own scoring categories, ask us and we will set them up.
Does it handle timed disciplines?
Yes. A class can be scored on marks, where the highest total wins, or on a time, where the fastest wins, and times are entered and shown as times rather than as bare numbers. Agility-style classes can also be separated on course time when two rounds tie. Flyball is the exception: it is teams racing in heats, which needs teams and rounds rather than a different sum, so it is not supported yet.
Ready to run your event?
Create an account, connect Stripe, and you can have a show built and taking entries the same afternoon.