FAQ
We've put some frequently asked questions together here!
- It's my first rally! Woo, you've definitely made a great choice! Online rallies are new to all of us however we understand it can be particularly daunting not knowing anyone. We'd encourage you to check out some of our pre-rally activities which will be smaller and designed to help you meet new people.
- Can I come without a club? Yes! We have a national network of indie members (which 6 of our committee are part of) which you can join. We'll have lots of activities for indie members and freshers on Friday night to help you meet new people too!
- Why so late? Our date is only two weeks later than Roman Rally. Originally we chose the date dut to limited physical site availability and the postponement of Sheffield City of Steel Ball. Even with COVID we've decided to stick to this date, our event is designed to be drop-in so we hope you'll be able to join for some of the weekend whatever your plans are.
- It's not in Milton Keynes? Correct, it's now on the internet! If we were able to go ahead in person our preferred site was in Northampton as that gave us a lower financial commitment and more space for social distancing.
- Why are some of your minutes missing/censored? We've taken the decision to publish (most of) our whole committee meeting minutes. This is something most events don't do but we feel it gives you bit more insight into the event. However there are things we discuss that aren't suitable for publishing. These might deal with confidential information or opinions or the fact we think some elements of the programme are best left as a surprise and we don't want to ruin it for everyone. We've tried to provide a summary of why minutes have been censored but we're happy to provide more information if you want. Sometimes our monthly meeting doesn't happen for some reason or another and othertimes we've had social (activity testing) or small subteam meetings or meetings with the exec, we've opted not to publish these minutes as they'd need heavy censoring.
- I'm worried about it being to competitive? While there might be an overall competition going on we'll have a range of non-competitive activities too throughout the weekend. We want everyone to maintain good sportspersonship throughout the rally.
- Will all the challenges be physical/mental? No! The range of challenges will cover everything from video games and identifying teas to meeting new people and taking part. We're sure you'll be good at some of them!
- When will I know my team? Once you have completed your booking you'll find out your team!If we award you points for winning one of our challenges we'll keep the points in your name and apply them to your team when you're assigned one, no matter the colour of your entry.
- Will I be able to choose my team? Unfortunately this won't be possible as we need to ensure teams are balanced between the entire event.
- Will I have a buddy on my team? How will you implement the buddy system? With the new, virtual, format it is difficult to implement a buddy system like that at in-person events. Nearly all our events will have participants from both teams, so even if you're on opposing teams you'll be at the same activities. We will be using random breakout rooms during some activities, if you'd like to be placed with a buddy we reccomend you send a message to the host of the activity who can then place you in the correct room.
- What are points? Points will determine the overall winner of Green Rally Yellow Rally. At the moment you're earning points for yourself, however, during booking for Green Rally Yellow Rally, you'll be assigned to Team Yellow or Team Green and the points you've earnt will go towards your team's totals. While 'there's no I in team' your individual points could still make you your teams MVP.
- What are shiny points? Shiny points are like normal points but shinier! They were available to winners of our challenges on Discord during lockdown 1.0 when we were still finalising details of what points would be availble. Sinny points have been converted into five regular points now when we calculate each team's total.
- How do I earn points? As rally gets closer there'll be ways to earn points online which you'll be able to find here or onour social media and on Discord. Over the weekend there'll be so many points available through activities and constant challenges. Some people have also earned points from our lockdown challenges on Discord back in Lockdown 1.0 and there'll be more challenges in the run-up to rally.
- Is the event free? Mostly. We'll not be charging for you to book onto the event and there will be lots of activities you can take part in for free. Other activities may require you to go to a local supermarket (or book a delivery) and buy some things to take part. We are offering some 'activity packs' at additional cost during booking where we are able to bulk buy and post at a discount, however you are still welcome to attend these without purchasing the pack. Activities which have additional platform or speaker costs will only be accessible to those that have paid.
- What losses has your in-person event made? One factor in moving online now is that we've not yet committed any money to the physical event, this means we have near zero losses which we need to offset by charging an event fee or taking money from fundraising. Some of the items we have for an in-person rally are also being included as free gifts with early orders.
- How are you able to pay for things if it's free? There are costs to an online event however we are able to cover these using income from merchandise sales, fundraising and sponsorship. With an online event we are able to have much greater control of the budget as there's unlikely to be any unexpected contingencies.
- Do I have to book? We will be asking members to book which will allow us to assign you a team and make sure you receive all the information. Booking also gives you the chance to reserve a space on some activities with limited capacity and buy badges. Since it's totally free why wouldn't you?
- Will you be using Hermes? We have budgeted to send packages via Royal Mail.
- Will there be early bird bookings? While the event is free we will be having an early booking phase to allow us to estimate the amount of merchandise to order, with surprises for those booking early. After this point merchandise may sell out and instead of late booking we will offer the option of priority delivery to increase the chances your parcel arrives before the event. You'll be welcome to stick with the cheaper postage price if you don't mind it being late. Bookings will remain open throughout the event however at that point all merchanise will be sent after rally.
- Will you cancel my booking if I don't pay? Since the overall event is free we won't be cancelling your booking for non-payment however we won't be able to post any merchandise until the order is payed for which could delay when you recieve your order. You will still be able to access activity pack sessions without paying but won't get links to other paid sessions.
- Can I cancel my booking? With the format of the event we hope you are able to drop-in for a few hours whatever your circumstances, howver you are able to cancel your booking entirely or cancel out individual items of merchandise. We will be able to offer refunds on most unposted merchandise and activity packs. However where we have purchased items in a specific size for you already or have already posted your order we will be unable to refund these.
- Why can't you post items to clubs to distribute? We feel that posting items individually is the best way to ensure they arrive. With posting to club representatives we need to dispatch our parcels earlier to give time for the representatives to deliver them. There are also potential problems where areas enter lockdown restrictions and travel is discourage or the representative is asked to self isolate.
- Why aren't you doing rally boxes? We did consider this option however felt keeping the event free would maximise the number of people who'd want to come. We also considered the enviromental imapct of posting items which may not get used after the event and the logistics of making the boxes, as all our committee live in different cities all our packaging will have to be done by one person.
- Where can I find all your coronavirus information? Check out our coronavirus page.
- Is the event planned to go ahead? At the current moment we are planning for a virtual only event. Our committee is continuing to monitor goverment and scientific guidance as well as announcements from The Scouts and Girlguiding as to if it will be possible to incorporate local in-person activities closer to the event.
- Why are there no in-person elements? We currently have no in-person elements programmed however they may be re-introduced if they become possible closer to the time. We want rally to feel like a national event and we feel meeting people from other clubs is a large part of this.
- Will this be like a normal rally? No! We never wanted to put on something exactly the same as past events, and, while this wasn't what we had in mind we're happy with the event we've created. Our goal is still to involve as many SSAGO members as possible and have a Green vs Yellow competition, although the exact format might not be a rally as you know it we're aiming to preserve as many great features of national events as possible while adapting them to the online format.
- How can my question appear in this section? Check out our feedback page to find out how to ask us questions and we'll be including the most important ones here. We may sort them into a category if that seems sensible.
- Are you aware Green and Yellow are the colours of the SSAGO logo? No we weren't! Supprsingly we went through several colour choices between settling on these two, including "Red vs Blue", from lots of video games teams, "Red vs Yellow" from the tongue twister 'Red Lorry Yellow Lorry', "Yellow vs Blue", from CBBC gameshow 50:50, "Red vs Green", from Mario and Luigi memes. We settled on these solely because it matched the colours of committees' existing wardrobes.
If you experience any issues in the booking process, please contact webmaster@ssago.org.