Personally I hate this -  now that COVID restrictions are relaxed what are the guidelines now ? 

This is under consideration at the moment and a decision will be made shortly.

I can understand the annoyance of having to enter events in advance... I've been caught out once or twice myself.

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That said I do see some non-Covid merits as an event organiser:
- you can predict the number of maps to print
- you're not trying to interpret people's scrawls on a wet piece of paper to input into Ór
- you can pre-allocate rental SI cards (and have a mobile number associated with each one for follow up if it doesn't come back)
- you can contact each entrant in the event of a last-minute issue (eg cancellation due to snow, change of registration location etc)
- safety is improved as you've a legible contact point for each competitor
- if you need to restrict numbers (eg landowners' or NPWS stipulations) you can do so
- eliminates queues at the event
- you're not handling cash, change, pens or wet paper

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What do other event organisers think? Would online and a slightly higher price on the day be a good solution? 

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Gavan

Online entry certainly has a lot of advantages. We did have a small number of people rock up to Fauna and Abbotstown not entered and we slotted them in.  Maybe charge more for entry on the day to discourage it?

From a competitor's viewpoint, I find pre-entry tricky as I often don't know until the day if I can make an event. I've missed a couple of events recently that I would have attended if EOD had been available. That said, I fully see the benefits to organisers and they shouldn't be unduly inconvenienced by my own disorganisation!

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I think the suggestion of retaining the online entry system and charging more for on the day entries is an excellent compromise. Clubs could decide what levy to impose for EOD based on their own circumstances and I'm sure the cost of printing possibly surplus maps will be a major component.

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Stuart