8 minute read
Sweepstakes Report
Nicole Schmitt njwrcsweeps@gmail.com
Sweepstakes/Sanctions Report
Hello NJWRC Members!
So, guess who’s STILL caught up?! That’s right, me! Well, mostly, anyway!!
The 20/21 season, while nearly over, is still a moving target! The number one issue that we Sweepstakes Chair Type People are experiencing is NOTIFICATION, NOTIFICATION, NOTIFICATION! If we’re not being contacted by host clubs, we have no idea what’s going on. We may (or may not) see Facebook posts, hear rumors, etc. – but until I receive actual notification from a host club, I cannot make any changes nor even make notes about shows. If you see shows on my sanctioned shows listing that are canceled, please reach out to the host club and remind them to contact national clubs. It doesn’t matter to me if they have a new date yet or not – at least I could update with something. It’s getting pretty frustrating. If you had told me a year ago we’d be entering another YEAR of this, I wouldn’t have believed you! So – help us Sweepstakes Chair Type Peeps out and remind clubs to let us know. There isn’t a single national club that wouldn’t appreciate news, whether there’s a new date yet or not. (You can totally quote me on that!)
New sanction requests are finally starting to pick-up again! I’ll be heading to the bank twice a month again it seems rather than only once, which has been the standard for the past 10 or so months. In Normal Times (who even remembers those times anymore?!), I went 3 times a month pretty much without fail. COVID changed that, and I’m happy things are picking up again.
We have LOTS of new members, which is AWESOME! So, it’s a good time for some reviewing. The NJWRC sweepstakes website isn’t a requirement of my appointed position with the club. It’s something I do (and fund) myself because I think it’s a valuable asset to the membership. I’m required to supply points reports only 4 times per year – but I always “aim” for about every 6 to 8 weeks to have them on the website. This isn’t always possible because – well, life! I work morethan-full-time as an exporter, and there’s always something new brewing somewhere in the world making my life far more difficult than it needs to be! Most recently, it’s BREXIT – I love my UK peeps, but really, why?! Anyway! I just want you all to understand the website is a plus, not a requirement. It’s also a good time to review how sweepstakes really work, so below is a rerun of Hm, Sweeps…
Hm. Sanctions. Reports. Points. Ever wonder what my whole process is, from start to finish? Well, even if you never wondered, I’m going to tell you anyway!
First things first – Get the envelope out of the mailbox and open the envelope! Following me so far?!
Most of my Rabbit Mail is made up of sanction requests, as most Host Club’s email reports.
Sanction Handling: It’s my goal to issue sanctions within 24 hours of receipt. Many times, though, mail received on a Friday isn’t done un-
til Monday. But, generally speaking, they get done the next day. Upon opening the envelope, sanction requests go in one pile, reports in another (see Report Handling below!), they are sorted by breed. Sanction requests are 1st reviewed for duplication in my Excel Sanctions Logs (being VERY careful that I’m the correct breed’s log!). Once I’ve determined this is a new request, the postmark date, received date & processed date are noted. The payment method (check #, money order #, or the occasional cash) & amount are also noted. I apply the appropriate endorsement stamp to each check (being VERY careful that I’m using the right breed’s bank stamp!) and I write in my sanction number on the paper request, which I base on the ARBA #’s. Smart, right?! Then, each request is added to the Sanctions Log for that breed. The info included in the log is the date received and processed, and how (email or mail). The club’s name, secretary info, show location and date, the breed’s season, ARBA #’s and my assigned numbers. Essentially, the log contains all pertinent info on the show, so in case the paper copy would get lost or something, I’d still have 100% of the needed information. I’ve got the logs set up to automatically determine the date the report is due as well, which is included in the sanction I send to the club. It also notes my billing month & bank deposit date. Bank runs are made 3 times per month, pretty much without fail. Once the shows added to the logs, I generate the sanction that will be sent to the Host Club. Then email the sanction/s to the SS (being VERY careful to be sure I’m in the correct breed’s email!). Sanctions being sent by regular mail are printed & mailed. Then the show info is immediately added to the Sanctioned Shows listing that is updated on each breed’s sweepstakes website pretty much once per day.
After the sanction is issued, the paperwork goes into a “sort in after bank deposit” slot in the Open Sanctions envelope, keeping them in the same order as they appear on the log. This is a very handy little step in case there is something weird in my bank deposit – it’s very easy then to pull out all of the requests that should be included in the current deposit. Once the payment has been deposited, the paperwork is then sorted into the monthly slots, sorted 1st by show date, then show location (State/ City), and lastly by club name.
REPORT HANDLING: Then, later (sometimes MUCH later!), the report shows up! Emailed reports are immediately printed and a return email is sent confirming receipt (even if they don’t ask me to confirm!). Before sending the Thanks! email, though, I always briefly review what I’ve received for any glaring problems – missing pages, wrong breed (yeah, it happens!), etc. It’s embarrassing (and much more difficult to get an answer!) if I immediately reply confirming receipt, and 2 days later I realize I’m missing pages or something. So I always try to take a quick look at it to be sure there isn’t anything glaringly wrong with it. The report is then logged on the Sanctioned Shows listing with the date I received it, how I received it, and the current status of the processing (RTW, RTCML, RTE & HOLD – keep reading if you’re not too bored yet to find out what all these exciting abbreviations mean!). The date received and the manner in which it was received is recorded on the paper as well. The original sanction request paperwork is pulled from the open sanctions envelope & matched to the report/s.
RTW (ready to work): The RTW phase is the most “flexible” for when / where I can work on it. It is during the RTW phase that Bonus Points, Quality Points & Ear #’s recorded. I don’t need a computer to do this, and often do it in the middle of the night when I can’t sleep! I try to do this part as soon after receiving the report as possible, since this is the point at which I would find any errors in the report that weren’t glaring enough to be caught in the 1st review. ☺ Luckily, the VAST majority of reports are received complete & perfectly fine!
Following RTW is RTCML (ready to check membership listing): Ready to check out that big ole membership list (again, being VERY careful that I’m in the right breed! Yeah, that’s a continuing theme throughout!). The membership list date is recorded on the paperwork as well. Reports are checked using the 1st membership list received in the month following the show – December shows / January listing. This ensures that anyone that joined the club during the month of the show is sure to receive their points.
RTE (ready to enter): Yahoo! After all that pre-work, I’m finally ready to roll! The reports are entered – and when complete, the fill color on the Sanctioned Shows Listing is changed from yellow to light gray. The bulletin deadline is noted on both the Sanctioned Shows Listing, as well as on the paperwork.
Once entry is completely done, the paperwork is ready to scan. All reports (and correspondence regarding the report, as well as the original sanction request), are scanned as PDF files individually, and are then uploaded to my Google Cloud. Once the upload is complete, all paperwork is recycled. If something comes up with a report, I can download it again from my Cloud, print it, note any issues, and then it is rescanned & uploaded again with the extra notes. Once the scanning is done, it’s noted on the sanctioned shows listing with a “G” in the scanned column (in case you ever wondered what that was, which you probably didn’t because it’s really not that interesting!).
HOLD (holding for next new membership listing). We don’t see the HOLD one very often, as most shows are not that expedient with getting reports in! These reports stay in the RTCML envelope until early the following month when I’ve received the updated membership listing from our valued Club Secretaries. ☺ Then the membership is checked & the report can be entered.
Now, lest I take up even more space in this already jam-packed Fluff, I will end my journey’s tale here!
Until next time!
Nicole
