Organizer User Guide

1. How billing works (important)

1. Teams pay YOU directly, off-platform (Venmo, Cash App, Zelle, Wise, PayPal, check or cash).
2. EasyCookoff only charges YOU — pick a level: Event Listing $20, Scoring Only $40 plus $1.00 per team (charged when you Finalize & Lock; People's Choice and Kid's Que free). Scoring Only and Full Organizer both replace unreliable scoring spreadsheets. On Scoring Only, print results after you Finalize & Lock. Full Organizer is the only level where teams get the full benefit of their team accounts (online sign-up, saved results, career stats and standings) or Full Organizer: a $50 activation fee plus a stacked Competition Entry Fee per meat or ancillary entry (entries 1–12 $2.00 each, 13–24 $1.50 each, 25th and up $1.00 each) — and only when you lock registration to start scoring (paid via Stripe).
3. You will see a 2-step charge acknowledgment before any platform charge.

2. Create your event

1. Go to Organize a Cookoff (or Dashboard → Create Event).
2. Add title, date, location (map pin), timezone, cover banner and description.
3. Pick one or more scoring styles/divisions: KC-Style (Appearance/Taste/Tenderness), SCA-style Steak, CASI-style Chili, ancillaries, and People's Choice (ticket counts).
4. For People's Choice, choose how many items are judged (1–4) and name each (e.g. Ribs, Sides) — tickets are tallied separately per item.
5. Set your prize purse (or mark it TBD) and your team cap (up to 120).
6. Add the payment handles teams will use to pay you.
7. Short on time? Already ran a similar event? Click Duplicate on any event in your Dashboard to clone all its setup (divisions, categories, payouts, rules, payment methods and cover) into a fresh draft — no teams, scores or payments carry over.

3. Configure payouts

1. Open Payouts on the event in your Dashboard.
2. For each division/category, choose Pay down to (1st through 10th) and enter a dollar amount per place.
3. People's Choice has its own per-item ladder budgeted against the People's Choice purse; ties split the pooled place money evenly.
4. Use Autofill to split a purse quickly, then adjust. The allocation bar warns if you exceed a purse.
5. Reuse splits across events: click Save current as template to store this payout split, then Apply it on a future event. Applying loads the amounts into the form (matched by division and category name) so you can review before you Save Payouts.

4. Activation, registrations & judges

1. Choose your level in Create Event (Event Listing $20, Scoring Only $40, Full Organizer $50 — pre-selected), then pay to publish. Upgrade anytime from App Fees on your Dashboard and pay only the difference.
2. Optionally add judges from the event panel so they can see their events in the Judge Portal. Judges score on paper cards; the organizer enters all scores.
3. When ready, lock registration and start scoring (this is when platform entry fees apply).

5. Enter scores

1. Go to Enter Scores. Score each team per category using the method's criteria.
2. For People's Choice, enter each team's ticket tally for every item you configured.
3. Scores remain editable until midnight of your event day (or until you mark the event complete — then until midnight of that day).

Rules Packet builderNew

1. On your Dashboard, open an event and click Rules Packet.
2. Event Details fill in automatically and stay current: date, location, organizer, sanctioning, every cookoff with its Scoring Style and categories, entry fees, prize purse and payout ladders, schedule & turn-in times, rib options and how to pay you.
3. Edit the standard sections — General Rules, Meat Inspection & Food Safety, Turn-In & Judging, Disqualifications, Additional Notes — or add your own sections. Click Save.
4. Click Print / Save as PDF for a clean, branded packet.
5. Flip 'Publish to event page' and teams see a 'Read / download the full Rules Packet' button under Rules on your event page.
6. Rules Sign-Off: registered teams get a notification when the packet is first published and tap "I've read the rules" on the packet. You see Team Sign-Offs (signed vs. not yet, with times) on the Rules Packet page, a Rules ✓ badge next to each team on your Dashboard, and a 'Remind unsigned teams' button. Editing and saving the rule sections clears all sign-offs and asks teams to sign the new version.
7. Cloned events copy the packet too (unpublished), so next year's rules are ready to review.
8. New to writing rules? Tap 'Start from the Pulled Pork example' to load a complete sample, or see the Worked Example page (/guides/example-rules-form) that maps a traditional paper rules form to EasyCookoff.

Clone to next year & event lifecycleNew

1. Click Clone to next year on any event (including Historical ones). Settings, divisions, categories, fees, payouts and rules copy over; the date moves forward a year on the same weekday and a year in the title is updated (e.g. 2026 → 2027).
2. The copy is saved as a draft — review it, then pay the activation for its level to publish. Teams, scores and results never carry over.
3. Reminders: 60 days and 300 days after your event we email you a one-tap Clone to next year link (skipped if you've already cloned it).
4. Lifecycle: at midnight after the event (in the event's time zone) the event is marked Completed. 30 days later it moves to Historical — hidden from active lists, still listed under Historical & Archived on your Dashboard with results and history intact.

6. Finalize: Email Results & Complete Event

1. Walk-up teams: use 'Add team manually' on your Dashboard registrations list or the Scoring page. Enter the team name (required), contact name, an optional email for results, phone and which cookoffs they're entering, then pick how they paid you offline. They're approved, go straight into scoring, count toward your entry total, and show a 'Manual entry' tag only you can see. If you add an email, they get the same results email as account teams, plus a link to create a free account and a one-tap 'Claim these results' button. When the team signs up with that email (or taps the link), the results join its history and your tag changes to 'Claimed by [team]'.
2. Receipts: every payment sends a branded receipt email (seller Event Apps, LLC dba EasyCookoff.app, Twin Cities, MN, no sales tax collected) with a View / print link. Open Receipts on any event on your Dashboard to see and print them all.
3. Click Email Results & Complete Event — you will be asked to confirm TWICE.
4. This emails every team their OWN placements and payouts, plus the shared overall standings and the branded Champions Card, and posts scores to team profiles and the public leaderboard.
5. The event is then marked Complete. You can still edit scores and info until midnight of that day; use Re-send Results after edits if needed.
6. Your Dashboard keeps a Results email log showing when results were last emailed and to how many teams, with the full history each time you re-send.

7. Printouts for the awards ceremony

1. Open the event's Print page for four formats: By Team score sheets, Awards Order, Champions Form, and Read Order (emcee script).
2. Champions Form and Read Order list the final score next to each team, from Grand Champion down to the last paid place.
3. Presenter launches a full-screen teleprompter — click or press arrow keys to reveal each placing on the big screen.

8. Share & export

1. Share the Champions Card image to Facebook, or Download Image to post anywhere.
2. Download the Payout Ledger (printable) or Ledger CSV (spreadsheet with scores and payouts).
3. Published events appear on the Past Events map and the Hall of Champions automatically.

9. Try it free — Practice & TEST EVENTSNew

1. On your Dashboard, open the 'Try It Free · Practice Event' bar.
2. Pick one of the past events and click Create Practice Event — its teams and scores load instantly.
3. It's free, private to you, labeled TEST EVENT on every form and email, and auto-deletes at midnight.
4. Walk the full flow: Enter Scores → Payouts → Email Results & Complete → print & share. Use 'Clear Practice Events' anytime.
5. Invite a tester by email and watch their walkthrough progress (opened → scored → payouts → finalized → printed) right on the practice bar.
6. Build your own fake event to test: create any event, then enter code FREETEST at activation. It becomes a free, private TEST EVENT for 7 days — no charges, labeled TEST EVENT on every form, and all emails go only to you.
7. On a TEST EVENT, click 'Add 8 sample teams' to load approved teams, then score, set payouts, finalize and print every form. After 7 days it's deleted automatically and stays listed under My Test Events on your dashboard.

10. Forms & outputs you can generate

1. Champions Card image — branded, shareable to Facebook or downloadable.
2. Champions Form — printable awards sheet with Grand/Reserve and every paid place + scores.
3. Read Order — emcee script, lowest place up to the Grand Champion.
4. Presenter — full-screen teleprompter for the big-screen reveal.
5. By Team score sheets and Awards Order sheets.
6. Payout Ledger (printable) and Ledger CSV (spreadsheet).
7. Per-team results emails with their own placements plus the shared overall standings.
8. See them all live on the 'See It In Action' page in the header.

11. Event P&L & Budget tool (free)

1. Every event has its own P&L named after the event (e.g. "Jump-Off BBQ Championship P&L"). Open it from your Dashboard with the [Event name] P&L button.
2. Don't want it? Flip the On/Off switch on the P&L page, or set the default under My Account → Settings → Organizer defaults.
3. It auto-fills registered teams, entry fees collected, rib orders, prize purse and your EasyCookoff fees — type over any number. Changes save automatically.
4. Sponsorship tab: add each sponsor's name and donation amount. Mark Paid when the money arrives, and use the Include in P&L switch to leave a sponsor out of the totals without deleting it. Included sponsors flow into Revenue (pledged = Budget, paid = Actual).
5. Tabs mirror the workbook: Dashboard, Event Setup, Sponsorship, Revenue, Expenses, Prize Purse, Rib & Entry Tracking, Team Capacity and Feature Usage.
6. The Dashboard shows projected vs actual revenue, expenses, profit, margin, break-even team count, contingency reserve and rib totals.
7. Click Print / PDF anytime for a clean report, or Excel to download the full workbook with your numbers and formulas.
8. Sponsor Thank-You Report: on the Sponsorship tab click Sponsor Thank-You Report. Edit the thank-you message, choose whether to show donation amounts, then Print / PDF — you get a sponsor summary page plus one letter per sponsor to send.

15. People's Choice Tracker, rib cards & sponsor wall

1. PC Tracker (Dashboard → PC Tracker): turn on 'Print Ribfest/PC tallies & payouts', set the payback per rib ticket and for two side dishes (name them, e.g. Mac & Cheese, Beans), and the ticket prices.
2. Enter each team's redeemed rib tickets, side 1 and side 2 tickets and People's Choice Ticket Counts. The # column matches the team numbers on your printed People's Choice ballots. Payouts and the People's Choice leader calculate automatically, and the ticket income and team payback flow into your event P&L.
3. Print tallies + team sheets for a summary page plus one payout sheet per team. Switch on 'Upload to team portal' (or click Send to team accounts) so each team sees its own tally under My Registrations and gets a notification. Switch it off anytime to hide it.
4. Rib Cards (Dashboard → Rib Cards): print branded, numbered People's Choice rib cards and golden tickets with your event name. Choose quantity, ribs per card and price. Every card carries a QR code to your event page so tasters can follow teams and come back next year.
5. Event Flyer (Dashboard → Flyer, or Print / Share Flyer on your event page): a letter-size flyer with your date, location, payouts, cause and two QR codes — one for team sign-up and one for the event page. Print it, save as PDF, or Download as image for social posts. Add your cause under Edit → Cause / beneficiary, and flip 'Let fans print & share the Event Flyer' to let anyone viewing your event page use it too.
6. Sponsor wall: on the P&L Sponsorship tab, upload each sponsor's logo, add a website, and use 'Show on event page' to thank them on your public event page.

Event Flyer Maker & stacked pricingNew

1. Event Flyer Maker (Dashboard → Flyer): print a letter-size flyer, save it as a PDF, or Download as image for social. It includes your payouts, cause and QR codes for team sign-up and your event page.
2. Edit Event → 'Let fans print & share the Event Flyer': turn it on and anyone viewing your event page can print or share the flyer.
3. Rib cards now carry a QR code to your event page, so tasters can follow teams and come back next year.
4. Stacked Competition Entry Fees: entries 1–12 are $2.00 each, 13–24 are $1.50 each, and every entry from #25 on is $1.00. Your billing card shows the breakdown, e.g. 12 × $2.00 + 12 × $1.50 + 6 × $1.00.

12. Grow your audience: followers & invites

1. Fans and teams can tap Follow organizer on any of your event pages — organizer follows are instant (no approval).
2. When your new event is activated and published, every follower gets an in-app alert, a push notification and (if they opted in) an email.
3. Teams' approved followers are told when they sign up for or like your event — free word-of-mouth marketing.
4. Fill your cookoff: open an event on your Dashboard — the 'invite more teams' prompt shows spots filled and how many more entries until each extra entry costs less. Click Share Invite Link to send your event page through Messenger, Instagram DM, Facebook, WhatsApp, text or email.
5. Estimate your cost anytime with the live fee estimator on the Pricing page.
6. Share your personal invite link from My Account → Friends (Messenger, Instagram DM, Facebook, WhatsApp, text or email). Anyone who joins with it follows you automatically.
7. Teams can also share your event with their followers — likes and sign-ups appear in their friends' Activity.
8. Hearts (likes) and saves on your event show how much interest it's getting before registrations open.

13. Automatic reminders & post-event feedback

1. 1–2 days before your event, registered teams get a reminder and people who liked it get a 'coming up soon' alert — no work for you.
2. 1–3 days after your event, registered teams are asked to rate it (1–5 stars) and leave a note.
3. Each new rating arrives as a notification on your bell (My Account → Activity).

14. Notifications, push & organizer defaults

1. Tap the bell in the header to see your Activity feed (follows, feedback, likes and more).
2. My Account → Manage notifications: switch each Social, Activity and Email alert on or off, and Enable push notifications for alerts even when the app is closed (iPhone: Add to Home Screen first).
3. My Account → Settings → Organizer defaults: pre-set People's Choice, rib sales, cash payments and the Event P&L tool for every new event you create.
4. Settings also controls dark mode, sharing, Teams Directory visibility, event invites and judge availability.