Timeline | Checklist | Marshal | Stake Coordinator | Field Workers

FORWARD

This manual was compiled to assist experienced or inexperienced Wisconsin Amateur Field Trial Club members in fulfilling the duties and responsibilities of a Field Trial Chairman. Accepting the role of a Field Trial Chairman can be a daunting experience especially for a Club member who has volunteered to perform in that capacity for the first time.

Most information on the duties, responsibilities and steps required to successfully Chair an event has, in the past, been communicated by word of mouth from those who have served in this capacity to those accepting the challenge of their first Chairmanship. Although it is comforting to know that experienced members are always willing to pass their knowledge on to the less experienced, unless that knowledge is memorialized it can become lost or distorted.

This manual has been assembled in an effort to capture this knowledge and to serve as a point of reference for all future Field Trial Chairmen. It is a living document, created with the understanding that much of the information contained within can and will change in the future. Future changes should be easy to accomplish in that the documents have been computerized and saved on disk to facilitate revisions and updates.

In addition to the above, this manual serves another function. It attempts to incorporate a process by which formal lines of communication are introduced between the Field Trial Chairman and the various workers upon which the ultimate success of the field trial is dependent. Historically, workers learned the requirements of their positions through the instruction of more experienced Club members. Although the willingness of veteran field trial workers to mentor those in need will always remain a desirable component of this process, it is often times advantageous to supplement this verbal instruction with written guidance.

Written guidance has been designed in the form of documents to be mailed to all Stake Coordinators, Marshals and Field Workers. These documents should be sent accompanied by a letter which will serve as confirmation of their commitment to work in the assigned capacity. Hopefully, these efforts will result in the standardization of performance required from these indispensable workers who are ultimately responsible for the perceptions of those who participate in Wisconsin Amateur Field Trial Club sponsored events.

Please take the time to critically review this manual offering your suggestions of any corrections, additions or deletions of information that you feel will result in a more beneficial work product.