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5 Tips to Attract Participants to Your 2023 Event

Attracting participants to your 2023 event can still be challenging, with some people still hesitant to gather in large groups or sign up to organized endurance events. 2022 mid-year study showed an average 26% less bookings compared to pre-covid era, and we all hope to see a brighter 2023!

As a race director you need to be more creative and strategic in your approach. Here are 5 important tips to attract more participants to your 2023 events:

1. Partner with Local Businesses: Partnering with local businesses and adding them as your event sponsors can help attract more participants to your event. Offer discounts and perks to participants who shop or dine at certain businesses, and ask them to promote the event in return.

2. Create a Sense of Community: Creating a sense of community and camaraderie can be a powerful way to attract participants. Offer group training sessions or meet-ups leading up to the event to bring people together and build excitement. Offering benefits for Facebook group participants can also increase visibility and participation for your event

* Pic2Go now invites all race organizers to promote their events for free in our global Running and Race Training Facebook group (46K participants). Contact us for more details.

3. Have a Fun and Memorable Experience: Create a fun and memorable experience with a post-race celebration and awards ceremony. Offer participants a great way to celebrate and share their experience online (e.g. – with Pic2Go’s rich finisher galleries). This will make participants more likely to sign up for your event again in the future.

4. Make the Event Stand Out: Make your event stand out from others by offering unique features, such as a scenic course, special awards, free race photos, personalized finisher videos, or a particularly challenging course. This will give potential participants a reason to choose your event over others.

5. Use Data to Improve the Event: Use data from the previous year to improve the event and make it more appealing to future participants. Analyze what worked and what didn’t and use that information to make your event even better.

Coming out of the covid era presents new challenges for race directors, but by following these tips, you can attract more participants to your event and make it a success. Keep in mind that local partnerships, community building, clear communication, memorable experience and data analysis should be at the forefront of your strategy.

Collect leads for your sponsors with Data Capture 2.0

Participants’ data can hold a great value for your event sponsors – wishing to communicate with the participants following the event, send them brand updates or commercial offers.

For this purpose we are introducing Pic2Go’s Data Capture 2.0 – offering more flexible options for collecting participants data while maintaining data protection and privacy policies, including:

  • • Data entry can be either mandatory or optional.
  • • Ability to add custom terms (&. links) for participants to confirm.
  • • A new design with a dedicated widget step for data capture.
  • Data Capture 2.0 full setup and operational details can be found – here.

    Pic2Go’s Data Capture 2.0 has been implemented at the Intersport sponsored Ronde des Caps 2022 event – generating an amazing 25% conversion of event finishers accepted to subscribe to the Intersport’s newsletter/catalog!

    Interested in helping your sponsors further engage with your event participants following the event?

    👉 Contact us now and get an attractive bid for using Pic2Go’s Data Capture 2.0 at your next event!

    Amazing Videos for Your Finishers – with these 6 Benefits

    Offering your finishers personal race videos is a perfect way to let them celebrate, share and memorize their experience and achievements.

    Here are 6 benefits offered by Pic2Go’s Finisher Videos solution (aka – Performance Videos), that will make your participants’ videos amazing (and will promote your sponsors)!

    * The example in this article is based on Pic2Go’s activation at Tchimbé Raid 2022 – sponsored by Peugeot Martinique (see full video example – here)

    1 – A Personalized Video Opening (Intro)

    Pic2Go’s personalized race finisher videos starts with a personalized opening, including the participant’s name, event name and distance. A intro video part is included to build the atmosphere and show your amazing event footage. See – here.

    2 – Integrated 3D Race Map Animation

    A 3d race map animation is included in the videos to highlight participants’ position at each photography point (based in Pic2Go’s FlyThrough 3D Race Map solution). See – here.

    3 – Performance Enriched Video Parts

    The Pic2Go technology automatically includes the personal video-parts of each participants in the personal video (based on Pic2Go’ patented 2D barcodes auto-tagging technology, as well as timing based technology). The videos are slow-motioned and an animated motion graphics bubble with the participants performance data at the photography point is added to the video part. See – here.

    4 – Still Photos Included

    To enrich the personal videos, the Pic2Go platform automatically include personal still videos of the participant during the personal video flow.
    See – here.

    5 – Official Personal Result

    The official result (finish time) is automatically included at the end of each personal video!
    See – here.

    6 – Sponsored Content

    Being a digital sponsorship tool, it is highly important for us in Pic2Go to enrich the personal finisher videos with sponsored content. Short ads or sponsored video content can be automatically added to all the personal videos – watch by the participants and their friends.
    See – here.

    Some Final Comments

  • – Pic2Go’s finisher videos solution is operated with standard video cameras (or even GoPro cameras).
  • – A custom soundtrack is easily added to the videos
  • – The personal finisher videos are automatically added to finisher gallery. See – here.
  • – More info about Pic2Go’s Performance Videos can be found – here.
  • A Telecom Brand may be Your Best Next Sponsor

    “Bringing people together” is a common goal for both telecom companies and mass participation events. That’s why a telecom brand may be a great match as your event sponsor.

    Manx Telecom – the largest telecom provider on the Isle of Man, partnered with Parish Walk – the biggest mass participation sporting event in the island, as a multi-year title sponsor.

    Implementing Pic2Go at the event supported multiple sponsorship goals:

    1 – Taking the Amazing Event Experience Online



    Over 13K photos were taken and processed by the Pic2Go race photography platform during the event day, driving 83% social sharing rate and generating over 300K impressions for the branded photos!

    2 – Supporting the Sponsor’s Commercial Goals



    Manx Telecom’s branding, website link and clickable banner ads were automatically included in the finisher galleries – increasing visibility, traffic and sales!

    3 – Supporting Fundraising by Participants and Their Friends


    Participants could invite their friends (visiting the finisher galleries) to make a donation, supporting their cause via the JustGiving personal donation link.

    Interested in learning more about how Pic2Go Sponsored Race Photography can support your sponsorship goals? Contact us today.

    3 Components of Sponsored Race Photography Success

    Race photography can become a powerful digital sponsorship tool, boosting engagement and social media visibility for race sponsors while increasing organizers’ revenue.
    Here are 3 key components of driving Sponsored Race Photography success –

    1 – Fast and Accurate Photo Tagging Technology

    Pic2Go’s patented 2D barcodes technology automates photo-tagging with >99.5% accuracy, so participants can access their own race photos live on race day!

    2 – Deliver Rich Personal Galleries & Boost Social Sharing

    Pic2Go’s personal finisher galleries (aka – RunPage) include rich branding options and clickable touchpoints – growing visibility and website traffic for race sponsors.

    The unique Live Gallery Sharing flow generates an average of 85% social sharing rate for the branded galleries – maximizing social media visibility and engagement for the sponsors.

    3 – Measure Generated Visibility and Social Impact

    Measuring and reporting the sponsored race photography activation results is key to demonstrate the success and ROI metrics to the sponsors. Pic2Go’s online dashboard includes all the key metrics for the operational as well as social impact aspects of the activation.



    In the Adidas Runners PolimiRun Spring 2022 event, 3000 athletes have shared their branded galleries to Facebook driving over Half a Million impression for the branded race photos!

    Grow Race Income with Pic2Go Photo-Sales

    Are you looking to grow your race income? Pic2Go now includes a Race Photo Sales option – letting you offer participants paid access to their Rich Finisher Gallery, and high-res photos download!

    Grow your race income with Pic2Go’s Photo-Sales

    Participants easily pay and access their personal rich finisher gallery –

    Start selling race photos in 4 simple steps

    1. Add Pic2Go barcodes to your bibs – for automated photo tagging.
    2. Upload event photos to the Pic2Go system – with our new Web Uploader.
    3. Participants preview and purchase their photos – with PayPal or Credit Card.
    4. Participants access their high-res photo gallery.

    Participants pay one fixed price to access their rich gallery

    Photos are available for high-res download in the gallery

    Interested in growing your race income with Pic2Go?

    👉 Contact us now and get an attractive bid for using Pic2Go Photo Sales at your next event!

    5 reasons to select Pic2Go as your post-Covid race photo vendor

    Are you still considering your post-Covid photo vendor? Here are 5 reasons we think you should pick – Pic2Go

    1 – Fast and Accurate Photo-Tagging

    Our 2D barcodes accurately auto-tag runners in the photos…

    … even if there are A LOT of runners…

    … and A LOT of photos (uploaded on race day).

    2 – Rich Finisher Gallery

    Want your finishers to REALY celebrate their achievement? 🥳

    Offer them our RunPage rich finisher gallery!

    It includes their results, a digital medal, a digital poster and much much more…

    3 – Massive Social Sharing

    With Pic2Go, out of all participants accessing their photos – an avg. of 85% will socially share their photos!

    and this leads us to…

    4 – Maximum Value for your Sponsors

    Sponsors just love Pic2Go!

    Our finisher galleries are full of engaging touchpoints for the sponsors…

    and they enjoy a digital activation,

    with measured ROI.

    🧐 Did you know that each participant sharing photos generates an avg. of 250 photo impressions(!) – driving massive reach and engagement!

    5 – We are Here to Serve You!

    We are serving mass participation events since 2010!

    We have local partners in more than 30 countries…

    We would LOVE to serve you at your next event!

    👉 If you’ve reached this part – just click here and get an attractive bid for using Pic2Go at your next event!

    5 Ways to Boost Race Sponsorship with Rich Finisher Galleries

    As in-person events are coming back in many countries, organizers are looking for new ways to attract sponsors by offering a higher marketing value for their investment.

    When it comes to race photos, many organizers have already adopted the free/sponsored model – offering participants free downloads of their photos branded with the sponsor’s logo. Nowadays, more and more organizers are realizing the power of rich finisher galleries – offering wide branding options, deeper engagement, sponsors’ website traffic and a higher return on sponsors’ investment!

    Here are 5 ways our rich finisher galleries have been recently used to boost events’ sponsorship –

    1 – Clickable Gallery Ads

    The Oxford Town and Gown made use of clickable ads included in their rich finisher galleries to drive traffic to the Muscular Dystrophy UK fundraising site.

    The ads are visible to both finishers as well as anyone visiting their galleries – maximizing traffic generation!

    2 – Call-To-Action Sponsor Bar

    The Steamboat Marathon & 10K used the CTA branded Sponsor Bar on their rich finisher galleries to drive traffic to the site of the race’s title sponsor – BANK OF THE WEST.

    Using the slogan “We are the bank for a changing world!”, the bank invited everyone visiting the finishers’ galleries to open a new checking account while donating 1% of their revenues to ‘1% for the Planet’ movement.

    3 – Branded (Digital) Finisher Poster

    The Reto Saludsa Vitality is a trail running and mountain bike challenge in Ecuador, sponsored by Saludsa – a health insurance company.

    As part of the event’s rich finisher galleries – the new Saludsa Vitality wellness program was promoted also through the logo in the finishers’ digital posters!

    4 – Sponsored Points on FlyThrough 3D Race Map

    The Driv’ du Manikou event has included a personal FlyThrough 3D race map on each finisher’s gallery, while promoting the event sponsor – Intersport!



    The sponsored photos points on 3D map where marked with Intersport’s logo, and could also be used to mark the sponsor’s stores along the course.

    5 – Branded Finisher Clip

    The HalkEco Skopje Run 10K – sponsored by HALKBANK AD Skopje, has included a branded personal clip on all participants’ finisher galleries!



    * The branded clip is an economic finisher video version offered by Pic2Go, as it is composed of the participants’ still photos in a rich branded video template!

    As an organizer offering free (branded) race photos – it’s time to consider boosting the value for your sponsor(s) with Pic2Go‘s rich finisher galleries!

    Offering participants lasting memories? Go beyond ordinary race photos!

    Your first post-Covid live event will be for sure an extraordinary experience for your participants – getting back to cross a ‘real’ finish line! Make sure you go for extraordinary when it comes to offering them lasting memories. This time don’t settle for the ‘ordinary’ race photos!

    Of course quick and accurate delivery of race day photos is a bare minimum your participants would expect (and Pic2Go can deliver).
    Going beyond the ‘ordinary’ race photos – here are four Pic2Go solutions that will delight your participants and enhance their lasting memories:

    1 – Digital Finisher Poster

    Pic2Go offers a digital finisher poster as a standard to all race finishers as part of the RunPage rich finisher gallery.
    The poster would include the finisher’s results and can be easily downloaded or shared by the participants.

    2 – FlyThrough Interactive Personal Race Map

    Pic2Go’s FlyThrough is an interactive 3D map illustrating participant’s progress on the course. The map can include course highlights, sponsor’s info and will also show participant’s photos at their shooting locations.

    3 – Performance Photos

    Pic2Go’s Performance Photos enhances participants’ race photos with a graphical layer displaying their performance at the specific photography points. This is a great photo enrichment addon that doesn’t require GPS tracking or photo-timing equipment.

    4 – Personal Finisher Videos (aka – Performance Videos)

    Pic2Go’s personal finisher videos solution is called Performance Videos. The innovative solution integrates participant’s performance throughout the race via motion graphic layer – letting each participant feel like a pro!

    For more info and pricing of Pic2Go’s Rich Race Photography solution visit – https://www1.pic2go.com/

    Ultra Fast, Super Accurate Race Photo Tagging with Pic2Go’s Patented 2D Barcodes

    With the return of live events, fast and accurate delivery of race photos is key to meet participants (and sponsors) expectations. Pic2Go’s patented 2D barcodes technology continues to lead the market as an ultra fast, super accurate race photos auto-tagging technology.

    Being a global leading solution provider of Sponsored Race Photography, Pic2Go has served thousands of events delivering over 40 million photos to race participants in more than 40 countries over the past few years.

    The fast and accurate delivery of branded race photos to participants for social sharing was enabled by Pic2Go’s patented 2D barcodes race photos auto-tagging solution offering numerous key benefits:

  • 1. 99.5% accuracy achieved using the 2D barcodes error elimination mechanism.
  • 2. Super fast tagging supporting x100,000 photos tagged during race day.
  • 3. Maximum detection, even if bib digits are covered.
  • 4. Keeping participants’ privacy, vs. other solutions as facial recognition.
  • 5. Simple photos retrieval. Participants only need to type their bib number in order to get their photos.
  • Pic2Go’s 2D barcodes technology is the enabler of the Live (Personal) Gallery Sharing solution, letting participants in key events over 40 countries get and share their photos in personal galleries during race day while maximizing reach and engagement for race sponsors.

    For more info and pricing of Pic2Go’s Sponsored Race Photography solution visit – https://www1.pic2go.com/