We really knocked it out of the park with this one. We had all the right people in all the right places. All our helpers on the field were experienced lifters, and our head judge was the largest human being we could find. That's a good take-home tip that keeps the competitors from complaining about any calls. We found out you can not have too many people helping. We had nine people doing these jobs, and I think that ended up being the perfect number.

1 head judge

2 judge's assistants running the stopwatch and recording scores on the field

1 person in charge of the flight order and keeping competitors ready to go

3 helpers moving equipment between events

2 scorekeepers at the scorers table compiling event results

Announcing

You will need some sort of portable PA system set up for this. Make sure you are going to be able to run power to where your event is located. You will want it to be set up so you can have the announcer easily switching between speaking and playing music. Good music is cool for the competitors, but it really makes a difference for the spectators. It will keep people more engaged, and it prevents that awkward silence in downtimes. We went with a good mix of Miley Cyrus' greatest hits, and that Friday song by Rebecca Black.

We had a pro from the local radio station doing the announcing for us. He did not have a lot of knowledge on the sport of strongman, but that definitely was not a detriment. In fact, it probably made it an even more relatable experience for the fans. The biggest attribute the announcer needs to bring to the table is creating energy. Tell our emcee how bad ass of a job he did here.

Actually Promote

I think everyone knows by now that Facebook has overtaken a lot of the more old fashioned forms for local advertising. Make sure you use it. Create an event. Post some cool pictures and videos. Depending on your goals you may want to consider paid Facebook advertising. Don't forget about the other forms of social media too. Instagram, Twitter, and FarmersOnly.com can all be valuable as well. Try to get the local newspapers or radio stations to talk about it also. Newspapers usually need material. What could be better than an awesome event like this?

Keep promoting at the event. Make sure your info and logo as well as sponsors can be seen in several places.