EMOA Chair Ann-Marie Duckworth reports on this year’s Development Conference
John Hurley (coordinator for day and EM Development Officer) summarised the day by saying that the Development Conference, held at Rushcliffe (20th Sept 2025), seemed to have been a success as it had attracted over 20 people and provided the opportunity for people to meet and discuss changes to our sport.
The morning presentations included changes to the Rules that competitors and officials should really know (highlighting a webinar by Barry Elkington on further 2026 Rule changes Monday 10th November), mapping standards’ changes seen on forest and urban/sprint maps (two key documents worth reading: Guidelines for Complex Urban Structures – January 2022 and Best Practices for Sprint Mapping May 2025) and watching a British Orienteering video recording of a possible negotiating tool (environmental risk assessment) to assist with landowner discussions for access.
After lunch, for Planners there was a best practice session for the relatively new Very Short Green course, highlighting the terrain obstacles to be aware of for the typical competitor. Then a feedback presentation on the successes of the NOC and DVO MapActive courses, giving some details of how they are run on the day in local areas, with a follow up Zoom meeting and the camaraderie when running at the local events.
The final discussion about future development ideas from those people present never happened because time ran out and the Park Ranger needed to lock up! However John is always receptive to Club or individual suggestions of ideas.
The presentations are on the EMOA website (EMOA Conference 2025 – East Midlands Orienteering Association), including a thought provoking quiz on the Rules that we all use at every event but don’t get right.
