how to earn money organizing drone races

Organize your next drone race on UAVLance! www.uavlance.com

http://www.uavlance.com/


Contents 1. Preliminary Step: Register on UAVLance .................................................................... 3

2. Pay Attention to the Background Work ....................................................................... 4

I. Budget ........................................................................................................................................... 5

II. Goals ............................................................................................................................................... 5

III. Permits..................................................................................................................................... 6

IV. Advertising ............................................................................................................................ 6

V. Sponsorship .......................................................................................................................... 7

3. Determine the Type of Drone Race You Want to Run ......................................... 8

I. Rotorcross .................................................................................................................................. 8

II. Drag Race .................................................................................................................................... 8

III. Time Trials ............................................................................................................................ 8

IV. Other.......................................................................................................................................... 8

4. Determine the Class Type of the Drones You Want to Have ............................ 9

I. Spec Class .................................................................................................................................... 9

II. Open Class .................................................................................................................................. 9

5. Preparing For a Race Versus an Event .......................................................................... 9

6. Race day registration and management ................................................................... 10

I. Pre-race registration: ....................................................................................................... 10

II. Race day registration ....................................................................................................... 10

III. Race day management ................................................................................................ 10

7. Rules, Guidelines and SAFETY ......................................................................................... 11

8. After the Event........................................................................................................................... 13



How to Earn Money Organizing Drone Races

UAVLance is the first drone racing site that is geared towards drone race

enthusiasts and amateurs, and helps them organize their own drone races and

drone events. Whether you are looking to race amongst friends, or want to take

things a little further and create a local or national event, UAVLance has created a

system that lets you organize your own drone races or other drone events

effectively.

To help you put together a fun, highly entertaining, and – most importantly – safe

drone race that will get the adrenaline pumping, we have created a step by step

how-to guide. It includes an explanation on how to determine what type of drone

race to organize, the class of drone to use, how to prepare for a race or an event,

as well as the rules and safety measures you should have in place for your event.

1. Preliminary Step: Register on UAVLance Seriously, this is the single most important way in which you can save yourself a

lot of stress and headache. It’s like a ready-made race organization package that

takes care of all the details. Instead of doing several things on different platforms,

and paying separately for each aspect, you can handle them all in one place and

save time and money. How does UAVLance work? Simple, really:

Race organizers and racers create profiles.

Once registered, the organizer creates a race and fills out race forms

Thereafter, the system displays the payout calculations and the organizer

approves it to get started.

The system then creates a race page and sends out notifications to racers

interested in getting notifications. It also sends invite emails to race

invitees and sponsor invitees, and external partners interested in sharing

race info with their visitors or members.

Racers register for race before the last date to sign up and provide

payment, if required.

The system adds registered racers to race page.




Once the race is complete, the organizer enters the race results in “My

Races”.

Race results are then sent to racers. They approve the results and provide

feedback to the organizer. In the event that racers disagree with the results,

they must protest the race result within 24 hours of the race results being

posted. Racers can also upload their FPV race videos I support of their

claim.

Once all racers approve or after 8 hours of posting the results where there

are no disputes, the system releases payments. If one or more racers

protest, the system will hold the payments until the conflict is resolved.

The system will then update the race page to include results, payouts,

organizer ratings for each racer and organizer and post-race videos and

images uploaded by the organizer and racers.

The whole process saves you time and money required to take care of all

these aspects.

Organize or Join a Race on www.UAVLance.com

2. Pay Attention to the Background Work When you are organizing a drone race a lot of preparatory ground work needs to

be undertaken behind the scenes, long before the race day draws near. You should

start your planning and organizing about 6 months out from the event. This will

give you time to adjust your timelines as necessary and get all moving parts of the

drone race into place.

To help you we have split up the work that needs to be done in the background

before you get underway. Please note that safety is a huge part of drone racing

and is of paramount importance; so even as you’re addressing all of these other

issues, you should always be considering how each will impact safety. For this

reason we have dedicated an entire section to drone race safety protocol and

guidelines later in our race guide.




I. Budget One of the very first steps you need to take is to create a budget. The last thing you

want is for your drone race to become a hole you keep pouring money into.

Whether you are running a drone race for charity, fun, or as an organized event,

you do not want it losing money.

Creating a budget is a great starting point. It is a good idea to add in all the costs

you think you will incur for running the event, and then add an extra 10%-20%

for contingencies. Make sure to include everything that will have a cost attached

to it, including acquiring permits, meeting health and safety regulations, awards,

staffing costs and race day costs.

From this point you can work backwards and provide your drone race

competitors with an entry fee for joining the event. Having a well thought-out

budget ensures you won’t get caught out from a monetary point of view.


II. Goals Flowing on from your budget, you have to set goals that realistically mirror the

number of competitors or participants you would like to have in your drone race

or event.

The most important thing to remember is that the numbers you want to attend

must reflect your budget. If you have too many people you may not be able to run

an efficient event. Conversely, if you don’t have enough you may find that you are

diving into your own pocket to make up costs that you have incurred in organizing

the event. Not to mention that the lack of numbers may impact the entertainment

factor of your race, and hence the likelihood of future participation by others.

UAVLance makes it easy for you to create a race, generate a race page and organize

your invites and registrations for your race. With the various functionalities

available on our website, keeping track of number of participants, registrations,




and other factors is easy. Participants can also make payment for registration

through UAVLance. It is a fantastic, easy way to align your goals and make sure

you are tracking well in regards to your budget. UAVLance also allows you to make

necessary adjustments to your budgets and goals as you progress.

III. Permits Organizing a drone race or event will require a number of permits. It is very

important you begin the process early because it can take a lot of time for them to

be approved. The last thing you want to do is to have to postpone or cancel your

drone race because you are still waiting on permit approval. That has both costs

and reputational implications for you.

Remember, you will need permits for nearly everything that affects your drone

race. Permits may include aviation authority consent for the drones, noise

permits, event permits and possible traffic permits if necessary.


It is important to work with police and local authorities so they understand your

event and can plan accordingly, especially when it comes to traffic management

and safety of the public.

IV. Advertising Advertising is a big part of organizing a successful drone race or event.

a) You can use UAVLance as a means to connect with participants, sponsors and

external partners to help build up race awareness and profile. UAVLance can send

out emails, notifications and invites about your race. Using UAVLance is a great

way to expand your reach and an extremely efficient marketing tactic, given that

the site already has lots of drone racing enthusiasts who are your primary target.

By emailing your potential audience, they have the ability to share and pass on

race and event information to their own members or customers.




b) Social media is also a great way to advertise your drone race. When you create

an event on UAVLance, people can access it from their Facebook pages and link to

it in tweets and Instagram posts to build up an audience and awareness. The more

social media channels you expose your drone race to, the more likely you are to

grow and expose your event to your target audience, and UAVLance helps you to

do that. You can also pay to promote Facebook, Twitter and Instagram posts to

specific people to create visibility for your race.

c) UAVLance provides participants with the race website and allows online

registration for members. It is an easy way for you to get participants to sign up.

d) Lastly, do not neglect word of mouth and organically reaching out to your

potential race day competitors and sponsors. Make sure you get out and about in

the weeks leading up to your drone race to promote it and engage with the

community. You may find it is a great way to attract local businesses and get more

people on board. Also advertising in print, flyer drops, local newspaper and radio

if you have the budget can help you promote your race.


V. Sponsorship Following on from advertising, sponsorship is a great way to create hype and

revenue for your drone race. When asking for sponsorship you can either ask for

a monetary contribution or prizes.

It is probably easier to approach local businesses to help with race day prizes and

organization than asking for sums of money. You could let sponsors set up race

day marquees or stalls to help grow their awareness as well. Remember

sponsorship is a two-way street and businesses need to get something in return.

The best way to approach potential sponsors is through your own network and

the network of your race day participants. Ask around if they know anyone or any




local business that would like to be involved. Remember, you can also send around

emails through UAVLance.

3. Determine the Type of Drone Race You Want to Run There several types of drone races that you can choose from for your event. Here

is a brief explanation of each type of race and what you can usually expect for each.

I. Rotorcross Essentially, Rotorcross is where up to four drones simultaneously combat it out to

be the first to cross the finish line. It is a great option if you want to have a knock

out style competition. Also, it is great for the crowds wanting to see a few

collisions.

Remember, if you choose Rotorcross races, safety is paramount when organizing

a Rotorcross circuit. Also, it can be an expensive exercise for your participants, if

they regularly lose drones.


II. Drag Race A drag race is very similar to its car namesake. Drones compete against each other

to cover a distance, usually around 100m, in a straight line as quickly as possible.

III. Time Trials This is probably the most common, safest and easiest to manage of all drone races.

A time trial, similar to that of the Tour De France, is where one drone at a time flies

through a course and the quickest time wins.

IV. Other There are, other types of drone competitions too. Freestyling and stunt contests

are more about performing complex maneuvers rather than racing around a

course. They are great fun for those who like to perform a few tricks and entertain

the crowd.




4. Determine the Class Type of the Drones You Want to Have Determining the class of drone that can take part in your event is an important

decision. Essentially the class type you choose reflects the type of participant you

will have for your event. Classes are kept simple to make it easy to understand for

drone race participants and organizers. There are two main class types:


I. Spec Class Spec Class is reserved for beginners. Participants that operate in this class must

use a quadcopter with 3S LiPo batteries and propellers that measure 5 inches in

diameter.

II. Open Class Conversely, open class is exactly how it sounds, everything and anything is

allowed. Usually, the only restriction put in place in the open class is on the weight

of the drone, for safety purposes.

5. Preparing For a Race Versus an Event On UAVLance, a drone race organizer can create a single race, or an event.

If you are organizing a day or evening of several races, or a tournament, then you

need to create an event. On the other hand, if you are only organizing one race,

then it's a race.

It is important as a race organizer to know the key differences between organizing

a drone race compared to a drone event.

Preparation: It is a lot more complicated to organize a drone event and

requires more elaborate planning and arranging.

Assistance: To run a drone event you will need more people to assist in

running the event. You will require more help and more volunteers.




Course Design: To run a drone event you may need to prepare multiple

courses. Compare that to a drone race, where only one course is required.

A flow on effect from this is that an event will require far more planning

and permits, for multiple courses covering a bigger area.

Numbers: A drone event will require a lot more participants compared to

a drone race.


6. Race day registration and management

I. Pre-race registration: As mentioned earlier, UAVLance provides a system to organize your race

registration online. It is possible to set up your race website with UAVLance.

Furthermore, you can manage online registration for participants and adjust your

race structure

II. Race day registration Unfortunately, no matter how organized you are using UAVLance, there will still

be participants who show up wanting to participate without having registered

prior.

There is a quick and effective way to sign up participants on the day and it may be

a good idea to put this into your planning. On arrival, you can have them do the

sign up quickly on UAVLance. Putting race day registrants into their own category

is a good solution, so you can spend your time worrying about running the event,

rather than wasting time trying to get everyone signed up and fit in to your race

or event.

III. Race day management It is important as the race day organizer to be the first one there. This allows you

to control things from the outset to ensure that everybody and everything sets up

where it should.




Before the races, make sure that those helping you are each delegated their own

section. This ensures that you are not overcommitted and allows you to oversee

what is happening. Also before the race it is important to have open channels of

communication with different interest groups. Safety officers, police, participants,

volunteers and officials must all have a port of call to you. This is why it is so

important not to get caught up in registering latecomers and other time

consuming activities. Delegate these so that you remain in control.


When the races get underway, your most important consideration will be to

ensure the safety of spectators, participants and the general public. Again this is

where preparation is key because once your drone event has begun it can be

difficult to contain. Make sure that all the right people are in the right places and

your communication channels remain strong with all interest groups throughout

the race or event.

7. Rules, Guidelines and SAFETY Safety is the most important aspect that needs to be covered in organizing your

drone race or event. As we have stressed throughout this guide, without a good

safety plan in place, you are exposing yourself to legal liability for any injury or

harm to people and property. To ensure that everyone is having a good time and

to cover your liability, you need to ensure you have an effective safety protocol in

place.

On UAVLance, drone race and event organizers can post information on the race

registration page. It is at this point that you should post registration rules and

guidelines around safety.

Also, on race day, at the registration table there should be clearly visible rules and

guidelines. To make sure that your participants understand the rules, it can be a

good idea to make them sign a race agreement and waiver.




To help you, we have added a list of safety guidelines you should adhere to. Please

note this list is not exhaustive and more of a guide to ensure that you are taking

minimum necessary precautions in regards to safety. For your own event, it is a

good idea to sit down with local authorities to put in place stringent safety

protocol.

Separate spectators from drones by at least 50m and cordon off the

racecourse area as necessary.

Flying zones should be at least 150m from busy metropolitan, industrial,

residential or commercial areas.

Flying zones must not inhibit aircraft. Ensure that you have permits that

allow you to fly drones that will not encroach on any airspace used by

aircraft.


Creating a risk register is a great way for you to identify the safety risks

associated with an event and helps you mitigate them with good planning.

Have a participant briefing before the start of the race that sets out:

o When participants can fly/power drones

o Where they can fly

o Outline of the course

o Safety precautions

o Highest flying altitude

o Frequency management (if applicable)

o Emergency stop procedure

o Where participants can/cannot be situated

o Insurance

o Disclaimers (if applicable)

o Walk of the course to familiarize participants with it

o Practice laps if necessary




8. After the Event Once your drone race or event is completed, make sure that participants and

spectators alike are allowed to enjoy the occasion. Providing entertainment, a

ceremony, prizes and giveaways are a great way to enhance the experience for all

involved.

Also, post-event, it is important to make sure everything is cleaned up and you

have enough manpower to ensure the entire event site is left in the condition that

it was prior to the event. This is crucial, as it will ensure you have been responsible

and maintaining a clean record will help you secure permits for future events.

When the event is over make a note of what worked well and what can be

improved upon for future events.

Happy drone racing and for your next drone race or event, don’t forget to check out

UAVLance.com


https://uavlance.com/site/index

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