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Pilot RD onboarding kit · operator-facing

Pre-Event Checklist

Work through this in order. Most of it is one-time setup; the event-specific steps come at the end. Block out roughly an hour total, split across two or three sittings if it's easier.

Each step has a "Done when" line so you know what success looks like before you move on.

1. Account setup

Sign up at https://podiumbase.io/signup.

  • Use the email address you want notifications, receipts, and dispute alerts to go to. We can change this later, but it's easier to set it right the first time.
  • You'll get a confirmation email — click the link, set a password.

Done when: you can log in at https://podiumbase.io/login and see an empty dashboard.

2. Create your race organization

In the dashboard, go to /org/new.

  • One org per RD entity — if you run events under multiple brands or LLCs, talk to us first so we get the structure right.
  • Org name, logo, contact email, payout-related details for the org itself (these can be filled in over multiple sessions).
  • Pick a URL slug. This becomes part of your public race page: podiumbase.io/org/<your-slug>. Choose deliberately — slugs are hard to change once athletes have bookmarked anything.

Done when: you can visit podiumbase.io/org/<your-slug> and see your org landing page, even if it's bare-bones.

3. Set up your brand kit

Go to /org/<your-slug>/admin.

Upload:

  • Event banner / hero image — landscape, ideally 1600×600 or wider. This is what athletes see at the top of your event page.
  • Logo — square or wide-format PNG with transparency. Goes in headers and watermarks.
  • Sponsor logos — if your race has sponsors, upload them here. They surface on the public event page and (depending on tier) on the watermark itself.

If a particular brand surface isn't shipped yet, the admin page will tell you — leave those blank for now and we'll backfill at pilot kickoff.

Done when: the public event page renders with your branding, not the generic PodiumBase default.

4. Invite your photographers

Each photographer needs their own PodiumBase account, joined to your org, with Stripe Connect onboarding completed before they can receive payouts.

Two ways to invite:

  • From admin: /org/<your-slug>/admin/photographers → "Invite photographer" → email address. They get a sign-up link tied to your org.
  • Self-serve: they sign up at podiumbase.io/signup, then you approve them from the same admin page.

Stripe Connect onboarding is the long step — each photographer needs:

  • Government ID
  • Bank account or debit card for payouts
  • Tax info (SSN or EIN — Stripe collects this; we don't see it)

Tell your photographers to budget 15-20 minutes for this. They can pause and resume. Until Stripe Connect is fully complete and verified, that photographer cannot be paid out — uploaded photos still sell, but the photographer's share parks until verification finishes.

Heads-up on Stripe Express signin: if a photographer has previously used Stripe Express for ANY other platform (Etsy, Substack, Shopify, Patreon, etc.), Stripe will show them a "Sign in to Express" page with SMS verification instead of a fresh "Let's get started" signup form. This is normal — Stripe is unlocking their existing Express account so we can link it to PodiumBase. They walk through the SMS verification once and continue. If they've never used Express, they'll see the fresh signup form and can use Stripe's test phone numbers during onboarding rehearsals.

Done when: every photographer for your event shows a green "Payouts enabled" badge on the photographer admin page.

5. Create the event

From the org dashboard, "New event":

  • Event name + URL slug.
  • Start + end times (local wall clock) + IANA timezone (e.g., America/Los_Angeles).
  • Race director support email (where athlete questions route).
  • Integration type (most pilots are integrated; manual if you're not using PodiumBase for athlete-facing checkout).
  • Visibility (public for athletes to find via search; private for invite-only).
  • Bib number range (optional — comma-separated tokens like 5K:1-500,10K:1001-1500; leave blank for none).

All fields are required except Visibility and Bib ranges. If a required field is empty, the form now tells you exactly which one — look for a red "Required field(s) empty: …" message under the Submit button.

If your event has heats, waves, or a non-contiguous bib range, the bib-range syntax handles most cases; complex multi-distance events should ping support at kick-off.

Done when: the event shows up at podiumbase.io/org/<your-slug>/<event-slug> with the right date and visibility setting.

Before calling the event configured, also record:

  • Course GPX or map link, exact start/finish, and two or three reachable coverage points.
  • Packet pickup, pre-race photos, each start or wave, cutoff, awards/interviews, and any untimed group-photo window.
  • Distances, participant capacity, registration link, timezone, venue access, parking, and photographer permit rules.
  • Race director, day-of administrator, photographer, assistant, and each person's accepted event role.
  • Photo mode and prices, print availability, revenue split, any minimum guarantee, download policy, watermark/logo, and photographer attribution.
  • Whether bib search and optional selfie discovery are enabled. Youth participation changes copy and consent handling; it does not by itself disable an event's configured discovery features.

Done when: the public page, schedule, course brief, roles, discovery settings, commerce settings, and branding all agree.

6. Confirm your pricing tier

Default for pilot RDs is Pro tier — $14.99 per individual photo, with digital sales split 60% to the photographer / 20% to you / 20% to PodiumBase. Pro-tier events also offer $24.99 event-pack bundle SKUs that unlock full-event coverage for an athlete at a discount versus per-photo.

If you're on Community tier ($3.99 per photo, same 60/20/20 digital split, individual photos only — no bundle SKUs) or a custom tier (Sponsor-funded, free-to-athlete, etc.), the pricing page on the admin will reflect that. Double-check it's right before your test transaction.

Don't change pricing in the 7 days before your event — the buyer-facing page caches some pricing artifacts, and last-minute changes can produce confusing receipts. If you need to adjust, ping support and we'll handle it.

Done when: the public event page shows the prices you expect, and a non-logged-in browser session sees the same prices.

7. Test transaction

This is the most important step. Do not skip it.

Option A — production $1 test (recommended):

  1. Have one photographer upload a single test photo to the event.
  2. From a fresh browser (or incognito), find the photo, add to cart, check out with a real card for $1 (we'll temporarily price it that way).
  3. Confirm:
    • You received the order email
    • Photographer received their split notification
    • Buyer received the photo download link
  4. From the same buyer email, issue a refund via the link in the order email — confirm the refund shows as "issued" in your admin within a few minutes. The funds returning to the test card take 5-10 business days (bank-side settlement, not ours).

Option B — Stripe test-mode flow (if pilot is on test keys):

Use Stripe's standard 4242 4242 4242 4242 card. Same verification points apply. We'll walk you through this at kick-off if it's the route we agreed on.

Done when: order + payout + refund all completed cleanly, with you and the photographer receiving the right notifications.

8. Photographer pre-event briefing

Your photographers need their own briefing — what to upload, when, file format expectations, watermark behavior, and what they'll see in their photographer dashboard.

We maintain a photographer-side onboarding doc that covers all of this. Operator to insert the link here once the photographer-onboarding doc lands. In the meantime, forward the photographer-onboarding email template (sent to you separately) to your roster.

If your photographers have shot for other platforms before, the workflow is similar but not identical — make sure they actually read the briefing rather than assume.

Done when: every photographer has confirmed by email that they've read the briefing and know what to do on race day.

9. Athlete pre-event communication

Athletes need to know where photos will live, when photos will appear, and how to help the matching pipeline before race day. Use the athlete communication templates for the exact copy.

Minimum send plan:

  • T-7 days: official photo gallery announcement with the event photo page link.
  • T-2 to T-1 days: bib-visibility reminder and optional selfie-match explanation.
  • Race morning: short social post or announcer script.
  • Finish + 2-4 hours: first "photos are arriving" search push.

Keep the language precise: selfie matching is optional, photos roll in throughout the day, and athletes should search by bib first.

Done when: the T-7 and T-1 athlete messages are scheduled or sent, the event photo page link is correct, and your race-day announcer or social lead has the short reminder copy.

10. Roster, photo-ready, and results handoff

Before the event, import or sync a roster with at least display name, bib number, and contact email. A registration-platform connection is optional; a CSV is sufficient. Do not create public athlete profiles from the roster.

After uploads finish:

  1. Confirm the public gallery count reflects published photos and test at least one known bib.
  2. Preview the Photos are available campaign, verify the eligible count, and send a test.
  3. Queue the campaign only after the test link opens the correct bib-filtered gallery.
  4. Obtain the final timer results with bib, status, finish time, and placement fields, then upload it.
  5. Reconcile three result outcomes separately: imported, held against an unclaimed roster row, and truly unmatched.

Held rows are expected. They promote automatically when a runner signs in with the roster email and verifies the exact event and bib. Unmatched rows need roster correction.

Done when: roster coverage is known, a bib-filtered link was tested, photo-ready delivery is reconciled, and every result is imported, held, or explicitly queued for unmatched-bib correction.

Final pre-event check (T-3 days)

24-72 hours before your event, run through:

  • Public event page renders correctly (logo, sponsors, photographer credits, pricing)
  • Every photographer shows "Payouts enabled"
  • Test transaction completed and refunded
  • Athlete photo-gallery announcement and selfie-match reminder scheduled or sent
  • Day-of contact list confirmed (your phone, founder mobile, any operations leads)
  • Photographers have confirmed they're briefed
  • Roster has bibs and contact emails; registration integration or CSV source is documented
  • Course GPX/start-finish/coverage points and the complete schedule are in the photographer brief
  • Discovery, commerce, watermark, attribution, print, split, and guarantee settings were verified in a logged-out browser
  • Post-race results provider, file owner, columns, and delivery method are confirmed

If any box is empty 72 hours out, email support and we'll triage same-day.

Next: the day-of-event runbook.