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Join the fun and be part of NCRA’s first virtual Realtime Contest

The NCRA Literary Lockdown, NCRA’s first virtual realtime contest, is happening Wednesday, Aug. 5, from 4-5:30 p.m. ET. It’s a fun literary test at 180 words per minute that will be delivered live by a special guest reader! Register now and be a part of the excitement. Please note that registration closes July 22.

To participate, candidates must be a Member of NCRA in good standing and hold any of the following credentials: RMR, RDR, CRR, or CRC.

The top three qualifiers will be announced live on Aug. 8 during the NCRA Connect Virtual 2020 after the keynote speaker. A slide will also be shown that lists the names of all qualifiers. At the same time, all names of qualifiers will be posted to TheJCR.com, the NCRA website, and pushed out to social media.

Contestants will be required to sign and submit a consent form agreeing that their participation is on “the honor system” and that they acknowledge that this contest is for fun only. It does not count for statistics as part of the onsite and live National Realtime Contest.

In lieu of a registration fee, contestants are encouraged to consider donating to support NCRA’s A to Z® Intro to Steno Machine Shorthand program. The link to donate is on the registration page. Registrants will receive a link to the Zoom room on the day of the contest.

The planned timing for the event will be as followed in Eastern times:

  • 4 p.m. Zoom room opens for contestants to set up (contestants will also be allowed to call in to hear the live dictation)
  • 4:45 p.m. a two-minute warm-up with live reading will take place
  • 4:55 p.m. introduction of guest dictator
  • 5 p.m. contest begins – one leg, literary at 180 WPM

The following guidelines should help everyone prepare for doing their best:

  • Tests will be graded using NCRA’s What is an error for realtime?
  • Contestants must achieve 95 percent accuracy compared to transcript to qualify.
  • Contestants will receive preview words.
  • Contestants will have five minutes to upload their files in either ASCII, RFT, or PDF format to a Dropbox account or Google drive (TBD). Contact number(s) and email(s) will be provided at the time of the contest for contestants to reach out should they have problems.

While no CEUs will be awarded for this contest:

  • The top three qualifiers will receive via mail a medal and an official certificate recognizing their wins.
  • All qualifiers will receive via mail an official certificate recognizing that they qualified in NCRA’s first virtual realtime contest.
  • Remainder of the contestants will receive via mail an official certificate recognizing that they participated in NCRA’s first virtual realtime contest.

Good luck!