USA: Regional Contest Entry w/ Drop Outs

Yeah.. sounds like the answer may be full contest fee payments and a
higher late entry surcharge.


Marc,

Awfully harsh response. *Yes you may run contest with that number if
you are planning for it, but with last minutes drop outs it can hurt
financially.

Most sites have to bring in tow planes and pilots which means ferry
costs and hotels.

There are dinner reservations with minimums, helping cover your staff
expenses, etc, etc, etc.

Unless you are willing to make up the difference out of your pocket
what do you do?

I think we need higher deposits and longer lead time for when you can
withdraw.

On Aug 13, 7:59*am, wrote:
Yeah.. sounds like the answer may be full contest fee payments and a
higher late entry surcharge.



Marc,

Awfully harsh response. *Yes you may run contest with that number if
you are planning for it, but with last minutes drop outs it can hurt
financially.

Most sites have to bring in tow planes and pilots which means ferry
costs and hotels.

There are dinner reservations with minimums, helping cover your staff
expenses, etc, etc, etc.

Unless you are willing to make up the difference out of your pocket
what do you do?

I think we need higher deposits and longer lead time for when you can
withdraw.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Rules area 5.4 addresses this
Max deposit was raised from $100 to $150 this year. Late surcharge may
be imposed of up to $50.
Deposits are refundable within 30 days of the start at organizers
descretion.
The other dilemna is that if deposits are super high, folks may not
want to put $ at risk so wait longer to enter.
There are no easy answers on this.
There are also some pretty regular "weasels" that put entries in and
then look at the weather and cancel. I know of a couple that can be
relied on as 80% likely to not show. Pretty rude.
Then there is the guy that entered 2 contests for the same week- A
true weasel. If I were the organizer on that, this pilot would
definitely be permitted to have his entry deposit put toward the
contest shortfall.
Knowing the folks running R3, they are not likely to be as harsh as
I'm inclined to be. They took this decision very seriously, but due to
some internal pressure in the club, can't run the contest at a loss.
It's too bad because they always run a great contest and I know they
will again in the future.
Crabby because I'll be working instead of racing with my grandson.
UH

The underlying issue is participation. If 50 people were signed up to
come, losing 10 at the last moment wouldn't be such a big deal. And 50
makes for a much more profitable contest, and a better use of CD,
scorer, and other volunteer time.

I don't have easy answers. Raising fees and more nonrefundable
deposits sounds like a way to get to 6 person contests where everybody
shows up, not very appetizing. How to make contests more appetizing,
so that everyone in the region wants to be there, is the big question

John Cochrane BB

On Aug 13, 10:24*am, John Cochrane
wrote:
The underlying issue is participation. If 50 people were signed up to
come, losing 10 at the last moment wouldn't be such a big deal. And 50
makes for a much more profitable contest, and a better use of CD,
scorer, and other volunteer time.

I don't have easy answers. Raising fees and more nonrefundable
deposits sounds like a way to get to 6 person contests where everybody
shows up, not very appetizing. How to make contests more appetizing,
so that everyone in the region wants to be there, is the big question

John Cochrane BB

John emphasizes an important point related to this topic. The Rules
subcommittee looks very hard at issues related to participation, cost
being one significant issue. We also know we need to keep organizers
viable.
As to making it appealing, let me note some of the things the
Dansville gang does very well.
Friendly site with no cost camping, showers and lots of room.
Usually 3 organized meals to keep folks together.
Rookie training course for newbies with active coaching- This began at
this site about 20 yr ago.
Very experienced contest staff ensuring good tasking and few if any
glitches.

Barriers to entry- perceived or real(perceived has a significant
affect becoming barrier to real participation) are important and we
all need to look at eliminating or at least reducing them.
It's worth noting that these folks put a good bit of work into getting
ready for this contest and that, plus some money they won't recover,
goes down the drain.
UH

At 14:39 13 August 2009, wrote:
On Aug 13, 10:24=A0am, John Cochrane
wrote:
The underlying issue is participation. If 50 people were signed up to
come, losing 10 at the last moment wouldn't be such a big deal. And
50
makes for a much more profitable contest, and a better use of CD,
scorer, and other volunteer time.

I don't have easy answers. Raising fees and more nonrefundable
deposits sounds like a way to get to 6 person contests where everybody
shows up, not very appetizing. How to make contests more appetizing,
so that everyone in the region wants to be there, is the big question

John Cochrane BB

John emphasizes an important point related to this topic. The Rules
subcommittee looks very hard at issues related to participation, cost
being one significant issue. We also know we need to keep organizers
viable.
As to making it appealing, let me note some of the things the
Dansville gang does very well.
Friendly site with no cost camping, showers and lots of room.
Usually 3 organized meals to keep folks together.
Rookie training course for newbies with active coaching- This began at
this site about 20 yr ago.
Very experienced contest staff ensuring good tasking and few if any
glitches.

Barriers to entry- perceived or real(perceived has a significant
affect becoming barrier to real participation) are important and we
all need to look at eliminating or at least reducing them.
It's worth noting that these folks put a good bit of work into getting
ready for this contest and that, plus some money they won't recover,
goes down the drain.
UH
How can solutions be considered without more research into why the
problem exist? 5U