[lalislol]

Well, alright...Verona has not been a hugh success for the VG audience. How the country which fathered the likes of Da Vinci, Tesla and Fermi (not to mention 'our' Amerigo) cannot handle a seemingly simple internet connection is beyond me, but...c'est la vie as they say in Greece (I think).

Unfortunately, Roland takes these glitches to heart as if he were to blame. (Indeed, I believe two of the Walldk's were sulking, not to be seen. ) But such is one of the trials and tribulations of even a top-notch organizer, which Roland certainly is, and does not lead to demerits.

We all really appreciate your continued efforts to bring us the best in bridge entertainment, Roland. Better luck (or better technicals in Italy) for the rest of the tournament. In any event, I shall not try to get a refund on my money.

[hrothgar]

I'd imagine that the Italian Federation is somewhat peeved...
I seem to recall that they were planning comprehensive coverage of the Italian teams.

Any idea whats causing all the technical glitches?

[Walddk]

lalislol, on Jun 20 2006, 01:47 AM, said:

Unfortunately, Roland takes these glitches to heart as if he were to blame.

To be honest with you, I do not. I am pretty relaxed about it all although I am as disappointed as all the other thousands of spectators. If I had been at the venue, I would not have been responsible, and even less so now that I am 3,292 km away from Verona.

I am pretty experienced regarding organisation and co-ordination, but when it comes to technical issues, I give up. In this regard, I am absolutely clueless. I don't even know what causes the glitches, and even if I did there is nothing I could do about it.

Sometimes I must hide (all Walddk accounts invisible) in order not to get 100 private messages a minute, but let me stress that almost all messages are very sympathetic, because our members know that it's beyond BBO's control.

I am certainly not in a position to blame the organisers for something I can't judge from afar, but allow me to quote one of the more amusing private chat messages I got yesterday:

"Next time, perhaps choose Zambia, or some other high tech country"

Roland

[DenisO]

Walddk, on Jun 20 2006, 03:30 AM, said:

I am certainly not in a position to blame the organisers for something I can't judge from afar,

I'm a believer in the "the buck stops here" so I reckon the WBF and FIGB are the culprits. There seems to be a surprising lack of awareness/planning of the requirements for a successful broadcast of these major events to the worldwide internet audience. But perhaps not surprising from an organisation that doesn't even give the hand records for the two major events i.e. Rosenblum and McConnell cup on the official website.

[Walddk]

DenisO, on Jun 20 2006, 07:52 AM, said:

But perhaps not surprising from an organisation that doesn't even give the hand records for the two major events i.e. Rosenblum and McConnell cup on the official website.

Then add the non-existent "Participants". Not sure why they advertise this feature when it remains empty on day 11 of the championships.

"The names of the participants will be posted here as they become available", it reads. When is that I wonder.

I have said it before, and I am saying it again: the WBF, and the EBL for that matter, must employ a full-time co-ordinator. The open championships are money machines (look at the entry fees and number of participants in the bulletins), so one would assume that the budget should allow for this.

The link to the outside world is *very* important. That goes for the official web site as well as live vugraph presentations. I don't know if it's possible to convince the organisers that it is.

Finally, it's the policy of BBO that organisers should pay vugraph operators for their events. It is in *their* interest that *their* tournaments are broadcast to the world. As it is now, BBO must rely on volunteers and we can't always get enough.

That's the reason why we had to go for only 1 table at some point earlier in the event, and that may also happen today (Tuesday) because Hervé Lustman is the only one we have for certain.

We don't think it's unreasonable that organisers all over the world pay for operators when we offer our software for free.

Roland

[FrancesHinden]

Walddk, on Jun 20 2006, 08:39 AM, said:

(look at the entry fees and number of participants in the bulletins)

That's certainly true.
The entry fees were high enough that they made us think twice about playing, and we are hardly badly off as worldwide bridge players go, nor did we have very far to travel.

[uday]

In ACBL-land card fees are about 15 USD per session (so 30 USD per day in a pair game). Maybe I am misremembering and the fees are slightly higher.

What are fees like in the big WBF events?

[inquiry]

uday, on Jun 20 2006, 10:32 AM, said:

In ACBL-land card fees are about 15 USD per session (so 30 USD per day in a pair game). Maybe I am misremembering and the fees are slightly higher.

What are fees like in the big WBF events?

I am not certain if this is dollars (they do have the dollar sign there), but this webpage gives the entry fees...

http://www.worldbrid...Information.htm

Mixed pairs was 375,

Open pairs, qualifying 625 and if you should make the finals, another 250

Senior Pairs 500

Rosenblum Cup 1,250

Etc, you could get a 20% discount on all these for booking though a specific travel agency the webpage above says.

[uday]

So feels like about twice as much as acbl events for the mixed pairs

(375 for 3 days in the mixed pairs, or 125/day or 62.5 per day per player or 31.25 per session per player. )

[kfgauss]

uday, on Jun 20 2006, 04:21 PM, said:

So feels like about twice as much as acbl events for the mixed pairs

(375 for 3 days in the mixed pairs, or 125/day or 62.5 per day per player or 31.25 per session per player. )

Yes, but you've essentially prepaid for the final it seems, so it's twice that if you don't qualify.

Andy

[mike777]

I note in the bulletins they seem to have problems collecting the fees/dues.

[Walddk]

mike777, on Jun 20 2006, 08:04 PM, said:

I note in the bulletins they seem to have problems collecting the fees/dues.

From some NCBO's yes. I believe that all participants have paid what they are supposed to in order to enter the various competitions.

Roland

[FrancesHinden]

Yes, in general you couldn't play unless you had paid. There was a consolation final for the mixed pairs with one fewer session, and the other events also have consolation events of one form or another.

In Tenerife our NCBO was supposed to be paying our entry fee for us, and that caused all sorts of problems.

The 'discount' for booking through the travel agency existed, but we booked our hotel directly rather than through the official agency, it was considerably cheaper that way even including the potential discount off the entry fee.

p.s. yes, the amounts are quoted in dollars

[JanM]

kfgauss, on Jun 20 2006, 12:38 PM, said:

uday, on Jun 20 2006, 04:21 PM, said:

So feels like about twice as much as acbl events for the mixed pairs

(375 for 3 days in the mixed pairs, or 125/day or 62.5 per day per player or 31.25 per session per player. )

Yes, but you've essentially prepaid for the final it seems, so it's twice that if you don't qualify.

Although that was true for the Mixed Pairs, and also for the Rosenblum and McConnell (no entry fees after the initial one), it was not true for the Open and Women's Pairs. Those who entered the Qualifying stage of those events paid the same (250 Euros per player) whether they qualified for the semi-finals or not, but then the semi-final qualifiers had to pay an additional 100 Euros per player for the finals.

HOWEVER, the really expensive entry fee was for those players who could "drop in" to the finals because they reached the Round of 8 in the Rosenblum or semi-finals in the McConnell. Those players had to pay the entire 350 Euro entry fee for the finals! I suspect that the Women's Pairs entry fee per session was the highest of any anywhere. The Women's Pairs had a 4 session final, so each of the players who dropped into that stage paid 87.5 Euros per session of play! I understand that these were the players who got to play longer in the Rosenblum and McConnell, and thus their per session entry fees for those events were lower than players who lsot earlier, but this still seems like a *very* high entry fee.

[DenisO]

DenisO, on Jun 20 2006, 06:52 AM, said:

But perhaps not surprising from an organisation that doesn't even give the hand records for the two major events i.e. Rosenblum and McConnell cup on the official website.

I did them an injustice - the hand records for Teams and Pairs are now available in pdf format (with makeable contracts, presumably from DealmasterPro) - well done

[lalislol]

A procedural question: Now that this topic is of no further interest, how does one eliminate it from the Forum? Is the initiator/instigator empowered to do so? Found it easy to start this, but as difficult to stop as a runaway horse. Or do we just keep the 'clutter' forever anon?

[FrancesHinden]

If you stop posting to it, it will gradually work its way down the list of active topics and into history.

Unless every week or so, someone posts a new comment....

[lalislol]

Thanks, Frances. Have admonished my keyboard for today's post, and have its promise to stop.