Re: US Go Congress 2011 Report
Posted: Mon Aug 08, 2011 11:37 am
I don't have great pictorials like Ed does, but I have one anecdote from lunch on Thursday. I was picking up a plate of food (no trays!) at the dining hall when the girl behind the counter starts talking to me:
Nice story from mef, who had the burden of being made my guide when I first arrived at Santa Barbara.
But to be fair to the girl, when I was there, on Day 1, all I saw were beaming faces, even though around half of them must have been the faces of players who lost games. Being a professional cynic (= journalist) I did wonder at the time how many of those beams would disappear as the week wore on - even losing one game and winning five can be cause for a glum face if you miss out on a prize. Or losing three and winning four can bring the disappointment of a missed promotion.
Nevertheless, the location, the numbers, the organisation and the range of activities all gave me the impression that the beams were probably independent of the results, and I in turn vastly enjoyed meeting for the first time the small handful of L19 and other go acquaintances I had time to meet. I also learned something about Keith Arnold for the first time that makes him a National Treasure (even if he is an Everton supporter)!
), then Monday morning is the Open of course, then I was immediately trying to iron out details about the Die Hard tournament, so the whole beginning of the week felt rather rushed. Sorry to those I met briefly but didn't have much time to talk with. 
Getting it right at Registration is probably the most important (and the most difficult) part of the whole process.
Kids SDK or stronger who want to self-promote are probably right; adults who want to self-promote are probably wrong.
Go players have low expectations of their TDs. If the pairings aren't blatantly absurd and you start on time, 99% of the players will think you're doing a miraculously wonderful job.
The other 3 players have run a lot of large tournaments, and they can see through the facade. They have good advice. Listen to them, so that next time, the 99% will be right.
If someone tries to take a bye 15 minutes before you post the pairings (i.e., hours after your deadline), just assign a forfeit and apologize to the player who has nobody to play. That's better than keeping 300 players waiting while you feverishly redo the pairings; and theres a very good chance that the player with no opponent is happy to accept a win by forfeit and a chance to do his laundry before the afternoon lectures.
Tie break statistics (SOS, SODOS, etc.) are going to cause unhappiness for someone. But if you take the time to speak sympathetically with the disappointed parties, and walk them through the calculations, they probably won't feel like the TDs cheated them.
Anything you can do in the days before the banquet, that will save time in the few hours between the end of Round 6 and the start of the banquet, is worth doing. (I.e., if you know you're going to give away paper certificates in addition to the trophies, get them designed and get your mail merge file set up before the Congress starts, if possible. Doing it Tuesday night is acceptable, and much much better than Saturday afternoon.)
The times you can eat at the dining hall are not TD-friendly. Meals will be missed. Plan accordingly.
Other Congress staff and volunteers are going to ask you to do things that aren't really your job. It's not their fault; they're crazy busy trying to please the paying customers, just like you are. Still, learning to say "No" firmly yet kindly is a really good idea, so you don't find yourself stretched too thin to do your primary job properly.
