Another difference is that for Sailboat Races, etc, the competitors must
submit their entry ahead of time. There is no joining the race while it is
in progress nor sailing along with the racing fleet for a while for the fun
of it.
Those who pay their entry fee are paid up even if they withdraw, and
certainly do not expect refunds if they do not win a prize. Entry fees
generally cover the cost of operating committee boat and chase boats, as
well as other equipment used to stage the sailboat race, or green fees at a
colf course, or rental of a meeting room and supplying playing cards for the
card tournaments, etc. And very often the entry fee does cover lunch or
whatever afterwards. Very different from our case where the sponsor of the
event has no obligations during the running of the event-- just scoring and
posting results afterwards.
Maybe the fair answer in our case would be for the contester who wants a
certificate or plaque to send in a nonrefundable entry fee before the
contest. The entry fee money not spent on plaques, etc, could pay clerks
to do the post contest administrative chores. Those who did not send in a
fee would not be eligible to receive a certificate or plaque. They would of
course still have earned a first, or tenth, or whatever place in the
contest, and would be listed in the results. This would still encourage
participation by the casual contesters.
Incidentally, I do agree that even for the casual contester it is a rush to
see his call in print, and not just on a web page which he may not even be
able to find. I am confident we have lost some participation due to the
discontinuance of printed results.
73,
Rusty, na5tr
----- Original Message -----
From: "Art RX9TX" <rx9tx@qrz.ru>
To: <cq-contest@contesting.com>
Sent: Tuesday, August 16, 2005 10:56 AM
Subject: Re: [CQ-Contest] Pay to Play
> Hello Jim,
>
> Monday, August 15, 2005 Jim Idelson wrote to CQ-Contest Post:
>
> JI> Amateur sailors, golfers, fisherman, runners, card players, chess
> players,
> JI> Scrabble [tm] players and those involved in so many more competitive
> avocations
> JI> frequently pay a reasonable fee to cover administration of their
> events. I'm
> JI> sure those fees are an impediment to some, but there are still enough
> players
> JI> left to keep those events fully subscribed and competitive.
>
> All of the above you mention can't be compared with ham radio
> contests, just because contesters are spread all over the world, but
> for sure various WRTC-like championships is exactly the case. And in
> case of championships all necessary fees are paid. After covering the
> expenses, second reason for fees, I think, is limiting casual
> "just_for_fun" unskilled participation. Serious victory pretender will
> pay required fee, casual contester will not.
>
> In case of WRTC -like events your aim is to limit unskilled
> particiation, while in case of CQWW your aim is to increase it.
>
>
>
>
>
>
> JI> It's too bad that ham radio contests don't draw really big interest in
> the
> JI> first place. This is evidenced by the smallish numbers of competitors
> in each
> JI> category of competition. It's also too bad that so many of those who
> are
> JI> involved in ham radio contesting don't have enough
> desire/motivation/drive to
> JI> overcome a justifiable entry fee. Given this situation, I feel that
> this
> JI> approach which works so well in other areas of amateur competition
> would be a
> JI> dismal failure in ham radio contesting.
>
> JI> I wish it weren't so.
>
> --
> 73...Art RX9TX 16-Aug-05 15:40 UTC
>
> http://rx9tx.qrz.ru
>
> "Fear can hold you prisoner, hope can set you free."
>
> _______________________________________________
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> CQ-Contest@contesting.com
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>
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