Any"mass confusion" by employees is the fault of the TO
Although a good manager is going to take responsibility for the actions of everyone under them, it would be very surprising for a TO of a Grand Prix to be directly involved with the distribution of promo cards by judges during the player meeting.
The delegation of roles by Magic judges has been consistent for at least 15 years. The TO manages the tournament staff that oversee the stage, registration, scorekeeping, and prize distributions, while the floor is handled by the HJ. The head judge delegates responsibilities to the judge staff, and for large events splits the judges into groups by role (pairings, result slips, decklists, logistics) and assigns a team lead to each group.
For something as straightforward as handing a card to each player, it's resonable for the TO to assign that task to the Head Judge, and the HJ delegated it to one of his team leads. At this time the TO would be busy on stage dealing with players who say they are missing from the player list, incorrect byes, etc.
There are probably around 60 people working at a GP between tournament staff and judges. It's impossible for a single person to manage that many people efficiently, so there are split into clear roles and tasks are delegated appropriately.
Small correction then a large point. There were 2041 in dc Chicago.
What I'm "glossing over" is that Chicago had a larger than expected turnout? Okay, sure, it had a larger than expected turnout but this is far from the first time that's been true and, yet, never before has any other TO managed to put on such a poor event. Moreover, I simply don't find the argument "they couldn't plan ahead because it costs them money up front" reasonable at all. Yes, it costs more to have judges on standby and washrooms open but if you're not willing to pay it then you absolutely shouldn't be running these things. Again, these are things ALL TOs have to deal with and, yet, pastimes seems to be the only one consistently fucking them up.
Edit: dc=\= chicago sorry
Small correction then a large point. There were 2041 in dc.
Steve Port: Costs aren't flat. GP prices were static for a very long time. Somewhere back in 2010, maybe 2011, they jumped to $40. So it's been three years since the current price took effect. And in that time we've continued to see increased attendances which increase demands on staffing costs, and as mentioned above, pushes us into larger rooms which tend to cost more money.
My Take: Economics! Scary!
Most people who complain about prices simply aren't acknowledging the existence of basic economic concepts. The fact is that Grand Prix cost more and more money every year, and as all three pointed out, larger attendance isn't a freeroll for profit. It creates additional costs.
My take "you don't actually understand basic economic concepts". Economies of scale is a real thing, and increased staffing costs are because of increased attendance which means increased revenue. This section is complete nonsense. Also, while the venue options may be limited, so are the number of people looking to run in those venues. I imagine though that bigger spaces MIGHT cost more per sq ft, but the cost different per sq ft isn't astronomical from what I had research 18~ months ago. lol @ infrastructure building. "see all the signs, that is why we needed to take in a extra 10-20k per event".
There's also plenty more fixed costs these days because of the ubiquitous nature of playmat giveaways. Raising the entry fee helps guarantee that a single bad turnout won't destroy a TO because there's enough price elasticity so that $10 isn't going to affect things.
The playmats that they only gave out for side event entry? I may be wrong about that, not sure? If so, lol.
I imagine though that bigger spaces MIGHT cost more per sq ft, but the cost different per sq ft isn't astronomical from what I had research 18~ months ago.
I've run dozens (maybe hundreds?) of large tournaments, and can confirm that moving up from a ballroom of 10K-15K square feet to a showroom of 40K+ square feet is a dramatic increase in cost per square foot.
For example, I've rented Ballroom ABC at the Austin Convention Center where the last Grand Prix by Legion was held, and it cost $7800 for the weekend for 23K sq ft. I've also rented Exhibit Hall 1 at the same venue which is 44K sq ft, and it cost $27000 for the same period. So the size didn't even double, but the cost almost quadrupled.
Edit: I've also rented a 8000 sq ft ballroom at a hotel in Austin for $1400. Cost per sq ft was $0.18 for 8K sq ft (max 400 players), $0.34 for 23K sq ft (max 1200 players), and $0.61 for 44K sq ft. (max 2500 players).
For most cities, we could expect large rooms in the 40K sq ft would cost 2x to 2.5x times more per square foot. There are just less options for venues at that size - many hotels have big conference rooms, but there are usually only one or two conference centers with the large showrooms.
Any"mass confusion" by employees is the fault of the TO
Although a good manager is going to take responsibility for the actions of everyone under them, it would be very surprising for a TO of a Grand Prix to be directly involved with the distribution of promo cards by judges during the player meeting.
The delegation of roles by Magic judges has been consistent for at least 15 years. The TO manages the tournament staff that oversee the stage, registration, scorekeeping, and prize distributions, while the floor is handled by the HJ. The head judge delegates responsibilities to the judge staff, and for large events splits the judges into groups by role (pairings, result slips, decklists, logistics) and assigns a team lead to each group.
For something as straightforward as handing a card to each player, it's resonable for the TO to assign that task to the Head Judge, and the HJ delegated it to one of his team leads. At this time the TO would be busy on stage dealing with players who say they are missing from the player list, incorrect byes, etc.
There are probably around 60 people working at a GP between tournament staff and judges. It's impossible for a single person to manage that many people efficiently, so there are split into clear roles and tasks are delegated appropriately.
Small correction then a large point. There were 2041 in dc Chicago.
What I'm "glossing over" is that Chicago had a larger than expected turnout? Okay, sure, it had a larger than expected turnout but this is far from the first time that's been true and, yet, never before has any other TO managed to put on such a poor event. Moreover, I simply don't find the argument "they couldn't plan ahead because it costs them money up front" reasonable at all. Yes, it costs more to have judges on standby and washrooms open but if you're not willing to pay it then you absolutely shouldn't be running these things. Again, these are things ALL TOs have to deal with and, yet, pastimes seems to be the only one consistently fucking them up.
Edit: dc=\= chicago sorry
Small correction then a large point. There were 2041 in dc.
Steve Port: Costs aren't flat. GP prices were static for a very long time. Somewhere back in 2010, maybe 2011, they jumped to $40. So it's been three years since the current price took effect. And in that time we've continued to see increased attendances which increase demands on staffing costs, and as mentioned above, pushes us into larger rooms which tend to cost more money.
My Take: Economics! Scary!
Most people who complain about prices simply aren't acknowledging the existence of basic economic concepts. The fact is that Grand Prix cost more and more money every year, and as all three pointed out, larger attendance isn't a freeroll for profit. It creates additional costs.
My take "you don't actually understand basic economic concepts". Economies of scale is a real thing, and increased staffing costs are because of increased attendance which means increased revenue. This section is complete nonsense. Also, while the venue options may be limited, so are the number of people looking to run in those venues. I imagine though that bigger spaces MIGHT cost more per sq ft, but the cost different per sq ft isn't astronomical from what I had research 18~ months ago. lol @ infrastructure building. "see all the signs, that is why we needed to take in a extra 10-20k per event".
There's also plenty more fixed costs these days because of the ubiquitous nature of playmat giveaways. Raising the entry fee helps guarantee that a single bad turnout won't destroy a TO because there's enough price elasticity so that $10 isn't going to affect things.
The playmats that they only gave out for side event entry? I may be wrong about that, not sure? If so, lol.
I imagine though that bigger spaces MIGHT cost more per sq ft, but the cost different per sq ft isn't astronomical from what I had research 18~ months ago.
I've run dozens (maybe hundreds?) of large tournaments, and can confirm that moving up from a ballroom of 10K-15K square feet to a showroom of 40K+ square feet is a dramatic increase in cost per square foot.
For example, I've rented Ballroom ABC at the Austin Convention Center where the last Grand Prix by Legion was held, and it cost $7800 for the weekend for 23K sq ft. I've also rented Exhibit Hall 1 at the same venue which is 44K sq ft, and it cost $27000 for the same period. So the size didn't even double, but the cost almost quadrupled.
Edit: I've also rented a 8000 sq ft ballroom at a hotel in Austin for $1400. Cost per sq ft was $0.18 for 8K sq ft (max 400 players), $0.34 for 23K sq ft (max 1200 players), and $0.61 for 44K sq ft. (max 2500 players).
For most cities, we could expect large rooms in the 40K sq ft would cost 2x to 2.5x times more per square foot. There are just less options for venues at that size - many hotels have big conference rooms, but there are usually only one or two conference centers with the large showrooms.
bdrago
Although a good manager is going to take responsibility for the actions of everyone under them, it would be very surprising for a TO of a Grand Prix to be directly involved with the distribution of promo cards by judges during the player meeting.
The delegation of roles by Magic judges has been consistent for at least 15 years. The TO manages the tournament staff that oversee the stage, registration, scorekeeping, and prize distributions, while the floor is handled by the HJ. The head judge delegates responsibilities to the judge staff, and for large events splits the judges into groups by role (pairings, result slips, decklists, logistics) and assigns a team lead to each group.
For something as straightforward as handing a card to each player, it's resonable for the TO to assign that task to the Head Judge, and the HJ delegated it to one of his team leads. At this time the TO would be busy on stage dealing with players who say they are missing from the player list, incorrect byes, etc.
There are probably around 60 people working at a GP between tournament staff and judges. It's impossible for a single person to manage that many people efficiently, so there are split into clear roles and tasks are delegated appropriately.
bdrago
According to the Wizards coverage site, there were 1,474 players.
"What started as 1,474 players opening 128,160 cards for Theros Block Sealed Deck has narrowed down to just 174 to return for Day 2 Draft."
bdrago
I've run dozens (maybe hundreds?) of large tournaments, and can confirm that moving up from a ballroom of 10K-15K square feet to a showroom of 40K+ square feet is a dramatic increase in cost per square foot.
For example, I've rented Ballroom ABC at the Austin Convention Center where the last Grand Prix by Legion was held, and it cost $7800 for the weekend for 23K sq ft. I've also rented Exhibit Hall 1 at the same venue which is 44K sq ft, and it cost $27000 for the same period. So the size didn't even double, but the cost almost quadrupled.
Edit: I've also rented a 8000 sq ft ballroom at a hotel in Austin for $1400. Cost per sq ft was $0.18 for 8K sq ft (max 400 players), $0.34 for 23K sq ft (max 1200 players), and $0.61 for 44K sq ft. (max 2500 players).
For most cities, we could expect large rooms in the 40K sq ft would cost 2x to 2.5x times more per square foot. There are just less options for venues at that size - many hotels have big conference rooms, but there are usually only one or two conference centers with the large showrooms.
bdrago
Although a good manager is going to take responsibility for the actions of everyone under them, it would be very surprising for a TO of a Grand Prix to be directly involved with the distribution of promo cards by judges during the player meeting.
The delegation of roles by Magic judges has been consistent for at least 15 years. The TO manages the tournament staff that oversee the stage, registration, scorekeeping, and prize distributions, while the floor is handled by the HJ. The head judge delegates responsibilities to the judge staff, and for large events splits the judges into groups by role (pairings, result slips, decklists, logistics) and assigns a team lead to each group.
For something as straightforward as handing a card to each player, it's resonable for the TO to assign that task to the Head Judge, and the HJ delegated it to one of his team leads. At this time the TO would be busy on stage dealing with players who say they are missing from the player list, incorrect byes, etc.
There are probably around 60 people working at a GP between tournament staff and judges. It's impossible for a single person to manage that many people efficiently, so there are split into clear roles and tasks are delegated appropriately.
bdrago
According to the Wizards coverage site, there were 1,474 players.
"What started as 1,474 players opening 128,160 cards for Theros Block Sealed Deck has narrowed down to just 174 to return for Day 2 Draft."
bdrago
I've run dozens (maybe hundreds?) of large tournaments, and can confirm that moving up from a ballroom of 10K-15K square feet to a showroom of 40K+ square feet is a dramatic increase in cost per square foot.
For example, I've rented Ballroom ABC at the Austin Convention Center where the last Grand Prix by Legion was held, and it cost $7800 for the weekend for 23K sq ft. I've also rented Exhibit Hall 1 at the same venue which is 44K sq ft, and it cost $27000 for the same period. So the size didn't even double, but the cost almost quadrupled.
Edit: I've also rented a 8000 sq ft ballroom at a hotel in Austin for $1400. Cost per sq ft was $0.18 for 8K sq ft (max 400 players), $0.34 for 23K sq ft (max 1200 players), and $0.61 for 44K sq ft. (max 2500 players).
For most cities, we could expect large rooms in the 40K sq ft would cost 2x to 2.5x times more per square foot. There are just less options for venues at that size - many hotels have big conference rooms, but there are usually only one or two conference centers with the large showrooms.