rreinesch
Elder Member
It is with no small measure of sadness and frustration that I am going to have to cancel the 2023 edition of the Texas Team Tournament. For those not familiar with the details, let me outline what has happened.
Normally at the conclusion of each tournament, I get with the hotel to set up a time slot and nail down the contractual details for the tournament the following year. Last year (2022) I blocked the time slot for the tourney and requested that they get the contract details to me. They initially did not get back with me as it turns out the hotel was apparently in the process of being sold to different owners. That sale was finalized in the fall of 2022. So, I went through the fall of 2022 fully expecting to be back at our old hotel for 2023, however when the contract details were finally sent to me in late December 2022, the cost of the tourney room we'd been using for the past decade-plus had risen x12 times higher in price than we'd paid last year. And the new owners were under no desire to negotiate. So it was time to quickly find a new home. (Merry Christmas).
Thus began the frantic search for a new venue. The challenge has been trying to find a hotel that has a large enough event space that would be willing to work with me on cost. Being a hobbyist group, since we don't have a stream of income outside of what I get from registration fees for the tourney. On top of that, the event space needs to be large enough to accommodate us, but also not be a flee-ridden situation. So finding a decent hotel that is also willing to work with me from a cost standpoint has been my biggest problem. There are certainly a lot of adequate venues here in Austin, but the situation from a cost standpoint is no better than what I was leaving.
So after a lot of phone calls and site visits, I thought I'd found a place that would have been perfect for us. It was a newer hotel with plenty of space and willing to allow us some leeway in accommodating a group of eccentric gamers. I had a verbal agreement and was pressing to get a contract drawn up and get us locked in. I had assurances from him that we were blocked in on the weekend. I was frankly being a pest asking for the contract, but did not hear back. Well I now find out today that the event manger I'd been working with is no longer employed by the hotel and to make matters worse, he had been stringing me along the whole time on blocking the weekend for us, and now the space is gone for the month of June. So now I am back to square one. To say I'm disappointed, frustrated, and despondent at this point would be an understatement.
I have no intention of giving up on the Texas Team Tournament. I believe that folks enjoy coming to it as much as I enjoy putting the tourney on for everyone who attends. I will find us a space for 2024. This is just a temporary setback. For those folks that have already preregistered, I'll be refunding your money. I'll also get the Texas-ASL website updated to let folks know.
I wish I had better news for this year. All I can hope is that folks understand and will want to attend next year.
Rick
Normally at the conclusion of each tournament, I get with the hotel to set up a time slot and nail down the contractual details for the tournament the following year. Last year (2022) I blocked the time slot for the tourney and requested that they get the contract details to me. They initially did not get back with me as it turns out the hotel was apparently in the process of being sold to different owners. That sale was finalized in the fall of 2022. So, I went through the fall of 2022 fully expecting to be back at our old hotel for 2023, however when the contract details were finally sent to me in late December 2022, the cost of the tourney room we'd been using for the past decade-plus had risen x12 times higher in price than we'd paid last year. And the new owners were under no desire to negotiate. So it was time to quickly find a new home. (Merry Christmas).
Thus began the frantic search for a new venue. The challenge has been trying to find a hotel that has a large enough event space that would be willing to work with me on cost. Being a hobbyist group, since we don't have a stream of income outside of what I get from registration fees for the tourney. On top of that, the event space needs to be large enough to accommodate us, but also not be a flee-ridden situation. So finding a decent hotel that is also willing to work with me from a cost standpoint has been my biggest problem. There are certainly a lot of adequate venues here in Austin, but the situation from a cost standpoint is no better than what I was leaving.
So after a lot of phone calls and site visits, I thought I'd found a place that would have been perfect for us. It was a newer hotel with plenty of space and willing to allow us some leeway in accommodating a group of eccentric gamers. I had a verbal agreement and was pressing to get a contract drawn up and get us locked in. I had assurances from him that we were blocked in on the weekend. I was frankly being a pest asking for the contract, but did not hear back. Well I now find out today that the event manger I'd been working with is no longer employed by the hotel and to make matters worse, he had been stringing me along the whole time on blocking the weekend for us, and now the space is gone for the month of June. So now I am back to square one. To say I'm disappointed, frustrated, and despondent at this point would be an understatement.
I have no intention of giving up on the Texas Team Tournament. I believe that folks enjoy coming to it as much as I enjoy putting the tourney on for everyone who attends. I will find us a space for 2024. This is just a temporary setback. For those folks that have already preregistered, I'll be refunding your money. I'll also get the Texas-ASL website updated to let folks know.
I wish I had better news for this year. All I can hope is that folks understand and will want to attend next year.
Rick