2023 Texas Team Tournament - Cancelled

rreinesch

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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
 

David Goldman

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Rick,

I had the same problem with the ASL OPEN (one of the reason I took it to VASL) instead of trying to find in the middle of the COVID epidemic a reasonable event space that met all the requirements for a ftf ASL tournament.

In the 4 locations that have hosted the OPEN during my tenure as TD there have been regular turn over of the events manager at each location. One time they switched the hotel location in the group of hotels I was dealing with (which turned out to be OK). Another time we lost the large game room and were forced due to remodeling to hold the event in two rooms half the size (again it turned out OK). One time they simply told me they didn't want the event without a huge increas in the room fee (not OK).

It's all the unrewarding, unseen, hard part of being a TD. You are not alone brother!

Although I have not ruled out returning to an in person event, if I do it, that will only be for 2026 when I will be hosting my 25th ASL OPEN, and then only if I can get the right room, for the right price, in the right location.
 

King Scott II

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Rick;

The SoCal ASL Club knows your pain and we sympathize with you. The work that tournament directors and their supporting staff put into locking down a venue is the largest, most difficult, time consuming, frustrating, and underappreciated part of any tournament.

The ASL community knows that it is a difficult decision to cancel the tournament, but we also understand and support your desire to ensure that the Texas Team Tournament is done right.

Semper Fi!
Scott
 

william.stoppel

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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
Sorry to hear that Rick. Tough call but the right one. Your hard work is much appreciated. I look forward to attending next year.
 

Actionjick

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Sorry to hear this. Good luck with the search for a new venue. As I have said repeatedly venue is the most difficult part of hosting an event.
 

Fort

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I’m a VFW member. It may be an option if you have any local members. I’ll check this week to see if my chapter has any suggestions.
 

Actionjick

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I’m a VFW member. It may be an option if you have any local members. I’ll check this week to see if my chapter has any suggestions.
Helpful as ever Gary. Well done you Sir!
 
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