I did a search on this question, and the last topic was in 2005, and it looked like about $1 per player.
I have been asked to TD a tournament for a local organizer. He generally has drawn about 70 - 80 people. It will be a $2,000 guaranteed tournament (possibly a Grand Prix Event). He doesn’t have the TD certification to support that, and he is wanting to play this time. I don’t feel like doing this one for free, for a lot of reasons. What would you all charge to TD a one-day tournament of 70-100 people? Is the $1 a player still reasonable? I heard someone else say that the TD should make the equivalent of 2nd place?
I don’t have any experience with that since I have only been TD in conjunction with a nonprofit scholastic group (not that nonprofit status is incompatible paying for TD service), but I would guess that factors to consider are the level of TD certification, the entry fee, the number of rounds, whether there are other TDs assisting and what their fee would be, and to some extent (as you mention) a reasonable prevailing comparison. I would expect a national tournament to pay more than a local tournament. This is something the organizer should consider before putting out the flier.
With a $2,000 guaranteed entry prize, and if the chief TD is also managing the computer and assuming 6 rounds (5 rounds seems a bit low for 100 people but it could be done), I would say $150-$250 is reasonable, assuming 10 hours and that rate being $15-$25 per hour. There is also the time spent submitting the report, handling pre-registration problems with memberships, and figuring out prize distribution.
Others probably have much more experience than I do in this.
10 hours? LOL! Taking into account time spent before the event, the day of the event and afterwards, 20 hours sounds more likely. I figure TDs who get paid (I’ve never been paid for any of the events I’ve directed) are doing good to make the minimum wage.
In the events I organize and TD, I figure I make MUCH less than minimum wage. However, I usually play for free, and sometimes make a small profit. Everyone has fun.
I won’t be doing any of the organizing on this one, so hopefully the hours pre-event will be limited. I have rarely had any major problems after, and I usually have events submitted for rating within hours of the last game being done, but my big events have mostly been trophy scholastics. I think the major issue is going to be the prize fund distribution. There have been big problems in the structure with this organizer before (1st U400 in the reserve section making as much $$ as 1st place, etc). I will work with the organizer on that to make it more managable.
There are a lot of cases I would direct for free, but not this one.
A standard and customary rate for local events is $1 per player per day. If this is a two day Grand Prix event with 80 players the fee would be $160, but the organizer should probably pay $200 to cover your meals and travel costs. You can expect to spend 15 hours the first day from setup and registration until the last game is done. The second day will likely be about a 12 hour work day. Then there is time to be spent preparing the report for rating.
A lot of local clubs try not to pay TD’s and rely on volunteers. But you get what you pay for. If there are disputes at some of the events, some volunteers disappear feeling they don’t need the aggravation. If you pay the TD, then he/she puts up with the complaints as a cost of being a TD.
When I became a TD in the early 1970’s, one of the elderly gentlemen who ran events told me that he rarely had complaints from players, because everyone knew that he would make “interesting” pairings that would make the complainer face tougher competitors. Another TD was famous for his set of unwritten pairing rules. He made sure to pair friends; enemies; relatives; people who came a distance in the same car; women; and little kids. He once dropped a .38 caliber revolver on a table when someone questioned one of his rulings. That was in the colorful good old days before rulebooks and computer pairing programs.
If duties require pre- and post-work and is alone directing, $250-$300 for a one-day GP is a minimum for a Senior TD or higher. All too often someone directs above his certification! TD skills are undersold!
I don’t know if I would agree with Joe on $300/day being reasonable as a MINIMUM for a Senior TD.
I think that a lot of it has to do with the event (scholastic or adult), if the TD WANTS to do the event or not (I’d bet that many Senior TD’s would direct for free to get their Category R for their ANTD certification!), and other intangibles.
