I like the t-shirt idea better than the additional trophies. My son finished just out of trophy range (4.5), but I don’t think he would have been particularly thrilled by a small “honorable mention” or “plus score” trophy. I think he’s gradually coming around to my view that the most valuable prize he can take away from a national event is his collection of game scores!
This brings up a pet peeve: why can’t the vendors order a reasonable number of t-shirts in appropriately small sizes? Between consulting the online advance entries list and the historical records, I’m sure they could do a much better job of anticipating the order size. Perhaps the best way to address this is to allow t-shirt orders (including size) to be placed online as part of the advance registration process. USCF could then either use this as a profit-making opportunity, or pass the orders along to the vendor. I’ve seen this used at the Memphis Chess Classic, and it works well.
I generally agree with tanstaafl’s observations, and would like to mention a few other ways that out-of-town participants can save money (just don’t let the hotel people know about these):
-Stay somewhere else if it’s within a reasonable distance. Like tanstaafl, we stayed at a value-priced motel - 5-minutes drive away, free parking, wireless broadband, kitchenette, all for $75/night.
-Park somewhere else. For convenience, I parked at the Galt House garage Friday & Sat mornings & paid the $9 daily rate. Sunday I parked at a meter on the street, for free.
-Eat somewhere else. As part of my pre-trip planning, I habitually locate all restaurants within walking distance of the venue, especially the closest Subway. We walked both to lunch & dinner Fri & Sat, and judging from the lines at the Fouth Street Live food court, we were hardly the only ones to have this bright idea.
In general, though, this event went very smoothly, and my compliments to the organizers.