With little advance prediction, an unprecedented wind event swept through the Washington area last night, knocking out power to millions of customers.
Among the customers is the site of the third annual Fairfax Open. There are 80 advance entrants, and play is scheduled to begin at 9:30.
I cannot and will not conduct an event in a dark ballroom without air conditioning. It is unsafe for the players on a day when the temperature will approach or exceed 100.
Queries:
Is a cancellation under Rule 23A2b justified at this time?
If not, how long should I wait before reconsidering?
Is waiting for power to come on a viable alternative, accelerating the schedule once it does (if it does–recovery is expected to take days)?
I am inclined to cancel, but I am reluctant to lightly cancel a Grand Prix event with substantial guaranteed prizes, that would be profitable if it were possible to hold it.
Sadly, all I have is my smartphone, with no internet to change my web site.
Yes, this is clearly a situation which would fall under 23A2b.
It is unlikely given the wide area affected that you would be able to arrange an alternative site. (A few years ago the site for a Goichberg event was damaged by a fire a few days before the event, but Bill was able to find a different site.)
As it is now past 9:30 ET, it is probably too late to try to do an email blast to notify possible walk-in registrations of it (and many of them may also be without power anyway.)
However, if the event is rescheduled, contact the office, in similar circumstances we have done a no-charge email blast for the rescheduled event.
I am following the CCA policy of waiting to see if conditions change before cancelling. I have asked players who wish to return at 4 p.m. If the power is on, we’ll have Rounds 1 and 2 at G/85.
There doesn’t seem to be a great deal of interest in a (possible) one day event, so if I can’t go by 4, I’m not going to go.
At just after 3, with no estimate of restoration and no possibility of adequately cooling the room, even if power were restored immediately, I cancelled the event.
Forgive me for taking this topic in a kind of off-topic direction, but now I’m thinking about insurance. Is there standard insurance coverage for clubs and/or organizers that would cover losses in a situation like this? I’m thinking specifically about expenses such as the bill for the ballroom that you didn’t get to use because the power was out. That could be a painful hit if you’re having to refund registrants’ money.
Yes there is. It is expensive. Considering the number of times it would get used one would be well advised to take the premiums and put them in a savings account to use for that rare occasion when it is needed (self-insurance) rather than pay them to the insurance company. The savings account method will be a net gain.
Keith, while the risk of loss can be shifted in contract language, it would ordinarily lie with the hotel. They don’t get paid if they can’t provide a facility. I don’t know of any reputable brand that would seek to shift this.
My loss for the weekend is $78.49, for a TLA and unrefundable PayPal fees. Compared to the profit I was expecting, it’s a bad result, but not worth insuring against.