Promoting Use Of TLAs

[Steve_Immitt]

I know a lot of tournaments don’t use TLAs because some organizers don’t believe the expense of a TLA is worth the possible increase in the turnout.

To help promote the idea of more tournaments using TLAs, maybe the office would consider offering a small discount on the rating fee ($5?) for tournaments which use TLAs and which submit rating reports online? Each TLA currently has a unique TLA ID number. If this number were input during the rating report submission (and if the number correctly belonged to the organizer’s batch of TLAs) then a deduction could be made to the rating fee.

Those organizers who don’t want to use TLAs (maybe they don’t have their tournament or site details locked in yet) still wouldn’t have to. But this might help induce some organizers to start (or resume) using TLAs. I think the players benefit if tournaments have TLAs, as there are some players who might not know about the tournament otherwise (visitors, returning members, new arrivals, etc.). The tournaments would also benefit, because larger turnouts should make the tournaments more attractive, in terms of larger prizes and a larger variety of opposition for the players.

The USCF would also benefit, if the TLAs were priced correctly, not only because the increase in TLA revenue should eventuallly more than offset the rating fee discounts, but also because if there were more and more tournaments in Chess Life, then more and more players would look to Chess Life for tournaments to play in, and the value of the membership would increase. A prospective new member would probably be more eager to join if he or she were to see a typical magazine loaded with tournaments to play in.

[tmagchesspgh]

Many tournament players look at state chess federation websites, local club websites, or the regional clearinghouses. Many promote events for free. Why should an affiliate that is running an event that appeals only to local players spend money when it does not have to do so? TLAs for local events get lost in the USCF list next to the repetitive listing of out of state events.

[Brian_Mottershead]

@Steve_Immitt

I know a lot of tournaments don’t use TLAs because some organizers don’t believe the expense of a TLA is worth the possible increase in the turnout.

To help promote the idea of more tournaments using TLAs, maybe the office would consider offering a small discount on the rating fee ($5?) for tournaments which use TLAs and which submit rating reports online? Each TLA currently has a unique TLA ID number. If this number were input during the rating report submission (and if the number correctly belonged to the organizer’s batch of TLAs) then a deduction could be made to the rating fee.

Those organizers who don’t want to use TLAs (maybe they don’t have their tournament or site details locked in yet) still wouldn’t have to. But this might help induce some organizers to start (or resume) using TLAs. I think the players benefit if tournaments have TLAs, as there are some players who might not know about the tournament otherwise (visitors, returning members, new arrivals, etc.). The tournaments would also benefit, because larger turnouts should make the tournaments more attractive, in terms of larger prizes and a larger variety of opposition for the players.

The USCF would also benefit, if the TLAs were priced correctly, not only because the increase in TLA revenue should eventuallly more than offset the rating fee discounts, but also because if there were more and more tournaments in Chess Life, then more and more players would look to Chess Life for tournaments to play in, and the value of the membership would increase. A prospective new member would probably be more eager to join if he or she were to see a typical magazine loaded with tournaments to play in.

The reason that tournament organizers don’t purchase TLA advertising in Chess Life and the TLA Bulletin is that they don’t think it is worth it (compared to alternatives such as State Chess Association websites, etc), and because the lead time is too long.

Given that the USCF generates revenue from required memberships and rating fees when people enter tournaments, it seems to me that TLA’s should be free, excluding perhaps long TLA’s which take up an inordinate amount of space, for which it would be reasonable to charge something. The USCF should also try to get its act together regarding the online versus printed TLA’s.

[DENTONCHESS]

@Steve_Immitt

I know a lot of tournaments don’t use TLAs because some organizers don’t believe the expense of a TLA is worth the possible increase in the turnout.

To help promote the idea of more tournaments using TLAs, maybe the office would consider offering a small discount on the rating fee ($5?) for tournaments which use TLAs and which submit rating reports online? Each TLA currently has a unique TLA ID number. If this number were input during the rating report submission (and if the number correctly belonged to the organizer’s batch of TLAs) then a deduction could be made to the rating fee.

Those organizers who don’t want to use TLAs (maybe they don’t have their tournament or site details locked in yet) still wouldn’t have to. But this might help induce some organizers to start (or resume) using TLAs. I think the players benefit if tournaments have TLAs, as there are some players who might not know about the tournament otherwise (visitors, returning members, new arrivals, etc.). The tournaments would also benefit, because larger turnouts should make the tournaments more attractive, in terms of larger prizes and a larger variety of opposition for the players.

The USCF would also benefit, if the TLAs were priced correctly, not only because the increase in TLA revenue should eventuallly more than offset the rating fee discounts, but also because if there were more and more tournaments in Chess Life, then more and more players would look to Chess Life for tournaments to play in, and the value of the membership would increase. A prospective new member would probably be more eager to join if he or she were to see a typical magazine loaded with tournaments to play in.

Steve, many of these points re magazines were points Sam Sloan made in 2008. I do not believe that there
can be much argument that rather than help adult memberships rise, that in fact, the on-line magazine
subscription only option has in fact has had the opposite effect.

Rob Jones

[Ron_Suarez]

Moderator Mode: Off

Rob, the times they are a changin’.

Just 1 year ago, I used my laptop to access the internet and had an iPod Touch to check email and keep track of my professional schedule. I never would consider using either the laptop or the iPod Touch to read anything like magazines or books.

At the end of October I had a chance to upgrade to an iPad. The iPad keeps track of my schedule and address book the same as the iPod did and with its bigger screen it also works better using Shredder. I also have found that I now only use the iPad when wanting to read books or magazines. Both Chess Life and Runner’s World come to me as pdf’s that I load on the iPad to read with an app. I also have now downloaded books on the iPad as well. Yes, I have some fiction books that are much more convenient to read on an iPad than carrying the book around.

A few days ago, when someone posted about Irina Krush’s comment about draw offers, I saw the Chess Life magazine in the mail, but I already had it loaded on my iPad. I used the iPad to find and read the article. It was much more convenient to use.

There are now tablet devices on the market competing with the iPad that are much less costly and still very usable.

When I look for TLA’s, as I did looking for a September, Saturday tournament, I first go to the Illinois Chess Association site for their listings. The state site can and will have listings not in the USCF TLA’s. If I am ready to travel across the various state lines, then I will go to the USCF web TLA’s in search of a tournament in Wisconsin, Iowa, Indiana or Missouri, as the other state tournaments will be listed there.

I also know a number of members that are both new and more established as members. I do not see the Chess Life Online option as being a deterrent for membership or something that would not keep the member wanting to rejoin. Of all the active Chess players that I know in the Central Illinois area, all of them do something on the internet. They either play online, study from online sources and/or read news and tournament information online.

Staying on topic to the thread, I agree that the USCF should use TLAs to promote Chess and the TLAs should be better promoted. I think the TLAs should be put in a more prominent place on the web site, AND the online format should be better structured so a player could put in their zip code and a mile radius of tournaments offered, as many websites offer when looking for a store location. There is no good reason why the USCF web page could not be brought up to a current and decent level of technology to better get out this information.

I also think the TLAs need to be free or ridiculously cheap. And the USCF should try to get all tournaments listed whether they are USCF rated or not. The Illinois Chess Association does this as a free thing and does not require membership in the ICA by anyone, including the TD, to list an event. They are extremely successful at having people go there to find an event to either play or spectate.

The USCF needs to be the leader in things like this, not lagging behind either private or state groups.

[relyea]

@Ron Suarez

Staying on topic to the thread, I agree that the USCF should use TLAs to promote Chess and the TLAs should be better promoted. I think the TLAs should be put in a more prominent place on the web site, AND the online format should be better structured so a player could put in their zip code and a mile radius of tournaments offered, as many websites offer when looking for a store location. There is no good reason why the USCF web page could not be brought up to a current and decent level of technology to better get out this information.

Online TLAs (used to?) have this functionality. They are free for any affiliate, and there is even a button on the online TLA page to get a pdf of a “Chess Life TLA”. The problem is that those TLAs have been very unpopular with organizers for some reason. Most of the online TLAs have been created by a very few affiliates (including mine) and as a result that search was much less useful than it would have been otherwise. I think a big part of the problem is that TLAs tend to vary widely, despite Joan’s best efforts to standardize them, and many organizers resent having to fill out a form rather than going free form on their TLAs. I think having free form TLAs not vetted by the office (which has a cost) is a very bad idea.

Alex Relyea

[Ron_Suarez]

@relyea

Online TLAs (used to?) have this functionality. They are free for any affiliate, and there is even a button on the online TLA page to get a pdf of a “Chess Life TLA”. The problem is that those TLAs have been very unpopular with organizers for some reason. Most of the online TLAs have been created by a very few affiliates (including mine) and as a result that search was much less useful than it would have been otherwise. I think a big part of the problem is that TLAs tend to vary widely, despite Joan’s best efforts to standardize them, and many organizers resent having to fill out a form rather than going free form on their TLAs. I think having free form TLAs not vetted by the office (which has a cost) is a very bad idea.

Alex Relyea

Well, this is certainly a promotional and PR problem for the USCF.

In order to find the TLAs, a person must first deal with the splash page giving him the option of going to USCF Sales or the Home page. Then he must look in the menu where one of the first choices is to go to the USCF Sales. Further down the list of links is the Clubs & Tourneys link.

Once this link is clicked, you see a list of choices including the Grand Prix and National choices. There is a list of state names that are links to pages with the TLAs of that state. Except at the bottom is a list of tourneys that didn’t make it in time or something weird. There is the continuing option of setting your email preferences.

But, and this is a big but, if you just want to look for tournaments you might want to attend, either as a player or spectator, you must go through the state listings, and in the case where you might go to different states you must go to multiple state links. I saw no option to find tournaments within a certain radius, and I also saw no option to have these downloaded in a pdf.

That’s nice that affiliates get a free listing. But when you compare the listings at the USCF site to the ones at the Illinois Chess Association site, the USCF TLA pales.

As I said the USCF really needs to provide free online listings for tournaments no matter whether the organizer or TD is an affiliate or not. This would promote the TLAs as people would go there naturally to find a tournament in an area. This would also promote Chess.

The USCF also needs to put in the option of a person entering a zip code and mile radius for tournament listings and then seeing all tournaments in that area. Many retail places like Target, Best Buy, Office Depot and many others have this option to locate a store. It isn’t that difficult.

The USCF also needs to put a link to this tournament listing page more prominently on the Main Page. Look at how prominent they have USCF Sales. It’s all over the place.

Tournaments are the main activity the USCF offers and supports. To have an easily accessible and usable TLA page is crucial to the USCF promoting Chess in our land.

If the USCF would actually step up and do what they should in this area, you would see people across the country again looking here first to find a tournament.

[relyea]

@Ron Suarez

As I said the USCF really needs to provide free online listings for tournaments no matter whether the organizer or TD is an affiliate or not. This would promote the TLAs as people would go there naturally to find a tournament in an area. This would also promote Chess.

If the organizer is not an affiliate, then the tournament is not going to be USCF rated. Where does USCF benefit by promoting unrated events, or events using another rating system, if you prefer?

Alex Relyea

[mregan]

I would like to add my voice to Ron’s point about putting the link to the TLAs in a more prominent location. It would be good to do an analysis of where visitors go on the USCF web site. I’ve got to believe that a large fraction are looking for the TLAs and the number of clicks required is ridiculous. This means that we’re losing people who don’t know the path to the TLAs.
Upcoming tournaments (not tourneys) should be on the main menu. This is a 1 minute change in Joomla (the system that runs the web site). Unfortunately, we don’t seem to be able to make any changes to the web site.
BTW, we are now two years past the end-of-life of the version of Joomla ( 1.0) that runs the USCF web site. Joomla is now up to version 1.7 and there have been two years of security fixes that we have not applied. The longer we wait the harder this will be.
Mike

[KeithAmmann]

[Ron_Suarez]

@relyea

If the organizer is not an affiliate, then the tournament is not going to be USCF rated. Where does USCF benefit by promoting unrated events, or events using another rating system, if you prefer?

Alex Relyea

The USCF has a mission to promote chess play in our land. What makes Chess better will make the USCF better.

To my knowledge the vast majority of events that are not USCF rated will be unrated. Also, the vast majority of tournaments listed will be rated and from an affiliate. To list non-affiliate or non-rated tournaments won’t be much to the USCF.

Having the USCF list and promote all chess tournaments will be a good thing for the USCF and Chess.

Please look at this as a complete picture. We would have a prominent link on the main page that says something like Chess Tournament Listings. We would then have an option to put in a zip code or address along with a mile radius. From that all Chess tournaments in that area would be listed for the individual. Wouldn’t that be cool?

The idea is to make the USCF Tournament Listings be the one that people go to looking for a tournament to either play in or watch. Currently it is an also ran. In Illinois the people that I talk with all go to the ICA tournament listing first, and sometimes only. They don’t consider the USCF listings to be easy enough or inclusive enough of the tournaments they might want to attend.

[EricHammond]

Steve,
I currently use an online TLA. Am I part of the target audience that should be enticed by the discount to use a print TLA, or does using an online TLA satisfy what you had in mind?

[CamasChess]

I have tried to get Oregon and Washington organizers to have CL TLAs but have not had much success. The major events such as
Washington Open get CL treatment. I get an e-mail from USCF telling me about chess events within 500 miles of Vancouver several times a month.

[DENTONCHESS]

@Brian Mottershead

@Steve_Immitt

I know a lot of tournaments don’t use TLAs because some organizers don’t believe the expense of a TLA is worth the possible increase in the turnout.

To help promote the idea of more tournaments using TLAs, maybe the office would consider offering a small discount on the rating fee ($5?) for tournaments which use TLAs and which submit rating reports online? Each TLA currently has a unique TLA ID number. If this number were input during the rating report submission (and if the number correctly belonged to the organizer’s batch of TLAs) then a deduction could be made to the rating fee.

Those organizers who don’t want to use TLAs (maybe they don’t have their tournament or site details locked in yet) still wouldn’t have to. But this might help induce some organizers to start (or resume) using TLAs. I think the players benefit if tournaments have TLAs, as there are some players who might not know about the tournament otherwise (visitors, returning members, new arrivals, etc.). The tournaments would also benefit, because larger turnouts should make the tournaments more attractive, in terms of larger prizes and a larger variety of opposition for the players.

The USCF would also benefit, if the TLAs were priced correctly, not only because the increase in TLA revenue should eventuallly more than offset the rating fee discounts, but also because if there were more and more tournaments in Chess Life, then more and more players would look to Chess Life for tournaments to play in, and the value of the membership would increase. A prospective new member would probably be more eager to join if he or she were to see a typical magazine loaded with tournaments to play in.

The reason that tournament organizers don’t purchase TLA advertising in Chess Life and the TLA Bulletin is that they don’t think it is worth it (compared to alternatives such as State Chess Association websites, etc), and because the lead time is too long.

Given that the USCF generates revenue from required memberships and rating fees when people enter tournaments, it seems to me that TLA’s should be free, excluding perhaps long TLA’s which take up an inordinate amount of space, for which it would be reasonable to charge something. The USCF should also try to get its act together regarding the online versus printed TLA’s.

As someone who runs dozens of events per year, I will state that TLA advertisement is
a fantastic deal. Very inexpensive.

Now Brian made this point:

and because the lead time is too long.

and this is absolutely correct, and why I do not enter at least a dozen more adds per year.

Rob Jones

[Meadmaker]

I direct very small events (<20 players). Whenever I can, I take out a Chess Life TLA, and I have had several people find my tournament as a result. I don’t understand why more people don’t use them. They really are dirt cheap. Of course, mine simply give really bare bones details (like: 5SS G/30, rated and unrated) and then a link to the web site where I have the real information. (gamesinmichigan.com/chessforcharity) It costs about 10 or 12 bucks.

Sure, most people find the event via the Michigan Chess Association web site, but what I have found is that the people who found my event via the magazine TLAs are often old timers who haven’t been to an event in years. In one case, a guy came who hadn’t been to a tournament since 1991. He didn’t look in the MCA web site regularly, but he still had a Chess Life subscription, and seeing two lines of text under “Michigan” caught his attention, and he came. I’m really happy to find players like that.

Besides, I like to let people know, if they are just browsing their mostly unused subscription, that not every chess tournament is a weekend long affair that costs 100 bucks to enter. Sometimes, people just like to get together to play Chess.