12-12-2012, 11:22 AM
David G Congalton Wrote:The cost of the event is certainly something that should be reviewed. There are advantages to how this year's event was organised but the downside is that it did cost more than last year (and obviously the year before that) for one adult and one junior. This was mainly down to the accommodation cost and for some this meant that they would pay around about the same as last year, where there was more than one junior or more than one adult in a room, if that makes sense.
To reduce the cost to around £65 per person would mean either finding really cheap, self-catering accommodation or subsidising the cost per person from the International budget. This is perhaps a strategy decision similar to the discussion elsewhere on what the adult budget should be spent on.
It's really a question of what is best for the young people involved and their families. Ideally, I would like to see this event or a similar one cost nothing to those attending (especially the players), as I would for all events where someone is selected for their country. However, with limited funds I'm not sure if this is possible. It is, though, one of my objectives for the future to somehow find the income to do this, on some sort of scale.
David, the increase in the cost of the event this year is mainly due to a group of parents. Last year the accomodation at the Liverpool Youth Hostel was basic and non too clean. There was a general consensus of opinion that the parents would be happy to pay extra to have cleaner, more comfortable accomodation. Because of this some parents got together and block booked rooms at the Premier Inn in West Derby, Liverpool, as an alternative (with the permission of the IJD of course =) ). We all feel that this alternative has proven to be very successful.
It would be great to have some sort of financial subsidy for junior events as many of them are very costly and I am afraid to count up how much money I have spent on Andrew and Kirsty's chess this year =o (and I know a lot of other parents who are in the same postion). However finances are tight for everyone. I know you are doing a lot of work looking into potential income for chess and I wish you every success with it.