NAC's and Fencing Dollars

[prototoast]

Originally Posted by whtouche

That's been discussed before.
The USFA doesn't (directly) control where the NACs go to. It depends on which cities they get bids from, and which are the most attractive to them.
If noone in the northeast is trying to get a NAC here, at the very least, it'll never hapen(again).

I realize that is the current system--and the current system does not spread out NACs very well... which is why I suggested informally that a change would be in the best interest of the sport. I wish the usfa would at least semi-actively control where the events happened... I admit my reasons are largely selfish. I can't afford to travel to a NAC if it involves flying and so I'd like it if occasionally, there was one in the northeast. Particularly considering that we have more fencers here than anywhere else in the country. I don't like it, and I think it would do a lot to national fencing (kind of like what they're doing with the ryc's--except I'm too old for that).

So basically, I think we need to push for a worcester nac--it's cheaper than boston, a little closer to NYC, and... uh... the town will be worse than cleveland.

[whtouche]

Nobody should ever have to go to worcester.
I don't think we should do that to people..

[oiuyt]

Not to mention that its airport no longer has any commercial flights. An hour from Logan (or Green in Prov.) (1:13 from Bradley, 1:20 from Manchester) isn't horrid, but it's certainly worse than any of the NACs I've been to excluding Overland Park (then again we continue to put NACs there, so the USFA/competition committee apparently is okay with that). Find a location in Worcester that's large enough and cheap. I'm guessing the Centrum charges a bit more than we can afford.... :)

-B :)

[keith]

Originally Posted by whtouche

Nobody should ever have to go to worcester.
I don't think we should do that to people..

harsh but oh so true.

[zeissg]

Originally Posted by dekko

I was talking about EDEW. He lives in California, 4000+ porn films per year, suggested his hotel room looked a set from a paritcular kind of one of those kinds of films.

Also, '99 was a long time ago. Many things have changed since then. Someday you may realize this.

With all Dew respect, I know for a fact that EDEW lives at least 350 miles from the capital of porn... he is in NorCal... and the capital of porn is right here in sunny Los Angeles (Van Nuys and Chatsworth to be specific).

[sabreman]

I say move them to Montreal. I always enjoyed attending Canadian Elite events in Montreal. Always finished on time with minimal hassles. The night life is great (can't beat the exchange rate) and hotties everywhere you look.

[telkanuru]

Actually, I think one of the best things for a host city to have would be a decent public transit system. When such a thing is in existance, one can place the actual venue/hotel outside the city proper (read: cheaper) while preserving the ease of access to good restraunts/whatever. Boston would be good. I'd also put in a vote (and I think I've said this before) Manchester, NH. Seattle, WA would similarly be a good place. There are a lot of good medium sized cities for the USFA to choose from. They just don't pick them.

[Allen Evans]

My experiance with NAC's is that the USFA doesn't "pick" places. An organization makes a bid for an event, promoting a specific venue. That organization may or may not be the local Division. In the case of the upcoming Richmond, Virginia circuit, a non-fencing sports organization promoted Richmond to the USFA on their own, without any encouragement from the Virginia Division (though they are subsequently working with the Division to make it a successful event).

The USFA then determines if that venue is suitable (mostly on the basis of price and size, but also including factors such as hotel space, transportation, and so forth). If the organization that promoted the location is not going to supply all the local labor for the bid, the USFA contacts the Division to insure that there is local "on the ground" support, and the bid moves forward.

Seattle held a Div II/III several years ago that went very well. I knew that the USFA WANTED to return to Seattle, but the USFA just can't GO to Seattle without a bid from the Division or another organization offering the requirements that a NAC needs. In some cities, of course, convention space is a buyer's market, hence our constant return to Overland Park. In some places, convention space is a sellers market, which is why there hasn't been a NAC in, say, New Orleans.

There seems to be a lot of misconceptions about how NAC cities are picked and NACs themselves are run and organized. I know that this process has been sketched out before, but things are much more complex than just deciding to hold a tournament in a particular city and going there.

Allen Evans
Dominion Fencing

[Inquartata]

Originally Posted by sabreman

I say move them to Montreal. I always enjoyed attending Canadian Elite events in Montreal. Always finished on time with minimal hassles. The night life is great (can't beat the exchange rate) and hotties everywhere you look.

And don't forget the balmy weather and the opportunity to be looked down upon by ersatz French people!

[Dee EffEll]

Originally Posted by Allen Evans

My experiance with NAC's is that the USFA doesn't "pick" places. An organization makes a bid for an event, promoting a specific venue. That organization may or may not be the local Division. In the case of the upcoming Richmond, Virginia circuit, a non-fencing sports organization promoted Richmond to the USFA on their own, without any encouragement from the Virginia Division (though they are subsequently working with the Division to make it a successful event).

The USFA then determines if that venue is suitable (mostly on the basis of price and size, but also including factors such as hotel space, transportation, and so forth). If the organization that promoted the location is not going to supply all the local labor for the bid, the USFA contacts the Division to insure that there is local "on the ground" support, and the bid moves forward.

Seattle held a Div II/III several years ago that went very well. I knew that the USFA WANTED to return to Seattle, but the USFA just can't GO to Seattle without a bid from the Division or another organization offering the requirements that a NAC needs. In some cities, of course, convention space is a buyer's market, hence our constant return to Overland Park. In some places, convention space is a sellers market, which is why there hasn't been a NAC in, say, New Orleans.

There seems to be a lot of misconceptions about how NAC cities are picked and NACs themselves are run and organized. I know that this process has been sketched out before, but things are much more complex than just deciding to hold a tournament in a particular city and going there.

Allen Evans
Dominion Fencing

Craig, can we maybe get an FAQ set up on the board with this topic? Lord knows the USFA doesn't have squat on its "web site" regarding how NACs are organzied and run. Allen's description here is pretty accurate and informative, and EDew has posted about it in the past. If we are going to have an open forum where we can all come to complain, maybe we should all be briefed on the rules first? And hey, if we can get a bid packet from the USFA, maybe we can scan and post that too?

[achilleus]

Originally Posted by Dee EffEll

Craig, can we maybe get an FAQ set up on the board with this topic? Lord knows the USFA doesn't have squat on its "web site" regarding how NACs are organzied and run. Allen's description here is pretty accurate and informative, and EDew has posted about it in the past. If we are going to have an open forum where we can all come to complain, maybe we should all be briefed on the rules first? And hey, if we can get a bid packet from the USFA, maybe we can scan and post that too?

I guess I was under the impression that this thread was not about how it's done and why do we go to bad places, but how to improve it.

Soter's idea of total fencing dollars is about how much more total money the current system costs than possible alternate solutions.

The idea that was floated in the Bay Area years ago was thought of by parents who offered the USFA more than enough money to cover their bid. The parents offered the money because they were still saving money once they added travel expenses and days of work missed.

That was one such solution I've heard.