The following tip for tournament directors was first published in UDisc's Release Point newsletter in July. It was written by Dean Schaub, an experienced tournament director living in the Netherlands’ capital city, Amsterdam. Along with founding the AMSterdam Challenge, he’s also been a course tournament director at Europe’s largest disc golf event, Tyyni, is sponsored by Finland-based Natural Born Disc Golfer, and is the co-host of the Europe-focused disc golf podcast The Perfect Flight.
Our newsletter is delivered to subscribers on the first and third Wednesday of each month, and each one includes exclusive, useful content like you'll find below. Seth Munsey of Disc Golf Strong contributes fitness tips to the month's first newsletter and Schaub contributes advice for tournament organizers in the second.
Along with that content, the newsletter helps you keep up with our latest articles and news about UDisc and UDisc Live.
The next newsletter goes out to subscribers on August 19, and there you'll find a brand new tip from Schaub. So if you're interested in more of what you read below, sign up for the newsletter here or in the gray area that says "SIGN UP FOR THE RELEASE POINT NEWSLETTER" at the bottom of this article.
Dean Schaub's TD Tip: How To Think About & Create Value
One of the words that recurs consistently when I talk to others about running events is "value."
There are a few ways to think about value as it relates to a disc golf tournament—the player packs, sponsorships, live scoring, etc. all add value to your event, but as a TD it is imperative that you think of value as a two (or three) way street.
As a tournament director, you’re really the only person who can properly determine the value of your actions, and you have to think of not only the value to yourself, but also the perception of value to players, sponsors, vendors, and others. There are many ways to add to your event while concurrently making your life as an organizer easier.
For example, during the early stages of the first event I ever organized, I knew that I needed money early on in the process to do the things I wanted to do without delays or stress. I negotiated 10 different molds of 10 discs apiece with the title sponsor (a newer manufacturer at the time) and set a date for early registrants to select their player pack disc.
This created a win-win-win situation as the sponsor saw that players were actively discussing their new products, the players were excited to choose their own player pack disc well in advance, and for me as players were signing up much earlier than usual to take advantage of being able to choose their own disc. When I got feedback on that event, the most consistently positive comments were about that feature of it, and I know that it led to a higher retention rate at future events.
I've had other positive experiences in this vein, too, and what each of them has proven to me is this: When you're adding features to an event, always ask yourself where the value is flowing.
Is there enough value added from CTP prizes that you can charge to enter the CTP without negatively affecting players’ perceptions of the tournament? Do you approach side events as an obligation that inevitably bring about a ‘meh’ feeling or do they highlight a specific sponsor and give you an opportunity for a dynamic social media post that can strengthen relationships and make players feel special? What additional items are you offering at registration—are you offering any added bonus to players who buy an additional player pack add-on months before the event rather than at the event itself?
The only way my events have succeeded financially the last few years is by pre-selling raffle tickets at registration with a deal not available during the tournament weekend. Players love it and the added early revenue makes the tournament better and means less stress for everyone.
There are a lot of ways to add value for yourself, for players, for sponsors, for local businesses, and for your event. Try to have a vision that accomplishes more than one or two of these with each new idea. You’re already going through all the effort to run an amazing event, so go ahead and maximize value while you’re at it! It will surely pay off over time.
