[ecepal]

Hi all BBO members,

FOT (friends of TopFlight) has a new project everyone (even nonmembers) should know about. So I am writing about this new initiative here to prevent any misunderstandings about it. FOT has a new SPONSOR (who wants to remain anonymous so will refer to the sponsor as "S"). "S" like to play in strong games to improve his/her skills and enhance his/her enjoyment of the game, and s/he feels many others feel this way too. "S" has been playing in FOT tournaments for a long time and has learned a lot by the high quality of the game provided by the many BBO Gold Stars who play in these events. S has decided to donate a reward fund to enhance similar educational goals for others who enjoy playing in a strong field against top notch BBO gold star players, and to allow kibitzers to also benefit by watching such strong players playing in strong field. To enhance such event, S has pledged $250 US dollars per month to be distributed among gold star players who participate in FOT tournaments.

I will distribute this reward money among the gold stars who participate each month in FOT events. I am not certain how to split the money between the BBO gold stars (I am open to suggestions) but it will be split between the Stars who played in the most FOT events each month. We might start with $60 each to the two gold stars who played the most, and then $20 to the third most frequent playing gold star. Or we maybe we should give it all to the single gold star who plays the most. Please let me know your opinions about what would be the most effective way to encourage the greatest gold star participation.

I also have had preliminary talks with a very good professional tournament director (TD) who is willing direct 1 or 2 tournaments a week. All of the donor's funds will be distributed to the gold stars with the exception of what we pay the professional director. To qualify for a share of the reward money, all the gold stars need do is play, and at the end of each month the registrations will be calculated and the money distributed to them by paypal or by personal cheque. And, as always, FOT tournaments are free and open to all FOT club members, and kibitzers are always welcome.

Some star players might not like to play with their own BBO nickname and thus might prefer to use a second alias. In general, that seems ok to me but it raises a trust issue, as kibitzers and other players like to know who are they watching or playing against. So to qualify for the money, the stars have to play with their starred name (that is the point of the donation anyway). If you have any suggestions or worries about the format, feel free to contact me.

Thank you
Ecepal



Ps: I feel some amount of the money should go to nonstar loyal FOT player too..

[calabres]

Hi my dear Ece

As you know I strongly support FOT. Like you strongly support UNIBRIDGE CLUB.
I think the idea is prety good.

I hope that BBO Stars folow your idea, and that will provide to BBO comunity high quality tourneys sponsored this way.

I think this will be the first time that on BBO we would see tourneys under this format.

I wish you all the luck, you deserve all the sucess.

Big kiss

[Echognome]

It's an interesting question of how best to distribute the money to the stars to encourage the highest participation. Of course, the sponsor's wishes should be paramount. In order to encourage the most participation, I would guess that a lottery would be best. Have a set of prizes each month, say $150 to the winner, $75 as a second prize, and $25 as a third prize. Then for each time a star plays, they get a lottery ball in the pot. That way, their chance of winning each month is proportional to the number of times they play. Good for incentives, however a lot of management. However you do it, I wish you success and the best of luck.

[Mr. Dodgy]

I'm not a FOT member, but this is indeed an interesting question. If it were me I'd probably give something like 50% of the month's sponsorship (or 50% of what remains of it after TD remuneration) to the most-played Star. The remainder could be used for other awards, such as:

• Awards (appearance fees) to current world champions or some other superstar who participate in FOT tournaments
  
• Awards for high achievement in FOT tourneys by loyal non-star players (assuming that this is not contrary to your sponsor's wishes) - perhaps some mechanism whereby FOT members can vote for a FOTie of the Month, or any player/pair who manages to win twice in the month could get a small bonus.
  
• Awards for brilliancy on particular hands - members could nominate a play, bid, defence, etc. occurring during a FOT tourney which warrants special recognition.

This is not a comprehensive list, and the percentages are just numbers plucked out of thin air with no particular reason, but I hope it gives you some ideas.


Regards,


Justin