Pre-register vs day of sign up

[texhop58]

First, I want to say I am a first time td. I am td ing a birdie bash to help raise money for a new course that is only 12 holes trying to expand to 18. All money goes back into course and tourney fund for the course. But I have noticed in other events I play in. A large amout of walk up players trying to play. Which I am cool with. Besides the obvious answer of not knowing if you would be off of work or able to come. Why choose to pay cash. I ask because my event is still 6 weeks away. But alot have asked if they can just give me the cash now.
I do wonder if its so that spouse doesn't know how much you are true oh spending.

 

[smyith]

I always prefer to pay in cash. nothing to trace.
personally, I would only accept online pre reg or cash in person....no mail in reg.
then have day of sign up. I personally think late fees for this are lame and would not do it. but i do understand the reasoning behind it.

 

[texhop58]

I will try to add poll options if I see something i missed. I do wonder if times are changing though as my last dd event filled the Wednesday before the event. And several got left out. The December dd event in my area had the same issue with 20 to 30 people trying to sign up the day of but were turned away as 115 had already signed up by the Friday doubles event

 

[mullethead326]

Depends on the occasion... for small things like weekly events it should be a day-of sign up, of course. Ahead of time, I'd like to be able to have options between paying online, mailing a check, and having a location (DG shop, etc) to pay cash. A good compromise is being able to e-mail a TD to hold a spot, and confirming week-of.

 

[texhop58]

I have set up a cash drop off spot. Just more curious why people like cash over online. Yea Mini should be day of. Lucky for me vibram sets everything up so I don't have to worry about overspending on disc and not having anyone show up. But if I was running an event to make cash I would be awfully worried about putting alot of cash and not knowing if people will show or not. Again thanks to vibram for making this event easy lol

 

[jimbosprint]

Cash (in advance, not day of): Money goes towards the tournament not a credit card company.

 

[Royal Hill]

Hopper,

If you are going to move into coordinating and directing events more often, do spend some time thinking about how you want to have things run. Spend time thinking about what you really want, and what is important to you. Is risk of expense coverage your primary concern? Do you feel the need to have everything lined up is important to your stomach lining? Etc, etc.

IF you don't think about what you, the primary effort expender, want... Then the masses will decide it for you. And the masses are not expending the effort, so why leave it up to them?

Once you know what you want, evaluate if it's reasonable. Then decided where to compromise, if you need to. But keep pushing the culture to meet you at least halfway. You might just be surprised.

But as the the first question... Why do people like day of event walk up cash? Because its the path of least resistance. ...and maybe it's been allowed to work.

If I don't have to make any comittment, and can flake out at the last minute, for any reason... I might.

The more people comit to something, anything, the more they demonstrate that it has value.

 

[Old Bassman]

If you are talking about TDing a Vibram Bidie Bash then the peeps need to pay in advance to get the discs they want and the shirt size right.

Jimbo & Royal Hill: The birdie bash is different.

 

[texhop58]

I don't plan on really td-ing alot of events. I'm just doing this to raise money for the course. Almost all events I will do will be raising money just for the course. I am a person who always like to pay in advance. Like I said I've seen alot get turned away recently and was wondering why they didn't pre reg. and so far 6 of th 11 signing up has gave me cash to register them (event is in may). I don't mind, but have to explain to wifey why there is a 25 dollar charge every few days lol. And the vibram sign up is very different. But like if I wanted to run an legacy ace race or discraft ace race or a dynic two disc challenge. I am a little worried about buying 600 dollars worth of disc and having no one show. Then I am out of pocket, when I could of just donated that money to park. Or have the other end which happened in the oct ace race I played in. Granbury had 15 pre reg and 47 show up.

 

[Sadjo]

If you advertise no walk up or day of registration, and specify to ensure getting into event you must register one week prior to event, people will complain but they'll do it.

 

[DavidSauls]

I think you're muddling two issues---payment method, and pre-registration.

I see people pre-registering online, or with check by mail, or with cash in person to the TD. I see people signing up on the day-of with cash, checks, or even credit/debit cards if allowed.

I suspect the method of payment is largely the same for tournaments as other purchases. It just depends on how that person handles his or her finances. I do know a few people who avoid the online registration fees out of principle.

The reluctance to pre-register may be waiting for good weather, uncertain personal schedule, not having the money to spend for something months away, or a bunch of other reasons. If an event is unlikely to fill, and allows day-of registration, a lot of people will wait until then.

 

[texhop58]

I get what you say about mudding the options together. But they are kind of connected. Most people I see signing day of are paying cash, where most who pre reg are paying by credit. Now I am giving the option to pay me cash and signing up. Just wonder why people would rather give me cash 6 weeks out rather then registering themselves. It's more of a curiosity thing for me.

 

[texhop58]

And the birdie bash is very different. The players are getting disc for their cash and bonus items. There is no real cash to win. Except an ace pot. So the weather doesn't really affect this tourney as it would others. But I knew that would be a reason why some wait. I do. But the. I usually sign up the Tuesday before because I can get an idea of what's going to happen that day

 

[simpletwist]

I always pre-reg. Well almost. If I'm short of cash then I wait till last minute.

 

[Smigles]

First, I want to say I am a first time td. I am td ing a birdie bash to help raise money for a new course that is only 12 holes trying to expand to 18. All money goes back into course and tourney fund for the course. But I have noticed in other events I play in. A large amout of walk up players trying to play. Which I am cool with. Besides the obvious answer of not knowing if you would be off of work or able to come. Why choose to pay cash. I ask because my event is still 6 weeks away. But alot have asked if they can just give me the cash now.
I do wonder if its so that spouse doesn't know how much you are true oh spending.

People who pay at registration are usualy too clueless to get their lives together. They can not think a week ahead and therefore have to make more work for TD's.

Just make the registration 10$ more if you dont pay in advance. That way the sleepy heads can still register but you profit off their incompetence.

 

[nohr]

I voted for "Waiting to see weather forecast".

This is a terrible way to figure out what tournaments you are going to play. It makes sense that some people don't like playing in the rain or cold or whatever. But you will talk yourself out of way too many tournaments. Or talk yourself into waking up super early and making the decision that morning. I really hate when people get on weeks before an event and start talking about bad weather. I have played plently of casual rounds and tournaments where there was a ~30% chance of rain and it was beatuiful outside all day.

 

[DavidSauls]

As for the poll---

I almost always pre-register but the times I've registered day-of, it was because my personal schedule unexpectedly freed up at the last moment. That option's not available in the poll.

 

[CaptainAnhyzer]

Once you TD a few events, you'll realize how important it is to get as many as possible to pre reg.

 

[mndiscgolfer]

when TD's are setting up an online registration you just use paypal? is there another option for non sanctioned events?

 

[DavidSauls]

There are vendors who will handle online registration, with various payment options. They charge the players a small fee.