TIP Your TD

[thejake78]

... plastic, a paid evening with a cute call girl...

So maybe an S-TD or an STD for a TD?

 

[Chains Bailey]

I run multiple PDGA events a year and although the "tipping" idea is appreciated, I would suggest doing it indirectly - and ditch using the term "tipping", just consider it "supporting" the event/TD.

What I do is --- always have a CTP contest for a basket and a raffle. I think it allows the option to support the event, and TD, by participating in one of the two.

So, if someone offered a "tip", I would say thanks for the thought, but just ask them to use it in the CTP or raffle. It is win/win IMO - the TD raises some funds and the player knows they are supporting the event + has an opportunity to win something cool.

 

[CaptainAnhyzer]

I would be careful passing extra $$ to the TD.
what you see as a tip, others around could mistake to be some sort of bribe...

Yea, they're called paranoid.

 

[AlexD243]

they honestly may prefer a couple 6 packs of some premium local brewed beer.

Actually this seems like the best way to show your appreciation, WHO CAN SAY NO TO SOME NICE BEERS???

 

[The Hammer]

Just the tip. Just for a second, to see how it feels.

 

[NDABRUSH]

Completely different beast. Waitstaff and others in the food & beverage industry as well as hair stylists, delivery people... earn a substantial part of their living from tips, and it's generally understood that a tip is par for the course. You show your appreciation (or lack thereof) for services rendered with your gratuity.

But personally, I can't imagine slipping a few bucks to the TD. For some reason, that just seems crass.
I like the idea of something else they'd appreciate in lieu of $$. Brew, plastic, a paid evening with a cute call girl... I can see these making a TD's day moreso than currency.


Thing is, most TD's are very into the game and fairly well connected with sources for good plastic. Chances are any plastic worth the few bucks you might slip them as a tip isn't going to put much of a smile on their face.

The TD might be a recovering alcoholic that is happily married or gay and just because he is a TD doesn't automatically mean he has a room full of plastic or a pocket full of cash.

 

[Chains Bailey]

Just the tip. Just for a second, to see how it feels.

I had to DQ someone just for that reason --- I told him we can only do that AFTER the event is over.

 

[scarpfish]

Honestly, I'd rather the guy just take $5 out of my entry fee, just like I wish industries where tipping is customary would just pay their employees a full wage and embed that expense in the price.

 

[NDABRUSH]

I run multiple PDGA events a year and although the "tipping" idea is appreciated, I would suggest doing it indirectly - and ditch using the term "tipping", just consider it "supporting" the event/TD.

What I do is --- always have a CTP contest for a basket and a raffle. I think it allows the option to support the event, and TD, by participating in one of the two.

So, if someone offered a "tip", I would say thanks for the thought, but just ask them to use it in the CTP or raffle. It is win/win IMO - the TD raises some funds and the player knows they are supporting the event + has an opportunity to win something cool.

Good idea, that way everyone is happy.:thmbup:

 

[DavidSauls]

The best tips are when players volunteer to help out. Especially when, say, and out-of-town player, during the lunch break, offers to help check scorecards. Or lingers after the awards ceremony to help clean up, instead of hitting the road. Awesome.

Right behind that are the Thank Yous. Honestly, a cash tip is a nice idea, but if you just catch the TD in a quiet moment, or something like it, and tell him Thank You, that will go a long way. (It doesn't hurt to do the same to assistants, spotters, and everyone else involved, by the way).

Around here I see a lot of tips, in a roundabout way. Ams are paid in merch vouchers, which are seldom the exact amount of what the player wants. Some take their change in minis and other small items; some go over their voucher and pay a little extra in cash; but many will just say, "keep the $3." This is understood by the player and TD alike as a donation, a gesture of thanks---a tip, if you will.

That, and the support of things like buying a CFR disc, donating items for CTPs, and other ways players chip in, without actually paying a tip.

Tips sound fine but you'd sure hate for it to be expected, with some players handing over $5 bills and others feeling low if they don't.

 

[BogeyNoMore]

^ very insightful (as usual).

 

[LukeButch]

The best tips are when players volunteer to help out. Especially when, say, and out-of-town player, during the lunch break, offers to help check scorecards. Or lingers after the awards ceremony to help clean up, instead of hitting the road. Awesome.

Right behind that are the Thank Yous. Honestly, a cash tip is a nice idea, but if you just catch the TD in a quiet moment, or something like it, and tell him Thank You, that will go a long way. (It doesn't hurt to do the same to assistants, spotters, and everyone else involved, by the way).

That, and the support of things like buying a CFR disc, donating items for CTPs, and other ways players chip in, without actually paying a tip.

as a TD I totally agree with this. I don't need $5 or 10, what I do need is someone who will show up the day before to help me mark the OB's, or will stay an hour after to help take down stuff and collect the garbage that always seems to be laying around.

 

[PhattD]

I'm astonished people are so against the idea. If you don't want to do it don't. If the TD doesn't want to take a tip let him donate it to the club. Anyone that thinks a TD should be obligated to donate his time for free doesn't appreciate how much work it is. Maybe if this got to be more of a tradition TD's would be able to buy pizza for the spotters. There really isn't a down side. $5 or $10 bucks isn't much but if half the field left a tip....

 

[scarpfish]

There really isn't a down side.

Yes there is. Namely, the fact that the concept of tipping in general has gotten far from its original purpose, and has become an expectation in more and more facets of our lives than generations past. We really don't need to introduce this guilt ridden practice into disc golf tournaments.

 

[CaptainAnhyzer]

Yes there is. Namely, the fact that the concept of tipping in general has gotten far from its original purpose, and has become an expectation in more and more facets of our lives than generations past. We really don't need to introduce this guilt ridden practice into disc golf tournaments.

Totally difference circumstance.
This is not a supplement to TD's income, as the "services tip" has been called.

 

[PhattD]

So I tipped the TD this weekend. All I said was I thought TD's deserved some thanks for all their hard work. And he said "Thanks that might be the nicest thing anyone's said to me all weekend". Which I think was an exaggeration since I heard a lot of people thanking him over the course of the weekend. But either way he appreciated it. If you think TD' deserve something, try it and the post here how it goes.