Growing the WCA - Compensatition of Organizers

Samuel Baird

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WCA Forum post can be found here if you would like to add your thoughts where it matters the most :)

In the current standings of the WCA, Organizers bear financial risk and volunteer hours of their time to organize and run competitions for the community and to expand the sport of Speedcubing. Compesating organizers for their services to the community would not only reward them for what they do, but also help promote the growth of the WCA.

The two common points of concern that I see in discussions revolving compensating organizers are:

  1. Organizers will throw together poorly organized competitions for profits
  2. Organizer will charge registration fees excessive fees.
I think the solutions for both of these can be handled quite easily.

  1. Eligibility - Delegates already do a certain level of quality control by rejecting low-quality proposals for competitions but this can be expanded by requiring that Organizers demonstrate elegibility for monetization. Before monetization eligibility, Organizers would be treated as they currently are (volunteers without any compensation). Organizers can monetize their competitions after it is verified that an Organizer has a history of organizing well-run competitions, has organized a certain number of competitions, and has had a sufficient number of competitors at their competitions.
  2. Avoiding excessive registration fee inflation -This can be fixed quite easily while also giving organizers greater incentives to hold more competitions, increase competition quality, and increase competitions size (get more people involved in the WCA). By capping an amount that can be made per competitor (and based off the band system to compensate for differing living cost in different countries) high registration fees can be avoided and financial incentives for organizers would be made. This would lead to larger competitions being held and ultimately promote growth of the WCA.
Heres a table using the current band due values (if something like this became reality, the values may need some tweaking)

Number of Competitors:30601503005001000
Band 1 - $0.19$5.70$11.40$28.50$57.00$95.00$190.00
Band 2 - $0.32$9.60$19.20$48.00$96.00$160.00$320.00
Band 3 - $0.45$13.50$27.00$67.50$135.00$225.00$450.00
Band 4 - $2.28$68.40$136.80$342.00$684.00$1,140.00$2,280.00
Band 5 - $3.00$90.00$180.00$450.00$900.00$1,500.00$3,000.00
I think that it may even be beneficial to allow competitions with more competitors to charge more per competitor. Implementing a competitor rate that is multiplied by the band rate could look something like the following:

Competitor RateCompetitors attended
0.751-99
1100-249
1.25250-499
1.5500-749
1.75750-999
21000+
With these rates, an organizer in a Band 5 country holding a 1000-person competition would be compensated $6000, rather than $3000 like the first table. This helps factor in the additional difficulty and experience needed to hold a larger-scale competition.

It may not be easy for the WCA to manage the finances and make the appropriate legal filings (unless the WCA could hire some dedicated employees to do this) so it may be best to do it through Regional Organizations instead, which can also help ensure that the needs of the community are best being met.
 
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I don't think this is a good idea, but if it was to be implemented I feel like there would be to be some minimum qualifications such as:

  • Minimum number of competitors to be eligible for payment
  • Exclusion of delegates / organizers from competitor numbers
    • AKA if the minimum number of competitors needed to be eligible for payment is 25 and you have 27 people signed up, but you have 3 organizers and 1 delegate, than it only counts as having 23 competitor
  • Registration fee cap should be based on a ratio between number of competitors and the actual cost to reserve the venue.

What happens when someone wants to hold a competition and the regional organization doesn't have enough to pay them? Does it get held against them because they come from a less affluent part of the world?

Please explain what you mean by the organizers "bear the financial risk"? Has their been recent competitions where the registration fees didn't fully cover the event venue? Or do you simply mean if a competitor goes mental and breaks all the windows then the organizer is on the hook to pay for it?

There seems to be no extra "competitor rate" for competitions with 100 - 200 participants. Also, I don't see how you need an extra competitor rate since that could just as easily be worked into your first table and doesn't seem to be based on any other variables.
 
Minimum number of competitors to be eligible for payment
Why is that? I don't really see much harm in an organizer being compensated $30 for a 10 person PBQ competition :P

Registration fee cap should be based on a ratio between number of competitors and the actual cost to reserve the venue.
I'm a bit confused by this. Could you elaborate and perhaps give some examples?

With a system like the one I proposed, organizers would be compensated the same amount regardless of venue cost. I'm not sure I understand your proposal, but it may also be open to potential abuse by intentionally setting competitor limits and choosing venues in a way that to maximizes profits.

What happens when someone wants to hold a competition and the regional organization doesn't have enough to pay them? Does it get held against them because they come from a less affluent part of the world?
That's why something like this would need to be based on something like the bands system. For example, a Band 1 country could charge $0.19 per competitor, something affordable enough for competitors to pay.

Please explain what you mean by the organizers "bear the financial risk"? Has their been recent competitions where the registration fees didn't fully cover the event venue? Or do you simply mean if a competitor goes mental and breaks all the windows then the organizer is on the hook to pay for it?
Yes, there have been competitions where registration fees have not been covered by registration fees and have had to be covered out of pocket by the organizer. I know of one organizer who recently had to pay $3000 out of pocket to cover a venue after a much lower turnout than expected and the drop out of a sponsor that he was expecting help from. I had a situation where the WCA canceled a competition of mine (due to covid) but my local region guidelines allowed us to hold competitions, as a result, we nearly had to pay the full price of the venue despite the competition being canceled since we didn't have a valid reason to cancel according to local guidelines. The only reason we didn't have to pay was due to a last-minute covid spike, which made the venue cancel our reservation (and refund us) to comply with local regulations. Had the local spike not happened in my community, it would have been a huge setback to our community.
 
Please explain what you mean by the organizers "bear the financial risk"? Has their been recent competitions where the registration fees didn't fully cover the event venue? Or do you simply mean if a competitor goes mental and breaks all the windows then the organizer is on the hook to pay for it?
Wasn't there a competition in Nebraska that lost like $800?
 
Why is that? I don't really see much harm in an organizer being compensated $30 for a 10 person PBQ competition :p


I'm a bit confused by this. Could you elaborate and perhaps give some examples?

With a system like the one I proposed, organizers would be compensated the same amount regardless of venue cost. I'm not sure I understand your proposal, but it may also be open to potential abuse by intentionally setting competitor limits and choosing venues in a way that to maximizes profits.


That's why something like this would need to be based on something like the bands system. For example, a Band 1 country could charge $0.19 per competitor, something affordable enough for competitors to pay.


Yes, there have been competitions where registration fees have not been covered by registration fees and have had to be covered out of pocket by the organizer. I know of one organizer who recently had to pay $3000 out of pocket to cover a venue after a much lower turnout than expected and the drop out of a sponsor that he was expecting help from. I had a situation where the WCA canceled a competition of mine (due to covid) but my local region guidelines allowed us to hold competitions, as a result, we nearly had to pay the full price of the venue despite the competition being canceled since we didn't have a valid reason to cancel according to local guidelines. The only reason we didn't have to pay was due to a last-minute covid spike, which made the venue cancel our reservation (and refund us) to comply with local regulations. Had the local spike not happened in my community, it would have been a huge setback to our community.
I’m thinking about organizing a comp and this is scaring me lol.
 
lol same but I was going to wait a while until I'm older because I'm afraid it'll be very stressful. I love going to comps but they aren't very frequent near me, so it'd be fun to plan one
Yeah. I’m only 15 but I’m gonna try. There is only 1 comp a year closer than 5 hours from here and it’s 2 hours away. I’m going to talk to my brother’s basketball coach to see if I can rent the gym for cheaper than normal.
 
Yeah. I’m only 15 but I’m gonna try. There is only 1 comp a year closer than 5 hours from here and it’s 2 hours away. I’m going to talk to my brother’s basketball coach to see if I can rent the gym for cheaper than normal.
I'm the same age. I believe I live sort of near you, if you don't mind me asking, what city are you planning on having the comp in?
 
Wasn't there a competition in Nebraska that lost like $800?
Not that I am aware of

I’m thinking about organizing a comp and this is scaring me lol.
I think as long as you understand what you are doing and you plan effectively then you can avoid issues. Venues tend to be the most expensive part of a competition and if you can get a cheap/free venue from something like a school, church, or community event center then it pretty much guarantees financial security.
 
I don’t yet. Soonest would be maybe end of February but probably later March or April.
Oh, that soon? I have a comp March 11 (my first one in 8 months), so idk if my parents will let me go to another one that soon. My birthday is in April though (so maybe b-day present?) but the only weekend I am available is the 1st (lol April Fools). Well, it be really fun if I can come, but if I can't then good luck with your comp!
 
Oh, that soon? I have a comp March 11 (my first one in 8 months), so idk if my parents will let me go to another one that soon. My birthday is in April though (so maybe b-day present?) but the only weekend I am available is the 1st (lol April Fools). Well, it be really fun if I can come, but if I can't then good luck with your comp!
Thanks. I might get busy and postpone it till later. Also it depends on when a delegate is available.
 
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