The total cost to hold a WCA competition in your region

[r_517]

Normally the cost can be separated into 5 parts:
1. The accommodation and air/ship/train etc ticket for the WCA delegate;
2. The rental for the competition venue;
3. The rental for the timer, stackmat, screen etc;
4. Other necessary equipments and small pieces i.e. stopwatches, blindfolds, printing certificates, printing scoreboards, papers, pens etc;
(5. Other nonessential stuff i.e. prizes, snacks, drinks etc).

And the income generally comes from:
1. Money/Prizes from sponsors;
2. Money/Prizes from individuals;
3. Participation fees;
(4. The remains from last competition).

OK so I'm just curious about the different fees in different regions So for the organisers, would you please share the costs for the competition you held?

For convenience, please convert your local current to Euro/US Dollar/British Pounds here

 

[r_517]

OK the following is the Shanghai Weisuo Open held in August 2009 in Shanghai, China.

Costs:
1. Accomodation, train ticket for the delegate: ￥700 = €70
2. Rental for the venue: €50
3. Rental for timer etc: 0 (Rent from other kind cubers)
4. Other necessary equipments: €30
5. Nonessential stuff: €100 for prizes (By convention it's necessary to give prizes to the top 3 players in each event some prizes in China) and the lunch for judges and organisers: €20
Total: €270

Income:
1. Sponsors: From Type C: €95 and a few cubes
2. Individuals: We cubers' performance reward for a toy company: €100 cash and €100 for prizes
3. Participation fee:0
4. Other: 0
Total: €295

REMAINS: 295 - 270 = €25

 

[qqwref]

In my area the cost is very small because of a large amount of setup that has already been done beforehand. What I mean is we already have a delegate nearby, we have a good enough venue that can be rented out for free, and we already have stackmats/displays, stopwatches, pens, and so on. So all we have to pay for is new scoresheets and certificates, and lunch for the organizing team. All of this comes out of the registration fees for the competitions, with plenty left over The group saves up the leftover and uses it for necessary expensive things (such as replacing some of the communal stackmats/displays).

 

[r_517]

In my area the cost is very small because of a large amount of setup that has already been done beforehand. What I mean is we already have a delegate nearby, we have a good enough venue that can be rented out for free, and we already have stackmats/displays, stopwatches, pens, and so on. So all we have to pay for is new scoresheets and certificates, and lunch for the organizing team. All of this comes out of the registration fees for the competitions, with plenty left over The group saves up the leftover and uses it for necessary expensive things (such as replacing some of the communal stackmats/displays).

sounds great anyway it's toooooooooo hard to find a cheap/free venue in Shanghai, and most schools were reluctunt to lend their places coz if someone injured in their place they have to pay for the "joint responsibility" under the law in China the venue we found was faaaaaaar away from city centre, so it was kinda "cheap": ￥500 for only 8 hours'

 

[CharlieCooper]

Costs for Bristol Open '09 (two day competition in the city centre in the UK)
1. The delegate was coming anyway, so we didn't pay for him to come. Plus he lives in Belgium, that would be expensive
2. This is the biggy! Just over £450 for renting the venue for two days
3. We were fortunate in that Seventowns provided up with all the essential equipment such as timers, displays etc.
4. Snacks and drinks £80
5. Table hire £100
6. Printer cartridges, paper for scorecards, cups, pens, envelopes (any extra stuff basically) £70
7. Batteries! Expensive. £30 ish.

Income came solely from competitor fees, which actually didn't cover the whole cost of the competition, so I just had to pay for some of it.... No sponsor, although we were lucky to get some stuff from Seventowns. It would be absolutely impossible without them. The venue is the main issue really, but this was by FAR the cheapest I could find.

So yeah, the competition for two days was £750

 

[r_517]

...
2. This is the biggy! Just over £450 for renting the venue for two days
...
7. Batteries! Expensive. £30 ish.

Income came solely from competitor fees, which actually didn't cover the whole cost of the competition, so I just had to pay for some of it.... No sponsor, although we were lucky to get some stuff from Seventowns. It would be absolutely impossible without them. The venue is the main issue really, but this was by FAR the cheapest I could find.
...

sooooooooooo expensive for the venue. poor Charlie
and i just forgot that the batteries are 10 times that price in China

if the cost exceeds the income i suggest u tell the competitors few people would be reluctunt to pay for a little more i think

 

[puzzlemaster]

Where does one get timers for this competition if there isn't a communal set?

 

[Brettludlow]

So yeah, the competition for two days was £750

I think you should show Ben this haha

 

[JBCM627]

The highest budget one I've run (Ohio Open) was ~$1,000. It broke approximately even:
-$250 for tables and chairs
-$150 for prizes
-$400 for tshirts
-$300 for lunches
+$500 for registration fees
+$100 for lunches
+$300 for shirts
= $0. Actually I think I lost $10.


The lowest budget one (Cincinnati Summer Open) was less than $1:
<$1 for certificates
$0 charged in registration fees

Neither of these included equipment costs (timers and such), since those had either been borrowed or accumulated using profit from other competitions.

All of the competition venues I've used have been free. The only competition venue I had to pay for cost ~$100 for the day.

 

[Faz]

From what I know at the Melbourne comp

Room: Free
Speedstacks hire: Free
Batteries: 30?
Prizes: 100
Dene: leftovers
Other: 10-20

Registration fees +300

 

[Ron]

Dutch Nationals 2009
This was an ultra low budget competition organised by Ton and me.

Room: 0.
We have been the most popular attraction of the annual Dutch Games Fair for a few years now. In the beginning we had to pay big money for a stand on the fair. Now they ask us to come and we get a much bigger stand, and for free.

Equipment: 0.
Owned by Ton and Ron. We buy new equipment on a regular basis and pay it from our own pocket. Suppose we have to renew a timer + display per competition, the equipment cost would be around 120 EUR.

Materials: 40 EUR.
This includes batteries, glossy paper, printer ink, paper, pens.

Prizes: 55 EUR.
We had 11 small trophies. Basically we paid them ourselves, but indirectly the money comes from left-over sponsoring and participation fees from other competitions.

Income: 0.
No fees or sponsoring.

 

[Ton]

We spend at average around 80 Euro on material for a competition

printer Ink: 25 Euro
glossy paper+ 250 normal A4 :25 Euro
Batteries : 20 Euro
competition sheets: 8 Euro

 

[Jason]

Montpellier Open

Room, tables, chairs: Free (University)
Food for all competitors: 330 euros
Delegate costs: None
Posters, certificates... 75 euros
Medals, prizes: Free (thanks to SevenTowns)
Medal engravings, cups: 130 euros
Stack mat timers and displays: Free

All costs covered by the University (Student initiative grant)

Woohoo.........

 

[mati rubik]

Chile Open 2010

1. The accommodation and air/ship/train etc ticket for the WCA delegate= 0, he lives in Santiago xD
2. The rental for the competition venue: 0
3. The rental for the timer, stackmat, screen: 0, I have 2 timers and 1 display, and my friends have 8 timers and another display
4. Other necessary equipments and small pieces i.e. stopwatches, blindfolds, printing certificates, printing scoreboards, papers, pens etc: 50 US$ (certificates) (we have 12 stopwatches and a lot of pens)
5. Other nonessential stuff: 0

And the income generally comes from:
1. Money/Prizes from sponsors: some puzzles
2. Money/Prizes from individuals: 0
3. Participation fees: 80 US$
4. The remains from last competition: unknown

total: 80-50 = 30 US$ yay

the first official comp was expensive, like 1.000 US$ :S

 

[abunickabhi]

Revisiting this topic,

Over the last 12 years, do you guys think the cost of holding the WCA competition increased or decreased and why?