At one time, the USCF had a deal for temporary memberships that
allowed you to play in a tournament. Is this still around?

Well they used to charge $2 per game for non-members to play in a USCF rated
tournament but then they decided they did not need the money.

"Charles Blair" wrote in message
...
At one time, the USCF had a deal for temporary memberships that
allowed you to play in a tournament. Is this still around?

"King Leopold" wrote:
Well they used to charge $2 per game for non-members to play in a USCF
rated
tournament but then they decided they did not need the money.

On the contrary, they decided they DID need the money -- full USCF
membership from these freeloaders. USCF almost went belly-up over that $2
"tournament membership".

Bill Smythe

er... why would they be freeloaders if they PAID the $2?

It was the USCF's fault for not figuring out properly how much they should
have charged.

If you go to zoos or amusement parks, they charge you a fee for entering one
time. Then you see that for a larger amount (sometimes twice the regular
entry cost) you get access for a full year.

Wouldn't that be an idea? Pay 50% of regular membership if you play in 1
tournament for the year... should you choose to play in another tournament,
just pay the other 50% and that covers the 1 year period (counting from the
date of the first tournament). Though I'm guessing this would still be a
losing proposition for the USCF.

"Bill Smythe" wrote in message
...
"King Leopold" wrote:
Well they used to charge $2 per game for non-members to play in a USCF
rated
tournament but then they decided they did not need the money.

On the contrary, they decided they DID need the money -- full USCF
membership from these freeloaders. USCF almost went belly-up over that $2
"tournament membership".

Bill Smythe

"garrubal" wrote:
.... Wouldn't that be an idea? Pay 50% of regular membership if you
play in 1
tournament for the year... should you choose to play in another
tournament,
just pay the other 50% and that covers the 1 year period (counting from
the
date of the first tournament). ....

I like your idea -- almost.

But there are administrative costs in renewing somebody twice, when you'd
otherwise need to do it only once. In addition, there's a significant
possibility the member will never come back and pay his other half.

So there should be a weighted scale -- for example, 50% of regular
membership should buy you only, say, 33% of a year's membership. An
additional 67% (for example) should be required to buy you the rest of the
year. That way, USCF is collecting more from the player who renews in two
installments, reflecting the higher costs.

Bill Smythe

A long time ago, we talked about the possibility
of making it cheaper for a new person to try
playing in a tournament. Some proposals seemed
risky, while others required more work from
volunteers.

Right now, as I understand it, the only thing
of this sort that we have is a six-month
membership for $32 with the option for a
person to later extend to a year by paying
another $20. I wonder if it would be possible
to tinker with these numbers somewhat in
order to get more people to try USCF membership.
Perhaps $20 for three months with the option
to extend to a year for another $32. Is the
current board considering anything of this
sort?

"Louis Blair" wrote:
.... Perhaps $20 for three months with the option
to extend to a year for another $32. ....

Now you're getting into the right ballpark, with an option that makes it
cheaper (in the long run) for a player to join for a year, while still
dangling the (only sort-of-cheap) promotional membership in front of those
that don't want to commit.

Bill Smythe