In which we continue moaning

The soap opera that is BenF Rooms continues. 

Last week I managed to figure a schedule that works, albeit sort of weirdly, with the fewest number of spaces that I had been advised we might have. I was all ready to go Friday, letting in a few more folks and opening the gates to a small but lively pair of JV divisions. But the BenFers demurred, still not sure they’ll even get their minimum roomage. 

Oy.

Needless to say, I’ve been regularly needled by registrants who apparently think that I’m deliberately holding back on letting their little angels into the tournament. As if this were a possibility. I want happy customers, not grumps. I want to create good tournament experiences. That’s why I do this. Unless I have a personal vendetta against you (and that’s very few schools, only a couple dozen at most*), I want you in, I want you competing, and I want you to think happy thoughts so that you’ll return next year. Also, I don’t want a lot of emails that I always wish to respond to by telling them how to run their team: has no one ever heard of reserving rooms at a hotel and cancelling them within a reasonable timeframe, has no one ever heard of not making unrefundable reservations before getting off the waitlist, or not purchasing plane tickets months in advance and then, for some reason, not signing up for the tournament until a month after registration opened? Sigh.

Anyhow, we’ve set the bell to go off on Wednesday, at which point we’ll know better about roomage. Last Friday, in an attempt to stave off further questions, I sent out a very nice email telling people to hold their horses a few more days. At least one person read this as meaning they got all their entries in. Do they teach reading comprehension to high school teachers these days? Or is it too late? I mean, I may have my failings, but writing unclear prose isn’t one of them. 

Meanwhile, it’s looking like clear sailing for Bigle X this week. What’s not to like about a tournament where all I have to do is sit in the tab room and press a lot of buttons? 

*That's a joke. At the moment, there are no schools on my vendetta list.