[PDGADirector]

Originally Posted by i2rt

Really sad Brian, really sad.
Great to know our ED is so on top of the workload of running an event.
Let's see, you have played in roughly 27 PDGA tournaments in the last 9 years. How many tournaments have you been the TD for in that time? Like everything dealing with the public, TDing has become more complex and time consuming.
Try listening to the people out there doing all the work. Most likely they have ideas that you have never thought of since they are doing the work.

..... Thanks Bill!

You are correct in that I have not played in many events in recent years but that is only because I gave up playing in them to direct them. To answer your question, I have been the tournament director of roughly 40 PDGA sanctioned events over the past 18 years including the 1996 Amateur World Championships, the 2006 Pro World Championships, the United States Disc Golf Championships, the Deaf Disc Golf National Championships, the Georgia State Games Championship, the Augusta Classic SuperTour, and the Disc Golf Hall of Fame Classic NT event, for which I was named the 2003 PDGA tournament director of the year. I've not directed too many events in the past two years due to my job responsibilities but I will be directing the Tim Selinske U.S. Masters in 2010 at the International Disc Golf Center.

You seem to be totally missing the point Bill, which is that we purposely designed the new system to alleviate the TD of having to do any extra work. (see response below for further explanation) I am listening to the people out there doing the work. TD's are the lifeblood of our sport and I can very easily relate to them and the challenges they face. It is also my responsibility to explain to them when they do not understand a new process, which is why I replied to Jebb's posts with an explantion of how the new process would work along with a tip on how to make his job easier. Just curious, why do you find this so sad?

Originally Posted by rhett

Not trying to pile on here, but I think the above quoted statement is false. "The old way" of handling non-current members was to take their $10 and move on. The new way requires gathering all of their info and submitting it, pretty much like processing a new membership or renewal which is a lot of work.

I guess you could say that TDs were supposed to be gathering all that info anyway and putting it in the back of the TD Report, but with no real benefit or consequence to the TD/tourney that step was pretty typically skipped. Just collect an extra $10 and move on, then write a check to the PDGA with the extra tens included.

Rhett, you are incorrect in your understanding of the new process. The new process will actually require less work from the TD's than the old one, which as you correctly stated above required that TD's collect the non-current members contact information and send it to the office. The new process has the TD collect the fee and simply hand the non-current member a pre-printed business card (included in the TD package), which explains to that player how they can register online for their supporting membership. This alleviates some of the TD's work on tournament day and we hope it will result in the office getting a much improved return rate on non-member contact information because the non-member will have an incentive to register as a supporting member. Collect the non-member fee, hand them a card, and they move on!

Bottom line is that as a long time tournament director, I have always felt that we ask too much of our volunteer tournament directors so the office is reviewing the reporting process and implementing changes to lessen the workload. We are currently working on a simplified version of the TD report for the 2010 season, which will require only the most necessary reporting information, sort of a 1040-EZ version for tournament reporting. We will also continue to evaluate the tournament reporting process to streamline it and make it more efficient and less of a burden for the TD's.