Who to comp?

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Permalink Reply by qcifer on November 18, 2008 at 2:03pm

Here in eastern upstate NY we run a six-race series (which includes a great race in western VT). On the few occasions when we've drawn national-level riders we've let them pay their own entry like a normal person (they always win back their money plus some). I can't recall having dealt with sponsors or special guests. Our discussions have mostly focused on volunteers & fellow organizers.

Each race in our series (www.nycross.com) has its own organizer. Each winter we meet somewhere, have a few beers & agree on basic principles e.g. what our standard field formats will be. None of us line up a big money sponsor, we all fund our prizes from entry fees. On comping we follow some loose guidelines

- volunteers understand that we do it for its own sake but an organizer will use their best discretion. Cash-strapped student volunteers will get comped. The college student son of a registration supervisor will get comped. Otherwise, our workers don't even ask. They're a pretty fast bunch and often win some money anyway
- if an organizer wants to race at a series event they can get a race for free & pay $10 for a second. If we win cash in a race we didn't pay for, it's good form to waive the prize
- the guy who lets us borrow his PA system gets entry fee waivers for the little kids on his junior development team

our rule of thumb seems to be, make it up as you go along. Do the right thing as well as you can reckon it & be prepared to explain yourself to your Team Treasurer at the end of the day.

Permalink Reply by Mitch Graham on November 30, 2008 at 1:23pm

Depends. How badly do you want them to do your race? Can you market them ahead of time to help draw more riders to your event? Does their presence lend more prestige to your event? Are they helping you out in a substantial way? Do they have an entourage that follows them around that will come to your event as well?

If the answer is no to those questions, then they should pay their way.