Posted by Bruce Harper on July 28, 2008, 17:50:26 Author - Suttles bk Vancouver
Buried in a thread below is a heated exchange which still raised some useful issues.
I have a simple question which either Peter Stockhausen or Bob Gillander may be able to answer quickly:
What is the cost to the CFC to rate games?
Specifically, if this helps answer the question:
- How much time does it take?
- Does the form in which the events are submitted matter?
- Are junior events more difficult (i.e., more costly) to rate than open (adult) events?
- How many games are rated each week, on average?
- Is it practical to automate rating games (so that a properly submitted event would be rated without the need for an adminstrator to do anything)?
I ask this question because the rating system seems to be *the* core service provided to members (the other being the FIDE connection, which is less tangible to the average player). Unless the information is secret, it would be useful to know how much it costs the CFC to rate games, as the basis for figuring out how much the CFC should charge for that service.
Re: From the thread below - the CFC and a question
I have short answers to *some* of your questions, based upon decades-old service plus recent observation. But maybe you aren't asking the right questions.
-- To enter the data of a typical player-event: less than 20 centavos canadienses; -- To develop rating software from scratch: pricey; -- To change said software when you don't have the source code: priceless.
-- At the moment the form doesn't matter, though it is conceptually not difficult to convert digital format x into a format compatible with the rating program. Error checking would make that concept trickier. Design issues.
-- Automation. No, you'll never completely remove the need for administration, even if just to correct errors in the info submitted by the TD. Although I suppose there is the chance that web-based submission of results might partially automate ratings--at the likely cost of increasing the work of the TD, certainly relative to the "work" of attaching a SwissSys X-table to an email.
Could it be your 20 cents per player is based on labour only and possibly ommitting :
a) capital cost allocation for software b) capital cost allocation for computer c) allocation for internet, email, and telephone d) allocation for rent/office e) overhead time for dealing with odds and ends and administration.
?
Re: From the thread below - the CFC and a question
I found Jonathan's answer hard to follow, but if the cost is $.20, plus the overhead you describe, then a rating fee per game of something like $.75 per game (for adults) and $.25 per game (for all-junior events) would make money for the CFC.
The higher the level of tournament activity, the more money the CFC makes.
I don't see the overhead as being that much - isn't that just the normal cost of everyone's computer and home? Why do you need an office to do it?
The CFC has really had to work to lose money...
Re: From the thread below - the CFC and a question
Wow, you're cost estimates above are absurdly low. Just the cost to cover the actual time for data entry and error checking and correction is at least a dollar. Then you should add in a contribution to overheads, well that's all a matter of perception, but we need to either cover the overheads by membership dues or rating fees or something else !!! Take your pick.
Re: From the thread below - the CFC and a question
