Question about purchasing passes for NPS...

[puroshaggy]

FYI, when you're asking for an SM ID card, you're still asking for a pass.  Still costs one way or another. 

Yes, but I had in mind something more permanent like a SM ID card that each SM would receive upon registering their slam.  Something that would not need to be reissued every Nats, though I understand the nightmarish logistics of ex-slammasters using old passes, keeping an up-to-date data base, etc etc.  It just seems to me that SMs, by simple virtue of being an SM, should receive some sort of benefit above and beyond regular PSI members. 

Just saying...

[AmyD]

FYI, when you're asking for an SM ID card, you're still asking for a pass.  Still costs one way or another. 

Yes, but I had in mind something more permanent like a SM ID card that each SM would receive upon registering their slam.  Something that would not need to be reissued every Nats, though I understand the nightmarish logistics of ex-slammasters using old passes, keeping an up-to-date data base, etc etc.  It just seems to me that SMs, by simple virtue of being an SM, should receive some sort of benefit above and beyond regular PSI members. 

Just saying...

Shaggy,
I think the assumption is that SM's will know in advance that they need to purchase passes, and work it into the fundraising assumptions so it won't end up coming out of their pockets.  I know that is much harder for some teams than others, but knowing a year in advance certainly mitigates the problem.

[DaveSilverberg]

Since I'm a newb with the NPS/PSI thing, how do I go about bringing this concern to the Board? To be honest, I think it would be best if NPS awarded teams with six passes altogether, if a SM and coach are coming. Whether it's a four-person or five-person team. It would be most fair (and a step in the right direction) if both coach and slammaster were given a festival pass.

Is this something to bring about at the Slammasters meeting in St Paul?

[inkera]

@Dave You are welcome to address this in new business at the slammasters meeting.

My thoughts on the matter:

PSi states you must have at least a poet to represent each round (4 poets) and a slammmaster is declared when the venue is certified. The slammaster can be part of the 4 poets on the team or be the 5th person.

PSi does not state you have to have a coach or a 5th team member. Those are optional.

As with anything optional, there will be additional cost.

[Steve]

Dave, the other item is basic math. We charge $500 to get into the contest. We give back $25 to anyone staying in the official hotel as an incentive to stay there. That means $475 to get into the contest. That number is arrived at by inputting all costs associated with the tournament. It comes down to this: we can hold the line on the $475 for a couple more years by controlling costs where we can OR we can raise the entry fee. The decision was based on economics. Because St. Paul did a great job of raising support capital (far better than anyone in a decade) for the event, PSi was able to delay the decision to hold down costs. That's why you get a break this year too.

Look at this way. This year an all events pass is $75. Six of those would cost you $450. Tee shirts are likely to be $15 each and bags are $10. Six each of those comes to $150. Even if you get nothing else for the registration fee, a six person team reaps $600 in direct retail benefit from the event. A five person team gets $500. On that level, it's still a pretty good bargain. And you get a reduced rate in the hotel too.