Part Five of Hosting the Mahjong World Championship: Finding a Venue with twists and turns
Although we have not yet focused on the site work, discussions and searches regarding the site have been ongoing.
In January, one of our directors told us that a well-known international company had an entire floor vacant and a large area, and was willing to provide it to us for free as a competition venue. This is a great joy that fills us with great delight. Did we become too pessimistic that the venue could land so quickly? I asked him to schedule a time to visit the site and meet with the company's leaders. But I haven't received any response or confirmation.
After a while, Andy, the vice president of our association, introduced me to a director of the company who said that this floor was filled with clutter and abandoned large tables, making it impossible to use it as a competition venue. So he asked us not to wait for the director's response. This statement has greatly disappointed us. Fortunately, he was also a warm-hearted person and immediately introduced us to a party room in Shijiabao, saying it was pretty good. So I immediately made an appointment with Andy and another director David (from Wumen Qi), and after work, I rushed to take a look. However, I found that the venue was too small and the boss didn't want us to play mahjong there. Then this enthusiastic friend suggested another place, to consult more.
The Multi Consultation Office is located in Victoria Park and McNicoll, adjacent to the 404 highway, with convenient transportation. There is the Courtyard Towneplace Suites hotel nearby, which is about a 20 minute walk away. There are also many homestays and restaurants in the surrounding area, making the location ideal. Just do it, we rushed to the consultation office without stopping.
The female boss of the Multi Consultation Office warmly received us and showed us around their activity room and conference room. There are several activity rooms connected together, and when the door is opened, there is a large space that should be able to hold about 50 tables. The boss is also willing to provide convenience for the installation and transportation of our machines. We discussed and thought that except for the slightly cramped space of the competition venue, everything else was good. We have expressed our intention to the Multi Consultation Office and hope that she can provide a quotation. She said she would arrange for relevant personnel to calculate and inform us as soon as possible.
A few days later, we received a quote from multiple consulting agencies, which was $2800 per day plus tax, calculated on a half day basis. If we calculate this way, we will need a total of about 12000 for three days of competition and one day of installation. At that time, we had not received any financial assistance, so I felt that this quote was a bit high. I had to reluctantly give up my love and continue searching.
I would like to mention our director here. Since then, he returned to his home country to visit relatives and there has been no contact. I called him several times but he didn't answer, and he didn't reply to my WeChat messages. I think although we were unable to compete in that international company in the end, we are grateful for your efforts. It's not your fault that you didn't succeed. We hope you can return to our council as soon as possible. Last year at the Open, we agreed to do a lot of things together. Don't go back on your word.
A few back and forth, we returned to the starting point.
Source: Max Ma