Part Four of Hosting the Mahjong World Championship: Visiting the World Mahjong Organization
Actually, many things happened sporadically before the poster was released, which is worth mentioning.
In January, Barry Zhu, the Secretary General of our association, and Cynthia Sui, the CFO, happened to be visiting relatives in Beijing. After discussing, we decided to invite them to visit the World Mahjong Organization together. Firstly, to establish a relationship, and secondly, to understand what kind of help they can provide for us. Prior to this, we had already submitted a quota allocation plan and the content covered by the registration fee in accordance with the requirements of the World Mahjong Organization. The allocation of quotas is rough, roughly 100 in Asia, 100 in Europe, and 50 in North America, which is in line with our scale of around 250 people. The registration fee we discussed and agreed upon is $300. Five years ago, the registration fee for the World Championships in France was 300 euros, so our registration fee was very low.
Barry and Cynthia finally made an appointment with the World Mahjong Organization to visit on a certain day in early February. After going there, they had a great conversation and the atmosphere was harmonious. The head of the World Mahjong Organization made suggestions and requirements for the competition and answered questions. In general, it can be summarized as follows (arranged in order of priority):
1. Before the competition, referee training should be arranged, consisting of four classes including exams
2. It is best to adjust the quota for Europe to 110, so as to have a better chance of achieving the goal of 100 people
3. The invitation letter to the European Mahjong Federation can be forwarded to the World Mahjong Organization or sent directly by us. It's better to say in the letter that we hope every country can send representatives to participate, and the Canadian Mahjong Association will provide necessary assistance
4. The venue is of utmost importance and needs to be determined as soon as possible. When comparing, it is necessary to consider from the perspective of the contestants, especially accommodation and transportation
5. The schedule includes post match tours for the contestants. It is necessary to consider that some contestants will return home after the competition, while others may want to stay for a few more days
What are the contents included in the registration fee? The transportation cost of the machine and the cost of the referee should not be included in it
7. The cost of the referee needs to be carefully considered, whether it is a unified compensation or a ticket purchase on behalf of others? Need to confirm early and clarify with the referee to avoid misunderstandings
8. It is recommended that contestants dine in a self-service format to reduce or avoid issues such as allergies and vegetarianism
There is a mahjong exhibition in Japan, and the World Mahjong Organization has bought it all. In the future, it should be exhibited during every World Championship as part of cultural exchange. This time, Canada will not exhibit it
It can be seen that the discussions between the two sides were very rich, but I did not see any substantial assistance that the World Mahjong Organization could provide us, except for the invitation letter that was willing to forward to the European Mahjong Federation. I haven't seen any practical suggestions from them either, so I can comment on them item by item:
1. We have arranged and announced referee training in the schedule, but we need them to provide the duration of each class
2. Adjust the quota for Europe, as if not mentioned
3. This is the greatest help that has been given to us
4. I completely agree. That's how we arranged it
5, so what? Let them decide whether to participate or not
6. We don't know which ones should be included and which ones shouldn't. We just report all possible expenses to them, and if they feel it's not appropriate, we remove them. Anyway, these registration fees are not enough
7. This gave us some inspiration, so we decided to give each referee a subsidy of CAD 2000 and ignore everything else
8. We will seriously consider it, but we also need to combine it with the actual situation
If you don't show, don't tell us
Although this visit did not achieve our expected goals, it helped us recognize the situation and position ourselves correctly. Also, we would like to thank Barry and Cynthia for their efforts.
Next, we need to focus on the most important venue.
Source: Max Ma