We are about 1 month out from the National Open. It is our FAVORITE tournament to sell at in our schedule. The tournament is run by Alan Losoff and Glen Panner, 2 amazing tournament organizers and directors.
Here are the reasons:
1) It is in LAS VEGAS. People in the store are more laid back than at other big cash tournaments. Yes, it is a very serios tournament with an amazing prize fund. But due to the nature of the city...people are more casual.
2) Great store location. We are less than 100 feet from the main playing hall. People HAVE to pass by us to get to their games. We also get TONS of space.
3) Great coordination with the organizers. Al and Glen are always just a phone call away and stop in multiple times during the tournament to make sure everything is running smoothly. They make sure we are involved in the store location, how to draw more customers into the store, they even buy gifts for the kid's tournament players to pick up in the store so they HAVE to stop in to get the prize.
4) Food is always close. Most tournaments you have to leave the property to get good food. This tournament it is just one floor away.
5) The best tournament directors in the business. I will put the TD's from this tournament against any staff in the nation. Most of them even come into the store to get refreshers on how to set up the new clocks for the market.
6) $50 gift certificates. If you end up with a plus score for the tournament, you will receive 2 $25 gift cards for use in the store. This drives people into the store. They usually do not spend only the $50...they usually buy more.
7) I get to see many of my customers in person. This is a "fun" tournament for many of the organizers to play in. They can have a chance at a big prize and also de-compress and have fun doing Vegas things.
8) The tournament organizers bring in chess streamers like Kostya from @ChessDojo, @DinaBelenkaya, Ben Finegold, Boston Mike from
9) In case you did not understand...it's Vegas.
10) This is the best time for me to show my great customers all the new products I have developed over the past year. This year I will be showing people the SilverBack chess clock, my prototypes for my new notation system (EZNotate), our Fischer Frames from 1963, and a ton of other products. I look at it as sort of a trade show for my company, Chess Gorilla.
If you are interested in checking out this tournament, click this link: Las Vegas International Chess Festival – The Chess Vacation of the Year!
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Trials and Tribulations of developing new products