In a survey given to participants at the end of the 7th Annual Chesapeake Open, the event earned a Net Promoter Score (NPS) of 76%. This high level of satisfaction rivals some of the most well respected companies (Apple - Laptop = 76%, Dillards 75%, Amazon 69%. See more examples). The Net promoter score is the percentage of people who answer 9 or 10 to the question "Would you recommend this tournament to your friends?" minus the number who gave an answer of 6 or below.
Highly Likely 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 Not at all likely
Note that my replies to some of the comments are in italics after the comment - Mike Regan
2. If you didn't answer with a 10 to question #1, what would it take for you to change your answer to a 10?
An unrated or rated blitz or other side event/activities.
You could advertise more.
Show off that Kamsky was here!
Start on time
Clear directions on when to start
Provide drinks like juice and coffee and tea and also give us free food inside the room for people who didn't get anything.
Lower entrace fee or more prizes (e.g. for 3 points)
I would like for tournaments to not start very early like 8am [The earliest round was 9am]
Free WiFi
There were pairing errors, please fix your software or enter results more carefully
Broadcast the games starting from round 1 [We had a hardware failure on some of our DGT boards that prevent the broadcasts from working]
Better spectator control
The website could be improved to provide more info.
1 game a day X 2
normal prize structure
more rounds
If I lived nearby
More time between games X 2
Top girl prize
Push back round times a bit so people can go home earlier
Keep up pairings (all)
Update Standings after every round [The current standings were always posted]
Doors to room are noisy
Better to play in one big room than several small rooms
Better prize:EF ratio
Better pairing
Strongly dislike score-based prize structure. This tournament is too big for that to be fair to the players (and too small for the "decisive games = bigger payday" logic to make sense; this isn't a super-GM invitational with sponsors to appease). U2200, for example, paid out ~55% money as prizes... seems pretty ungenerous considering comparable events pay out close to 70-80%. [The amount of money paid out with score based prizes does not depend on the number of players. On average, a given prize structure will return a certain percentage of the entrance fees as prizes. Super-GMs are not the only ones who take "GM draws" in the last round to get a safe prize. The prize structure encourages players to play a real game every round. The actual amount of money paid out in a given section will vary. The payout structure rewards good play indepedent of how other players perform. You are being rewarded on how well you did, not what place you came in. The U2200 section has a larger prize for each score than all but the Champtionship section, due to the higher draw fraction in the U2200 section. Even so, starting with the Potomac Open the prizes will be increased in the U2200 section.]
3. What do we do better than other tournaments?
breakfast x 13
provide equipment x 12
text pairings x 10
score based prizes x 8
start on time x 7
location x 6
text and email pairings x 5
venue x 4
early pairings x 3
well organized x 3
wood boards x 3
money prizes x 3
free parking x 2
friendly atmosphere x 2
good lighting x 2
time between rounds x 2
time control x 2
air conditioning
big room
diverse group of players
everything
fairpairings
good furniture
great environment
high prizes
location
nice organization
nice sets
once a year
online payment
organization
playing conditions
provide chess sets
quiet rooms
snacks provided
4. What do we do worse than other tounaments?
Nothing x 16
No trophies x 2
prize structure x 2
Some of the rounds started late
You have higher prices but you have higher prizes
I lose more :(
Sometimes byes do not get accounted for [We had a software problem that caused this and it has been fixed]
I am a GM so I like traditional prizes a little better. We always play to win anyways
WiFi Access
1st round would be better with a little earlier start
Website
Something got messed up when I registered online and I wasted listed as either 2-day or 3-day
Whenever parents come into the playing room noise comes in from outside
Spectator control
multiple games a day
Need more titled players/stronger field
Room is a little stuffy
Tournament start time (it is a little too early)
Space between boards wasn't enough to fit book for one game but after most of the pieces were off I could write using the board.
Setup
5. What would you like us to change?
Nothing x 12
More tournaments x 3
Trophies x 2
Prize Structure x 2
More than one pairing texts number [ We can do more than one, just ask]
Provide pencils [We provide pens but we can add pencils]
Provide clocks [ We do provide them for the top three sections]
Post/give handout clearly explaining how to set clocks for the time control. The instructions that came in the box are very hard to follow. [ We have instructions on our web site for most clocks]
Late checkout on Sunday
Run a tournament in Philadelphia (for blantantly selfish reasons)
I tried Guidebook - interesting but it could be a lot more powerful w/results and pairings. (I saw that was being beta-tested, can't wait)
1st round should start sooner with the same time control
Coordinates on wood boards
More rounds x 2
Have same start time for all sections
website
Pairings could be sent earlier, if possible
Provide clocks for all sections. Even if you add a few bucks to entry fee or take out of prize money
add a top girl award
Small prize for 3 points
Post time controls for each round in more places
If somebody accidentally sets the board the wrong way and is winning, to copy the position on another board, instead of starting over [We follow USCF rules on this]
I think it woudl be helpful to have 1-2 more volunteers to help set things up and keep it running.
There were pairing errors, please fix your softare or enter results more carefully
Get the DGT boards to function. [ We had a hardware failure that killed two of our boards. We have now replaced them.]
40/100 with 3-0 second increment in the first time control
Have TD contact info by phone in case of emergency or constantly checking email
Doors that bang when closed.
Loud noises
round timings (start later)
If you change round timeings you could just have snacks instead of breakfast
More minimum rating limits for U2000/U1800
All rounds have same TC
Tournaments twice per month
more time between games