Alan French Donates Prize Money for 1E Continentals

by Charlie Plaine, Chairman

17th April 2018

Today, I'm happy to make a very special announcement. Due to the incredible kindness of one of our First Edition volunteers, Alan French (adf8), we are going to be able to offer prizes for all of our First Edition Continental Championships. These prizes include reimbursement for travel expenses for players that choose to attend the World Championships in October in Australia. If this goes well in 2018, this may be a recurring prize for future years as well.

In total, Alan has donated $3,000 US towards this prize fund. First Edition players at all three Continental championships will have the opportunity to compete for travel reimbursements or cash prizes. Here is how the prizes will break down:

Australian First Edition Continental Championship
Dates To Be Determined

As the host of both the Australian Continentals and the World Championships, Australian First Edition players will have the chance to win both a cash prize and travel reimbursement available to players. The Australian First Edition Continental Champion will earn $250 US cash, plus a $200 US travel reimbursement for flights/hotel expenses if they attempt the World Championship in October. The runner-up will earn $150 US in cash, and the 3rd place player will earn $100 US cash. Additionally, both 2nd and 3rd place players are also eligible for the $200 US travel reimbursement if they attend Worlds.

European & North American First Edition Continental Championships
Europe: July 28-29, 2018
North America: June 22-23, 2018

In order to incentivize travel to Australia for the First Edition World Championship, the top two (2) First Edition players at both the European and North American Continentals will earn $400 US in travel reimbursement towards the costs of flights or a hotel stay, if they choose to attend Worlds.

The Returning Player Award
Finally, in order to support the host continent's efforts to bring new and returning First Edition players to the game, Alan has stipulated a special award for such players. This $300 travel reimbursement towards flights or a hotel can be awarded by the Australian First Edition Continentals tournament organizer to any player that has not played in a non-local tournament in the past year (since the previous year's Continentals.) As with all other reimbursements, the awarded player must travel to Worlds to receive the reimbursement.

Travel Reimbursement Policy
As you can see, this is a generous amount of cash to be won, though most of it comes in the form of travel reimbursements. These prizes will be paid to those that earn them if they travel to the First Edition World Championship in Australia. Prizes will be paid at or shortly after the event in Australia, and can be paid in cash or via a check, depending on the winners preference. All legal paperwork required will be posted and explained prior to the end of May 2018.

I hope you will all join me in thanking Alan French for his incredibly kind gestures here. Alan is a First Edition player and deeply loves the game and the community around it. He's been an active volunteer for us for years, and is happy to contribute when and where he can. This prize structure was entirely his idea, and he hopes that it will be well received so it can be repeated in future years as well. Alan, thank you from all of us here at The Continuing Committee for your donation and desire to continue supporting First Edition.

But What About Second Edition and Tribbles?
We are currently exploring options for raising money for similar Second Edition and Tribbles prizes. Though it's unlikely we'll find a single donor willing to match Alan's contribution, we are considering other options such as crowdfunding to offer some similar prizes for Second Edition and Tribbles players as well.

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