Dear Members of the Executive Committee of NASPA,
We are deeply saddened and shocked to hear the news that NASC has been scheduled at the same time as WGPO’s Word Cup. Over the past 8 years, NASC and Word Cup have coexisted, choosing separate dates that have allowed players each year to attend both events, until this year. Many players are understandably upset, disappointed and confused by yesterday’s announcement. This year’s scheduling conflict does not serve either of our organizations nor help grow tournament Scrabble.
Out of respect for NASC and our joint players, WGPO has routinely worked to avoid scheduling conflicts between NASC and Word Cup, often waiting to finalize our dates until after dates for NASC have been announced. Given the complexity of organizing week-long events of this size during the summer months, finding a suitable deal often requires making advance commitments. Because of this year’s late announcement of dates for NASC, we reached out this summer to try to coordinate our plans.
Given the size and importance of NASC to the Scrabble community, we tried to make clear that WGPO is willing to defer to NASPA’s choice of dates, given a reasonable time frame. We also openly communicated our potential dates for the Word Cup, timeline for required decisions, and strong desire to work together on scheduling before setting our dates.
We hope to avoid future conflicts by better coordinating and cooperating in scheduling future NASC’s and Word Cups. Given that there are around 4-6 prime weeks in the summer, there should be enough space for both NASC and Word Cup to coexist. But this will require some minimal joint planning and commitment on both sides. WGPO would like to work with the NASPA Executive Committee to make this happen. Will you join us?
Members of the WGPO Executive Committee: ec@wordgameplayers.org
Keith Hagel
Mike Johnson
Steve Pellinen
Members of the WGPO Board of Players’ Representatives: bpr@wordgameplayers.org
Laurie Cohen
Helen Flores
Bennett Jacobstein
Maurice Ross
Susi Tiekert