Post Doeberl wind down

As one of the arbiting team for the 2015 O2C Doeberl Cup, I was pretty happy with how the event went. While numbers were down from last year, this had the benefit of making the tournament more manageable, and I hope more enjoyable for those who did play.
The new venue was a great success, with plenty of space for all participants, as well as providing on site accommodation for players. The lighting in the Great Hall does need improving and we are looking at that for next years (a row of builders lights maybe).
Even the Doeberl Lightning tournament, which I normally find causes the most trouble, ran pretty well this year. 80 odd players and only a couple of disputes at the end to slow things up meant that it was a better event that last year. For those that missed the results, IM Bobby Cheng won with 7.5/9, while a number of players tied for 2nd on 7. At the top end the GM's and IM's who played seemed to enjoy themselves, while it looked like a great experience for the players on the lower boards as well.
As an arbiter the events went pretty smoothly. There was one odd incident where a player in the Minor decided to make a phone call during his game and was surprised to find that this was not allowed. To add insult to injury (in this case losing by default), he was a queen up at the time. A couple of forfeits/withdrawals also caused problems, but in an event with 238 players this only affected a couple of games.
Planning is already underway for next year, and we are looking at ways of allowing more entrants (especially in the Major) while maintaining the comfort and ambience of the event. We are also looking at brining a strong contingent of overseas GM's to the event, in conjunction with the Ballarat Begonia tournament, which is holdings its 50 edition in 2016. And while it is early days yet, note that Easter 2016 is once again early in the year, with the tournament starting on the 24th March and finishing on the 28th.