I am the Partnership Chair for this weekend’s Raleigh Sectional Bridge Tournament. If you need a partner for any session, contact me, and i will try to match you up with someone else who also needs a partner. The tournament starts today, and so far i have paired up a dozen people or so. There will be more work to do during the tournament as people try to find last-minute partners.
It’s somewhat stressful, but i’ve learned that it’s OK to fail. The partnership desk is a hub, not a guarantee of a partner. I will match you up with other people who are also looking, but i’m not going to make a dozen phone calls on your behalf. If you won’t do it for yourself, why should i?
But anyway, based on this year’s tournaments, here is a list of Do’s and Don’t's for Using the Partnership Desk to Find a Partner.
- DO email or call at least a few days in advance.
- DO leave a phone number as well as an email address. Email will not help me contact you an hour before gametime Saturday morning when time is of the essence.
- DON’T call me from four hours away the day the tournament starts requiring a guaranteed partner for the next three days or else you won’t come at all. You might as well have just not called, because there is no way i can guarantee you will have partners.
- DO proactively tell me if you find a partner on your own for a time slot you submitted to me. Otherwise i may pair you unwittingly with someone else, and then everyone gets confused and agitated.
- DON’T ask me to find you another partner because the one i paired you with plays too many conventions. Have you ever heard of partnership negotiation? Just tell him you don’t play four-way transfers and move on!
- DO arrive early to meet your partner/teammates and talk about a convention card.
- DON’T show up late for a partnership i have arranged for you and then be disappointed when i found another partner for that person because you were a no-show.
- DON’T expect me to accommodate your exacting requirements for the type of partner or teammates that you want. I’m just not going to be able to get you the congenial partner who has an instinct for bridge and doesn’t make mistakes and has something to teach you without being a jerk, who also doesn’t have many points so you don’t have to play in the top strat. I actually know a player who meets that perfect description, but guess what – he has his pick of partners, so he’s probably not going to play with you. Sorry.
- DON’T call the Partnership Desk and then turn your nose up at players i suggest to you. Ever hear the expression “beggars can’t be choosers, bitch”?
- DO understand that if you were difficult to please in previous tournaments, i will probably not go out of my way to help you this time. And i won’t feel bad about it.
