Quoted from Whysnow:

Who is Ken? I only saw you making every call and decision when needed and assumed that meant you were the TD??
You setup and had to play test all the games as the TD and if TPF wants to continue to grow the competiton and event then they should make some adjustments (i suggest paying the TD a reasonable fee to put in the effort and not play) to remove the distinct advantage in a limited qualifying event of being able to get familiar with the games in advance. Takes a whole new spin on the debacle of last minute change to reduced plays when the TD still had ample opportunity to play test all the games and knew the feeds and plunges in advance. I think it is important if TPF wants to continue to buld the level of the tournament to address this. You are a great player but also had advantages given your role as TD. Best to just remove the perception of advantage all together by having a TD not playing in the event when dealing with a huge prize pot and last minute reduction in attempts on games yet some people got to play test all the games.
Aside from that the tourney ran very smooth and the never drains software was great.
Other suggestion is to change the format of the parent/kid tourney since it is really just PARENT that is good plus kid event it seemed? Maybe play a split flipper with this to make it more fun? I know other events have done a parent/kid where the kid plays balls 1 and 3, the parent plays ball 2 and 1 handed. Make it a way to add more for the kids and less about the parents skill.

Quoted from Whysnow:

Who is Ken? I only saw you making every call and decision when needed and assumed that meant you were the TD??
You setup and had to play test all the games as the TD and if TPF wants to continue to grow the competiton and event then they should make some adjustments (i suggest paying the TD a reasonable fee to put in the effort and not play) to remove the distinct advantage in a limited qualifying event of being able to get familiar with the games in advance. Takes a whole new spin on the debacle of last minute change to reduced plays when the TD still had ample opportunity to play test all the games and knew the feeds and plunges in advance. I think it is important if TPF wants to continue to buld the level of the tournament to address this. You are a great player but also had advantages given your role as TD. Best to just remove the perception of advantage all together by having a TD not playing in the event when dealing with a huge prize pot and last minute reduction in attempts on games yet some people got to play test all the games.
Aside from that the tourney ran very smooth and the never drains software was great.
Other suggestion is to change the format of the parent/kid tourney since it is really just PARENT that is good plus kid event it seemed? Maybe play a split flipper with this to make it more fun? I know other events have done a parent/kid where the kid plays balls 1 and 3, the parent plays ball 2 and 1 handed. Make it a way to add more for the kids and less about the parents skill.

Quoted from imharrow:

Every ruling I was involved in was handled by Ken. He ruled when NGS crashed on me. He ruled when a player walked away from ball 5 on Cleo. He ruled on the whirlwind malfunction in the quarters. Of course Colin was playing the entire finals so could not rule, this was even made very clear during the player's briefing before the finals. Ken was TD for the finals.
I think you are confusing Ken's seemingly more quiet personality and possible aversion to public speaking (or maybe Colin's desire for public speaking) as less involvement. I would argue you saw what you wanted to see.
As for advantages, yes if you set a machine you have a small advantage, but over 2 days of qualifying, take your time, watch the machines, talk to others. The advantage quickly disappears. I knew about the feeds and tilts on most machines before I walked up to them. Still tilted frontier my first game despite being warned by multiple people .

Quoted from Whysnow:

I run lots of events and there are advantages and disadvantages in doing so. In many cases the events are small enough that the reality is they would not happen at all if a TD was not allowed to play. In cases like premier events it is a good idea to take steps to remove these advantages as best as possible if TDs are also competing.
In small events the easiest way to level the field is to allow some warm up.
In larger events where that is not logistically possible then you need to take other measures.
Keep in mind that many large events use unlimited qualifying and that alone will remove any advantage. Granted I dont think unlimited qualifying events are very fun, so dont prefer that method of qualifying.
I have made suggestions in a contructive way for how those advantages can be mittigated for TPF. Reality is that taking these steps sure wont hurt the growth of the TPF tournament and the growth of the TPF tournament is a good thing for the growth of TPF as a whole. While the tourney may not make and y direct money for the show, it does currently bring in people that otherwise would not attend the show. Competitive play is growing and TPF will need to adjust IF they want to grow their competitive event for the show.

Quoted from HoneyBadger:

I was one of the people who came to the show just for the tourney. I was very pissed about the cut in entries before the show and still am. I was pulling my hair out all day Saturday during the day and wanted to play competitive pinball but couldn't. Having said that, that was my only complaint about this tourney. Ken, yourself, Colin and whoever else were involved ran an amazing tourney while I was there and you guys deserve kudos. Very well done guys, congrats! Not an easy feat! I had fun for the time I was allowed to play. Good work!