Game On!

Chess is one of the few activities left that interests both the young and the old. I am a very social person, and I like providing opportunities for people to get together and enjoy the day. There are many school activities that attract the same group of extroverted students, but chess brings the introverted group out to play. I used to shy away from sharing that I teach kids chess or that I host chess events because, in the back of my mind, I heard the harsh words of a strong player who once said I was not qualified to teach chess. Once I explained that all I do is host a free club for kids to play in and teach the kids everything I know FOR FREE as well, he calmed down about my "program." All year, I offer a free club for students at the school where I work, to meet and play chess a few times a week. Towards the end of the year, I host a two-and-a-half-hour chess tournament, inviting people from our community and other schools to play chess. I go all out with my decorations in the school gymnasium, and the excitement starts to build in the days preceding the event. It takes a lot of organization skills to try to balance the groups of players and make sure I have alternates and enough volunteers to supervise play, but it is worth it. I want players to have fun and at least have the chance to compete in a few games, so I divide players into groups of 4, and for the first half of the tournament, they play round-robin style within their group. Each player plays every other player twice, once as white and once as black. The winners of each group continue on to the single-elimination second half of the tournament. This year we had enough players to have two tournaments running simultaneously, one for elementary students and one for middle school and high school students and adults. The winners of the round-robin portion of the tournament received a small prize related to chess. They then took a break and had a snack before proceeding to the single elimination round. Everyone who participated got a prize. I had a prize wheel to spin where participants could win chess pencils, pens, socks, mini chessboards, keychains, chocolate chess, notebooks, erasers, etc. Everyone walked away with a minimum of a participation ribbon and certificate, a chess prize, and a tasty snack. The top winners received gold, silver, and bronze medals. I was thankful for the many volunteers who helped me facilitate the event by watching games and keeping score. Spectators also got to play with my decorative chess boards off to the side of the "main stage" of the event. I look forward to planning this event every year because it helps bring the alumni back to our school to reconnect, and it is a fun time for my chess students to have some tougher competition. It really does my heart good to see an entire community come together to pull off such a cool event.
I am interested in your experience. Do you play in non-rated chess tournaments? What did you enjoy or not enjoy about them? Have you ever hosted your own tournament for your community? Would you like to? What stops you?
I read a lot of forums here on this site, and I understand that many players would like the opportunity to play over the board, but there are not many events or consistent meeting places in their areas. I wonder if more of us volunteered to create such events at schools or libraries, if we could change this. Chess is such a fun game. I like the idea of the average player creating chess events for everyone to enjoy. Let me know your thoughts in the comments.
Cheers!