PASTED FROM VA THREAD...
In the spirit of collaboration and constructivity...
hum...
As long as we've learned from last year.
interesting post...meaning???
Ugg... VA get's regs again?
Please... for the sanity of your players... never have an hours worth of door prizes again. Also, it woudln't hurt to have the room just a little bit warmer. I know I'm not the only one who was very uncomfortable being so cold.
^^ Questioned and Answered ^^
____ now.. my take on it ________
I was just talking about this in the car with my wife.
The hour long door prizes killed it for alot of people.
HOWEVER...
It's too bad that happened because there were so many OTHER aspects of the event that were AMAZING.
1. That was STILL the absolute SICKEST deckcheck process of all freakin' time! I've never seen that kind of efficiency in a deck check... ever.
2. Jumping to PODS was ingenious. Time management was awesome (forget the computer glitche, that's noone's fault... at all).
3. The number of door prizes was fantastic; they just need to be given out BETWEEN ROUNDS instead of bulk. (I think we're all scarred by that ... still).
4. The floor plan was very good. It was set up sorta like Nats with every age division having a very defined area.
5. I can't even remember any complaints about the judging. My daugther had a bad moment during her first-ever time-extention and ... essentially SCOOPED when time was called :lol: But, that sort of thing is chaulked up to experience. The judging was great. (and
Lawman freakin' rocks).
SUGGESTIONS: (in the wrong thread right about now.. but... hey... lol)
1. Have NON-tournament tables and parent seating in the venue (IF POSSIBLE). I really appreciated this at VA states. It's VERY uninviting for parents to feel as if they do not belong. If I drive 5 hours to take my kid to an event, PLEASE freakin' let me sit and watch from afar. Know what I mean? If parents are not players, they DISCONNECT when you force them to "find something to do with themselves." I think the 'customer service' aspect of a large event is important; it is often overlooked or ignored.
Non-tournament tables gives players somewhere to go between rounds. If space allows, consider the provision of these.
2. Door prizes were wonderful. I really don't want the
SPIRIT of what was done to be overlooked or unappreciated. They really tried to have like THE BEST DAY EVER and offer up as many prizes as Godly Possible! Let's NOT forget this guys. I think it would be exciting to have little random prize-drops after EVERY round culminating to the big prize after the kid's final round. It also gives the losing players something to look forward to (let's not forget that going 0-6+ inhales profusely... at least you can stick around and hope to cop a wii or a DS !)
3. PODS. I loved that. There's ALWAYS people saying "we got the tough pod."
Whatever man. You gotta beat em all regardless. But, the POD thing is just MAD EFFICIENT and it is an excellent method of time-management and allocation of staff resources. I loved that. That was a
clutch decision that nobody seems give props for...
4. Continue the "Walk-in and deckcheck" procedure. That was awesome. As soon as we walked in the door, the deckchecks were alive and well. I just can't say enough about how awesome check-in and deckchecks were. Thank you.
5. Bring back that Vendor! The vendor was spectacular. However, it would be super cool if we could have TWO vendors to cut down on the crowding chaos and sold out stuff. When staff gets too busy, they tend to get snippy; this is a turn-off and deters from the spirit of the event.
That's about all I have right now. But, there's my 2 cents.
_________________ and _____________
EDIT .. now that I'm in
here....
The new venue looks VERY nice. I like how it appears to, still, be easily accessible from the interstate.