Yes, I believe some of that will work well. Just to clarify, you did mention to me Jan 2nd, right? Granted, some people will be on holidays and some won't, but the Angus venue won't be available to me on the 26th, specifically for that reason - it's still a designated holiday. So unless we can find a reasonably priced venue somewhere else, January 2nd is the best that I can do. As far as who will show up, so far this year, the only age group that has been a concern is Juniors. If that means I have to put in place a juniors appreciation event with extra prizes, I will. This is new to me since for the last number of years there was never a time when I couldn't pod the event - that I remember. Seniors have never been a problem, except when the whole event was unpopulated, like the last Angus BR where there was 13 total. Sunday events are like I said - unpopular with me, but not out of the question. As for what event dates are sacred to me, I've already sent an email to Marvin to talk about cooperative scheduling, letting him know that I would like Friday jan 2nd (which shouldn't be a problem at all for him - since he's never scheduled a friday event in his life - conflicts with Magic), and Jan 10th for the Barrie event at OMG Games. So in effect I'm giving him a free reign on events other than one event date. I'm willing to schedule the other 2 events at times he doesn't care about, just as long as he tells me which 2 dates he holds sacred. I've tentatively scheduled the other 2, but I'm waiting upon feedback from him to finalize. I think that's fair. If you or someone else holds some leverage with him more than my email, you're welcome to try. Hopefully he's willing to cooperate. Now if other TO's could be just as involved when they schedule their CC's this would go smoothly......, I can probably deliver 3 - 6 Juniors, + 1 Master and a Judge to any tournament which meets the criteria of a Quality tournament which starts with enough Juniors so that its a fun day for them and that I can get them home to their parents for bedtime!! I also want to ensure that enough Seniors are going to show up, so the tournament doesn't end up unpodded and we end up with an extremely long day with very few games that count. ...... Sunday tournaments must start early enough that they wrap up by 5 p.m. so that there's still time for the drive, dinner, homework and bed. Paul and I pretty much agree that with 40 minute rounds, you have to allow for 1 hour per round, and hopefully you agree that the tourneys we ran we kept it on schedule. So we will be starting our Sunday's cities at 10:00 a.m. , with 5 rounds + 2 of Top Cut. That gets you done at 6:00 p.m. Saturday tournaments for Cities, I think its going to be enough to get one of these in per day, trying for two in the same day is going to be insane. Best to hope for is one Quality tournament every Saturday. Paul can probably comment better than I on the degree of influence he has with Marvin over the scheduling of the events, but certainly if we don't know when the preferred times are for the Barrie area (I'm sure these are known even before the Sactioning is complete), we really can't exert any useful influence.
Garret: Already PM'd you more details of my thinking, but suffice it to say that non-holiday Fridays are a tough call for anyone not local unless you are appealling to Master's crowd without children. Planing during the holidays IMO is a great idea, I understand that its not everybodies cup of tea, but it certainly avoids a whole bunch of hurdle issues.
Z: Thanks for thread space. Can't wait for your next thread to hijack.
Wow, amazing how fast things can change! I just made a phone call, and I think I can do an event on Dec 26th at a great spot just off the 400 highway - can't say any more until I get the go ahead on Friday. The one thing i can say is that it's an ideal spot! The event can be scheduled at pretty much any time of day, and it's a great spot for lunch! I'm really stoked now! We're on our way boys and girls!