This guide will show you the in's and out's of finding a consistent tourney around you, and how to keep it alive and kicking. Can't find one after completing every step? We'll go through some simple steps to make sure you can start a scene nearby. Everything from picking a location to choosing the venue price to inviting players!
Finding a tourney: Try to look in the most obvious place: Right here on Smashboards. Look in the events section, and try to find areas near you! When you find the area, make sure to ask a couple questions, or look around for the essentials. When it starts, if you need to bring a controller, how many players are expected. This will give you a lot of info you would need to know if you could attend it. When you go to the weekly, establish a good, healthy connection with most of the players there. Continue to play them outside of weekly's, get their contact info. Try to bring them to the next one. After you've convinced them to go to the next one, try making a facebook or twitter group, if they haven't already. This establishes a nice place where everyone can make adjustments to rulesets, prices, everything. After that, spread it around, even in places where people don't play competitively. Most people want to chill and just play the game. Keep doing this, and as long as it's continuing to be held, it'll grow!
But what if your town is an abandoned place, with low wifi speeds (You can't even attend online tourneys!)? You have the following solution: Make one. There are a lot of factors that go into making one of these, so pay attention.
1. Find a location: Any small business would be happy to hold an event, usually for a cut of the venue fees. Game shops, Arcades, Bookstores, these are all candidates I've looked at in the past.
2. Negotiate the use of the building: Ask the owner how long into the night they can stay open. The later, the better. Ask them what the maximum occupancy of it is, and make sure you don't invite too many people. Then, discuss your prices and percentage. If you'll part with about 30%, they'll probably agree.
3. Get the setups. Hopefully you already have at least one, for smaller tourneys. But you should always have a minimum of three, to make sure that you won't hold up the buildings for too long. Bring adapters if you're playing Wii U, or make sure to have at least a couple extra controllers (Lots of people forget to bring their's, I've done it before on accident). GCN is the preferred controller, by the way.
4. Decide on a date: Weekends work best.This is the time when most people have off work and even younger players (Like myself) will be able to come. Anytime around a holiday won't be acceptable. People want to celebrate, not play a game! And make sure to not schedule it as the same time as another tourney, that will keep players away. Timing is also important. Keep it around 5PM to about 12PM if necessary. Your goal is to make sure people can attend!
5. Spread the word! Make a facebook/kik/twitter group, put it on here, display flyers on telephone poles! Do anything you can to make sure you can get the word out. Make sure to provide location, the time it starts, and how many people are expected (If possible). I love it whenever I hear my friends talking about a tourney, it gets me excited!
6. Make sure nothing goes wrong: Have everyone get there an hour early, and set everything up. If an outlet is bad, you'll be glad you found out early. Make sure you have chairs and tables, and a couple snacks to buy. There is nothing worse than going hungry before a set!
7. Decide the venue price. Whether you charge for access, or an entry, it is important to make sure it starts out cheap for everyone. No one wants to wait in the car outside if they aren't playing, and don't want to fork over $30. Good price ranges depend on the amount of players and the percentage you're paying to the venue owner. I like to keep it around $5 for a venue fee, for smaller weeklies.
8. Make a challonge! Challonge is possibly the best way to set up your brackets, it auto-fills the hard stuff, and all you do is put in the players and results! Make sure to give out the URL, so people can watch the brackets update in real time and prepare for a fight!
9. Reap the benefits, and Smash to your hearts content! Play as much as you possibly can, and make sure there is a happy atmosphere. A glum looking TO won't excite outsiders.
10. Ask people what they thought! Get to know what everyone thought, and type it up! Ask for suggestions to the things like rulesets, stage picks, and other things (I.E. Should the Gentleman's Rule and David's Dumb Rule be in effect?) Show the venue owner what everyone thought, and ask him if it would be ok to hold another one. If it was successful, and people were happy, you'll probably get the green light!
11. Help others start up weeklies. If you're the only one in town, it can get stale. Make sure to help others start it up. Let other business owners know the success!
Hope that helped you, and be on your way to starting a weekly! If you have any other suggestions to add, please put it in a review!
Finding a tourney: Try to look in the most obvious place: Right here on Smashboards. Look in the events section, and try to find areas near you! When you find the area, make sure to ask a couple questions, or look around for the essentials. When it starts, if you need to bring a controller, how many players are expected. This will give you a lot of info you would need to know if you could attend it. When you go to the weekly, establish a good, healthy connection with most of the players there. Continue to play them outside of weekly's, get their contact info. Try to bring them to the next one. After you've convinced them to go to the next one, try making a facebook or twitter group, if they haven't already. This establishes a nice place where everyone can make adjustments to rulesets, prices, everything. After that, spread it around, even in places where people don't play competitively. Most people want to chill and just play the game. Keep doing this, and as long as it's continuing to be held, it'll grow!
But what if your town is an abandoned place, with low wifi speeds (You can't even attend online tourneys!)? You have the following solution: Make one. There are a lot of factors that go into making one of these, so pay attention.
1. Find a location: Any small business would be happy to hold an event, usually for a cut of the venue fees. Game shops, Arcades, Bookstores, these are all candidates I've looked at in the past.
2. Negotiate the use of the building: Ask the owner how long into the night they can stay open. The later, the better. Ask them what the maximum occupancy of it is, and make sure you don't invite too many people. Then, discuss your prices and percentage. If you'll part with about 30%, they'll probably agree.
3. Get the setups. Hopefully you already have at least one, for smaller tourneys. But you should always have a minimum of three, to make sure that you won't hold up the buildings for too long. Bring adapters if you're playing Wii U, or make sure to have at least a couple extra controllers (Lots of people forget to bring their's, I've done it before on accident). GCN is the preferred controller, by the way.
4. Decide on a date: Weekends work best.This is the time when most people have off work and even younger players (Like myself) will be able to come. Anytime around a holiday won't be acceptable. People want to celebrate, not play a game! And make sure to not schedule it as the same time as another tourney, that will keep players away. Timing is also important. Keep it around 5PM to about 12PM if necessary. Your goal is to make sure people can attend!
5. Spread the word! Make a facebook/kik/twitter group, put it on here, display flyers on telephone poles! Do anything you can to make sure you can get the word out. Make sure to provide location, the time it starts, and how many people are expected (If possible). I love it whenever I hear my friends talking about a tourney, it gets me excited!
6. Make sure nothing goes wrong: Have everyone get there an hour early, and set everything up. If an outlet is bad, you'll be glad you found out early. Make sure you have chairs and tables, and a couple snacks to buy. There is nothing worse than going hungry before a set!
7. Decide the venue price. Whether you charge for access, or an entry, it is important to make sure it starts out cheap for everyone. No one wants to wait in the car outside if they aren't playing, and don't want to fork over $30. Good price ranges depend on the amount of players and the percentage you're paying to the venue owner. I like to keep it around $5 for a venue fee, for smaller weeklies.
8. Make a challonge! Challonge is possibly the best way to set up your brackets, it auto-fills the hard stuff, and all you do is put in the players and results! Make sure to give out the URL, so people can watch the brackets update in real time and prepare for a fight!
9. Reap the benefits, and Smash to your hearts content! Play as much as you possibly can, and make sure there is a happy atmosphere. A glum looking TO won't excite outsiders.
10. Ask people what they thought! Get to know what everyone thought, and type it up! Ask for suggestions to the things like rulesets, stage picks, and other things (I.E. Should the Gentleman's Rule and David's Dumb Rule be in effect?) Show the venue owner what everyone thought, and ask him if it would be ok to hold another one. If it was successful, and people were happy, you'll probably get the green light!
11. Help others start up weeklies. If you're the only one in town, it can get stale. Make sure to help others start it up. Let other business owners know the success!
Hope that helped you, and be on your way to starting a weekly! If you have any other suggestions to add, please put it in a review!
- Applicable Games
- Smash 64, Melee, Brawl, Project M, Smash 3DS, Smash Wii U
