You just have to not be afraid to ask for friendlies against the winner of the next match.
Hmm... Well, I think we can handle that.
Oh, and in case you're worried, I think the fests at your place are as friendly as they come, so there's no problem there. The guys I play with just had a bad experience elsewhere with a certain GJ regular who I won't name. I had a hard time convincing them to come to yours after that, and I don't think I'll be able to convince them to come to this unless I can guarantee (whatever that's worth) that noobs will be welcome.
Thus far I don't really have any reason to believe they won't be, so with any luck at all we'll be there.