(first page updated) European tournament: Birmingham UK. August 11th-13th.

[Kone]

Right o guys. I posted that I was going to attempt to run a european tournament last summer. However, that didn't go down due to where I lived.

With me moving down to Birmingham in April I looking to run a large european tournament this summer.

I found a centre just south of birmingham that accomodates 70 people in bedrooms and can manage a lot more in the venue itself (i am discussing other housing issues with the owners). The venue has a sports hall, various lounges, showers, dininning hall, self catering kitchen and beds. Which, of course, is ace.

At the moment it is looking like the tournament will be ran August 11th-13th and will include; singles, doubles & international crews in melee only.

For those unaware Birmingham is the UK's second largest city. It is located 2.5 hours north west of London. In terms of accessibility for european players there are the following options;

1. Fly into Birmingham airport. This is located 30 mins from my place and 40 mins from the tournament venue. Ryanair, amongst others, flies into the airport.

2. Fly into East Midlands airport. This is located 1 hour from my place and about 1.15 mins from the venue. Ryan, amongst others, flies into the airport.

3. Fly into any London airport (Stansted, Luton, Gatwick & Heathrow). There are a variety of means of coach travel from london to birmingham for cheap.

4. Fly into Manchester, Liverpool or Bristol and bus it to Birmingham. Moderately priced.

5. Drive. Ferry is only £50 return. Between five people it is cheap. From a ferry port to birmingham it is around abouts a 4 hour drive.


I am really wanting to make this tournament huge. I have been knocking about on these boards for sometime and should be known to some degree within the european smash community. I am wanting to see a very large turnout from each country! lets make this the pound 4 of european events. The UK should be the most accessible location, in general, for most europeans.


This Friday I am confirming details with the venue. After this I shall post an official thread. I am also visiting the venue next weekend and will have photos and videos online.
Ed

 

[Fuzzyness]

gl with this ed, if you need any help just ask me

 

[Jolteon]

haha Ed this venue sounds too good, a little too good perhaps. Fancy for a smash tournament I've gotta say.

I don't think that venue cost is an issue, Dolls War is planning a similar thing with a hostel, it's more expensive and it still has interest.

 

[Kone]

Thank you for the positive feeback Alex . I was getting quite stressed about the cost (esppecially as it seems so doable). Iam thinking that ten pound a night isn't that bad for five months notice especially since housing is included. If we are able to get this tournament to be the pound 4 of europe then the cost should be fine. Pound 4 was £31 for venue and melee singles only. That was without participants paying for their hotel AND their hotel was not IN the venue.

Also, it should be pretty cheap for europeans to get to this. Cheap flights to london + easybus + nationalexpress to birmingham is not that costly. May take some time but then i can offer housing for all either side of tournament dates if needed.

Will be providing set meals during the day aswell. Kate, Jessy, Ed and potentially Laura said they will form a kitchen crew ^_^

x

 

[DevMBC]

Sounds amazing! Beds priority to those from overseas, girls and people called Jam! =)

 

[Bullet Bill]

I think it sounds reasonably good for what we're getting Ed. I'm wondering if theres an alternative for the international players? Going from London to Birmingham wouldn't be ideal and theres no guarantee that the cost of that would be cheap, plane tickets aside. Doesn't Birmingham have an airport that they can use?

 

[Jolteon]

If it's got cheap flights then the price should be no issue, and i'd say you have to be a fool to complain about it when you get cooked meals. I'm interested.

 

[Aiko]

£10 a night seems perfectly acceptable when you consider youre getting a venue, bed and shower. Let me know if you need help, I'm always willing to give a hand running tournament etc

 

[Kone]

Jam - lol . In regards to the housing it'll be a case of people guaranteeing a bed by paying up front or I paying a deposit. However, when I get this confirmed Ill sort regisration details out. Those that don't get a bed hopefully will be able to stay in the venue for cheaper/on the floor in one of the lounges. If that doesnt work im hoping to hire a marquee.

Ben - Yeah your right. I used the london example as I believe that could be the most likely and cheapest option for alot of europeans. Nationalexpress return fares are less than £5 return between london and birmingham. However, there is a birmingham airport (ryanair flies to) . Next nearest would then be east midlands airport which also flies ryanair. Your then looking at manchester/liverpool/london and bristol. Any major city to Brum via megabus or nationalexpress isnt to bad. I may look into minibus deals aswell if we end u getting alot of europeans flying in on similar dates to a london airport. Regardless, there should be an option for europeans to get to Birmingham fairly cheap (imo compared to most other european tournaments). Factor in I can house people before and after the venue is available means people can't ***** about travelling within the UK.

Ant - Sounds good. I will be organising a tournament staff for this event and you would be on the top of my list. I am wanting a large dedicated team that can be split into three teams and then rotate 'on duty' during the day. Id want each team to be headed by a experienced community member (charles/ant etc). This was staff get to enjoy the tournament aswell. Obviously during frantic periods ie initial pools everyone will be involved regardless.

Alex - Kitchen + kitchen staff + dinning room = too good ^_^.

 

[AmcD]

With there being 70 beds? more than likely they will all get used up by international players so where would the UK players stay? would that be on the floor at the venue?
Also if any help is needed then I will help

 

[Kone]

In regards to the beds it'll be a case of first come first served. As I am aiming for this event to be on a very large scale i.e. larger than anything we have seen in the UK then registration will be very formal. This means some form of down payment minimum before the tournament or you aren't coming. Within the registration period beds will be distributed based on people paying the full amount therefore guaranteeing a bed or paying some form of deposit on their bed etc. Either way, you pay and you get a bed.

Outside of the 70 beds I am not so sure yet. I havent found a venue that is near birmingham + residential + cheaper than this one. Therefore, Ill have to figure out a way around the housing issue. I am ringing the venue tomorrow to talk things through as emailing is getting to complicated. I am hoping that they allow us to have more than 70 people in the venue over night. This would therefore mean sleeping in the lounges or main hall (whatever I/they deem appropriate). Potentially, people could sleep in the rooms aswell as there is enough floor space for people to kip on or use blow up mattresses. Just would have to arrange doing so with friends that have already paid for beds in rooms. However, this hinges on the owners saying that its cool to do so.

My other options would be (if we could not have more than 70 overnight);

*Convincing owners to allow us to camp on the venues adjacent fields. This would mean those not in the bed 70 would have to bring tents. I could probably, between friends, organise around 5 tents accomodating 20 people. Iam also considering renting a marquee (a very large tent) for people that can't stay in the venue to sleep in. Obviously, your venue costs would reflect whether you are housed indoors or outdoors.
*People would have to sort out their own accomodation nearby.
*Worse comes to worse I would consider housing some people at my place and rent a minibus for the tournament duration to ship people between venue and my place.


edit - someone move this to european bit please?

 

[Calzum!]

This Is Delicious!
the venue sound pretty **** cool £10 is understandable. the EM crew will be there

 

[Pickled_No0b]

to be honest, this sounds so good id go even if i didnt play smash

 

[Anaky]

No1 comes to the UK anymore becuz our skill level in both games are low, well according to those outside of the UK.

 

[Kone]

Callum/Pickled - Awesome to hear ^_^ Southampton and EM better be there in force .

I have booked the venue for august 11th-13th for the moment as these were the only dates they had available in august and i dont want to lose the venue. Speaking to them friday to arrange more details and will also look at what options they have for the last two weeks of july aswell

Andy - Your post is really not needed. I am putting a lot of energy into attempting to organise a large european tournament this summer (lack of any other tournaments currently being posted about!). This would do wonders for the UK. I know you are unaware of this, as you don't host, but tournaments rely on momentum. Snide comments like yours do NOTHING to help.

Regardless of the above your wrong. Our small UK national tournaments (like smashGT) used to in the past get between 5-10 europeans coming to them. This included the like of EK, Helios and the top dutch players at the time. Back then the gap between the UK and them was much worse. The reason it stopped was largely due to housing issues and various other incidents that occurred at tournaments.

Name a recent british tournament that advertised for europeans to come? had a overnight venue? was located somewhere accessbile? etc. There hasn't been. Therefore, no europeans come U_U'

 

[AmcD]

Ed those dates are awesome.
I'm glad this is going to happen really want to play players outside the UK.

 

[Kone]

Im glad alan . Only issue is that it is a tuesday to thursday but to be honest the dates work better for the cheaper ryanair flights so should allow more players to come.

When i talkt to them fri (next time the person is free) I should be able to post a proper thread. I just need to sort housing issues out with them then. Ill also be down to visit the venue a next weekend so should have a photos and video footage of the venue online soon

 

[Flayl]

Is this both Melee and Brawl?

Checking the prices from Lisbon now:
- To Birmingham it's around 300€ (I'd have to stay somewhere on the night of 13 though)
- To London it's around 160€ o_0 (doesn't get cheaper if I stay overnight)

If I arrive in London at 11:30, will I arrive in time for the tournament that takes place on the 13th? How much does transporation from Heathrow to the tournament cost?

Also the prices will be going up in the meantime =(

 

[Kone]

Urgh, I think you portuguese get a poor deal in terms of cheap flights, lisbon doesnt really fly anyhere for particularly cheap. I shall look into other options for you.

This is a melee tournament. I dont have brawl experience to run a european brawl tournament.

 

[AmcD]

Is this both Melee and Brawl?

Checking the prices from Lisbon now:
- To Birmingham it's around 300€ (I'd have to stay somewhere on the night of 13 though)
- To London it's around 160€ o_0 (doesn't get cheaper if I stay overnight)

If I arrive in London at 11:30, will I arrive in time for the tournament that takes place on the 13th? How much does transporation from Heathrow to the tournament cost?

Also the prices will be going up in the meantime =(

Hey, Try easyjet to Liverpool. I'm sure they are cheaper and it's just as easy getting to Birmingham from Liverpool.

 

[Kone]

Yeah there are a lot of options and I can guarantee you could get to the tournament for ALOT cheaper. Im on a really old and slow laptop and cant load multiple webpages so will post options tomorrow. It maybe cheaper for you to connect through another city. Lastly, ryanir normally have cheap flights available for the summer in march/april time (eg at the moment they have cheap ski holiday flights for march time)

 

[Flayl]

Liverpool is the same cost as London. Anyway my bad, I thought this was both games and I'm not prepared to spend a lot of money travelling for only one of them. Sorry about that.

 

[Kone]

I understand your reasoning regarding the two games. However, the cost is not realisitic. If you look at the flights that are currently advertised on ryanair for cheap they will be the same for the summer months but wont be advertised till later in the year. Just the way ryanair works!

 

[Anaky]

Hahaha yeah Ed i guess ur right sorry but i was jsut pointing that out so be aware. Anyway i know alot of Europeons from Spain and Holland so i can ask them if their interested, as i will be going to a tourney sometime in Spain or Holland im sure they would feel more Enthusiastic about coming here, so u can count on me for the EU brawlers.

Edit: Ohh Melee only, sorry i didnt read.

 

[Kone]

Yeah sorry dude. Due to the cost of the venue I couldnt guarantee that i could run both melee and brawl successfully i.e. as i may have to limit how long i use the venue to keep costs down.

Don't worry I am pretty good a running tournaments and know communities well. Will make this big

 

[Pickled_No0b]

Guess you'll have plenty of chance to promote when you go to berlin too

 

[Tero.]

Interested.

Flights to London Stansted are about 50€.
How much would it cost to get from London to the venue?

 

[AmcD]

If you book a coach in advance I think it's around £4. I'm sure Ed will let you know more options though.

 

[Kone]

Yeah as alan said it doesnt cost much between london and the venue. Im talking to the venue friday then should have a comprehensive thread up with travel options (very detailed options as there are ALOT of choices for people to get to the venue).

Tero - what airports could you fly from?

 

[Tero.]

Yeah as alan said it doesnt cost much between london and the venue. Im talking to the venue friday then should have a comprehensive thread up with travel options (very detailed options as there are ALOT of choices for people to get to the venue).

Tero - what airports could you fly from?

German airports you mean?

Friedrichshafen (FDH)
Frankfurt-Hahn (HHN)
Karlsruhe-Baden (FKB)
Stuttgart (STR)
and Euroairport Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg

The last one is the best for me, but Ryanair doesn't fly from there.

 

[jjlinyard]

Yeah sorry dude. Due to the cost of the venue I couldnt guarantee that i could run both melee and brawl successfully i.e. as i may have to limit how long i use the venue to keep costs down.

Don't worry I am pretty good a running tournaments and know communities well. Will make this big

this idea is sick dude, love it. even though im not a brawl player surely in terms for the brawl community couldnt you maybe see if there would be anyone willing to help you run it? Cos im sure it would be possible to do, also an increased attendce may result by way of people travelling for both games? just an idea tho.

 

[Kone]

I dont want to increase the attendance anymore. I am expecting a very large turnout for melee and want to ensure that all tvs are dedicated to it. To many european tournament over run (alot) I want to avoid that and ensure international crews run.

 

[Aiko]

I think its good you want to focus on 1 game. It makes everything run smoother and allows you to ensure everything is finished as well as having time for friendlies. Introducing another game would just make everything hectic as well as potentially doubling the attendance, not to mention running pools/brackets for both games will be mega confusing.

 

[Tamoo]

i agree with calum, this is enough of an experience to pay for even if i didn't play smash, sounds amazing so far.

And as I said in the other thread, I can help out recording, although if AJP Anton comes, he may be useful to have around.

 

[jjlinyard]

fair doos then im looking forward to this bad now.

 

[MegaAntMan1]

with regards to what you said earlier, do you have the address of the venue as i need to put it into my tomtom/satnav

 

[Kone]

this isnt the real thread mate, its located at the top of the tournament discussion.

MODS CLOSE THIS PLEASE.

 

[Calzum!]

with regards to what you said earlier, do you have the address of the venue as i need to put it into my tomtom/satnav

http://www.smashboards.com/showthread.php?t=265173