LiteralGrill
Smokin' Hot~
There have been a lot of questions surrounding Super Smash Con ever since its trailer was shown on VGBootcamp's stream. In the description of the trailer, the first thing that stands out is the message "This event is being organized by Justin Wykowski." Many people have been asking questions about Super Smash Con and the man behind it, as there is little information available on either. To help shed light on the general mystery surrounding such a huge event, I approached Justin to see if he would be interested in sitting down for an interview, and he obliged. We cover all the basics; from the convention, to Project M, to just a little bit about himself, and more.
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SmashCapps: Alright! Let's start with letting people get to actually know the guy behind Super Smash Con before we get to the event stuff since people have been really interested. Give us a bit of a bio on yourself like what you do for a living, what you do in smash etc. Pretend I'm your Facebook profile for a minute!
Justin Wykowski: Sure thing! As far as Smash is concerned I'm exclusively a 64 player, normally playing as Captain Falcon, Pikachu, Kirby, or Link. Like many, I played since it first came out, but really only got into the competitive scene a few years ago. I've gotten better over the years, but would not consider myself a "really good Smasher" by any means. Most recently, I tied for 49th at Apex 2015. As far as my business background - I, along with a few friends, own a small business called Block Party Bricks, which specializes in everything LEGO! We primarily found our success in the secondary market, selling through online marketplaces as well as conventions and trade shows.
SC: So you said you've sold Lego products at conventions and trade shows, so you probably have at least some experience with going to events professionally, but is this the first convention you've personally ran yourself?
JW: Correct. We have a lot of experience being vendors and/or sponsors at various events, as well as becoming very close friends with one the major show's organizers, which allowed me to learns the ins and outs from the organizing end as well. But yes, this is the first I've run solely.
SC: The trailer for the convention only mentioned you as running the event, is that true or are some of the folks you just mentioned seriously invested in event planning as well?
JW: They are invested as being advisers and mentors to our event, but it is just me and a new set of colleagues on the official "team" so to speak.
SC: That's a great lead in for another important question! We've seen that Juggleguy, Nintendude, and GimR (through VGBootcamp) are working with the event. For people who might be curious, what did it take to contact these guys and hire them on to run the event? In other words, what is the process behind finding staff for an event like this?
JW: Really all through various ways - but really I owe a lot to luck and help from some great people in the community,
SC: Well I have to say you managed to get an incredible group of people working with you there! I'll have to get into some tougher questions now. With such a big pot bonus promised and such a large amount of convention space, a lot of people were surprised that there were no sponsors listed in the initial trailer. Are there any sponsorships lined up that we just don't know about, or can't hear about yet?
JW: The event is being treated as a business investment and we're excited to invest in the Smash community as well as the gaming community as a whole. There will be sponsors to be announced providing other value for the weekend, but the pot bonus and convention space is from us.
SC: So just to make it clear, it's not that there will be $30,000 guaranteed in prizes total, but this is an addition $30,000 added on to whatever comes up after entry fees?
JW: Correct.
SC: And all of that is coming out of your pocket or through business with your Lego based businesses?
JW: Correct.
SC: Forgive me since I don't know much about the Lego business but know a bit more about running conventions. Is the Lego market something very profitable? I'm just amazed with how much a convention generally costs that this is doable.
JW: It really is amazing how deep some of these niche's go - we've been to multiple LEGO shows that have over 20,000 attendees in one weekend!
SC: Wow! I really had no idea it could be something that big. So with this kind of large capital having to be invested, what inspired you to come and do it in the Smash community coming primarily with experience in Legos?
JW: Truthfully it was a combination of two things. At first, I was inspired by these LEGO shows and seeing the success my friend had on his first ones - it got me thinking if there was a niche or community I could provide such an event for. My first thought was of course gaming in general, but last year while watching a 64 tournament I had the "aha" moment that we could do an awesome combo event!
SC: Well I think I'll ask you a bit more about the event itself. You said you didn't have any other major sponsors yet earlier, so can I take that to mean despite popular belief Nintendo is not currently involved in the event in some way?
JW: Correct.
With no Nintendo involvement, what's up with Project M at Super Smash Con?
SC: This one is going to probably be tough so I'll just be blunt. Can you make any comment on Project M or any other mods being allowed at the event in some capacity?
JW: Absolutely. I know this is another big one for people. We really didn't want to make any promises we can't keep in the teaser, so PM was left out there. But we don't mean to exclude it or to say it's not part of the community - we definitely respect and appreciate what the mods have done for the community. We want them to have a presence and are excited for people to learn about them.
SC: I'm guessing the worry is what would happen if Nintendo DID step in then, correct?
JW: Correct.
SC: People will be very happy to hear Project M will have a chance to be there! We know there will at least be 4 major Smash tournaments going on, alongside maybe Project M doing something, what other kids of events will be going on at the con? Can you give us a few hints if anything particularly special is planned?
JW: Yeah unfortunately I can't spoil too much as we want there to be plenty of surprises. But I will drop a couple hints: there will be a fun way to show the casuals the competitive community, and there will be a unique smash-related event that I doubt anyone will be able to predict.
SC: Now that sounds awesome! Will anyone else be allowed to stream at the event, or will all the streaming be covered by VGBootcamp?
JW: That has not been finalized yet.
SC: I guess a tiny bit alongside that, is Twitch involved with the event in any way right now?
JW: Not at this time.
SC: Alright. Onto the event itself a bit, especially with Smash 4 being so young there is a lot of talk on rulesets with things like customs on vs off, 2 stock vs 3 stocks, how long the timer should be, stages, and bunches more. Where do you plan to draw inspiration for your ruleset? Also if your ruleset is already decided, could we hear a bit about it?
JW: Smash 4 is definitely young from a competitive standpoint and will continue to change for a good while. So the best we can do is to continue to watch other high level tournaments and see how things evolve and try to keep an ear to the ground to see the community's response as well.
SC: So we've covered tournaments, and cool events, how about booths? Has there been a lot of interest in booths so far, and has the interest been up to your expectations?
JW: Definitely! We're very excited about both the variety and the quantity. Everyone seems incredibly excited - and so are we!
SC: So there's obviously going to be a TON going on, especially with 100,000 square feet of Smash! How many people are going to be on staff for this, and do you expect a large need for community volunteers?
JW: Staff numbers won't be final for a little while, but we don't anticipate having to reach out to the general community for volunteering needs. We actually have many volunteers lined up already!
SC: So if someone wants to volunteer, host a booth or panel, or just plain get involved, what's the best way to get in contact to do so?
JW: The best way is to email us at info@supersmashcon.com or fill out the contact form on supersmashcon.com. We love hearing random ideas too!
SC: I think I have everything about the con itself set up and covered, but was there anything I missed you would like to tell people about the convention?
JW: I guess just that we know that there wasn't too much info in the teaser, we really just wanted people to mark their calendars and keep the weekend free. We don't want to keep everyone in the dark and want everyone to know all full details will be released later in April when registration goes live.
SC: Excellent! One last question to end things off on a fun note and let people get to know you a bit more: What is your favorite moment in smash, and why?
JW: Probably the first tournament I went to actually - it was small but in the second round I beat a fairly top player at the time, it was ridiculously close and I just loved the taste of the pressure and the hype afterwards!
SC: First tournament hype! Well Justin thank you a ton for doing this. I really think this will be excellent for letting people know about Super Smash Con, any final words for readers?
JW: See you in August!!
Justin declined answering any questions that would disclose any specific financial information about the event.
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Hopefully this has given everyone a chance to learn a little bit more about the upcoming convention as well as the man running it. You can find out more about Super Smash Con by visiting their website or by checking them out on Twitter. You can always find me on Twitter by following @SmashCapps to stay up to date on any news and interviews here as well.