Melbourne - Couch Warriors Meeting Minutes (20-12-08)

[CAOTIC]

On behalf of Loki:

Hi guys,

Well it's been a great year, but I'm sure there's heaps of stuff we could have done better, or should do differently in the future. We need to discuss re-electing a new committee for next year, upcoming events in the season break and all that kind of jazz.

I'd like to do this meeting in person, perhaps as a dinner, we could go to the Curtin, or somewhere else if anyone has a suggestion. This also needs to happen soon, probably either a Fri/Sat/Sun night either the weekend of the 13th/14th or the 20th/21st. Please let me know your preference and your availability as this will be an important meeting.

Also please suggest agenda items here, and I'll put all the details together as we go.

Please reply ASAP. All committee would be highly appreciated and any members are welcome and appreciated.

Agenda Items
- 2008 Wrap-up and discussion
- 2009 Committee Structure and AGM scheduling
- Game community spending / equipment purchasing for next year (or leave to new committee?)
- January Event with DAC?
- First Look into doing an Annual Event

I also noticed people giving their thoughts about what could be done better. If you have some feedback you'd like for me to pass onto the committee, post it here and I'll bring it up to the committee (that's if you're unable to attend the meeting, which people are encouraged to attend).

Additionally, if you want to see CW change for the better, you should consider becoming a committee member for next year! You'll get a bit more responsbility, but it rewards well in getting to know the people behind the running of CW and personal satisfaction, better tournaments, etc.

I'm trying to get this scheduled at the Greenhouse bar, so we can marge Smash'dfest with the meeting for winz

 

[Ugly Man]

I will turn up for that. A Sunday night would be best, either of those weekends.

 

[Shaya]

More LIGHTING, better venue, more equipment. Projectors FOR EVERYBODY.

 

[CAOTIC]

More lighting - OK
Better venue - Could you elaborate on the things that aren't good with the current venue?
More equipment - More money will be spent getting purchasing more equipment, but the Melbourne Smash Community also needs some initiative in this department.

Keep them coming, thanks.

 

[TakFR]

I think Shaya meant a better venue date and time wise

 

[Dekar289]

tvs we're fine, the 3 universal remote ones plus 2 or 3 tvs from smashers, we're fine.

need an earlier start. need.

 

[CAOTIC]

If we were able to shift the day to a Saturday it would have aleady been done. However, some people prefer the Sunday option as well, so there's bound to be winners and losers. That's beyond our control, as the venue and time is given to us free of charge. The money being saved is being directed towards a large scale event planned later in 2009. If you need an outline of expenditures and savings they are covered in previous CW meetings and the minutes.

About the time - If we start on time we finish on time. I've heard from various sources that the last Ranbat started very very late, so it's not fair to say time has gotten the better of us, when the time given isn't being used efficiently.

Loki and Zan know of our requests and will try to make a bid for an earlier starting time.

Assuming we continue with the current arrangements in 2009, Brawl Singles and Teams can easily finish within the time provided. Separating Melee to other ranbats will ensure this. So I am in favour of alternating the games, subject to popularity.

 

[Dekar289]

imo it's important to have both melee and brawl at every monthly, to keep numbers up
so either
- brawl singles and melee singles
- brawl singles and melee doubles (alternating monthly with brawl doubles and melee singles)
OR
- all 4 single elim

 

[CAOTIC]

your first option doesnt feature both games equitably. so i dont necessairly agree with it. the second option is too weak, people just hate single elimination.

i had the chance to check out melee-only tourneys run in north america, separating the games works. they are combined in major tournaments where most of the cross-over occurs, since they have the time and resources to do so. i don't think it's realistic to keep on trying to attempt to squeeze in as much melee and brawl in one sitting as possible, it only creates a less fullfilling experience overall. this stems down to a quality vs. quantity issue, but wouldn't it be nicer to do both games proper justice? we cant do it with the 8-9 hours we have each monthly.

 

[Dekar289]

imo, juxtaposing brawl and melee every month will make melee lovers only appreciate melee more and so they will only go to to the melee monthlies
brawl players may get sick of melee and only go the brawl monthlies
so we see a half-turnout at all monthlies =/

 

[CAOTIC]

crazy assumption you have thar, any evidence to suggest you'd be right? in turnout that is

 

[Dekar289]

nope, we'll have to wait til next year to see.

 

[Shaya]

Sif Emily would go to a brawl one.

The venue itself has problems with the following:
Lighting (brought it up)

Starting time. Yes we started last month 30-45 minutes late. When 2:15 or so hit and Shaz wasn't there I went alright and had to start without him. Matches started at around 2:30 but things weren't really swinging properly until 3 when we finally got LULZ OUR 2 TVS BECAME 4! (EQUIPMENT RAGE)

Communication abilities - i.e. you are never able to get the attention of everyone; hence need projectors. The darkness and the actual architectual structure of that band room makes it hard for your voice to be heard by anyone. And people can't see who's talking.

Claustrophobia when you have over 50 smashers (more than half the total entrants there most likely) getting a disproportionate amount of tvs/space.

While I was there, Smash was just too 'large' for the venue and equipment that was available. Whilst things remain the way they are each and every Smash event there will probably be failures in various aspects.

 

[CAOTIC]

Emily goes to whatever she feels like. You can’t plan for mood swings. Game preference is irrelevant.

I have no problems with having the venue space from 1pm – 10pm. TO’s are supposed to arrive up to an hour before start time, to set things up. It's bad organisation at arrive any late. Equipment shortages also stems from a lack of preparation and the management of those who are able to offer equipment within the community.

A projector would be handy, but it’s a luxury and we never needed to use them to screen brackets even though we had 2 at our original venue. They went straight to console setups. Typically with turnouts of 50+, brackets become unsuitable for calling out matches (unless you want a sore throat), and pool play kicks in for self micro-management. I believe Shaz intended to have the last monthly done as pools, but I don’t know if that happened or not.

Setup arrangements can always set determined before the tournament starts – i.e. the setup times. I don’t expect you to have known that – it wasn’t your tournament to run.

 

[bylim5]

I agree with more lighting and more space. Buit also time, an earlier starting time, i also like saturdays now, going until 10pm on sundays really annoyed me after the 2nd ranbat there.
Also, more ventilation! Too much B.O

 

[Dekar289]

it's not gunna move back to saturday

cw bank is what, $2,000? this better be a ****ing amazing "large scale event"

 

[CAOTIC]

it's not gunna move back to saturday

cw bank is what, $2,000? this better be a ****ing amazing "large scale event"

Not even close. Ask Zan/Mystic, they are the treasrers.

 

[L0ki]

Hey guys, thanks for all the feedback so far, we will definitely give all suggestions the time they deserve for discussion at the meeting, but please keep in mind that we do have limited power and some things are just beyond our control or current resources, we're volunteers, plain and simple.

I realise that space has been badly used in the new venue and there are many areas we could be utilising better so you aren't crushed in so much, I'll definitely be trying to get a few more tables and utilise the area around the bar and the back of the stairs so you're not just a big packed line of sweaty nerds for the better part 8 hours of the day.

The CW Bank would be roughly that amount had we not spent money during the year, unfortunately all those tables you use and the chairs you sit on cost real money, as do the prizes and medals for the end of year wrap-up events (you guys haven't done yours yet).
I'm sorry to burst your bubble but $2,000 is hardly a massive amount of money for a big event with equipment, hire, prizes and so on, we can certainly do an event on the cheap, but planning and careful spending are essential to making that kind of thing even remotely possible to do again.
I'm not the treasurer nor do I have access to the books at the moment, but I'd fathom a guess that the current bank is closer to $800ish, but I could be well off.
Had we not spent this money we would still be back at Bundoora handing out chocolates to season winners, but if you'd like to be more involved in the spending decisions feel free to attend meetings, as a Couch Warriors member you are all welcome to have your say, this is your community as well.
In that vein if you'll all recall the TV incentive scheme on the division of funds to specific games, your community will have money to spend on bettering the environment for yourselves, I don't have the figures right now, but that's one of the things that will be going on at this upcoming meeting.
I encourage everyone to get involved if they can.

Anyway, The Ranbat day is unfortunately beyond our control unless you want to go back to Bundoora, which I'm not actually sure we could get again, I was pulling a pretty hefty dodgy to wrangle that for us at all in the first place.
Lighting is tricky, we'll try our best, but short of buying even more lamps, I'm really up for suggestions here. I see alot of "improvement needed"' but not alot of suggestions on how that could be improved.

We'll see what we can do about an earlier starting time, I know you guys are hit hardest because your competitions go for an unfathomably ridiculous amount of time compared to most games despite using twice as many competition TVs than everyone else.
Keep in mind though that at best we might be able to buy an extra hour or two tops, and including setup and packup time, you aren't gaining that much.
If time constraints are a continual issue your tournament organisers will need to help come up with solutions to lessen the strain, like bringing more gear, or altering the format. There's really only so much we can do.

Anyway, please keep the feedback coming, it's all useful to know no matter how bitter or misguided some of it is, remember, it's your community too, you have alot of power here, you just need to choose to do something constructive with it.

 

[Shaya]

I know you guys are hit hardest because your competitions go for an unfathomably ridiculous amount of time compared to most games despite using twice as many competition TVs than everyone else.

Explain further please.

As in, how many entrants does Smash get compared to other games hosted at CW;
and How many TVs does each 'event/game' get?

If you want more than suggestions, as in people thinking of solutions, then woolah:

You need to increase the fee to $10.
CW offers quite a large array of games and at this time CW is faulting in areas which could be resolved with an increased monetary flow.

More TVs, Equipment, lighting and saving up for the "big final" all become 2x faster (well ignore economical supply/demand calculations).

 

[L0ki]

Explain further please.

As in, how many entrants does Smash get compared to other games hosted at CW;
and How many TVs does each 'event/game' get?

If you want more than suggestions, as in people thinking of solutions, then woolah:

You need to increase the fee to $10.
CW offers quite a large array of games and at this time CW is faulting in areas which could be resolved with an increased monetary flow.

More TVs, Equipment, lighting and saving up for the "big final" all become 2x faster (well ignore economical supply/demand calculations).

I think you've missed the point here, the problem with lack of equipment, TVs especially is not caused by access to TVs, if we went out and bought 20 TVs right now it wouldn't solve anything, people still need to be able to BRING those TVs, which is the problem right now, we don't have some magical truck that transports huge amounts of gear to the venue for us for free, 90% of the gear used every month is carted there by Zan, Batasan and Myself.
If I was creative I could maaaybe fit one more TV in my car so long as I never bring anyone along with me, those other two cars are basically 100% full.
If you want more TVs coming you need to organise for people to bring them, plain and simple.

I should dispel this now, because it sounds like you believe CW owns a whole bunch of TVs, thats just not true, everything which is brought along is personal equipment brought for the games those people represent, Smash is just lucky that it often receives charity TVs from Zan or myself when it's failed to meet that standard, but these TVs dont come from nowhere, they are taken from the 3S or GG setups they were specifically brought for.

Smash has a TV shortage for their numbers, it's an unfortunate reality, but the fault for that lies solely with that community, despite having twice as many people they bring half as many TVs.
What I meant by the quoted comment is that despite the 2 TVs that Zan bought and donated to the cause TVs are a problem. You run on what, 4 TVs for the competitions? More?
GG and 3S runs on 2 TVs for competition and 4 max for casuals and each seperate competition is done in roughly 2 hours. Now if you add 2 extra TVs to that you roughly halve the time the competition takes to run though, this doesn't work in finals, but it comes close.
Forget the specific time here, the basic equation is double the competitors equals double the time, but double the TVs equals half the time, so it SHOULD even out.
What you need to consider here is how long each of your matches can take, and how many matches are required in your tournament format, if thats not going to work in the allocated time, then making people wait around for an extra few hours is hardly a reasonable solution, you need to start coming up with better Time vs TV usage strategies to actually finish in the allocated time.

Anyway, on the money suggestion, I'll bring it up in the meeting and see what people think, but please keep in mind that it's just not that simple. More more more making things better will ONLY work if people are willing to support that, if Smash wants say 4 more TVs, fine, they can probably buy those now out of their funds generated from people bringing TVs though-out the year, but they NEED to find someone to actually bring those 4 TVs every month.

 

[Shaya]

So you've stumbled upon the issue of transportation.

Hiring a storage place near the venue is one solution.
Hiring a truck on the day is another - problem is that it questions where you're driving to (i.e. the problems that could arise from that).

A permanent storage garage/lock up near the venue where things like TVs, tables, chairs etc are stored, and other equipment reduces the strain on the player's community bringing such things, and also eases up your problems as you can purely drive you and your friends to the venue, drop them off and start shifting over televisions as many as can fit in the car etc etc.

 

[L0ki]

We're are of course aware of the options, but we're also aware that this kind of solution is firstly very expensive, secondly very impractical to do on a monthly basis and highly unnecessary if the community actually gets behind bringing equipment instead of relying on others to do it for them.
It also turns a 10 hour day into a 12-14 hour day with extra transport, risk and higher responsibility put on one or two people to do all the work.

Anyway, thank you for the suggestion, if it becomes highly neccessary I'm sure it will be considered, but on our current scale it'll be an unfortunate day for the community when that kind of thing is the only way to get the gear required.
For a bigger, more intentionally professional, higher costing, less frequent event, it becomes more feasible.

 

[Ugly Man]

I currently supply two televisions for Smash. If need be I could easily store/bring another, the only issue being I do not have it. Plus, it would require a Wii on it. For the first half hour of the last comp one of my televisions sat there looking lonely.

I've been thinking about the Smash congestion, especially in that corner (that FESKING CORNER) beside the bar. I'd suggest not putting a television in there, it is irritating to the extreme to be scheduled for that television.

 

[Afropony]

Yes, that corner beside the bar is very hard to get to. People had to jump onto a couch and walk along it and at one point a match was paused to let people through.

 

[Cronos_Rainbow]

-There is a lot of room on the bar side of the place we don't really use well or at all.
-We not only get less televisions, but see them leave early due to the insanely late start.
-That corner could easily be used for other things, and the television that would usually occupy it moved elsewhere.
-Parking is a joke, and so bringing televisions is made even harder by the fact we can't get our cars their in the first place.
-The day also makes things hard, meaning people can't stay late due to work school blah blah.
-The steps are hazards, and probably put a lot of people off bringing any equipment they can't shoulder.

-The TV incentive scheme is sadly a losing battle. So long as there remains the attitude that others will pick up the slack people will always loaf. Unless there's some kind of clear incentive for the individual there's really little hope of this encouraging anyone.

-Smash loses a lot of time people being down in the pub eating or drinking. It's been hard enough to deal with players who play in various other tournaments also without adding this. With the late start there is little chance of hoping to fit in any more than one lengthy event at the best of times with current numbers not allowing a tea break.

Shaya I think you mean voila.

Ugly your contributions are greatly appreciated, as are those of the others who chip in - thanks all .

 

[Dekar289]

remember brawl takes 1.5 to 2 times longer than melee
if we run melee and brawl instead of brawl and brawl
that'd help amirite

 

[Everence]

right now teams is quite unpopular. many people leave after they're knocked out in the singles and don't bother sticking around for it. i personally don't enjoy brawl teams and wouldn't mind giving it the flick.

 

[Shaya]

Yes, I meant voila. It's one of those words I definitely always forget how to spell.

 

[ZTV]

1234567890

 

[L0ki]

Thanks for the input guys, please keep it up.
I'm going to try and refrain from commenting for now and just let the suggestions come out, I'll check back closer to the meeting and gather up all the reasonable suggestions for discussion.
Also I'll post more details when they're decided about the meeting so whoever wants can come along and help make the decisions.

Anyway, cheers guys, keep em coming. I can't guarantee that everything is possible or feasible to fix, but we'll definitely do what we can.

 

[Cronos_Rainbow]

The problem with splitting up tasks and assigning them to people is that there are very few people keen on giving their time and effort - not to mention giving up their fun and opportunities for the day in order to deliver a better event as a whole. KO and I do what we do for free...though it ends up actually costing us more time and money than would be obvious to most. It also is anything but enjoyable in the end. Of course the CW guys from other game events do help out where they can, but it's still coming down to doing something for free that as a whole sucks to do. If others of you really wish to do it then step up...but I assure it's far short of great fun so be prepared for that before raising a hand.
That said many hands make light work....so the more enthusiastic volunteers there are the better it will be for everyone in the long run.

 

[Mr. Phantasmo]

As Shaz said before its those steps that worry me the most, my TV is huge and heavy, the last thing I want is someone getting injured trying to lug my fat TV up and down.
Is there a lift in the building that we can use ? I might have to stop bringing it if it means preventing an injury.

P.S. Thanks to all who have helped me with my TV.

 

[CAOTIC]

The post-mortem meeting is officially scheduled:
Saturday 20th of December. 6pm @ The John Curtin (same place as our monthly events)

Topics to be covered:
Agenda Items
- 2008 Wrap-up and discussion
- 2009 Committee Structure and AGM scheduling
- Game community spending / equipment purchasing for next year (or leave to new committee?)
- January Event with DAC?
- First Look into doing an Annual Event

Smasher attendance is vital to ensure the community on our behalf provides input and participates in the consultation processes.

After the meeting is over the SF/GG guys will usually head to the Bluehouse, but we can head to the Greenhouse for drinks! Or Rooftop depending on weather <3

 

[TakFR]

I'm very sorry Cao, i really want to go but it's my dad's 50th birthday on that day =/

 

[L0ki]

Please note I've pushed it back to 5pm to ensure we get a good table and have a chance to open discussions before dinner.

 

[Cronos_Rainbow]

I'll come along. See you there.

 

[Atlasmist]

hey cao that is a nice time did you get any details on the room we looked at?

that would be a really nice venue just for smashers hehehe

 

[Myst Walker]

So how'd it go? I was dead tired after work on that day and struggled to make it home, so I completely forgot about it haha. Would have missed the first hour anyways =T

 

[Zant3tsuken]

Phantasmo: We're really grateful that you brought your TV, but if it's the one I remember that was massive (70cm+?) then we'd prefer you didn't bring it. The stairs are the obvious reason, but we wouldn't ask people to bring that size equipment under normal circumstances anyway. I brought my 68cm to boss stage in 2007 and I'll never do it again (even if I had the space).

Myst: I'll get back to you on that one. If other organisers are happy for me to cut/paste the minutes, I'll do just that.

Shaya: Just to throw a few numbers around, here's what we'd be looking at paying doing things the way you suggest on a yearly basis.
-Storage roughly costs $1k in itself. This is going off what Manifest pays for a location near Queen Vic Market.
-Van hire per event is $60 from Budget for a 1 tonner plus $20 for fuel is $800 over 10 events.

Personally I'd go with storage if we are buying our own equipment. It's a much better option than stashing all of it at the van drivers house. It creates liability issues and other hassles. Given that, car trips for the handful of organisers jumps to an extra hour of fooling around, and at this level of organisation to be worthwhile (and probably price hike) we'd need to be doing a bigger, less frequent event. I'm interested in this course of action, but it will take a lot of work to get to this point.

Shaz: Parking is easy. Drop stuff off in the laneway then park on Cardigan Street. I've never had a problem and I've had to come to and from the venue multiple times early on in events because I forget ****. <3

Everyone: The best short term news we can tell everyone is that we've decided to invest in more tables, set them up in front of the bar and block off that corner. As I said, if the others are cool with me posting up minutes, I'll do so.

 

[Zant3tsuken]

Okay, so here are the aforementioned minutes

Wrap-up meeting 2008
Venue - John Curtin Hotel, 29 Lygon Street, Carlton
Apologies: Dominic, Shaz, Jei
Date - 20 December 2008, 5.00pm - 7.30pm

Items discussed:

Lamps

• 
  [li]The Committee previously invested in some lighting stationed at the desk.
  Unsuccessful due to the size of the bandroom.
  There is a ceiling problem as we would prefer lights to be installed overhead to flood the rooms with light, but it's an issue beyond the committee's control. [/li]
  [li][/li]

Table Setup

• 
  [li]A table setup needs to be organised alongside the bar bench for future monthlies.
  The notorious 'Smash Corner' will be closed off to prevent overcrowding and inappropriate 'bar-hopping.'
  Key functionality - mentions of a traingular table setup which could accomodate 3 TV stations with a lamp in the middle to solve the ligting issue.
  More investment into tables is required to expand setups along the bar area.[/li]
  [li][/li]

Projectors for every game

• 
  [li]It was discussed and deemed to be unsustainable and unnecessary, given the venue and the organisations circumstances. Whiteboard use is considered to be more practical at this point.[/li]
  [li][/li]

Facilitating the efficiency of tournaments

• 
  [li]Future tournaments for any game at Couch Warriors will need 2 people to run. One for calling out matches, and another to facilitate timekeeping and matchmaking.[/li]
  [li][/li]

• 
  [li]Time constraints[/li]
  [li][/li]

• 
  [li]Time is cited to be a problem amongst the Brawl community, but CW will only reassess the matter if the time provided to used efficiently. Frequently it is not. Tournament organisers are meant to arrive at 1pm when the bar opens to set up and start 2pm on the dot.
  Brawl will be moving to a larger and more time-relaxed venue for future tournament, with a the time-savvy Melee being re-instated into the current Ranbats.
  Reassessment of time is only necessary if the situation is dire, and the committee decided it is far from it.[/li]
  [li][/li]

The Convent

• 
  [li]The compatibility of the Convent for future CW events will be decided after the January Ranbat. A Brawl test run will provide a good assessment.
  Zan reiased a good point about fears of 'burning out at the Convent.' Since CW is heading in a direction of scaling up events, we'd need to host events every 2-3 months at the Convent, to ease the flow of tasks for the volunteers.
  A 2-day event at the Convent also seems appropriate, to attract more people and run more tournaments.
  Action will need to be taken to register CW as a non-for-profit organisation. Jess has been voluntarily charged with this.[/li]
  [li][/li]

Money

• 
  [li]The committee decided transparency is generally good.
  All records and accounts can be viewed in full upon request.
  [/li]
  [li][/li]

Parking

• 
  [li]It needs to be mentioned amongst the community that parking should never be a hassle with a little forward thinking. The back alley can used used to offload all equipment temporairly. Then vehicles can be parked in either the side streets or Lygon Street.
  Parking is ample.
  We are not magicians. [/li]
  [li][/li]

Miscellaneous ideas

• 
  [li]Newcomers need some intormation about CW and tournament when they arrive. It would be good to ask them upon registering if they are new to CW. If they are, A flyer can be issued out to people to give them a rundown/walkthrough on standard procedures, rules for games, schedules and miscellaneous CW-related information.
  CAOTIC voluntarily charged with creating the flyers.
  What hapened to the official stamp? It wasn't needed. Talks about having a validator or an annual pass, but if the 2007 seasno was any indication, people tend not to bring them. A one-off monthly check is preferred.
  There is a small issue with late-comers not paying, or fee-dodgers. Losses due to these factors are currently insignificant, but we will chase it up should the matter escalate.
  NEW CW POLICY: Tournament organisers must check stamps at sign-ups.
  T-Shirt design > tags to identify staff. Still to be finalised in regards to the design, colour and prints.[/li]
  [li][/li]

2009 Committee Structure

• 
  [li]An AGM will be held on Saturday 24 January, 1 week after the DAC event (see below).
  The committe will push for a more formalised structure and simplify the titles (Publicist, Web designer, Quartermaster, etc, will be at the chopping block).
  There will be a Secretary, President, and Treasurer. All other members will simply be referred to as a General Committee Member. The generalisation of roles better reflects the structure of the organisation and solidifies it.
  [/li]
  [li][/li]

DAC - 17th January 2009

• 
  [li]Zan to update with more information regarding Venue rooms, set up times, etc.
  Supposed 11am-11pm opening time - still in discussion.
  2/3 threatres + a lobby area.
  Entry to be $5 per person, the money does not go to CW, but to the event.
  Smash finals to be held here, Loki to pass on prizes to CAOTIC.[/li]
  [li][/li]

TV Incentive Scheme

• 
  [li]The concept worked over the last 3 months, but did it work enough? Should we continue the TV incentive Scheme?
  SC4 = $15.00, Smash = $85.00, GG = $90.00
  The respective communities will decide how to use the cash. [/li]
  [li][/li]

Treasury

• 
  [li]Total flow of cash in the 2008 season was around the $2,400-mark.
  Total expenditure was around the $1,350-mark.
  $510 were spent on tables and chairs.
  Loki related expenses were $250.00
  The current balance is $1,100.00.[/li]
  [li][/li]

Recording

• 
  [li]A splitter AV cable device will be purchased to conect to laptops/desktops for recording matches.[/li]
  [li][/li]

Experimenting with games

• 
  [li]DAC can be used a testing ground for the popularity of unexplored games.[/li]
  [li][/li]

Annual

• 
  [li]Will be a fully-fledged attempt by the CW Committee to considerably step up the level, of prestige of competitive gaming for its communities.
  August 2009 pinned as a target date.
  Key measures are public hype, wide publicity, money, and dates to maximise attendance.
  Successful coorindation of the team and expertise is critical to the success of the annual. Will be planned with the 2009 Committee. [/li]
  [li][/li]