The ABC's of tournament hosting

[fargokraft]

wow, I didn't know about this thread- good sh*T,
I leveled up some- in regards to hosting tournaments. ^_^

 

[Neoteric]

very helpful, thanks mang

 

[Samochan]

What I'd like to add here is, have enough staff person around at all times and make sure they know their stuff at least as much as you do. If tournament hoster needs to get out and get a snack, doesn't mean the entire tourney should fall apart cause the other staff members are either just playing casuals, doing nothing and twiddling their thumbs or don't simply know what to do.

Also, make sure every attendant you've listed has arrived to the venue safe and sound, not forgetting that they can leave home by same manner. Do not leave attendants on their own on big city with no guidance, no sleeping place or even worse, language barriers. Make sure everyone knows by whom and where they are hosted, where they should be heading to reach their destinations etc.

 

[Dream Chaser]

Quality thread. Well done.

 

[takeurlife2]

there needs to be something about using standard tv's rather than LCD and plasma.

the most expensive isnt always the best. the "high quality" newer sets have response time lag between the controller and the character on screen- makes for a terrible game.

 

[Naurion]

Hey, I am planning on running a large tournament in Rochester, NY. I've been reading a lot of tips in this forum, but I haven't seen much about Prizes. I'm funding it through a school organization (RIT) so I cannot give away cash prizes.

What prize structure do you recommend for 100+ person tourney?

 

[BigTigga3]

That was great. I'll remember that when I go to start tournaments, whether it be Smash or something else.

Thanks!

<3, Tigga.

 

[Kirin]

Great thread, I'm hoping to host my own tournament one day and this will help a lot.

 

[LucarioIke]

I dont think someone would be willing to travel to every tourney they see

 

[Ori_bro]

this will help alot i might b organizing a tourney in West Bloomfield in june

 

[Pure-???]

Very useful. I think I might trying hosting Online tourneys first, since not many people are around here with the game.

 

[MaxThunder]

you sure get a lot of nice info here=)... maybe i'll host a tournament soometimes.... i woonder how many people in norway that really plays super smash.... only 5 people that i know.... i probably wont bother though. maybe i'll host an online tournament on brawl (AAARGH WHY ARE THEY TAKING SO LONG RELEASING BRAWL IN NORWAAAY!!!!!!! I'M TIRED OF WAITING!!!!) if you can do that.... can you do that?

p.s: please dont mind my all caps yelling in the middle... its just because i have to wait until 27 june for brawl to come to norway=(

 

[Clustercluck]

How likely is it that people will bring televisions? Wiis I can imagine easily, but a TV? Plus, what do you do as a tournament organizer if some kid comes and doesn't have a ride back? Call him a cab?

 

[Samochan]

How likely is it that people will bring televisions? Wiis I can imagine easily, but a TV? Plus, what do you do as a tournament organizer if some kid comes and doesn't have a ride back? Call him a cab?

More likely call the kid's parents for abandoning their child or something, lol? If any kid turns up, if they're not old enough to take care of themselves, parents usually give em a ride, so I think it's reasonable to imagine they actually come and pick the kid up as well. I couldn't imagine a situation where a kid just goes to a tourney and doesn't have any money left for a ride home. I imagine any parent would fuzz over the fact that the kid has enough money for a ride if they let them go by themselves. >_>

 

[mariesue66]

Thanks so much for all those great tips. I always wanted to host my own tournaments. Now all
I need is to be able to find time to set one up.

 

[ihatemybrother]

Aren't money tournaments technically, illegal?
I was thinking of hosting my own, but I'm in no position to break the law.

 

[Samochan]

Aren't money tournaments technically, illegal?
I was thinking of hosting my own, but I'm in no position to break the law.

What in the world is illegal in competitive gaming? <_> Unless you give alcohol to minors or drugs, there's nothing illegal in gaming, just like there's nothing illegal in betting money or playing sports for money. It's not gambling. >_>

 

[nealdt]

From earlier in the topic:

RE: gambling. Games like bingo and bunco aren't considered gambling even though there's often an entry fee and winner's pot. Smash at least has a very strong skill component, whereas the others are entirely luck-based, so there's no reason why you'd ever get in legal trouble for holding a smash tournament. However, many venues (especially schools) do not allow pay-to-play events on their premises; make sure you double-check with the owner of your venue to make sure he/she fully understands the financial details of your event.

 

[System Failure 333]

I've been looking for a thread like this ALL OVER the place and it was right under my nose this entire time... WOW Great thread... However, having never hosted a tournament of my own, I have a few questions (I know somebody said that you're better off hosting a tournament if you have a big post count.. I haven't figured out what I'm gonna do about that yet, seeing as I'm planning on organizing the tournament within the next month and a half)

1. Should you have all participants register PRIOR to the event? If so, how do you ensure that all those participants actually show up, ultimately not screwing you over (seeing as everything from money to equipment issues were considered according to the list of entrants)? This is an important question for venues that have a limited attending crowd and you need to have a specific maximum number of entrants...

2. Seeing as I've never done this before and can't find much info regarding rental fees online, how much should an average venue cost? I know of a place , more like a rentable chalet, that would be PERFECT in every sense of the word for a tournament (offers projector screens that can be used for finals, sound systems, televisions, microphone, VERY high crowd capacity, chairs, tables, etc.), but is EXTREMELY costly (I'm talking about about 650$!!!!)... Clearly this is too much, right? But people respect a nicer venue and would be willing to pay a bit more for entry fees, wouldn't they? Unless more people than I expected show up. in which case the rental costs would be easilly paid off and we would be left with decent prizes...

3. I'm familiar with what "Seeding" means but am unsure on how to go about on actually doing it? I want my brackets to be as fair as possible in order to have the best match-ups as we go along the brackets; knowing that I won't know pretty much all the entrants, how do I ensure that seeding takes place?


I thank everybody in advance who will take the time to answer this message!! What a great thread....

 

[newtech]

Some one playig

Like Joke Around, yes? Remember that while you're trying to be a good host, the attendees should be trying to be good guests. And if you're going to enter the tourney you're hosting, it's a good idea to have someone who's reliable run it in your stead. You can't oversee things while you're playing.

 

[System Failure 333]

Are 8 hours enough for a tournament involving doubles and singles? The venue I'm looking at offers 8 hours

 

[nealdt]

Depends on how many people and TVs . And don't forget to account for people coming late (because they will). You should be able to clear a 32 man tournament easily in 8 hours, probably up to 40-50 people depending on how fast you run things.

 

[System Failure 333]

Someone please answer my July 15 Post

 

[nealdt]

1. Don't do pre-tournament registrations unless people are paying online. Count on 1/3 of the people who express interest not showing up.

2. Venues cost whatever you're willing to pay for them. That's really the only answer I can give you. And FYI, here in southern California, a crappy hotel event room for 100 people is several thousand dollars a day .

3. For seeding, read: http://www.allisbrawl.com/forum/topic.aspx?id=19483 - http://www.allisbrawl.com/forum/topic.aspx?id=23823 - and http://www.allisbrawl.com/tio/guide/faq.html#seeding

 

[Calm101]

Nice and helpful thread ^^

 

[ihatemybrother]

Reply to gambling: Games like Bingo give out prizes, not cash.

And why does Evo choose to host in Vegas?

(In not trying to be an ***, I just want to make sure its legal.)

 

[Joh]

A fantastic post! A friend of mine is passing the torch of
hosting a Brawl tournament down to me, making this kind
of information invaluable. Infact, while going down the list
I often found myself thinking "Hmm... I've seen this done
before." Turns out my friend got some of his more informed
techniques from you, aswell.

Thanks tons, man.

 

[Slush]

wow, thanks dude! this helps a lot! Really appreciate it!

 

[streetracr77]

Thanks for posting this, it'll help me in the future when I want to host my own tournament

 

[mariofanpm12]

Wowz this was a great read.

 

[Supernova757]

that was helpful, lol

 

[marth126]

that was really helpful

 

[smashplayer16]

How would you setup a bracket for a FFA tournament?

 

[Apostile]

ADVERTISE. Create a thread in your regional zone forum, or in Tournament Discussion if you're expecting a large (50+) turnout. Make your post easy to read. Spell-check it. Make sure you use proper grammar. Don't make your audience struggle to get the information they need. Use colors and bold/italics sparingly, and only to highlight important information like addresses, start times, and special rules. Large tournaments can benefit from posting threads in regional zones asking for help with equipment and housing.

BE ON TIME. No one else will. If you open the venue at 8AM, be there by 7:30. Decide on a time to start your first event and then tell everyone to show up an hour earlier. It's the only way you'll ever start on time.

COMPUTERS ARE YOUR FRIENDS. Bring a laptop to the tournament and find a piece of software to help run it. Tournament Maker 2 is a popular choice, but there are superior alternatives. Download the software ahead of time and make sure you know how to use it. Bring speakers and a microphone if you have a soft voice. Also consider bringing a second monitor -- most laptops (and PCs with dual-head video cards) will let you mirror your display onto the monitor, so your players can view the bracket without crowding around the computer.

DON'T TAKE MONEY FROM THE POT. The only time it's OK to take money from entry fees is to pay for venue costs. The electricity cost of running one TV for 10 hours is negligible, so don't use your utility bill as an excuse to charge money. You aren't running a tournament to make money -- unless you actually are, in which case there are FAR better things you could be doing to that end -- you're running a tournament because it's FUN.

EXPLAIN THE RULES. Make sure everyone at your tournament understands the rules, from counterpicking to random stages to double blinds; having printed rule sheets available at each station is also effective. This is especially important for non-standard brackets like round robin pools. And be sure to apply the rules equally to all players. If someone gets screwed in a set because they were told a different set of rules -- especially if they were told by a staff member -- then the set needs to be replayed.

FIND HELP. Running a tournament is beyond the abilities of a single person. Ask for helpers before the event and make sure they know you'll be counting on them. Helpers can assist you in collecting entry fees, monitoring stations, preventing friendlies from taking over, running pools, announcing matches, setting up, tearing down, and reporting scores.

GIVE PLAYERS A CHANCE TO REVIEW THE BRACKET. Ask them to alert you if they play one of their friends or crewmates early in the tournament. While you're under no obligation to change such a scenario, it really isn't much work and will make them much happier. No one likes to play their friends in a tournament. Some software programs will automatically create a bracket so players from the same location don't play each other; figure out if yours does and use it if you can.

HOST SMALLER TOURNAMENTS BEFORE GOING FOR THE BIG TIME. Don't try to run a regional bonanza without throwing a smaller local tourney first. You'll learn more than this thread could ever teach you and people will learn to respect your name as a tournament host. Respected hosts get the big turnouts and the hot chicks (it's true).

INTRODUCE YOURSELF. Make sure everyone knows your name and what you look like; the best time to do this is when taking signups. Ask the name of everyone you don't know and tell them yours in return. It's as good a first impression as any, and someone who likes you off the bat will be much more forgiving when you yell at them to stop playing friendlies later on.

JOKE AROUND. Try not to be completely serious all the time. You're running a video game tournament, so have some fun. This will also make people like you more.

 

[Tadpole Angel]

X is a hard letter to use, indeed! Very helpful list

 

[Rappster]

I've got a tough question for y'all.
i was just volunteered as tournament director for my school's games club.
we meet weekly at lunch, and i would really like to run at least 2 smash tourneys (one melee and one brawl)
unfortunately, i have a few severe limitations.
1. we're only able to meet during our 40 minute lunch break.
2. the room has one tv and one wii.
3. all entry fees go to fund games club
4. i have no experience running a smash tourney (i've done lots with chess tournaments, but thats a horse of a different color).

we're expecting probably around 20 people, so i'll prolly have to make it single elimination.

anybody have any advice?

 

[S l o X]

Hopefully my first tourny will follow E. I don't know how tournaments are run...besides single elim. and I'd really like to be able to just freely ask someone or just look for a sheet.

 

[Kyoko]

How about eXamine brackets often to ensure it's correct?...idk

 

[arata18]

Thanks for the advice as I will be hosting a tournament in the future. You would be suprised at the number of tournaments that go on around spokane, it is a small # to say the least.

 

[Wenbobular]

Can something be said about power strips? It's sometimes an issue and I think people tend to forget about needing them