PREPARE FOR WALL OF TEXT OF OBLIVION!!!!
Ok, I had this epically obvious idea that I think most people are already trying to do already.
We need to divide Northern Utah (because no one from Southern Utah visits this thread) into several sections based on geography.
So, why am I suggesting this ******** idea? Thanks, I'm glad you asked (and very happy to hear someone aside from myself thinks I'm ******** as well, what a relief).
Well, new Smashers from this area Aren't going to be traveling 1/2 to 1 hr to get to a tourney. Very few of us do anyways, and for the rest of us our opportunities seem to be quite slim. New Smashers can convince their parents (lets face it, most new Smashers will have parents overseeing them) to drive them about 10-15 minutes for an event at public places. 1/2 hour to drive up to SL, or down to UV, is just too much for most people who are interested in joining the scene. And once again, lets face it, most new Smashers will not be able to, or will be suspicious of, attending tournies at non-public places.
Heck, most new Smashers--and some of us veterans as well-- won't even reveal their locations or true names, so how on earth can we expect them to want to convince their parents to drive them 1/2 hr away for a tourney hosted at someone's house?
They most can't, and many won't, and our scene is losing more people than it can take in at this rate. Every last person that visits a Utah-based thread and says, "Hey, I'm new," can only replace someone who is leaving. And most of these people who are new, lose interest very fast due to tourney locations or lack of a scene in general here.
So, bear with me as I present my idea here. Dividing North Utah up. Currently we don't have many Smashers at all, and from what I know we are mostly centered in two locations.
--North Utah Valley (Including Southern Provo/BYU)
--Salt Lake Valley
What I suggest is that the Smashers from these two parts go ahead and try and organize their own tournies in those areas. For Utah Valley, Kenny, me, DRyu, etc, can work on getting a tourney started down here. G-Kirb, Rade, Foxtrotter (If she's still here), FTS, etc, will work on getting a tourney started at a public* place up there.
We can also plan Smashfests, etc.
Its not as if we won't compete against each other still; but this is merely making management and promotion in areas easier.
This will enable Smashers from both areas to start competing, locally. Eventually, these newbies will become a part of their local scene, and they will start competing at tournies that are farther away. They'll be more likely to come to Smashfests, and home-based tournies. And, more importantly, they'll want to stay and add to the scene themselves.
In a current perspective, dividing Utah into two areas will mean that we have multiple people searching for places to host tournies, thereby increasing the chance of getting another Brawl/Melee tourney going at all. Plus, if one tourney ends up being cancelled, the scene won't have to go on standby again; we will have at least one or two tournies still up and running.
Then, the individual areas can devise ways to advertise for their tournies and to get new Smashers involved. It doesn't have to be flyers; it could just be a couple Smashers pushing a store or public place to up a couple flyers themselves. By advertising, I don't mean "lets go out of our way and start posting flyers everywhere." But we need to invest *some* effort.
Another point I want to bring up about how this idea will affect our current predicament.
Kenneth is trying to get a tourney up, and plans on hosting it himself. Awesome, our scene will actually have a tourney again!
...But, Kenneth will receive his mission call within the next few weeks as well. How long until he leaves? We'll become tourneyless again.
This, of course, is assuming that he even manages to get us a tourney at all. We're relying too heavily on his own efforts. The entire Smash scene currently hangs on whether the manager of a chain of stores that has rejected us in other places, will suddenly want us at this store.
Slim chances, anyone?
So, moving back to the big picture of my idea. Through dividing up the state, decisions become much more localized. Things will be more organized, and when it comes time to start getting things done, people are more likely to do it. Right now, we are all kind of lounging back and going, "Well, someone else is working on getting a tourney going right now. I guess I'm not needed." The pressure to get things done where you live, lies more and more on you. You realize that you can be a part of the community, and that other people inside the scene are relying on you to help them out and start doing something.
Its not like some sort of Mafia admittance ceremony or oath or anything. But, when things are more localized, you'll naturally want to do more when the next person in front of you falls over. My idea isn't to present a forced regime--its to present a way for more people to feel involved in the scene overall, and to get them to want to do things for the scene and help it grow.
As more people join, we can further divide up the areas as we see necessary. And then, the scene will start rolling forwards, getting bigger and better, and people feel like they are really a part of something--and that something is moving, growing, evolving. It will actually be a fun, competitive, scene.
The idea I'm presenting here isn't to try and force us all to construct some sort of Smash Government and allot certain positions and responsibilities to our Smash Advertizers, our Smash President, and our Smash Senators.
I've tried to keep my idea based off of how a community naturally grows in the first place. We won't be overaggressive, we won't be (too) nerdy. We're just making it easier to get the scene that boost it needs to become great.
*I'm not suggesting FTS's Melee tourney is bad, or that in fact any other house-hosted tourney is bad. But to suggest to most new Smashers in Utah the idea of going into people's houses for tournies the day they arrive here--that will drive them off, and has driven them off, more than anything else. At least give them a chance to get to know people at publicly-hosted tournies before considering walking into someone else's house for them.
So, I'm going to learn how to create a Smash club down here at BYU, seeing how Blue Peach hasn't done anything. I can see Kenny is working on getting a tourney at PnT, so it would be kind of pointless for me to try and help him along there. I'm just doing what I can do, without going too far out of the way or giving too much to a video game community. Its important to remember that is all this is. But I can still give some time to it, since I do enjoy it.
I guess someone else can take a peek online at stores or schools or somewhere that might host a tourney for us, and ask a couple people at the place if their manager/principal might let us do a tourney there. Just let 'em know what we have found is most beneficial for tournies, etc. Just find somewhere really close to where you live and ask. No harm in doing it.
If you guys like my idea, lets try something. If you don't, then carry on. There really isn't anything else I *can* do for the Smash scene. I don't think it will survive more than a few months as is, and I think my idea is an easy to do, easy to organize, easy on the mind one.
I'm out of steam now.
End Speech
YEZ MAH SPECHE IZ OVURRH!!!!!!!
