Well just let me point out that our store provided plenty of boosters for prize support and everybody walked out with something from first to last. Our owner has always worked with me to provide prizes and we have never had to play second fiddle to another tournament when we had a big event. If we have it at Coolectors I intend for the store to get something out of it as well. There is no reason we should use there space and give them nothing in return.

Again this is terrific but again not everyone has that. This is a discussion on what is best for the Regionals plural. I feel like we need to have this discussion to avoid some pitfalls that were found last year.

1. Bad Store Support

2. Bad Planning Calender wise

3. No Regional happens

4. Moving at a regional at the last second because a store closed.


These are the things we need to avoid this year and every year so that participation is not cock blocked by our own mismanagment of our events.

I talked to my store owner today and he asked me if we could move our date one week earlier, putting it in the last week in April. I think the township is wanting something else in that building that day and is urging him to go a week earlier. Is a May regional start time in stone or could I move it up one week?

So are we all going to do the same thing or whatever works for each location?

We are going to talk about what will work and what wont. If Kentucky is set then really you dont need to discuss anything. That being said I want all point people to pay attention because if you someone says everything is all set and then come April or May we have problems it probably will be too late.

What I want from this discussion is:

1. Better scheduling than last year.

2. Better communication - last year Kcleser acted like we were trying to steal his identity for wanting to know who the judge was.

3. Better turnout

4. Better prizes and treatment of our players. - I dont give a **** if a owner thinks this is a dead game. WE are potential customers and should be treated well in spite of the fact we were dumb enough to invest in WOTC products.

These are some of things I want to see go better. Now maybe in other venues this wasnt a problem. But we had over 20 in Missouri and things could have been better. Some marketing and maybe someone helping in Texas could have made it better. Some scheduling attention and Colorado and Ohio could have been bigger. These are areas of improvement. If your venue has nothing to improve great. But I am guessing we all can improve. So lets get how we are going to do this down.

Understand the amount of time I have to devote to Regionals is going to be very limited. At some point Ray will probably step in and take over. But I am trying to get the ball rolling now. Come Jan/Feb I move on to the planning and execution of Gencon.

For what it's worth, our store here in Atlanta is pretty cool about prize support, too. We got a good number of boosters handed out, and our group here also brought all of our cheap duplicate rares (like my 5 copies of the MotF Lando) and we made little grab bags with 2 rares each to give to everyone. Only problem we might run into is that our store is running low on SWM boosters; I'll see what I can find out about whether they can get more. But even if they can get more now, who knows about May/June. But they also have a pretty good collection of singles, so store credit could work, and people can buy something at the store or at http://starwars.supergamesinc.com/catal ... _minis/224.

So as of right now Atlanta should be good to go. The owner of our LGS is pretty cool, so we shouldn't have any problems working something out for prizes.

I had i thought today...
with scouts we use schools in the area. some of the schools have fees (and they are low around me) and some schools do not. if planned you might be able to get set up in the cafeteria with the large school lunch tables set up....anyway, just a thought. (trying to help come up with ideas if gaming stores are not an option)

Wouldn't the cost of distributing these cases eat up any savings of the bulk buy?

Too bad Steve went off the deep end for Gamers.

Schools, community centers, libraries, hotels, convention centers, restaurants, banquet halls, unused strip mall storefront, etc can be utilized for small or no fee.

Having it not at a game store, you may get one or a few to be sponsors (probably depends on how close they are or what internet presence they have).

But, having just said that ...

I like to support my local game stores because they support me. Doesn't mean I blindly buy everything from them, but some. Having a Regional at a game store adds something to it -- giving something back to store (directly or indirectly through sales), may get more support from store(s) because you are there and not off-site, adds some credibility to the event, gives players some shopping/browsing to look forward to (different stores carry different things), etc.

Which puts me into a self-imposed quandry.

We have two local stores. (Yeah, that's a real shame, isn't it? ) One (KK) is the local game store with shelf and play space with some internet sales; doesn't have singles sales. The other (NKG) is an internet seller who now has a storefront with some shelf space but no play space; has singles sales. Physically, they are very close to each other.

I've already contacted the first (KK) about holding our Regional there. He has hosted our play group since 2004 and continues to support us and is excited about a Regional.


Any suggestions from this group? ...

1. Leave it at that. Hold it at KK and only involve them. We will get booster prizes at a discount and everyone will get something -- booster(s), store credit, trophies, combination of the above.
2. Ask KK if we can get some singles sales, discount coupons for internet sales, other SW prizes, or something from NKG that won't clash with KK's offerings. I'd like to offer more prizes to participants, but don't want to be a jerk and rude to the host site.
3. Move it off-site for reasons in the prior post. Because we have a good local store cooperating with us, I don't think this is our best option.
4. some other option(s)

I would think two sounds like the best option for ALL parties involved. I can't imagine too many small business owners who are not willing to lend a hand to another when there is no conflict of sales. Even if he says "no" the fact that you asked "would it it be ok if we..." I can't see any reason why that would leave ill-feelings towards you. If it did, that is completely on the personality of the owner and in no way would reflect on your character.

As an edit. I'm not sure what the second store (where we're not playing) would get anything out of it though other than some out of state traffic?

Yeah I have been thinking about this and I am still lost?
edit
I think we need to keep the costs down and I think in the end that will let us have both stores on board.
Tim I will email you later with a few ideas.

To be honest Brad I didnt even know about the second store till like a year ago. Not a lot of people know about the second store. The second store is like a mini Troll and Toad. They are mainly into old games and internet sales. The main store does not have singles and NK have them.

I know it was mentioned on SHNN, but can't remember exactly. I think May is the target, but April is allowed. Is June okay?

What is the range of dates for the Regionals?

Question: How does buying the badge for Regionals work? I obviously don't want to buy it ahead of time in case we don't get enough people (though we should be fine), so how would I get a hold of it? Sorry if this is a newb question, though I am a newb at this, lol.