What advice can the community give a new tournament organizer in South Florida?
I'm fairly new at organizing tournaments and the like (I ran one fairly successful event ((You may remember it as the Pyro Panda Entertainment event in May)) of 18 people for SSF4, about 40 for the whole event). What advice can the sf4answers community give me, as a TO? Also, where do some of these guys running tournaments get their bonus pots from? Are they personal contributions or are there other sponsorship channels to run though?
Thanks guys
Responses (7 total)
This is going to be a long post so strap in.
Running tournaments is a learning experience, just like anything else. Always try your hardest, but accept the fact that things will never be perfect or work out exactly as you planned. Once you start doing more you'll just get used to hiccups and learn to prepare for previous mistakes and mishaps. That's probably the most important part of it.
On a local scale, things can be pretty easy after running a few events. Once you get the hang of running a bracket along with being comfortable in your venue of choice, things can become both fun and exciting. I started running 3rd Strike tournaments at an event that played host to like 19 game tournaments. 15 of them never wound up happening due to lack of attendance, and 3rd Strike was always the main draw. Once I became the head of the event (see "Castle Fight Night" on Shoryuken), I decided to cut down on the amount of games being played and focus on what was relevant at the time. This rule still applies today. Obviously Super will always be your main draw, along with Tekken, Melty, and other games. Don't try to host tournaments for every game under the sun. It's a waste of time, space, and equipment.
One of the most important aspects of tournament organizing is to get your face out in as many places as possible. This is basically Marketing 101. Your face is going to become a brand that you need to promote. By going to other tournaments, arcades, events, your face will be seen by a lot of people. It really requires you to be a people person. Make friends with as many players as you can this way when you run a tournament they'll want to come because YOU'RE the one running it. Put your gaming-ego aside and just be real with people. No one likes a TO who talks trash about players, especially when the players are their paying guests/customers.
Another thing is to be early to the venue. Establishing good relationships with both the venue owner and their employees is crucial to running events. Their employees are the eyes and ears while the owner isn't around. Don't think for a second that they won't report back to their boss about something you did wrong. Once the relationship is established and you feel comfortable with them, you can start negotiating policies that help you out. Even a better price split is possible if you're in good relations with the owner.
Running tournaments is a business like any other. Just say you have a 60/40 venue fee split with the owner. 60% going to the venue and 40% to you. If you're in a poor relationship with the owner, then he/she will be VERY reluctant to budge. But, if your attendance is growing every tournament or so, and you're in good relations with them, then you can easily negotiate a 50/50 or 40/60 split. Being friendly and getting the job done right is everything. Business is business is business. Always remember that.
Also, make note of who is always coming to your events, and who is willing to help. If you'd like to run another game, don't hesitate to ask the person who is CONSTANTLY asking if you need help (there's always at least one at locals). You learned to run a bracket and it's very easy to teach someone else. Furthermore, getting a team of bracket runners to help you out at your events is crucial when making a bigger event. I usually like to run 3rd Strike at my own events and let someone else handle SF4 if there's a lot of people in 3rd Strike. Obviously, keep an eye on the tournament and check in with the bracket runner to make sure everything is going smoothly. Getting a good team together is great for making a well-oiled tournament machine.
Last, but most certainly not least, celebration. It's typical tradition for us on Long Island to go out to dinner after all tournaments. Don't just bring your 2-3 friends that helped you out. Invite the whole damn tournament. Getting people together after a tournament is awesome, and it's great for networking. Plus, it makes everyone feel like they came out for more than just games. I remember after my first tournament there were 4 of us at the dinner table. Now there's typically 15-20 at the table after a local. A lot of Applebee's and Friday's hate us on Long Island haha.
I really hope this helps and if you have any more questions regarding running tournament and events, please feel free to ask!
Well, iv'e had mild success running my tournaments. The things im learning is that stuff ain't free. As long as your not hurting yourself financial, then you should be ok. If you have to go buy everything like i did, then you want to think about things in a business way. What i mean by that is, how long until you can see a return on your investment. Or at least break even. It's not about money, but you also don't want to be put in the poor house because of it. Also, if you take care of your people, then they will take care of you. So that means to me, that if you bracket right, tier right, payout matches the invest, and the people have fun, you'll find success will be consistent. I had trouble when i decided to take out of the pot what i would take home. So, always charge your cut in the venue fee. My fees are 5 for entry and 5 for venue. The place i use gets 2 i can take home 3. That way, if you need extra equipment, or if you want to sweeten the pot you can. Without using your own money. Also, make sure you give yourself enough time to promote. Use flyers, srk, sf4answers, fb, yelp, etc. I do. It helps. Just try to be smart about the things you do, and make sure before you make a decision, you have a friend or mentor who you can bounce ideas off of. It helps out so muvh when you can see your mistakes before hand. Also, if it's just you, that shit gets old real fast. So try to make friends and see if they will help out. This will keep all the pressure of everything off of you. Another important thing to think about is timing. You don't want to compete with another tournament until you can compete. So make sure you don't. If you can get a place that says you can their shit a monthly basis, then your really 8 steps ahead of the game. Umm, i think that's just about all i know. Oh yea, setups and waiting times. If you ahve 40 people coming, you already know what your gonna need. Last but not least, don't allow yourself to get down on you. If you don't believe in you, no one else will. So even if 10 people show when 40 said they would, just take it in stride and try to give those 10, the best experience of there lives. Once you take it from playing in them, to organizing them, these people become your customers. So it's important that you treat them as such. Remember that, and success should follow soon after that. Hope this helps out.
It depends on your level of stealth. If you want to, make sure you collect before people get to the venue. IN the parking lot or somewhere unknown to the owners eyes. Or, you could explain to him that it is a competition, and if there is no incentive to compete, people won't come. People don't come, it doesn't happen. It's that simple. IN the mean time, look for other place to host you. You want to look at places that already service people. Resturants, comic shops, bar(even though this means you can only have 21 and up), or even someones house. The best place already has setups. So the less you have to bring, the more you can actually worry about the people. If the idea about talking to him or collecting before hand doesn't work, you might have a big problem. If you can purchase a grand prize for the competition, then you can work around that. But don't make a habit of that, it gets expensive. Best bet, you talk him into it and assure him that yes, money does sometime insight gambling. Better yet, explain the difference between money matches(make these seem like gambling) and tournaments. But you gotta sell it hard. Don't take no for an answer. Like John said, this is a business, so treat as such.
Only thing is, all the research I've done points to it being illegal, but I still see other tournaments cropping up all the time. It doesn't seem to be a law that's all that well enforced.
Another possible solution for the anti-gambling owner.
These Tournaments are happening publicly around the country all the time.
Get legal on him and prove to him it's not.
This may vary from state to state so make sure this kind of tournament wouldn't fall under any gambling laws.
May the SUPER be with you!
Thanks for the input John and Hassan, you both have given me some good feedback to think about. One other question though - this is more of a legality issue, the venue I'm using is not allowing me to use a cash pot because the owner believes it is illegal and a form of gambling. Do you think I should continue to use this venue or look into other places to host?
Yo, this is DancingFighterG. What up guys. My organization Colorado Cutthroat Connection and the National Video Game Association has tons of experiene when it comes to running events. The key thing is to be organized and know your community wants. Also, some general tips:
1 TV/Console for everyone 16 people
Make sure you have a venue that is a nice size to fit people
