Thinking About the AO NorCal SoCal Day

[Z-man]

[PsychoBaller]

I wasnt there, but just by skimming down the stuff u put down, might suggest u were'nt happy with the overall event.

Anyways... try to summarize, bullet points and phrases are a godsend when trying to getout lots o info.

[Muzikman]

Live and learn. It happens to the best of them...look at the first Shatner Ball.

I say take a note from Phil and how he and FatMan ran the last two SC meets. These things were organized to the "T". They had a full reffing staff, plenty of air, food at the field that was catered (everyone likes hamburgers), a host hotel, which most everyone stayed at, a bar/resurant that was reserved just for us (although some locals snuck in some how).

As for having it two times a year. Don't expect to get as big of a turn out. There are many different events that people travel to and hitting two of the same event might be a bit much.

I havn't been to a NJ meet yet (I will be at the next one), but I can say that the SC meets are by far the most organized I have seen and some of the most fun. By talking to people that were at the No/So CA meet, not one of them had a bad thing to say about it and everyone seemed to have fun...this is the important part. I say give yourself a pat on the back (and those who helped), from what I see ya guys did good work.

Just wish I would have made it.

As for the picture part, just make sure I get out there, I'll cover that part

[lbonettosd]

Z-man,
Unfortunately I had planned/ran/and played in a tournament the same weekend as NorCal vs. SoCal AO day. I know I would attend an event like this twice a year, perhaps one in NorCal and then one in SoCal maybe.

Well anyway here are my $.02... Now when it comes to reffing, I'm sure no one really wants to ref at an AO day but make it a sort of rule. For everyday you signed up to play you must ref for a 2 hour shift, look at it as a field fee of sorts. That way if it is a three day event and the person wants to play all 3 days they must put in 2 hours of work each day or a total of 6, etc...

As for the food at the field, the BBQ or Lunch truck is a great idea. AO'ers could either buy food and drinks from it or bring their own. But it would also depend on the field, some fields may serve food.

I know I would pay $20-$30 for a shirt, especially if it supported an event like an AOday. Depending on the cost of the shirt, have participants pre-order and pre-pay for the shirts so that you are sure to have the correct amount of sizes for the people that planned ahead of time to attend. Then of course charge slightly above the cost to pay for field rental, or any other expenses that may occur. So you could say that the players entry fee included a silk screened shirt at a minimal cost.

I am sure we could find local field owners that would be willing to give a pricebreak in renting the field for the weekend, especially if we supplied our own refs. They would also stand to make a pretty penny off of the paint sold at the event and don't really have to pay the wages for staffing it.

Those are just few things I thought of and should you need help planning an event in the San Diego / Riverside area (like Camp Pendleton in June) I'd really like to help out.

-jr.

[cphilip]

I don't see a thing wrong with how you pulled it off Z. I mean the things you have summarized are right on. You learn from the first one but even so there is NO WAY you can make everything come off exactly as you planned. You delt with it and the good thing about AO'ers is they adapt. They have fun anyway. So don't sweat it. Dig in and do the things you have noted you think will make it better and go for it. If there is anything I can do to help you with those kinds of things then feel free to ask. But your right on track.

I do agree one good event a year is probably better than trying to stretch yourself thin. Keep the attendance up. And get someone like Muz or Deadeye or someone to concentrate on event recording. They take all that out of your concern. Delegate as much as you dare. Get an early start on negotiating hotels and stuff. If someone wants to take it on, give it to them. No sucessfull meet is so because of one person. But do indeed make sure you can trust whomever you chose to come through. I am lucky to have such people out here. It makes all the difference.


But your thought patterns on what you want to do to make it better are dead on. Your moving in the right direction with it. I just wanted to let you know that.

[Blennidae]

Zak, I think it went pretty well for as big as it turned out to be. Like Muzikman said, live and learn. Murphy reigns supreme, so you just have to roll with it.

2x a year might be pushing it. I think the turn out would be better if it was the "big event of the year" type thing.

I'd suggest having an official North, South and Central rep and work together so no one feels they are being cut out of the decision making. You can't please everyone, but its good to at least have some input.

I will say this, I think you personally might not have been able to enjoy it as much as everyone else did. For you, anything that did not go smoothly you might have seen as "your" fault, it wasn't.

Everyone saw YOU running all over the place taking care of business. Everyone did appreciate your efforts, and everyone did have a great time. Even when we weren't playing we were having a blast just joking around with the other AO members, checking out each others stuff, that sort of thing.

Everyone usually wants to do another one of this sort thing again really soon, based on how much fun they had. There is a temptation to try and do it again quick. I think its better to just step back and say, we'll do it again, but give it some time.

This is getting longer than I had planned. To sum it up, I had a blast. Great job.

[RoadDawg]

Blennidae pretty much summed up what I was gonna say. Zak we had tons of fun even though the air situation wasn't ideal. Just meant the games were more of a strategy then shoot and waste type of games. It to me seemed like hopper ball with a 1 or 2 pod limit (for the mag peeps and more for the cocker, viking peeps). Either way we'd love to do it again. Save it for next year. Twice a year could push it for now but a small group travel wouldn't hurt. I for one enjoyed myself up there and wouldn't mind driving back up to play with your group again. Either way Zak you did a hell of a job. Congrats and SoCal had more of a showing then expected. We had around 15-20 there. Although the tourny didn't play out it was still fun and exciting. Great job zak.

[spacedtedybear]

Next time around, I can probably help with the T-shirts in the next go around. Whether we decide to do heatpress or silk screening.

Anyways though Zak, if you think about it, the 2K max fills might help a little in the reffing situation. When one person would run out of air, they would ref for a x amount of time. That's what I did.

All in all, you did a great job Zak.

[Z-man]

Originally posted by PsychoBaller
I wasnt there, but just by skimming down the stuff u put down, might suggest u were'nt happy with the overall event.

Actually I was very happy. It was an even bigger turnout than I expected. But this is the critique / suggestion / idea for next time thread.

THanks for the thoughts so far buys and keep them coming even if they are the same, this will be added to my "Bible" on how to organize one of these things. I am shooting for best in the US so watch out!

[Miscue]

You did a good job Zak, thanks for hosting!

[Duke of Lawnchair]

Zak,

You did an excellent job at organizing the meet.

It's hard to believe that the most common element in our atmosphere was so difficult to get ahold of during the meet.

Nevertheless, it was just as easy to play a few sets, load up on paint and re-gas, repeat.

What was truly awesome is how the folks at Breakout and yourself tried their d*mnedest to make sure everyone had air. All of you truly went above and beyond the call of duty.

Rock on.
Jim

[Highland Player]

Great Job

Hey Z-man, I was there! I think you did a great job, I was a local boy out there and I thought you did very well with what you had to work with. The whole generator thing aint your falt so know worries there. But it seems that with 100 plus people though there is know way you can organize anything with no air. Everyone at the field seemed to help out with what they could as you pointed out. Hey man, if you ever need more ref for anything let me know. I would love to help out AO!. Just let me know. Give me a IM someday at MBwrestler86.
Great Job.

[LeatherPants]

Zak you're being way to hard on yourself. The event went well. I still think we should have gotten a stripper with the contents of the bucket. But seriously I hope that you didn't go broke trying to get the new generator.

[Z-man]

No I did not. I am eternally grateful to you all for doing that. Combined with Breakout, I think I broke even on that (which is just fine with me!)

[USAF-Flyboy with a Mag]

I think overall it went off pretty well. I had a great time and don't regret it at all. There are a few minor details that you have noted out that will make the next one run much more smoother. The only thing I can think of is for dinner plans. Both nights we tried to go somewhere as a group and no restraunt could accommedate our numbers in a resonable time. I think have prearranged reservations would be good, or maybe talking to the hampton inn and having them give us the banquet room and have food catered? Those are just some thoughts I thought I would throw out your way. You did great Zak. I think next time you should deligate more of the duties to others, so that you don't overwhelm yourself. You spent more time playing host then you did enjoying the the fruits of your labor ya know? If you get more help you wouldn't have to stress as much.
Thanks again,
Martin