Hypothetically.... [Archive]

holdfasthope

11-06-2011, 11:34

So some of the boys and I have been talking shit (as ya do) and someone managed to come up with a GREAT idea...
Now this is all hypothetical of course, but I wanted to see if there is interest out there for this concept.

The idea is to host a BIG tourney, during summer (preferably around the New Year) at a popular tourist location, which would most likely be near a beach - possibles include Nelson or Kaiteriteri.
This stems from watching videos of Huntington Beach - full on setup where people who would never experience tourney ball otherwise would be able to just walk in and spectate.
And when you're not playing ball, you can go out on the beach and check out babes. Win/win I think.

I just wanted to throw the idea out there and see what people thought... Of course it's all hypothetical, but if the interest is there it might be something worth looking at. Could be a good way to finish up a year of ball (run it as a national champs maybe?).

Discuss.

Vijil

11-06-2011, 12:06

As a location idea I definitely like it. Would certainly raise our profile.

I'd suggest however making sure we had some way to retain interest - give people leaflets about paintball or at least pointing them to nzP8nt for more info. Back in 2006 at BBT we had an awesomely public event, but relied on people finding out more off their own back, and there were no leaflets, no websites, no info, no nothing. At the time i got in some crap for saying that made the whole thing a bit of a waste, but I'm qualified (like, a marketing degree, and experience) in my opinion so I stand by it.

So if we're going to do it, I suggest we do it right and make sure we at the very least have some banners up pointing people to more info. A PA system would also be a indispensable at an event like that. If it was done right it could be awesomely awesome for NZ ball.

Unforgiven

11-06-2011, 14:18

Ive also thought of an event like this.
Doesnt have to be a beach, anywhere with plenty of foot traffic/passers by.
Hard part would be getting consent from council to do it in a very public place.
Netting would have to be taller than normal, and no holes at all, 1 stray ball and some safety nazi would have it shut down, never to be repeated.

Vijil

11-06-2011, 18:20

Can you get big enough fully enclosed ones like the Chaos PB one? I'm thinking not, but something like that would be ideal.

staticman

11-06-2011, 18:29

Mid summer in the lake front reserve in Rotorua would be amazing. Always wanted to do 1 there. lots of foot traffic and pleanty of room to keep the public safe.

bundy

12-06-2011, 12:04

great idea...new years event should be held in one place only ....Nelson...the park leading onto the beach would be awesome....

Vijil

12-06-2011, 12:14

If this does end up happening, we'll probably end up putting it to a vote, or going with wherever the local council will let us.

Again I gotta stress though - if we're gonna do it, we NEED to do it right. Just hosting a normal event in a public place will be an almost complete waste of time

I'll put my hand up to help out. Whoever organises the tournament can just organise the tournament since that's enough work already, someone else would need to be responsible for the public side.

holdfasthope

13-06-2011, 20:35

Exactly my thoughts - it would have to be done right, with a standalone committee. I would love to help out a little bit (by approaching councils, asking people for sponsorship etc) but as a player I think the running of the event needs to be left to someone who isn't reffing or playing - even an events coordinator with zero paintball experience paired up with someone who knows the business - it could be sweet as

Vijil

13-06-2011, 21:45

The non player events coordinator idea flopped pretty badly last time it was tried here. That's not to say it couldn't be done, but for the love of all that is paintball don't charge for tickets!

paintball

15-06-2011, 19:08

Thats A great Idea

holdfasthope

16-06-2011, 14:51

To not charge spectators is the smart idea, we're not there to make money. To run it properly there would need to be a LOT of teams or a bigger than usual entry fee, or both. On the plus side, a big event like this could potentially pull lots of sponsorship from local businesses (financially or with their products - netting etc.) and from paintball companies, outweighing the bigger than usual entry fees with better than usual prizes could be a big drawcard for teams

Unforgiven

16-06-2011, 16:13

Charging spectators would hurt the event.

If there are trade stands, even food caravans etc that would be where their money should be taken.

For an event like this prizes shouldn't be the drawcard for teams, the event should.
And lets face it, the prizes are almost always worth less than the cost of competing anyway.

A large entry fee would probably mean less teams, with travel, food, accommodation, paint and entry fees most big events are $400+ per player already.

Vijil

16-06-2011, 19:26

Putting on an event like this wouldn't cost THAT much more than a regular event surely. All it really comes down to is how much bleachers and a PA system would cost to hire for a weekend and how much the council would charge for land use. On top of the usual event running costs of course. Optional things like banners etc. can be used more than once. Beyond that a nice addition would be one of those Dye scoreboards if they don't cost as much as I was told ($10k or something ridonkulous)...

Well... maybe that would be a lot, but it really depends which council you're talking about and who you know regarding bleachers and PA. PA would be used to announce teams, explain rules, tell people where to go to get involved, promote sponsors, give rundowns of the games... same as they do at NPPL events etc.. Heck I'll announce.

Food caravans and traders don't need to be paid to be there really.

... exciting just thinking about it :D

Bookie

16-06-2011, 19:54

Charging Spectators was tried easter 2K4 by Blitz, Styles and the commercial promoter they were in partnership with. that didnot work, and the attendance at the event in terms of spectators wasnot good, the venue was good though. free for spectators is the way.

Vijil

16-06-2011, 20:29

I actually had some friends who went to that after being given free tickets. Their verdict:

"boring"

"didn't know what was going on"

"paintball is fun to play, but that style is lame".

Yeah. Best to avoid that if possible. Good announcers are KEY. They wouldn't need to commentate during games as that might give stuff away for the players, but explaining the rules, some tactics, and what just happened when games aren't on would really help from a spectator appeal point of view.

Bookie

16-06-2011, 20:31

It Could have been alot better implimented... and if done right could have worked, race too.. or Xball is certainly better suited though...

staticman

16-06-2011, 21:18

I dont think Race or Xball would make a single bit of difference to joe public watching. The standard format games roll on to the field fast enough that there would be very little down time between games anyway. Plus race has more rules to try and explain to those who havnt seen it before.
I think a display event during a festival, Say the new years carnival at the Rotorua lake front would be good.
That way theres food, games and other things avalable to keep the public entertained (and we would not have to organice eg: Food stalls, toilets etc)

Bookie

16-06-2011, 21:49

Really? The opertuinity for the public to cheer, coaches yelling... I feel it would personally.. It did work at Fox studios.. and BBT that Big Sy ran was pretty sucessfull..

Vijil

16-06-2011, 22:04

The Big Boys Toys I went to wasn't run by Sy as far as I remember, and definitely wasn't Raceto. Heck I don't think any NZ event had done raceto or xLite at the time. And it sure as hell wasn't successful as far as being a public showcase event goes. We just ran our little tournament and figured the public would take care of themselves. Maybe it only seems obvious to me since I have a marketing degree, but that is definitely not how you run a public showcase event if you want anything at all to come of it.

edit: but that's definitely not a dig at the organisers. The tournament itself was great and I'm sure they were all stressed as hell without worrying about extra stuff like marketing. Still, would've been nice if someone with marketing knowledge had been involved. I'd only been playing half a year at most and so wasn't really in a position to do anything.

staticman

17-06-2011, 00:36

I dont think you will find public (who dont know the game) will yell and cheer on the side lines. as for coaches making noise, Teams make plenty of noise on the field already.
Booths around the sides of the field, with players doing closed commentary to spectators (as apposed to a PA system spoiling the game moves for the on field players) would help let Joe public know what is going on. these booths/stalls could have footage running so explanations about the game, including different format options would hold the public's interest as well.

Phoenix

18-06-2011, 20:25

Seems like a wicked idea. Why not like Mission Bay in Auckland? Even Piha?

staticman

18-06-2011, 20:48

Wouldnt want to do it on an actual beach. More a reserve next to a beach or alike. Lol can you imagin diving into a bunker on sand? lol grit thru everything.

Vijil

18-06-2011, 22:28

Wasn't saying the PA system would be going during the game static - it would be used between the action to explain to everyone what's up and do things like pimp this site so peeps can get more info. We'd make sure the site was ready for it. It's what they do in the NPPL and PSP on the pro field. Of course you can have players outside the nets explaining things anyways, and a booth showing vids and giving out flyers would be awesome.

Could do it on a beach if some turf was laid down, but better to do it somewhere with a big flat grassy area next to a major pedestrian thoroughfare. I'm pretty sure there's stuff like that in Hamilton, Rotorua etc.