Since your event looks like it's about the same size as The
Big Crap Shoot (around 100 people), these answers should apply quite nicely:
What did you do for advertising? Is it more effective to reach
the intended audience by advertising on the radio, TV, internet, or billboard? We rely solely on word-of-mouth advertising. By going this route,
everyone knows everyone else, and there's higher personal accountability. You
don't have any random jerks coming off the street... just jerks that are the
friend of a friend.
What can you do about the rare, unmanageable, lunatic gamer? With word-of-mouth advertising, this problem is reduced, but not
eliminated. Make sure that those in attendance are fully aware of the ground
rules. If someone starts to get out of line, a nice-but-direct word usually
straightens them out.
The best way to handle the multitude of technical and behavioral problems that
may occur is to designate unofficial Support Staff members (generally
you and the other organizers will fill this role). You can take care of small
firefighting issues, and help to enforce the rules.
How have you handled cheaters (aimbots, wall-hackers, etc.)? Again, here's where your support staff comes in. Make it known
that cheats will not be tolerated on the public servers you've set
up. If they want to set up their own Cheats enabled server, that's
up to them, but they had better have a clean copy of that game if they want
to play with everyone else.
You can't be afraid to escort people from the event. It's a last resort, of
course, but you can't let one or two people ruin the event for everyone else.
Have you brought in sponsors to help offset the cost?
We have had a few sponsors in the past, but we rely on our attendance fee ($10
Saturday, $5 Sunday) to take care of our costs. We're able to cover all of our
facility fees, and still purchase servers and switches.
Has there been technical support for the non-tech savvy? If so,
was it free, or included in the admission cost?It's nice to have
someone the new people can contact if they just can't get their machine to connect.
Here's where your Support Staff comes in handy again. If they can't
solve your problem, they can generally direct you to someone who can. Of course,
many of the people who attend these events know a thing or two about computers,
and they're generally more than willing to help someone out who's having trouble.
As an active member of the set-up crew for The
Big Crap Shoot, Ive seen a number of problems, running from the mundane
to the bizarre. Ill try to break these down into a few main areas of
concern:
Size
Make sure you have more than enough tables, chairs, and floor space for your
attendees. I've seen attendance estimates very as much as 20%, and you never
want to turn people away at the door, so always over-estimate your space requirements
Electricity
You'll have some attendees. who will bring machines that draw next to nothing,
and others who will plug in giant subwoofers and space heaters. Spread your
load over as many circuits as you can, and make sure you have plenty of thick-gauge
extension cords.
Over a year ago, we ran an event at the local Masonic Temple. It's an old building,
and some of us had power concerns from the start. Within two hours, we had run
wires to every floor in the building, blown almost a dozen fuses, and destroyed
the high-amp fuses on the main. (These fuses, circa 1936, were burned and torn
in half)
Technical Support
Without fail, someone will set up, and their NIC won't work, their video card
will fail, or they'll need to reinstall their OS. Chances are, you'll be enlisted
to help resolve these situations.
Someone will forget a mouse/power cord/length of Cat5, so bring a few extra
just in case. A decent percentage of attendees. won't have current
patches for their games, so before hand, burn about a dozen CDs with patches
for popular games, and hand them out as needed.
File Sharing
The biggest problem we've had to deal with recently comes from this department.
When it comes to sexual content, we consider ourselves to be a PG-13
Lan Party. Until recently, we permitted the sharing of adult material, but we've
had two recent incidents of inappropriate use. Now, we have a strict
policy on the matter. Additionally, we've had problems with infected files/machines
on the network. We still allow file sharing, but this may change if this problem
continues.
If you do allow file sharing, you'll run into people that don't understand
the concept of restricting their shares... You'll see entire hard drives with
read & write permissions enabled. We haven't had anyone maliciously delete
files off of someone's computer, but a few years ago, someone accidentally shared
pictures of his naked wife lying in the bath. He was none too pleased to discover
that the photo made the rounds.
Getting back to the inappropriate use subject... a few events ago,
someone decided it would be a good idea to bring their LCD projector. Since
we hold our event in an airplane hangar, it's pretty easy to set up a 20' screen.
Sure enough, it only took a few hours before there were larger than life
sexual acts being projected on the wall.
Other
Other than that, you'll run into issues about food & drink, sound (headphone
requirements), tournaments, bathrooms, and trash. Use common sense, and these
issues *usually* resolve themselves.
Slashdot Mirror
See above
Since your event looks like it's about the same size as The Big Crap Shoot (around 100 people), these answers should apply quite nicely:
What did you do for advertising? Is it more effective to reach the intended audience by advertising on the radio, TV, internet, or billboard?
We rely solely on word-of-mouth advertising. By going this route, everyone knows everyone else, and there's higher personal accountability. You don't have any random jerks coming off the street... just jerks that are the friend of a friend.
What can you do about the rare, unmanageable, lunatic gamer?
With word-of-mouth advertising, this problem is reduced, but not eliminated. Make sure that those in attendance are fully aware of the ground rules. If someone starts to get out of line, a nice-but-direct word usually straightens them out.
The best way to handle the multitude of technical and behavioral problems that may occur is to designate unofficial Support Staff members (generally you and the other organizers will fill this role). You can take care of small firefighting issues, and help to enforce the rules.
How have you handled cheaters (aimbots, wall-hackers, etc.)?
Again, here's where your support staff comes in. Make it known that cheats will not be tolerated on the public servers you've set up. If they want to set up their own Cheats enabled server, that's up to them, but they had better have a clean copy of that game if they want to play with everyone else.
You can't be afraid to escort people from the event. It's a last resort, of course, but you can't let one or two people ruin the event for everyone else.
Have you brought in sponsors to help offset the cost?
We have had a few sponsors in the past, but we rely on our attendance fee ($10 Saturday, $5 Sunday) to take care of our costs. We're able to cover all of our facility fees, and still purchase servers and switches.
Has there been technical support for the non-tech savvy? If so, was it free, or included in the admission cost? It's nice to have someone the new people can contact if they just can't get their machine to connect. Here's where your Support Staff comes in handy again. If they can't solve your problem, they can generally direct you to someone who can. Of course, many of the people who attend these events know a thing or two about computers, and they're generally more than willing to help someone out who's having trouble.
But yes, within reason, tech support is free.
Size
Make sure you have more than enough tables, chairs, and floor space for your attendees. I've seen attendance estimates very as much as 20%, and you never want to turn people away at the door, so always over-estimate your space requirements
Electricity
You'll have some attendees. who will bring machines that draw next to nothing, and others who will plug in giant subwoofers and space heaters. Spread your load over as many circuits as you can, and make sure you have plenty of thick-gauge extension cords.
Over a year ago, we ran an event at the local Masonic Temple. It's an old building, and some of us had power concerns from the start. Within two hours, we had run wires to every floor in the building, blown almost a dozen fuses, and destroyed the high-amp fuses on the main. (These fuses, circa 1936, were burned and torn in half)
Technical Support
Without fail, someone will set up, and their NIC won't work, their video card will fail, or they'll need to reinstall their OS. Chances are, you'll be enlisted to help resolve these situations.
Someone will forget a mouse/power cord/length of Cat5, so bring a few extra just in case. A decent percentage of attendees. won't have current patches for their games, so before hand, burn about a dozen CDs with patches for popular games, and hand them out as needed.
File Sharing
The biggest problem we've had to deal with recently comes from this department. When it comes to sexual content, we consider ourselves to be a PG-13 Lan Party. Until recently, we permitted the sharing of adult material, but we've had two recent incidents of inappropriate use. Now, we have a strict policy on the matter. Additionally, we've had problems with infected files/machines on the network. We still allow file sharing, but this may change if this problem continues.
If you do allow file sharing, you'll run into people that don't understand the concept of restricting their shares... You'll see entire hard drives with read & write permissions enabled. We haven't had anyone maliciously delete files off of someone's computer, but a few years ago, someone accidentally shared pictures of his naked wife lying in the bath. He was none too pleased to discover that the photo made the rounds.
Getting back to the inappropriate use subject... a few events ago, someone decided it would be a good idea to bring their LCD projector. Since we hold our event in an airplane hangar, it's pretty easy to set up a 20' screen. Sure enough, it only took a few hours before there were larger than life sexual acts being projected on the wall.
Other
Other than that, you'll run into issues about food & drink, sound (headphone requirements), tournaments, bathrooms, and trash. Use common sense, and these issues *usually* resolve themselves.
The complete text of the bill: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/C?c107:./temp/ ~c107KG2pN3
Senate offices refer to bills by number... you try remembering 2000 different acronyms that change on a daily basis.