Decide how many people you want there
Ideally, how many people would you like to host? What’s a reasonable number of people you think you can manage? Having a clear idea about this is absolutely crucial before you set anything else up. This will help you decide how you’re going to plan the publicity, the logistics and the prizes.
Decide what sort of venue you’d like
Gaming tournament are organised in all sorts of spaces – from people’s homes to bars to stadiums! Depending on the number of people you plan on hosting, decide what kind of space will serve you best. The potential venue also has to have the equipment you will need, and some breathing space to allow for the possibility of friends and family of the contestants showing up.
What will you give the winners?
This, of course, depends on the kind of funding and sponsors you’re able to pull together. Often, the bigger the prize money, the more popular a contest is – but that doesn’t mean that it needs to be the only criteria. You can get creative with the prizes to appeal to your audience. Some of you might have prize money and draft packs full of prizes, and others might just have clever and quirky gifts that are memorable.
Know the game, and know its format
This really should be number 1, but we’re going to assume that you already know the game inside out, and have thought out the best way to go about running it. There really isn’t a set tournament format for many games, so it’s up to the organizers to decide how they want to run their tournaments. How many teams do you want, and how many players per team? Do you want folks to pick their own teammates, or will you do it for them? Letting people bring their own teams is often easier, but that might affect participation drastically since a lot of people might not necessarily know others to team up with.
Who is on your support team?
A successful tournament can never be hosted by a single person. So you have to be extremely careful about finding the right person for the right job. One of the most important decisions is regarding the host – while an international celebrity can bring in their own following, that might not always be necessary. There might be great local talent you can hire for a fraction of the cost. The important thing is that they’re engaging and interesting. Another important job is that of the event manager, who can help keep things on track and make sure that details such as registration and scoring aren’t missed out on.
How will you promote this tournament?
Go all out – post on social media, on your local forums and in your favourite hangout spots. It’s always better when your events can bring fresh blood into the community! Never underestimate the power of offline publicity.
Before you start planning your gaming tournament, head out to buy video games at the best store available online today!