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Hello Community!!
I am looking to organize a barcraft here in Halifax, Canada and I know that others in different cities have been successful in doing so.
The purpose of this thread is to find other organizers and get help with making it successful here.
Basically I am looking for information that made your barcrafts successful such as:
1. Logistics (amount of computers, how you made it work and the easiest way, organizing the Internet in the bar) 2. How long you keep the bar for and how much they charge 3. Is cover charged to the people coming in? 4. Do you just play live streams over the tvs or is it a series of chosen organized caster pro games? 5. Weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly?
My email is dchohan@gmail.com and would greatly appreciate any help anyone can offer.
Thanks in advance!
If this is posted in the wrong section I apologize, please feel free to move it to the appropriate section.
Giblets/Dhiren
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Bump! Still need some help!
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You'd probably be better off messaging the people who've done this directly.
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i second this idea! and third and fourth it!
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16927 Posts
Moved to TL community. Please refrain from bumping in the future.
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For the Portland Barcraft we had very low costs to simply get the venue, and we didn't have any inherent cost to coming.
Frankly we got a little lucky that the main organizer happened to live close to a bar that was considering closing on Sundays due to lack of business. This is critical because most bars you'll find have their busiest days on Fridays and Saturdays; thus they don't want you turning a lot of regulars away. However, Sunday (which is conveniently the day of the finals) was an easy proposition for us.
Our group met with the owners of the bar, and brought a laptop to test hook-up and streaming capabilities with their wireless connection and TV. This is obviously critical. You need a stable connection, and some platform for viewing from at least 30 feet away. This is where finding a venue is a little trickier. After our first MLG Anaheim event we're aware of the constraints of an older TV, and are considering borrowing/renting a projector for future events if need be. That's obviously an investment you wouldn't make unless you knew you had a regular turnout.
Short version: Find a venue that fits your needs, and just call in to pick the owners brain about his Sundays being available for a large party of potential regulars. Any good bar owner won't turn you away. Establishing a cover or not probably depends on your venue/city/location and how busy it still is on Sundays. Our venue was a desert, so we got in for no cost except the $25 MLG stream fee. Very low cost affair, and the bar owners are thrilled as long as they're selling.
The harder part in my mind is reaching out. We used TL, reddit (created a sub-reddit as well), facebook, and are working on creating a website/twitter for a collaborative regional posting so you can have one source for new or established groups you're trying to keep up with. The website/twitter is obviously an extension of the norm, but starting with TL, reddit, and facebook (your friends are your BEST resources for spreading the word, or even half-assed support).
So: Find a venue that needs business on Sundays, and can support streaming/viewing. Use all avenues (hopefully free) to spread the word, and cross your fingers. Try to make the experience enjoyable as possible (customized menus, pictures, whatever), and while people are there have plans hopefully ready for your next date, so you can keep more regulars coming back.
That was way too long.
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Oh, and I would start out monthly just so you have time to adjust some things if you find areas to improve on. If you have a good crowd you can probably go weekly. Again, that's an area dependent thing.
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All barcrafts depend on how many people you can bring in.
If you can bring 20 people, during the day, on a (Championship) sunday, who are buying drinks they probly would be more than willing to accomodate your needs are they are the ones profitting. You just have to have some or make connections with the owners and prove that you can bring people, explain how big the scene is and that they will be making money.
If you can't do that then you have no case really =/
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I'd love to see a barcraft set up in Halifax NS. If you build it. i'll show up.
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i live 1hr outside of Halifax, in the valley. i have these events at my house for most major SC2 events.
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I live in downtown halifax and would absolutely be interested. I'm sure i can bring up to 6 or 7 friends with me and we would all be buying drinks. There are a ton of starcraft fans i've met so far in halifax and i'm sure this would be a great success!
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