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IMPfest II; Possible Larger Venues for a 2 day event
Topic Started: Feb 12 2010, 02:38 PM (228 Views)
Stomm
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True to form, rather than fill in my CRB form as I should be, I've been doing a spot of online and telephone research. And so far I have found a school nearby that we might be able to fit 40+ tables in for a full weekend and maybe be able to keep the ticket price before food under £35. They have an alcohol license, so that's not a problem, however no food or drink (except water) is allowed in the hall whatsoever, as if any spills on the floor it will knacker it...

I'm going to try and see the place after half term, as well of course as continue to ring round local schools to see what's available.



So, if we do want to do a really big Warhammer event, there are venues out there that can work. However, in order to provide enough terrain or boards for that many tables, we really should look into doing something like this together with at least one other London as ultimately we really don't (yet) need 40+ boards or the terrain to cover that many tables...
David Simpson
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Dave Walton
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Sounds like a plan....


Love Football, Hate Racism
Love Warhammer, Hate Dark Elves
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Stomm
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So when would be ideal? If during the holidays then I'd need to ensure that they still hire things out during the holidays, the previous school I asked said that they only hire their rooms out during term time...
David Simpson
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Stomm
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Looks like the venue has space for getting on 90 tables.... :o
David Simpson
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Marauder Mitch
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Looks like the London GT has potential.

Dave do you think we could fill 160 spaces for the London GT.
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I think that 160 spaces will be easily filled - although I think you should maybe aim for the 80 player mark - better to make sure you can walk before you can run (Impfest was great, but a one day event with under 20 players is very differerent to a 2 day event near the 100 player mark).

Maybe make sure their are hotels near by to the venue and once organised maybe speak to the Hotel Manager to organise a special deal for the players? Just a thought.
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Stomm
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I've tried organising special rates at hotels before, and unless its a small guest house they don't seem to have any room for manouvre on room rates.

Anyway, I should be checking potential venues out in person next week, that is if my girls get over these stinky cold's they've got and can start back at nursery on Monday. I don't really fancy dragging a pair of toddlers around some secondary schools, not my idea of fun really...


As to event size, if we can fit 90 tables, then we should probably only try fitting in 80, so as to allow room for a bit more comfort, maybe an announcement area and so on. Likewise being a keen Warmaster player, it would be, well 'odd' if I didn't try piggy-backing a Warmaster tournie onto this, so that would probably account for 6-10 tables, and if someone in the club fancies running a 40K tournie at the same time then they can do so, well boards and terrain permitting of course...
David Simpson
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Been thinking. Why not, for Impfest 2 go for a 60 player 1 day event?

That way, if you can get that to work then a 2 day event is just doing that twice over a weekend?

Going from sub 20 to 60 players is a totally different challenge.

Dave - if you need my help just PM me on facebook.
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Stomm
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There are several reasons to go for a two day rather than one day event if it's going to be outside our usual club venue, and to be anything more than 30 players then to keep ticket prices at a realistic level then it would have to be outside our normal club venue, as otherwise you're talking £50-160ph for the larger rooms at Avenue House, and really they are not that large, especially when compared to school dining halls and the like (which is what I've been looking at), the largest of which I have found has a capacity of at least 80 tables, maybe more if we spread into a 2nd available hall... And these range in cost from £40-50ph. And of course venues are generally more willing to rent out for less over a full weekend per hour or per day than if you're just using one day. For example one venue I've seen quoted IIRC £50ph over the weekend, but let me know that is basically an average cost, as the caretakers overtime on sundays is around £70ph...


So cost considerations drive us away from home so to speak, which means a lot of tables need transporting, a lot of setup time, a lot of packing away time and so on. This alone makes a one-day event 'away from home' pretty tricky from a logistical PoV, but certainly not beyond the realms of possibility.


For example my prefered venue as I mentioned, is pretty damn big when taken as a whole. So big in fact that you could probably run three simultanious 60 player tournies at the same time, on the same day, etc... Or, you could run two 60 player tournies, and have the extra hall set aside for participation games, trade stands, etc... Basically a mini-conflict, which at least for me is a goal worth aiming towards...

But, a one day 60 player tournie on it's own probably isn't worth the hassle.


From a a tournie organisation PoV, I am guessing that a two day event requires just as much pre-event admin as a one day event, checking lists, etc... Not my current area of expertise, but my guess is that a two day event just means twice as much number-crunching over the weekend and a meal out and drinks on the saturday night. IoW it opens things up more for the social side of wargaming, which personally I'm all for, what with not actually having a social life these days with two kids under school age...


Anyway, that's my thoughts on the matter. I've got venues lined up, we just need to make sure that the committee and whole club are on board with running this, as needless to say we are talking thousands of pounds in rent, food, etc... never mind having to buy more boards and buying or making enough terrain to cover all the tables...
David Simpson
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