As you plan your event you’ll decide on which games to include and what formats you’ll use, along with any extra content you’d like to feature. You’ll also find and reserve a suitable venue. With all that sorted out the next thing you’ll want to do is work out when everything will take place.
This week I’ll discuss the topic of tournament schedules. I’ll run through common tasks and activities relevant to most tournaments and discuss the things you should consider when allocating time for each in your schedule. I’ll also discuss the importance of publishing a detailed schedule before the event, along with the benefits of sticking by it.
There are six activities that cover most of what happens at your average fighting game tournament: venue open and close, registration, tournaments, finals, exhibitions and breaks. Let’s look at each of these in detail.
1) Venue Open/Close
Whether at an arcade or function room, your tournament venue will have set open and closing times within which your event has to operate. You also need to provide buffers for setup and tear-down of all your gear. For example, allow yourself time to setup your gear after the venue opens but before you open the event to the public. That way you and your staff can do the necessary work without attendees in the way.
2) Registration
Whatever registration process you’re using, you’ll need to physically process all competitors at some point. If you have a large number of competitors, allocate time in your schedule for this. You need to provide enough time and staff for everyone to get through registration before any tournament brackets begin.
3) Tournaments
Make sure you have enough time and resources to run all the scheduled brackets before the venue closes for the day. It can be challenging to set the correct amount of time, given registrations can fluctuate and match runtimes will vary. Your best gauge is experience from past events.
If you’re running multiple games and/or multiple pools you’ll need to work out when to run each of these. The worst tournament delays arise when players are called upon to play in multiple brackets at the same time. You can seed your brackets to avoid such overlaps, but it’s easier to schedule the various pools in a way that minimises overlaps. For example you’ll never have overlaps between pools for a single game so these can be run in parallel if required.
For games that have few setups and many players (e.g. Tekken Tag Tournament 2 run on arcade cabinets) you’ll have no choice but to run your brackets over a long period of time. You must accept the risk of overlaps and run different games in parallel because there isn’t enough time to run games consecutively with few setups.
Don’t forget any DIY tournaments that might be happening. It helps if you set aside time in your schedule for these to take place. Overlaps with official tournaments can be managed provided you make it clear that official events need to take precedence.
Above all else you should try to be flexible (within reason) and avoid penalising competitors who are trying to do the right thing.
4) Finals
At large tournaments you might decide to save the last few matches of each bracket for a finals session. Set aside a block of time, ideally at the end of the event, to run all the finals back-to-back. This makes it easier to retain the attention of spectators and creates a better atmosphere for the finals. You can break things up by including extra activities that are spectator-friendly, such as raffles or combo videos.
5) Exhibitions
Some organisers like to include exhibition matches during the finals timeslot. However if you have a lot of finals to get through this becomes too demanding on the audience. Consider setting aside some time for exhibitions during other periods of inactivity. For example Evo favours running exhibitions on the evening before Finals day, after pools are completed.
6) Breaks
Breaks refer to any period where you’ve got nothing planned. Players are left to entertain themselves for a while, allowing staff time to prepare for the next round of activities or take a break themselves. As tournament attendance and rosters expand it’s becoming increasingly difficult to insert break periods into tournament schedules. Sometimes you just have to rely on pool progressions and staff rotations to give people some downtime.
Any time something finishes early you can give people a chance to take a break before moving on to the next scheduled activity. Also be sure to give spectators some breaks during tournament finals, even if it’s only for a few minutes, otherwise your audience will wander off on their own for various reasons.
Sharing and Sticking
Once you’ve established a complete timetable for your event, be sure to publish it so people can reference it before and during the event. This way competitors and spectators know exactly what’s happening at all times and organisers can keep track of what needs to be done.
If you’re running early you might be tempted to bring activities forward but be wary of potential consequences. Nobody likes missing out because something started earlier than advertised. If you’re running late you’ll usually have to push everything back to compensate. This is where having explicit break times can help as they become buffers for any delays. If you have no breaks scheduled and the delays are really bad then consider moving, or even cancelling, non-essential activities like exhibitions.
Ideally you’ll deliver everything in your schedule at the listed times, but in reality things won’t always work out that way. Publishing a schedule based on your best estimates of the time needed, and being aware of what you can safely change on the day, are essential to providing everyone with a satisfying tournament experience.
Linked photos of OHN8 courtesy of hebretto.
Feedback and Future Articles
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]– Ziggy –[
