Kotei Season 2012

Hey folks,

It's about that time again, and I'm starting to look forward to what needs to be put in place for the Bid season. If All hold to standard time frames then AEG is likely to put out the RFP in the Next several weeks and require it to be turned in several weeks after that. I personally like to have things in place and not have to do alot of Jumping through Hoops in short order by waiting till the last moment. Personally I've had a great time visiting Florida to Run the Event and I'll be bidding again this year. But I want to make sure the event is available to as many people as Possible, so this year I'm again coming back out to the Public and seeking Opinions.

Kotei 2010 :
Held at : Cool Stuff Games in Orlando FL
Date : 4/17/2010
Attendance : 70 Players (Large Majority traveled at least 2 hours)
Personal Thoughts :
Working with the Management at Cool stuff was very simple and the staff at the location were fast and helpful. They even bumped a large scale M:tG event over to another Office space that had no AC. Only issue I had was the inability of the AC in our unit to keep up, but the staff Worked very hard to make that happen as well, their unit just couldn't keep up with the Body heat. There also seemed to be a healthy Rivalry between the Tampa Area players and the Jacksonville area folks. In addition the folks I worked with for the Charity were huge, they came and Picked stuff that day and were even interested in what we were doing
Comments Heard :
The only Comment I heard that was negative was on the AC issue.

Kotei 2011 :
Held at : Darkside Comics and Games in Sarasota FL
Date : 4/09/2010
Attendance : 54 Players
Personal Thoughts :
The set up for this one was alittle More difficult in the Beginning the Manager drove a hard bargain but it worked out in the end. The store was huge and the layout was amazing. The staff was helpful and everything from an event management side of things fell into place nicely. The Only issue I had was the distinct lack of a really "Local" hotel.
Comments Heard :
The only Comment I heard was the Distance from a "real" Airport. I received several PM's about it in advance and then personally experienced it As I stayed at a Hotel in the Tampa Airport Complex.

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My concern is the Drop in 16 players... Was it due to the L5R Play Environment? The change in location? IE further drive for some? the Storyline? Prize support? or just random Attrition?

I am looking for Opinions... better location? Stay at the same location? Different Location? Jacksonville? Thoughts for Prize support? Thoughts in general?

this is your Event after All.. I just help make it happen

fk

Not to waste a reply but I'm cool either way, speaking for about 10 players from and around Bradenton(also not a real place, in the way Sarasota isn't a real place.) As much as it was nice to have the local Kotei practically in my back yard, Manatee Clan would have no issue getting to Orlando to play. I'd like to see as many people as possible: if Dark Side is too far from hotels and such, then I guess we'll have to suck it up and drive more than half an hour to the event.
That being said, I personally don't like the idea of doing it in Jacksonville. I know that I've just made flippant remarks about how near the last one was to me, but I think an event in Jacksonville would see half or less of my playgroup coming (I'm aware that's not the end of the world, but I'm just voting on our behalf.)
There's my 2 zeni...

For the Record I'm not really looking to move it. the store had Lots of Solid Qualities.. huge, Easy to find, Close Food, excellent staff, an Abundance of Product, etc.

The Drop in attendance can easily be attributed to the end of Arc..


However in the 21st century when i have direct access to players, why not Ask?

I mean there are lots of Good Stores.. the Fine Folks At Anthem worked hard with me last year to find a way to do it up in their neck of the woods, Cool Stuff has a store down in Miami , I'm sure Jacksonville has a new option by now... see lots of Good options, so if i'm missing something please feel free to speak up, I'm not against change..

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In addition feel free to hit upon Prize support, things you might like to see, things you didn't like, things you want to see again. I'm only so imaginative..

Fk

i think holding it in orlando will get a certain # of people to come just because it is in orlando, you yourself said it turned into a mini vacation right? I believe the family from Mass (unicorn player) and at least one other did the orlando tourist thing in conjunction. Now i'm not trying to say that is a 14 player difference, but it doesn't hurt. It is also cheaper to fly into orlando (generally) and it is nice to have the Kotei near by an airport (Tampa, Jacksonville, Orlando)

I would love to hold it in Tampa, cause that driving 2+ hours home is a pain afterwards... but my gut says Orlando will attract more people

my 2 koku

Paul

Ok being in Jax I would rather have it in Orlando or Tampa.
Reason 1 since losing War Dogs we have not had a store large enough to host a Kotei. The other stores are small or more mini based.
Reason 2 Orlando can draw other people who may need to bribe the wife with a vacation.
Reason 3 West coast had a more stable player base for L5R.
Reason 4 if you do not have one in FL I may have to go to ST Louie just to give you a hard time.
Reason 5 I can bring a fan if we need to cool off lol.
Reason 6 I like getting the Hell out of Jacksonville even if it 8 hour round trip.

As much as I loved having it in Sarasota (only an hour-ish for us tampa folks) and as awesome as darkside is (seriously... amazing store), I think our best bet will be orlando.

Now, coolstuff in orlando was... a little small. Granted, we had over 70 people, but still, I remember that more than one player had trouble navigating the isles. And the heat WAS overbearing. But still, I have to agree that sarasota is a pain to get to from any decent airport, and also kind of confusing with it's location (as well as not being near too many food/hotel accommodations) whereas something in central orlando is going to have much more near it.

As far as Jax goes... I don't think they have a location that would be good for hosting it. It's not too bad of a drive for us tampa people (about 3 1/2 hours taking the correct backroads) but still. And I wouldn't consider miami reasonable. Granted Miami is a large metropolitan area, it's also essentially an island (with only two major highways able to get there, one down aligator alley, about an hour detour down I-75, and the other is I-95 and you have to go all the way to the east side of the state to get there.) Doing it in Miami would also probably hurt the chances of atlanta/tennessee/south carolina players coming as well, because it would easily add 4-5 hours to the trip each way, and it's not very drive friendly.

So, my votes are : 1st - A good place in orlando. 2nd - Darkside in Sarasota again.

Pruto wrote:you yourself said it turned into a mini vacation right?

I did as a matter of fact "sell" the trip to my wife as a Mini vacation and we came down and did the Disneyworld stuff Etc... as did the person from Mass. And this was a Distinct difference I noticed with the "Greater Tampa" area, in that unless i was coming in for Beach time then there didn't seem to be as many large scale family style things to do. Not Slamming the Tampa Area, but Orlando has a bunch of big names in the area, Disney world, Universal studios, etc... Also it should be noted that my Wife didn't come down this last year specifically because we were saving the money to goto the PR Kotei, and then On a Cruise out of San Juan.

Pruto wrote: It is also cheaper to fly into orlando (generally)

In paying attention to it this last year, there was generally a 30 - 70$ difference between the two with Orlando being the cheaper normally. In addition Orlando stayed much cheaper much longer, with Flights in to Tampa ramping up in price drastically the last 30 days before the event.

Tealzooka wrote:since losing War Dogs we have not had a store large enough to host a Kotei. The other stores are small or more mini based

Was sorry to see this place go... Did you ever get to hold the Level 15 event?

Sleep wrote:Now, coolstuff in orlando was... a little small. Granted, we had over 70 people, but still, I remember that more than one player had trouble navigating the isles. And the heat WAS overbearing.

As for Location there are always other options, bingo halls, VFW's, Eagles, College Meeting rooms, Etc

Tealzooka wrote:Reason 4 if you do not have one in FL I may have to go to ST Louie just to give you a hard time

heh you are always welcome to come on up I'll even offer Floor space, in my Hotel Room, to help save on the costs

Sleep wrote:one down aligator alley, about an hour detour down I-75, and the other is I-95 and you have to go all the way to the east side of the state to get there.) Doing it in Miami would also probably hurt the chances of atlanta/tennessee/south carolina players coming as well, because it would easily add 4-5 hours to the trip each way, and it's not very drive friendly.

Heh I've actually always wanted to drive down Alligator Alley, and CSI Miami makes the place look so cool ... But I digress.... Yeah I've looked at Miami before only in Passing. It virtually rules out anyone from out of state from driving in just because of the shear distance, and the Flights down there just aren't cheap enough to "lure" a random couple extra players. The Pan handle does the same sorta thing to Tampa Players, just makes the drive Extreme..

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So what I have taken form this is so far :
Tampa players are willing to Suck up the extra drive time if a move to Orlando happened. Aprox. an extra hour each way.
Manatee County** players would see an added 2 hours to drive time that didn't exist before, but still not too bad for a local Kotei level event
Jacksonville Area folks would see Drive times cut in half, and may encourage more to come out.
Miami Players would see relatively little change other than the Interstate they have to take.
Out of state drivers would see a slightly easier drive time, and route, but otherwise little change over 2011
Distance travelers will see a decreased cost, in Flight fees, but an added bonus of maybe spinning it into a family vacation.

Lots to think on... I hate moving away from a Good store location, but if it benefits the community and isn't overly expensive, i'll see what i can do.. I'll start putting out feelers, for some options... Please keep the Ideas and Thoughts Flowing




** Post edited

Can I just point out that we don't like being called Sarasota Area players? We're from Manatee County.
Doesn't make a difference to anyone else, I know.

BayushiTrevron wrote:Can I just point out that we don't like being called Sarasota Area players? We're from Manatee County.
Doesn't make a difference to anyone else, I know.

It seems to matter to your avatar.

Heck I thought you guys were Tampa area players

Nope on the lvl 15. I called the day before they sent the kit out to change the stores information. The Chinese place next door would probably got the package and been like WTF?

Aside from the travel time and such, how much does the cost actually differ to host the event in Orlando versus Sarasota? Orlando's name brings Orlando's prices to book a hall (if Cool Stuff falls through or isn't big enough to hold the event), and we have to consider the expense of putting on the event.

I think Miami is a bad idea. I've been up and down Alligator Alley a few times, and it's a long stretch of NOTHING. Not to mention, once we get to Miami, we'll all probably get robbed

Ogremunchy wrote:Aside from the travel time and such, how much does the cost actually differ to host the event in Orlando versus Sarasota? Orlando's name brings Orlando's prices to book a hall (if Cool Stuff falls through or isn't big enough to hold the event), and we have to consider the expense of putting on the event.

I think Miami is a bad idea. I've been up and down Alligator Alley a few times, and it's a long stretch of NOTHING. Not to mention, once we get to Miami, we'll all probably get robbed

Costs and Such as a Player wouldn't Change. It still be whatever the standard entry fee as prescribed by AEG.

As for location and other "behind the scenes costs", The Hosted space always costs Money. I paid Coolstuff in '10 and Darkside in '11. It's My job to make sure that is the best possible price so I can still spend a decent amount on Prize support and still have a chance to break even. I wouldn't bid a location i didn't think i have a reasonable chance to break even.

the main thing is to make the event available to the largest amount of the people possible, without getting me into a divorce

Fk

sorn38 wrote:the main thing is to make the event available to the largest amount of the people possible, without getting me into a divorce

Fk

If she really loves you she'll forgive you.

I'm voting for orlando. There is more to do there then sarasota. Hotels arnt that exspensive away from disney either. Its also more central to the state then miami is. Its also doable for more floida people to do in 1 day. Instead of having to have 2 days off work to come. Which may allow more people to come.

As an employee of The Dark Side, I would love to see the Kotei hosted there again! (Also, thanks for the positive comments, very much appreciated!)

As a dedicated player, however, I can definitely understand why, although it is highly convenient for me, it isn't necessarily convenient for the other 60+ people there. Orlando is not a bad drive from our area, and it is definitely a better location for most people logistically speaking. I would LOVE to see the Kotei hosted on my home turf again, but if it means more people, I'd gladly take a trip to Orlando. (Orlandoooooo! I love you, Orlando! Sea World and Disney and put-put golfiiiiiiiiiiiiing!)

Hi guys. Being from the sarasota/bradenton area I would love to have it at Darkside but Orlando is cool. For some of the people in the area, I have a large enough car that I can bring up a few peeps to Orlando.

It is true, we need to follow up and make sure there is enough people to attend the event.

With regards to some of the other questions asked, what are people's opinion on the prize support. Is there something else you guys like to see? More side tournaments perhaps? More stuff handed out? Get more opinion on that part would be cool. For me, Prize support was great at Darkside. I like the unique prize support. Creative stuff like that attracts my attention. I mean cards are cards, but shot glasses and play mats are sweeter deal.

Qumar wrote:For me, Prize support was great at Darkside. I like the unique prize support. Creative stuff like that attracts my attention. I mean cards are cards, but shot glasses and play mats are sweeter deal.

True story.

Everyone loves playmats.

YES! Unique prizes like shot glasses, playmats, swords, etc are awesome! I figure most players at a Kotei have the cards they need already, so more cards just seems kinda "meh". Shirts, playmats, shot glasses, mugs, imperial herald subscriptions, Clan tokens or dice, swords, banners, these things are much cooler! <3

Swords. Must be more swords. And other weapons too. And a costume contest.

Ogremunchy wrote:And a drinking contest.

Fixed.

Gosh wrote:

Ogremunchy wrote:And a drinking contest.

Fixed.

+1

Akodo Tealzooka wrote:

Gosh wrote:

Ogremunchy wrote:And a drinking contest.

Fixed.

+1

those of us who went to gencon '10 remember the drinking l5r game, it was epic, unfortunately we had 2 players in it and they faced off in round one.

Pruto wrote:

Akodo Tealzooka wrote:

Gosh wrote:

Ogremunchy wrote:And a drinking contest.

Fixed.

+1

those of us who went to gencon '10 remember the drinking l5r game, it was epic, unfortunately we had 2 players in it and they faced off in round one.

That particular event type is called a Drunken Masters Tournament.