Stompfest Sponsors Update

[CodeZero]

I'd like to personally give a big, huge thank you to Palit Multimedia for picking up the tab for Stompfest. It truly means a lot to me to see the LAN scene get such a nice revival in the Indy area. You all know how highly I think of the sponsors that donate money and/or product to local LANs and this was pretty much the biggest gift of all.

Alongside Palit though, we do have some other really awesome companies coming on board to sponsor the event with their products. So take a few minutes to click on their banners, check out the products they offer, and by all means, buy something if you like it! They're showing us their support, so please take a few seconds to see what they have to offer.

The Following Sponsors Have Just Jumped On Board:

<a href="http://www.steelseries.com/">SteelSeries</a>
<a href="http://www.ideazon.com/">Ideazon</a>
<a href="http://www.activision.com/index.html#home|en_US/">Activision</a>
<a href="http://www.techskills.edu">TechSkills (Nationwide)</a>
If you're from Indiana, call 317-251-4600 and let them Stompfest Referred You!

More information will be coming in the following days concerning what we're getting from our amazing sponsors. So keep your checking back for updates!

[eclyps]

Ah you've done a great job gathering these guys. I'm really looking forward to this years lan :)

[CodeZero]

Thanks! We've got much more to come too!

[eclyps]

lets hope activision will do something like they did at Showdown :)

[Fuu]

lets hope activision will do something like they did at Showdown :)

What did they do? Give out games?

[eclyps]

Yeah. Free copy of MoH:AA at showdown.

[JJ_Sky5000]

This is what I brought back from Showdown LAN it was a good day

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3153/2329380715_1da8d6037c_b.jpg

[Testman]

OMG, all that effort to show off, and yet takes a pic, of it....

Ummmm I came away good, from that party, and I gave away everything, including a HD2900xt, that THUMP3r now owns...

Lan Parties arent about swag, its about the fun....

[JJ_Sky5000]

Showdown didnt sell out 100 people short and they probley wont come back. They where handing stuff out left and right. They wanted people to know what they missed..so i took the pic. I gave most of it away

[Testman]

ummmm showdown not coming back, that is odd, cus it looks like vector signed up for stompfest.....If he didnt have interest in Indy again, he wouldnt be signing up for stompfest.

[JJ_Sky5000]

Stompfest Staff invited him. We all better thank him for coming & beg for another chance for showdown. they havnt even schedule any showdowns for 08.....?

[CodeZero]

To be completely honest it was a mess. When you promise something to sponsors and you fall short it makes the scene look bad. You don't overestimate what kind of traffic you can pull in unless you know for absolutely sure you're going to meet that goal. We had tons and tons of gear at the past Stompfests and we got it by honestly telling sponsors what we expected our traffic to be from selling out each previous year.

I'm not bagging the Showdown LAN guys on a personal level though. I was at the epic failure of a LAN in Las Vegas called CXG and saw what happens first hand when you overestimate what you can do. I was there with a few of the events sponsors and I saw their disappointment first hand as well.

On a business level, every marketing and PR rep takes a personal risk when they sponsor an event of that magnitude. If they donate money or a large amount of product and get very little ROI it could cost them a job. The first million man LAN was very similar. I saw a few sponsors that I knew personally who were very disappointed in the handling of the event because it directly affects them and their choice to sponsor that event.

I've heard Showdown LAN has plenty of experience but where they fell short in my eyes is not doing a few mid-size LANs to test the waters (geographically speaking). That would have helped to gain more local support from organizers and gamers around here. I had personally had no clue who these guys were outside of a post on our forums. Word of mouth from a trusted source might have got me out there and in return I would have helped to garner more support as well.

Having no idea who or what the event was though left me with more than a few questions. Then I started seeing posts about how people were only going to get prizes. Those comments left me really wondering whether it was a LAN or a way for people to milk money and prizes from sponsors. Which if you know about the CXG fiasco it left me thinking it was going to end up the same way.

Again... you live and you learn. I hope they do another event, but I also hope they change their approach. Prizes are great but they don't make the event. It just brings people who want free shizz. Also, build a better rep from local organizers and get them on your side so we can help you draw in more people. Lastly, work your way into a large event. Indy can handle a large gaming event. Just look at GenCon for example. Downtown wasn't the big issue everyone thinks it was. It's just that there were a few misconceptions drifting around.

<3

[THUMP3r]

Testman, don't be a dick.

[Palit_Guy]

As it turns out, Vector will not be joining us at Stompfest after all. He is traveling to Germany for something and that trip overlaps the event.

Showdown was much more a marketing event than a LAN party IMO. It cost big money to go and there were crazy prizes. But the feedback I got from attendees was not what I would have expected from a LAN party.

For those of you that went, compare the atmosphere and the way tournies were ran to what you see at Stompfest. I'm not trying to belittle Showdown or anything, I'm just saying it's different.

If you want to understand more, check out the article Vector wrote at www.palitlan.com. He and I agree when it comes to the differences between LAN parties and all these other types of events whatever you want to call them.

If there were no prizes at all I have no doubt Stompfest would still fill up. I'm sure that there would be some people who have been in the past that wouldn't go back if they knew there would be no prizes, but that's a pretty small number.

Stompfest is a real LAN party. That's why Palit chose to sponsor it. It won't make Palit famous and it won't make us hit sales records. But if you really want to support the gaming community, there isn't a better choice of people to come hang out with.

When I first posed the idea of sponsoring Stompfest 100% there was quite a bit of push back internally. This is a pretty good chunk of change to spend on an event that isn't famous worldwide and doesn't have the reach of a Showdown or a PDXLAN.

But having been to my fair share of Stompfests over the years, I know there isn't a better group of people to see at a LAN. So, IMHO, if Palit really is the "Think Different" kind of company they claim to be then we have to "Act Different" as well. To me that means supporting the REAL gaming community and not just those people in it that go to big and even more costly events strictly to compete to win cash prizes or come away with swag.

To me, if that's the only reason you're going to an event then there is something wrong with the event. Stompfest has soul. It has people that would come even if it was held in someone's basement. It has people that would come back to the next one even if the power was out the whole time at the last one (which it wasn't, I'm just saying). Stompfest has people that want to go to Stompfest.

If that's not worth supporting I don't know what is.

[eclyps]

As it turns out, Vector will not be joining us at Stompfest after all. He is traveling to Germany for something and that trip overlaps the event.

Showdown was much more a marketing event than a LAN party IMO. It cost big money to go and there were crazy prizes. But the feedback I got from attendees was not what I would have expected from a LAN party.

For those of you that went, compare the atmosphere and the way tournies were ran to what you see at Stompfest. I'm not trying to belittle Showdown or anything, I'm just saying it's different.

If you want to understand more, check out the article Vector wrote at www.palitlan.com. He and I agree when it comes to the differences between LAN parties and all these other types of events whatever you want to call them.

If there were no prizes at all I have no doubt Stompfest would still fill up. I'm sure that there would be some people who have been in the past that wouldn't go back if they knew there would be no prizes, but that's a pretty small number.

Stompfest is a real LAN party. That's why Palit chose to sponsor it. It won't make Palit famous and it won't make us hit sales records. But if you really want to support the gaming community, there isn't a better choice of people to come hang out with.

When I first posed the idea of sponsoring Stompfest 100% there was quite a bit of push back internally. This is a pretty good chunk of change to spend on an event that isn't famous worldwide and doesn't have the reach of a Showdown or a PDXLAN.

But having been to my fair share of Stompfests over the years, I know there isn't a better group of people to see at a LAN. So, IMHO, if Palit really is the "Think Different" kind of company they claim to be then we have to "Act Different" as well. To me that means supporting the REAL gaming community and not just those people in it that go to big and even more costly events strictly to compete to win cash prizes or come away with swag.

To me, if that's the only reason you're going to an event then there is something wrong with the event. Stompfest has soul. It has people that would come even if it was held in someone's basement. It has people that would come back to the next one even if the power was out the whole time at the last one (which it wasn't, I'm just saying). Stompfest has people that want to go to Stompfest.

If that's not worth supporting I don't know what is.
couldn't have said it better myself.

That's a shame about Vector though. It was great hanging out with him at Showdown. He's a great guy

[JJ_Sky5000]

Awesome Very Well Said Palit_Guy

PS can you Bring a pair of Palit 9800GTXs to replace my aging Evga 8800GTXs LOL

[CodeZero]

LOL! At least you have "2" 8800's... I have a single 8600 =[ Haha

[JJ_Sky5000]

The price of the 8800's should really drop now.

[[FF]Shadow]

Does this mean I may have a chance to win a "non-obtained" copy of COD4 =3

[Phlake]

Sigh so the representative from Palit wont be there? I had some business to attend to

[oni]

no he will it's the other guy from showdown lan thatwont be joinning us

[CodeZero]

Sigh so the representative from Palit wont be there? I had some business to attend to

Palit's rep will be there.

[THRASH]

Is Palit Guy our buddy Dave?

[eclyps]

dave will be there, the guy who ran Showdown, Matt, won't be there though