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Spockie-Tech
Site Admin
Joined: 31 May 2004
Posts: 3160
Location: Melbourne, Australia
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OK, I spoke with Barry and Mark yesterday, as I suspected, a misunderstanding of what was being asked for..
As suspected, When Mark heard Luke say he wanted to hold an "Event", Mark thought he meant he wanted to reserve the Arena and Pit Area all day, remove the Rental Robots for many hours and require assistance from Sidetracked staff in all the little things that go towards making up a "serious" event.
He also said he would have preferred a bit more notice than "this weekend"..
I explained to him that at present, myself, Gary and a lot of the bigger/older teams (that tend to bring a lot of bots and take up a lot of space) are occupied with other stuff for a while, and this "event" was more about some of the newer builders having a chance to get some fights, testing and experience at "getting it all together" for an actual competition day, and he was fine with that and agreed it was a good idea.
So, you dont have to pay to use the arena, but there are the following requirements.
1.
A single person (who is
over 18
{essential} and a responsible reliable Adult type) has to be nominated as "The Organiser" and take responsibility for..
2.
contacting Mark at least 2 weeks in advance
- preferably more, as Sidetracked often books up Kids Parties and other events weeks or months in advance.
3.
The Organiser must ensure that *all* participants behave in a safe, considerate fashion towards the facilities, staff and customers of Sidetracked.
Whoever is "The Organiser" is reponsible for
all other particpants
good behaviour..
If some twit opens the arena door while robots are still driving around, or spinning weapons are active, bumps into Sidetracked customers with spikey bits, or does something dumb like powers up their bot in a dangerous area, or *drives* their robot from the pits to the arena, or around the pits, or damages tables, walls etc, The Organiser can expect to get their butt kicked, possibly have the lot of you ejected from the premises, and you will screw it up for everyone.
As the Organiser, it is *your* job to ensure safe Arena proceedures are followed.
4.
ensure that the pit area area is left *clean*..
No empty drink bottles, rubbish, robots parts, metal filings on the floor or anything that will cause Sidetrcaked staff to have to clean up after you. No using power tools, angle grinders, welders or anything hazardous and environment damaging in the pits.
5.
Once "The Organiser" goes home, all other participants are to stop using the arena from that time on, *and* vacate the pit area. You must notify the Sidetracked Duty manager (not just any staff member) that you are finished and are now leaving
. Anyone can hang around and chat in the cafe area, but leaving other people staying/working in the pit area assigned to you or using the arena after you leave is not on. This way no-one can say "well, everything was fine when *I* left"
Understand that on weekends, the Rental Bots are in frequent use, and this is the source of $ income that makes it worth Sidetracked leaving the Arena permanently set up and not putting Arcade games in the space it takes up..
So unless you want to hold your gatherings at an off-peak time like a mid-week afternoon or other time suggested by Sidetracked as being customer quiet, you must
6.
Arrange your fights in a tight group all together at scheduled times.
Something like every 1 or 2 hours *on the hour* for 15-30 minutes at a time, and then clear the arena for the Rental bots use again whilst you all recharge/repair/chat etc. This way the arena isn't just being used for a scattered minutes here and there taking up an hour and causes minimum disruption to the paid use of the Rental Bots..
This will also give competitors good experience at what a big event is like where you
have to be ready to fight on a deadline at a particular time and not just whenever you feel like it and are ready
. If only a couple of you guys are currently ready, then line up your bots on the floor and help out the other guys to get a group of you ready all together for a "fight round".
It also will entertain the customers with some solid non-stop action for a while, then they can wander off and do other things while you all recoup. Again
*this is the organiser's responsibility to schedule fight times and
stick
to them*
. Waste Sidetracked facilities time and you *will* have to pay for time in future.
6. The rental robots can be left in the Arena as obstacles *if* the robots fighting are not high-energy spinning or ramming types that could possibly damage them.
If there is *any* possibility of the rental bots being damaged, they must be *switched off*, and removed from the Arena and stored out of the way during the scheduled fight times.
As soon as the current group of fights are over, they are to be returned to the arena and switched back on for the customers use.
The rental bots are *heavy* and large, and have to be tilted to fit through the arena door, so you should get Darren, Dusty or one of the senior Sidetracked staff/managers to assist with this - they dont want anyone hurt in the process.. so another reason to keep all your fights in a group once every hour or two (depending on how many of you there are) so you dont have to bug them too often. Arrange with the current duty manager that you would like them removed for 1/2hr at
pre-specified
times and then returned.
So basically, as "The Organiser", dont expect to just waltz in whenever you feel like it, use the arena at your convenience during peak (weekend) business times and just go home when you've had enough.
Be considerate of the fact that Sidetracked are providing you with *two* spaces (The Arena and the Pit) free of charge.. Remember that this place is a business, and they have no obligation to do anything for people who arent custoemrs.
The arena cost many thousands of dollars, and staff wages, insurance, power and facilities all cost money.. Treat them with respect and courtesy and behave *responsibly* and maturely. Make sure others do too.
*After* you have called Mark, asked nicely and confirmed that the date you want is available (sometimes Sidetracked is closed for private bookings)..
then...
You must Print this out, write your name, address, contact phone number, hand write "I agree to the above conditions, accept responsibility for the operation and safe conduct of the participants from [start time/date] until [end time/date] " , sign and date it, and deliver it to Mark
at least 1 week *before*
you want to hold your event"
. Show him some ID - Drivers licence or something like that so he knows you are who you say you are.
Call it a "party" so it fits in with Sidetracked's normal business operations.
If you dont like the sound of all of those conditions, feel free to run your own event in your own backyard and deal with all the work to host people yourself.
Remember that this list of conditions is nothing more (except maybe the cleaning up after yourself part) than any parent booking a party at Sidetracked would be expected to agree to. So get it all together and be professional, or play in your own backyard.
Anyone have any problems with that ? If you can handle all that, and someone is willing to put their hand up as "The Man", then its time to start talking about when you want to do it *several weeks from now* - and welcome to the world of being an E.O. (Event Operator). 
And If *I* hear of anyone being a twit, expect me to chew you out in public, and possibly ban you from the forum and any future events. Robot Wars is dangerous (thats why its fun).. Use your head and you will get to keep all your other body parts intact.
regards
Brett
_________________
Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events. Small minds discuss people
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Sat Jul 03, 2010 10:38 pm |
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Spockie-Tech
Site Admin
Joined: 31 May 2004
Posts: 3160
Location: Melbourne, Australia
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Normally I would start the organising for a RoboWars event around October,
but given the lack of activity in Victoria recently, plus my other projects occupying all my spare time/money at the moment, I havent really been motivated to do anything this year.
I was kind of hoping that someone else would make a bit of effort and do some promotion, but it seems noone can be bothered.  The Arena is all setup and ready to go at Sidetracked just waiting for an organised group of Roboteers to appear, but none have.
To add some spice, I received an interesting email a week ago that I havent responded to yet.. I'll quote a few teaser bits here...
quote:
To whom it may concern,
I am emailing to enquire about potentially having a robo wars set up as part of a large corporate event I am organizing for <...> in Melbourne at the Melbourne Convention Center.
The event is themed around cars and car racing with many fun activities set up as part of the entertainment. The audience would really enjoy a robo war competition so what I would like to know is whether it would be possible to work with you in organizing a robo wars arena to be brought into the venue as well a few competitors to bring in their own robots to battle against each other. My audience would just be spectators and would not be involved in controlling the bots (unless the competitors would be willing to let them).
Is this something that would be possible? We are really interested in finding out how this could work for all – of course payment of services and equipment would be covered.
I havent replied to him yet, because at the time I received it, given the lack of interest by anyone, I didnt feel that that were any *significant* number of Melbourne competitors who could be relied upon to put on a decent *paid-for* show, so I'm not prepared to stick my neck out and say "Yes, we can do it".
If anyone out there feels like stepping up to the plate and beating the bushes to see who they can rustle up, and can generate a bit of interest, then it might be worth replying to him.. and who knows what could happen from there..
If the idea of an event at Melbourne Convention Center early next year excites anyone enough to try that is... 
If anyone wants to have a go, I will *help* (not do it all). Someone else can be the front man, go to meetings, sign contracts, be responsible for pulling it all together etc. I will offer advice, and may even revive I.G.
But someone else is going to need to chase around all the professional reliable proven comeptitors - Rick, Neweyn, Matt, George, Shreddy, Gary, etc etc and get *commitments* from them after talking to the organisers and see whats on offer.
This type of event is not one where I would want to see *any* of the competitors trying to still finish their machines the night before the event, or you will just end up with egg on your face with a poor show. When someone pays you a decent $, you have an obligation to run a tight ship or look like a pack of fools.
Given that I know who the client is (they not small, most of you would know them well), I'm guessing they will have some decent $$ to spend on the show if anyone thinks they can pull it off professionally.
So, Anyone out there feel like putting on the promoter hat and sticking their neck out onto the block ?
It could be next years Pre/or/Post RoboWars Event and quite a big public production if you play your cards right.
Anyone got the cojones to take it on ?
<steps back for volunteers with Cred to setp forward>....
<whistling>
_________________
Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events. Small minds discuss people
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Thu Nov 11, 2010 11:10 pm |
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