(Written at 10pm Sunday 7th August after the Mixed Doubles event)
Our Winners
I don’t know where to even start with this!
As a spectator (non playing event organiser) watching 40k is horrendous. Everyone is so busy concentrating that no one looks like they are enjoying themselves. We work really hard behind the scenes to try to create professional organised and run events but more importantly we want you guys to have fun! If I were forced to choose between a disorganised shamozel where you all had a ball and a beautifully organised event that was boring and not enjoyable I would choose the shamozel any day (I’d rather a well organised, fun event given the choice though). The look of concentration on some players faces is similar to those I’ve seen on patients in the dentist waiting room so I wait with baited breath to chat to you all between games to see if you are actually enjoying yourselves.
Mixed doubles seemed different. Sadly for a number of reasons I missed the kick off of the day, when I got there though, the first thing I noticed was the volume. Normally during breaks the volume rises but during games it is pretty quiet, with the exception of the occasion ‘YEAHHHHH!’ or disappointed ‘Noooooo!’. Today, however, everyone was chatting away during the game, when I came in every player I knew smiled and waived and throughout the matches just about all players had a genuine smile on their faces.
I’m not sure if it was the small number of players (only 36 players, 18 teams) or the fact that it was billed as a fun, relaxed event but the atmosphere was warm and relaxed. We are pretty darn proud to have 4 female players. Ghislaine is our seasoned veteran, the only female player we have had at Perth Ob Sec events in the past and the player who was so positive and supportive at the idea of this event (we wouldn’t have hosted Mixed Doubles today if it hadn’t been for Ghislaine’s support and backing me when I suggested it and her husband Pete who joined sides with G and I when M was dubious that we could get it off the ground. Thanks guys, I really appreciate the positivity and enthusiasm). Paula joined us in Albany electing to play intro games for the day down there and today played with a brand new army, Alison is a face many Ob Sec tournament players know, she has been a great cheer leader (and photographer) to her husband but today rocked it in her own right, and excitingly we inducted a brand new victim, I mean player today with Eloise joining us not only for her very first tournament but also her very first (second, third and fourth) ever game. Talk about learning curve!
Not only did we have girls playing but we also had a lot of fresh blood new players. At least 12 players who have never played a tournament before, young guys, not quite so young guys, and a few who haven’t played in a tournament scene for more than a few years. To the new guys; I’m sorry I didn’t get a chance to say goodbye properly! You were brilliant. There were smiles that lit up a room, regardless of whether you won or lost (ok, I’m going to be honest, some of you had a lot more of the loss than win) you were happy and smiling and really great guys. It was fantastic to have you there today!
We had girls, we had new players, we had people in costume, we had veterans, we had spectators and visitors and most of all we had fun. I am one pretty happy camper right now.
The painting skill in the room was amazing, the painting award narrowly went to the Platell’s, the sportsmanship scores were very tight with a room full of great teams the Newton’s took out the award (for more information around how we currently caluculate sports scores and why we do it that way check out my last blog post here), best overall was not so close and Mitch and Che from Freo had a very convincing win, best couple was actually a tie and we had to go to count backs and Pete and Ghislaine were pipped at the post by Travis and El.
I doubt this is like the usual wrap up for events that M writes. He probably goes into detail about who did what with which army, all I can tell you is that there were definitely harlequins, space wolves and eldar in the room, but that is only because I overheard someone tell someone else so this clearly isn’t that sort of wrap up. My wrap up is looking to see; did we meet the goal of the event being like a great big hug for new players? Was it a gentle entry into events? Was it open and encouraging? Did new players feel comfortable and at ease? All the feedback that we got seems to be a great big YES! I heard veterans say this was the most fun event, we had a few players ask for more doubles events because it was so much fun playing that way, new players stayed behind at the end to say how much fun they had and if the number of hugs I received at the end was anything to go by, it definitely felt like a great big hug to me!
So, at the end of a VERY long day I just want to say a huge THANK YOU yet again to all our community for your enthusiasm and support. We couldn’t do this without you. Your positivity encourages us and inspires me to come up with new ideas for events, products, activities and new ways to support and build community (which is leading to a lot of slow deep breathing on M’s part, which can only be relaxing and good for him right? I’m sure the eye rolling that precedes the slow deep breath is a sign of enthusiasm for the new ideas 😀 – check out my up coming post about the Warhammer Widows High Tea that I will post in a couple of days for another example of how I’m hoping to bring together our community. Hehehe building community with wine and cake!)
Back to today! To all of the new players who attended today welcome to our Ob Sec family, we look forward to seeing you at more events and getting to know you better! To our veterans, thanks for being your usual awesome selves and making this event the warm welcome we intended for the new players.
E