Edit history:
RocketPineapple: 2014-08-12 04:39:49 pm
RocketPineapple: 2014-08-12 01:10:37 am
RocketPineapple: 2014-08-12 01:10:23 am
RocketPineapple: 2014-08-12 12:09:56 am
my hat is my friend
Okay, I think we can finally get this thing off the ground.
Who?: Any of you lovely Australians (and New Zealanders, technically, but I imagine it might be a bit difficult and expensive for you guys) who are willing to come along and help out or run a game or just have a good time! We don't have a name as of yet (though AWSM - Australian Winter Speedrunning Marathon) was pretty awesome. Kappa
What?: A 2 day speedgaming (and possibly just messing around) marathon. The Aussie community hasn't really had a chance to get together with us being so spread out, but let's make it happen. Haven't made the contact yet (since we haven't really got anything to pitch yet) but we're looking to raise some money for Beyond Blue, as well. It's a fantastic cause and a great Australian charity. I'm not expecting huge fundraising amounts - hell I'll be floored if we make $500 - but it's something small we can do to help out mental health care in Australia and another reason for us to get together and have a good time.
When?: Thinking a weekend in September 2015. This way we have plenty of organizational time and things won't be left until the last minute. Gives plenty of notice for people who want to come along, this way they can take plenty of time to make sure they're able to. Mid-semester break for students, a weekend for the employed.
Where?: This is the big one. We were originally looking at Sydney, however, the only real options that have come up yet are in Brisbane. I'm in Brisbane myself so these have been easy for me to check out. This isn't entirely ruling out Sydney or Melbourne (but obviously I can't easily check those out so I really need other people to look and let me know if they have options, and soon). Based on what we have so far we're running on the idea of Brisbane.
At the moment we have 2 potential venues. I'd offer my house, too, but I don't think it would really work out.
I'll list pros and cons of each.
Option #1:
Option #2 :
Why?: Because we all should get together and have a great time for a good cause.
So that's what I have so far. I have no experience in doing this (I have enthusiasm) so anyone and everyone who wants to help out, please, feel free to contact me. My inbox is open, my twitch channel is http://twitch.tv/rocketpineapple so you can message me there, you can post in this thread, or you can hit me up on skype (captain_procrastination) or steam (rocket_pineapple). The more people who want to help out, the better! Spread the word, get hype, and hopefully we'll be able to get something awesome started!
And if anyone has any concerns or issues or anything they want to talk about, please go ahead!
Who?: Any of you lovely Australians (and New Zealanders, technically, but I imagine it might be a bit difficult and expensive for you guys) who are willing to come along and help out or run a game or just have a good time! We don't have a name as of yet (though AWSM - Australian Winter Speedrunning Marathon) was pretty awesome. Kappa
What?: A 2 day speedgaming (and possibly just messing around) marathon. The Aussie community hasn't really had a chance to get together with us being so spread out, but let's make it happen. Haven't made the contact yet (since we haven't really got anything to pitch yet) but we're looking to raise some money for Beyond Blue, as well. It's a fantastic cause and a great Australian charity. I'm not expecting huge fundraising amounts - hell I'll be floored if we make $500 - but it's something small we can do to help out mental health care in Australia and another reason for us to get together and have a good time.
When?: Thinking a weekend in September 2015. This way we have plenty of organizational time and things won't be left until the last minute. Gives plenty of notice for people who want to come along, this way they can take plenty of time to make sure they're able to. Mid-semester break for students, a weekend for the employed.
Where?: This is the big one. We were originally looking at Sydney, however, the only real options that have come up yet are in Brisbane. I'm in Brisbane myself so these have been easy for me to check out. This isn't entirely ruling out Sydney or Melbourne (but obviously I can't easily check those out so I really need other people to look and let me know if they have options, and soon). Based on what we have so far we're running on the idea of Brisbane.
At the moment we have 2 potential venues. I'd offer my house, too, but I don't think it would really work out.
Option #1:
The Edge, State Library of Queensland. http://edgeqld.org.au/venue-hire/innovation-lab/ This is what Liam and I were able to check out today (the Mezzanine is another option but was in use so we were unable to look). The Innovation Lab is well set up and the Mezzanine, while it does not have the AV setup the Innovation Lab does, would also be suitable, I think.
+ Enthusiastic, friendly, helpful staff. It was really quite nice to talk to the staff there because they were very keen to help out and interested in what we were doing. That's a big plus, I feel. The woman we spoke to has already emailed me back with the application form which I'll be filling out in the next week or two (in order to get a price estimate).
+ Window areas for hanging out. There isn't really a good place for practicing, but we could hire out a couple of tables in the lobby for general talking and chilling out when not in the main room. Excellent for socialization, which is important. There is also a coffee shop there and there's a pretty outside area that looks out on to the river and to the city that is also good for hanging out.
+ Dedicated internet service. This is an added expense but we can use a solid internet connection that we wouldn't be sharing. Good uplink.
+ Plenty of powerpoints/ethernet cable links.
+ A/V setup including a projector. Extra setup would require hiring but most things we will be providing ourselves.
+/- Location: Good and bad points. Positive being that it's fairly central (the State Library is in South Brisbane, short walk from the South Brisbane train station and Cultural Centre bus station, right across the river from Roma Street station), negative being that there are no real food shopping areas within a 5 minute walk, there's no nearby supermarket and the best bet is the South Bank parklands. Also, while it's in a nice location, the room is quite open and airy, which is nice, but also makes it harder to control lighting.
- The floor is hard. Which sucks if you're probably going to want to take a nap in the corner at some point, like I no doubt will. Also the chairs aren't amazing, so we'd probably want to bring in a couch or something which is not going to be easy. The smaller room does have a couple of couches, though.
- Cost. This is the big one. It's not going to be cheap. It's going to be at the absolute least $1000 for the weekend, I imagine, with room hire, window bay hire, security, internet. The room itself is $440 for a day ($330 if we take the smaller option) so with two days of that, plus window bays and internet and anything else, we're going to be looking at a fair amount of money. I don't have an exact figure yet (I won't until I submit the form) but I will be sure to update this thread with that amount when I do.
+ Enthusiastic, friendly, helpful staff. It was really quite nice to talk to the staff there because they were very keen to help out and interested in what we were doing. That's a big plus, I feel. The woman we spoke to has already emailed me back with the application form which I'll be filling out in the next week or two (in order to get a price estimate).
+ Window areas for hanging out. There isn't really a good place for practicing, but we could hire out a couple of tables in the lobby for general talking and chilling out when not in the main room. Excellent for socialization, which is important. There is also a coffee shop there and there's a pretty outside area that looks out on to the river and to the city that is also good for hanging out.
+ Dedicated internet service. This is an added expense but we can use a solid internet connection that we wouldn't be sharing. Good uplink.
+ Plenty of powerpoints/ethernet cable links.
+ A/V setup including a projector. Extra setup would require hiring but most things we will be providing ourselves.
+/- Location: Good and bad points. Positive being that it's fairly central (the State Library is in South Brisbane, short walk from the South Brisbane train station and Cultural Centre bus station, right across the river from Roma Street station), negative being that there are no real food shopping areas within a 5 minute walk, there's no nearby supermarket and the best bet is the South Bank parklands. Also, while it's in a nice location, the room is quite open and airy, which is nice, but also makes it harder to control lighting.
- The floor is hard. Which sucks if you're probably going to want to take a nap in the corner at some point, like I no doubt will.
- Cost. This is the big one. It's not going to be cheap. It's going to be at the absolute least $1000 for the weekend, I imagine, with room hire, window bay hire, security, internet. The room itself is $440 for a day ($330 if we take the smaller option) so with two days of that, plus window bays and internet and anything else, we're going to be looking at a fair amount of money. I don't have an exact figure yet (I won't until I submit the form) but I will be sure to update this thread with that amount when I do.
Option #2 :
Brisbane City Council library in Indooroopilly. I would've said Brisbane City but they didn't have the room of the right size available for hire. http://www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/facilities-recreation/libraries/library-facilities-services/hiring-library-meeting-rooms (under category 2). Yeah, there are other ones, but I'm biased towards Indooroopilly, it's right near where I live. 
I can't give a full pros and cons list yet because when I had a look the staff were not very helpful (telling me I need to book without answering any of my questions). Going to hopefully find a different staff member tonight and get back.
What I can say is: it's (a lot) cheaper than option #1, the room is a good size and comes with toilets and a kitchenette, it's in a shopping centre so there's access to plenty of food options (including 2 supermarkets), however I can't, as yet, guarantee that the internet would be up to scratch, and I certainly can't guarantee a good space for chilling out (outside of the carpark which isn't exactly a nice place to be hehe). It is advertised as available for 24 hours a day though so obtaining the space for overnight marathon usage is quite doable.
I can't give a full pros and cons list yet because when I had a look the staff were not very helpful (telling me I need to book without answering any of my questions). Going to hopefully find a different staff member tonight and get back.
What I can say is: it's (a lot) cheaper than option #1, the room is a good size and comes with toilets and a kitchenette, it's in a shopping centre so there's access to plenty of food options (including 2 supermarkets), however I can't, as yet, guarantee that the internet would be up to scratch, and I certainly can't guarantee a good space for chilling out (outside of the carpark which isn't exactly a nice place to be hehe). It is advertised as available for 24 hours a day though so obtaining the space for overnight marathon usage is quite doable.
Why?: Because we all should get together and have a great time for a good cause.
So that's what I have so far. I have no experience in doing this (I have enthusiasm) so anyone and everyone who wants to help out, please, feel free to contact me. My inbox is open, my twitch channel is http://twitch.tv/rocketpineapple so you can message me there, you can post in this thread, or you can hit me up on skype (captain_procrastination) or steam (rocket_pineapple). The more people who want to help out, the better! Spread the word, get hype, and hopefully we'll be able to get something awesome started!
And if anyone has any concerns or issues or anything they want to talk about, please go ahead!
Thread title: