Viennathon 2015 - Main Thread

RedArremer

Edit history:

RedArremer: 2014-02-08 09:13:43 am

RedArremer: 2014-02-06 01:26:59 am

RedArremer: 2014-02-05 07:04:36 am

RedArremer: 2014-02-05 06:58:38 am

RedArremer: 2014-02-05 06:49:23 am

2014-02-05 06:49:05 am

What is Viennathon?
Viennathon is supposed to be a gathering for speedrunners and fans from across the globe. We are going to come together, play games fast, stream it into the internet, and have a lot of fun. It is going to be hosted by me (Red Arremer) for now.

Viennathon is an on-site marathon akin to the GDQ series or ESA, and, for its first iteration, is going to be a more casual event in which the games and the people playing them are in the frontline. I am still debating whether or not to introduce a charity aspect to the marathon, and would be willing to listen to the feedback of the people interested in attending.

Speaking of attending, even if you are not going to run/commentate on a game, everyone is welcome to attend.

When is Viennathon?
Viennathon is going to be held in late 2014 or early 2015, it currently is not 100% sure when. I am currently gravitating towards February 2015, as AGDQ 2015 will be held about a month before, and the events leading up to AGDQ are happening in November/December - in order to avoid exhausting people from all those marathons, about a month between AGDQ and Viennathon seems like a good solution.

Where will it be held?
Viennathon will be held in Vienna, Austria (as the name suggests), specifically in Area 52, a venue for competitive gamers and game enthusiasts alike.
Homepage: http://www.area52.at/ (German only)

I am currently in negotiations with the owner of the venue, so more details (and maybe some nifty pictures) will be available soon.

Where will I sleep?
Sleeping at the venue very likely will not be possible.
There are several choices for hotels, however, I haven't researched the choices yet. If anybody has suggestions, I welcome them.
If you don't need much comfort, there is a youth hostel with which I have made very good experiences with (I hosted an event there before), with a very friendly staff:
http://www.oejhv.at/index.php?id=194 (English available!)

Other suggestions:
Rentable apartments: www.booking.com/hotel/at/apartment-ostmarkgasse.de.html
A&O Hostels: http://www.aohostels.com/en/wien/

What will it cost?
The venue fee will likely be around 10-20 €. As mentioned before, I will be able to tell you more about the costs once I have finished talking to the venue's owner. Smiley

What can I do to help?
Any support is appreciated. Personally, I have very few things I can bring myself, so anybody who would be willing to bring technical equipment (consoles, controllers, streaming equipment, perhaps even some CRTs) would be a great help.

Of course, hosting an event like this will require volunteers to help with technical stuff, organization, commentary etc., so anybody who is willing to help in some shape is appreciated, and welcome to contact me.

Where can I suggest my games?
Go here!

Where should I direct further questions?
Feel free to PM me on SDA, or send me your question via Twitter (@RedArremerSDA)

Thread title:

[b]What is Viennathon?[/b]
Viennathon is supposed to be a gathering for speedrunners and fans from across the globe. We are going to come together, play games fast, stream it into the internet, and have a lot of fun. It is going to be hosted by me (Red Arremer) for now.

Viennathon is an on-site marathon akin to the GDQ series or ESA, and, for its first iteration, is going to be a more casual event in which the games and the people playing them are in the frontline. I am still debating whether or not to introduce a charity aspect to the marathon, and would be willing to listen to the feedback of the people interested in attending.

Speaking of attending, even if you are not going to run/commentate on a game, everyone is welcome to attend.

[b]When is Viennathon?[/b]
Viennathon is going to be held in late 2014 or early 2015, it currently is not 100% sure when. I am currently gravitating towards February 2015, as AGDQ 2015 will be held about a month before, and the events leading up to AGDQ are happening in November/December - in order to avoid exhausting people from all those marathons, about a month between AGDQ and Viennathon seems like a good solution.

[b]Where will it be held?[/b]
Viennathon will be held in Vienna, Austria (as the name suggests), specifically in Area 52, a venue for competitive gamers and game enthusiasts alike.
Homepage: http://www.area52.at/ (German only)

I am currently in negotiations with the owner of the venue, so more details (and maybe some nifty pictures) will be available soon.

[b]Where will I sleep?[/b]
Sleeping at the venue very likely will not be possible.
There are several choices for hotels, however, I haven't researched the choices yet. If anybody has suggestions, I welcome them.
If you don't need much comfort, there is a youth hostel with which I have made very good experiences with (I hosted an event there before), with a very friendly staff:
http://www.oejhv.at/index.php?id=194 (English available!)

Other suggestions:
Rentable apartments: www.booking.com/hotel/at/apartment-ostmarkgasse.de.html
A&O Hostels: http://www.aohostels.com/en/wien/

[b]What will it cost?[/b]
The venue fee will likely be around 10-20 €. As mentioned before, I will be able to tell you more about the costs once I have finished talking to the venue's owner. :)

[b]What can I do to help?[/b]
Any support is appreciated. Personally, I have very few things I can bring myself, so anybody who would be willing to bring technical equipment (consoles, controllers, streaming equipment, perhaps even some CRTs) would be a great help.

Of course, hosting an event like this will require volunteers to help with technical stuff, organization, commentary etc., so anybody who is willing to help in some shape is appreciated, and welcome to contact me.

[b]Where can I suggest my games?[/b]
[url=https://forum.speeddemosarchive.com/post/viennathon_2015__game_submissions.html]Go here![/url]

[b]Where should I direct further questions?[/b]
Feel free to PM me on SDA, or send me your question via Twitter (@RedArremerSDA)

icedpingu

2014-02-05 03:36:56 pm

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) rolmander ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

As I said in the other thread, I want to help you in the streaming/technical stuff.
I just don't know if I have time in November/December because my work doesn't allow me to take a vacation at this time, so for me it would be better if it is in February.

There are apartments just 10 minutes away from the location:
www.booking.com/hotel/at/apartment-ostmarkgasse.de.html
Prices for 6 nights are for example:
1 room for 4 people 570€ (142,50€ for each person), 1 room for 3 people 480€ (160€), 1 room for 2 people 390€ (195€)

Alko

2014-02-05 03:47:25 pm

Caution: This user contains Kana ^_^

Perfect, looking forward to it. I'm just going to book myself the whole of next winter so as not to miss the time to go to Vienna Wink

I would suggest, you also post this on Germench.de Wink

winkl0r

2014-02-05 04:32:08 pm

himehergod orsch und zwirn do bin i jo sowos vo dabei :O

> count me in

ShadowDraft

2014-02-06 01:32:44 am

Get over here!

Viennathon hype Cheesy

I'll see that I can make it.

RedArremer

2014-02-06 03:06:23 am

By the way, I would appreciate if any of you could spread the word - Twitter, Facebook, whatever - even if you can't attend. The more people know about it, the more people might show up. Smiley

tape

2014-02-08 06:28:51 am

Suggestion for sleeping: AO Hostels. I've slept there for a couple of nights before (although abroad; in Berlin and Prague); they're inexpensive, clean, have bars and free wifi in the lounge.

tocophonic

2014-02-09 01:04:03 pm

Great idea, let's get this city ready for some fine speedrunning!
As a good friend of icedpingu, I'd like to help out with all kinds of technical/networking/... stuff as well - I think we're a good team. Smiley

Akaikee

2014-02-10 09:47:07 am

Okay, now its time to save up some money and get the fuck to austria!

RedArremer

Edit history:

RedArremer: 2014-03-16 05:45:52 pm

2014-03-16 05:45:20 pm

Alright, folks. I've been visiting the venue last weekend and have been talking to the owner. They are much in favor of hosting the event in Area 52. It's a great location, there's even a casting room where commentators could talk while the runner plays.

There is one issue, sadly - business hours are going to be a problem. I might be able to talk with the owner to extend them a bit, but as it stands, the hours are 2-10 PM during the week and 11 AM to 7 PM on Sunday, so 8 hours per day.

Alko

2014-03-16 05:56:12 pm

Caution: This user contains Kana ^_^

That's, in fact, a very huge let-down (I would almost call that a deal-breaker). 8 hours a day of gaming means 16 hours a day of non-gaming, so what the heck does one do in winter Vienna, where one actually visited for gaming, but when one can't game? Bad, bad, bad Sad

(I mean, Vienna's probably not an ugly city, but you can only do so~ much of sightseeing Wink

)

RedArremer

2014-03-17 12:00:00 pm

Yeah... If it was at least 12 hours, I could easily see it being okay, but 8 is pretty low for an event like this.

eLmaGus-

2014-05-05 03:54:24 pm

I must simply laugh.

this is pretty sad, and yes i would say 8 hours are a deal breaker for this since its 2 runs and good night practically.

i hope you can get some kind of deal with them to extend this a bit

LP3Tristan

2014-05-05 04:24:12 pm

Quote from RedArremer:

Yeah... If it was at least 12 hours, I could easily see it being okay, but 8 is pretty low for an event like this.

I have a couple questions about this. Number One is the marathon welcoming to people from overseas? Example USA,Mexico,Canada. Number Two is it going to be a BIG problem for someone who ONLY speaks english to navigate and communicate effectively with places like Restaurants and Hotels? and Number 3 How is it a marathon if we only stream for 8 hours a day? P.S I am submitting but I will not be able to solidify my choices until way closer to the date. Considering I'm going to be in college and the prices for Flights and hotels might be too much for me.

Alko

2014-05-06 01:02:03 pm

Caution: This user contains Kana ^_^

I can try to answer questions one and two, but it's of course up to RedArremer to answer question 3.
(1) I see no reason for the Viennathon not to.
(2) It's going to be a medium-sized problem. If you eat at places like Subway, Burger King or whatever is frequented by young folks, there's a good chance they'll understand you. Hostel staff also should, as should hotel staff of non-tiny hotels. Many other restaurants will, however, neither provide you with an English menu nor understand you … but then again, that should still be fine-ish, as there should be enough people capable of translating close to you Wink

Also, for those from outside of German speaking countries, remember that this is Austria, and your school German skills probably won't get you everywhere Wink

RedArremer

Edit history:

RedArremer: 2014-05-06 05:11:33 pm

RedArremer: 2014-05-06 05:11:05 pm

2014-05-06 05:09:52 pm

1) Everyone from everywhere is welcome.
2) You should be able to come by, especially in an urban place like Vienna. You might not be able to get everyone to talk English (especially people who are 40+) when dealing with service, but generally speaking, everyone speaks enough English to communicate with you ordering food or telling you how much you have to pay. Alko is exaggerating a bit in regard to the restaurants - yes the menus are German, but generally every waiter will speak enough English to tell you what a dish is (if you don't have anyone along to translate for you, anyway).
3) When it comes to the next meeting between me and the venue manager, I'll be talking about not making it just 8h a day. I can't promise anything in that regard, though. I was making the threads and planning the foundation before I was told we could only have 8h a day, though, which is why I called it a marathon - it was planned as such. Tongue

A while ago there were 24h events happening in the venue, which is why I didn't think it would be an issue, either.

1) Everyone from everywhere is welcome.
2) You should be able to come by, especially in an urban place like Vienna. You might not be able to get everyone to talk English (especially people who are 40+) when dealing with service, but generally speaking, everyone speaks enough English to communicate with you ordering food or telling you how much you have to pay. Alko is exaggerating a bit in regard to the restaurants - yes the menus are German, but generally every waiter will speak enough English to tell you what a dish is (if you don't have anyone along to translate for you, anyway).
3) When it comes to the next meeting between me and the venue manager, I'll be talking about not making it just 8h a day. I can't promise anything in that regard, though. I was making the threads and planning the foundation before I was told we could only have 8h a day, though, which is why I called it a marathon - it was planned as such. :P A while ago there were 24h events happening in the venue, which is why I didn't think it would be an issue, either.

icedpingu

2014-05-06 05:22:05 pm

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) rolmander ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Quote from RedArremer:

2) You should be able to come by, especially in an urban place like Vienna. You might not be able to get everyone to talk English (especially people who are 40+) when dealing with service, but generally speaking, everyone speaks enough English to communicate with you ordering food or telling you how much you have to pay. Alko is exaggerating a bit in regard to the restaurants - yes the menus are German, but generally every waiter will speak enough English to tell you what a dish is (if you don't have anyone along to translate for you, anyway).

Juster order a "Schnitzel" and everything will be alright Wink

Sebrings

2014-05-07 07:52:42 am

When will we know when/if our games get accepted?

RedArremer

Edit history:

RedArremer: 2014-05-07 02:57:41 pm

2014-05-07 02:57:15 pm

I can't tell you that yet, but it's likely going to be in summer. I have to sit down with the venue owner again and talk with him regarding the times. Once all that is settled, I can work on a schedule.
I can't give you a date for when I'll be able to talk with the owner, either.

However, I promise that I'll do my best to give every runner at least 1 game to run at Viennathon.

Alko

2014-05-07 03:20:02 pm

Caution: This user contains Kana ^_^

Quote from RedArremer:

I can't tell you that yet, but it's likely going to be in summer.

Is there any deadline for submission, if game selection is already in the summer? I didn't see any, so sorry if I'm just being stupid …

RedArremer

Edit history:

RedArremer: 2014-05-07 03:29:38 pm

RedArremer: 2014-05-07 03:29:12 pm

2014-05-07 03:28:49 pm

No deadline atm. I meant I was going to start working on the schedule in summer after talking to the venue owner again.

Alko

2014-05-07 03:31:48 pm

Caution: This user contains Kana ^_^

So we might still be able to submit in autumn? That's good then ^^

RedArremer

2014-05-07 03:35:07 pm

The sooner you submit the better, though. Smiley

Svenne

2014-08-06 12:49:48 pm

Smörgåsbord

Is this still a thing? Would be a perfect opportunity to meet all my Austrian friends again!

winkl0r

2014-08-06 03:56:19 pm

OK, ESA 2014 is over, please use ALL THE input from the attendees for the Viennaton.
Better a good imitation than a bad invention. We just get a lot of feedback how to NOT do certain stuff.

WE CAN DO IT!