LOTROG II - Planning an event

Have you ever planned an event? It's a pain in the ass and stressful as all hell. I helped plan LOTROG I as an event virgin. I stumbled my way through it and (IMO) things turned out pretty well.

This year, I approach LOTROG II with experience under my belt. Ya know what? It's not any easier. As a matter of fact, I feel a bit more stress than I did before. Last year, the LOTROG committee could do no wrong. We were picking up the pieces from Turbine's busted TurbineNation and anything we pulled together would be better then nothing. The event turned out well. Maybe too well.

Expectations are higher now. MAWs shirts need to be better. LoAs prizes need to be bigger. And I need to make sure that everyone feels the time and expense was worth it.

We also set prices too low last year and LoA and I took a bath. We were ok with that because we had a great time and enjoyed seeing everyone else have fun. This year we have to set more reasonable prices and hope people don't think we are trying to make a few bucks off of them.

Last year getting sponsors seemed easy. This year ... Not so much. Have the big game sites lost faith in Turbine? Or the ability of the LOTROG committee to put on this event? The Hospitality Suite is going to be bigger and better this year, but so far, it has no sponsor. This room was the hub of all activity last year and should remain a part of this event. With no sponsor, monies will have to be diverted from prizes. I don't want that to happen.

Now I'll ramble about the lunch. We currently have a room that holds more people then came last year. It holds 92 to be exact. We expect that many. Some people who know about such things think that we should expect many more. If I book more room, I need to commit to at least 150. Can I gamble that many people will buy this ticket? If I get 150 ticket sales, will people feel they didn't get enough face time with the devs for their money? If the playable demo is at LOTROG (as planned), how will we let 150 people get a chance to play the game in only 4 hours?

On top of all of this, I have my obligations to cover the event as a reporter for a fansite. The work I do on LOTROG is done as a member of the community and a member of the LOTROG committee. Because of this I just don't have time to act as a member of LotroSource at these events. That's were my LotroSource partners come in. Earane is the face of LotroSource. She is a wonderful community leader and does a great job bringing the developers to the community. Thrindil and Polleke do great work on the technical aspect of our coverage. Without them we could not bring you any of the information we gather.

And then there is the employees of Turbine. They came in force last year, and are expected to repeat that performance again this year. They come on their own dime and their own time. They paid for meals and tickets that were offered to them for free so that funds could stay were they should stay, in prizes and giveaways. They brought shirts, posters and beta certificates and they spent time with anyone who wanted to listen to what they had to say.

The whole LOTROG event is a true team effort.

So there you have it ... Some of the things that keep me up at night. I would not change it though. I really enjoy being a part of this community. I love these events and love meeting these people that I have call my friends.

Check back to see how it all comes together!