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Post-PAX Party 2013: REGISTRATION IS LIVE AT http://p32013.eventbrite.com/

ArcoArco Registered User regular
edited July 2013 in PAX West
Buy your tickets here http://p32013.eventbrite.com/

It's time once again! This is our fifth year, and the party is sure to be the best ever. Thank you in advance to everyone who's supported this party from the beginning. I hope to see you all here this year. I've hosted this party since 2009, and it's grown from 100 people in a single room to over 300 people on an entire floor. It's been a huge success, and I owe most of that to all of you!

This year we're going to have an even more awesome time than last year, so spread the word, donate to the raffle, and buy your tickets early!

For the price of your ticket you get:

Pool
Darts
Ping-Pong
1 Raffle ticket
Dinner buffet with lots of delicious food, soda, coffee, tea, etc.
1 drink ticket (21+ for alcohol, folks)
Video games (provided by attendees)
Rock Band (professionally hosted with ALL THE DLC)
Musical guests: A_Rival, Jonny Nero, Klopfenpop, and Danimal Cannon!

Raffle donations are a separate ticket for anyone who wants to donate. We've given out some amazing prices over the years, including XBoxes, Kindles, Taun-Taun sleeping bags, Force FX lightsabers, and more. Everyone gets one raffle ticket as part of admission, and the raffle fund is entirely donated by you guys!

Here's an imgur album with a bunch of images of years past: http://imgur.com/a/OBtQQ

Here's a link to The Protomen playing P3 in 2011 (playlist):

A brief FAQ:

Q: When is this event taking place?
A: Monday, September 2nd, from 8:00-11:00+.

Q: Where is this party located?
A: World Sports Grille, Formerly Jillian's Seattle. 731 Westlake Ave N, Seattle, WA. It's about a mile straight north. You can either walk, take a taxi, or hop on a variety of public transit options (73 bus, 28 bus, or 98 street car). Walking will take you about 20-30 minutes. People will be organizing walkshares, rideshares, etc. so keep an eye out for those.

Q: What are the hours?
A: Officially, 8-11. That's the time we pay for, during which we get food, pool, ping pong, darts, and the bands. That stuff goes away at 11, but in the past the venue has been very lenient about letting us hang out and enjoy the space until they close. There are no guarantees as to what that looks like; we have to share the floor after 11, so we must be accommodating and work with the venue. However, we've always closed the place out in some fashion or another.

Q: What ages are welcome/is this 21+?
A: Officially, the venue is 21+ after 9:00pm. However, in the past this has proven to be a non-issue. I've spoken to the venue this year and informed them that we're going to have a small number of guests under 21 (and 18) past 9:00pm, and they said this would not be a problem. If anyone has difficulty, come find me. If you're under 21, don't drink. Simple.

Q: How much will this event cost?
A: $40, which includes admission, access to all the fun stuff, some money for the bands, and other funds to cover expenses like fees from PayPal/EventBrite.

Q: Do I need to buy a ticket, or can I just show up?
A: You do need to buy a ticket in advance, and space is limited. The EventBrite registration page is located here.

Q: What kind of food is served?
A: Appetizer-type stuff. Last year it was steak sandwiches, chicken fingers, potstickers, sushi and nigiri, hummus, pita, fruit, vegetables, cheese and crackers. Soda, tea, and coffee are also included in the ticket price, and the food is served for the duration of the party. We'll be choosing individual menu options over again this year.

Q: Is alcohol served?
A: Yup. Jillian's has a full bar and we have full run of the entire second floor.

Q: Is alcohol included in the ticket price?
A: YES! Just like last year (and unlike years prior to that), each ticket includes one drink ticket of a $6 value.

Q: I heard you have video games. What kind?
A: We have hosted Rock Band with all the DLC, managed by an awesome group in Seattle. In addition there are always party standards: SFIV, MvC3, Castle Crashers, etc. People typically start a fighting game pit with a few consoles and the popular fighters. If you're willing to offer up a console and some games for the evening, please get in touch with me via PM.

Q: What's with this raffle thing?
A: All attendees are encouraged to throw down some money for our raffle. Each admission ticket comes with one raffle ticket, which will be thrown into a hat along with everyone else's. Before the party I will collect all the raffle donations and go on a crazy spending spree for FABULOUS PRIZES, which will be raffled off at some point during the party. We've given away some crazy stuff, like StarCraft II Collector's Editions, Tauntaun sleeping bags, XBox 360s, etc. I try not to disappoint. In addition to that, we're very lucky to have people donate prizes to give away. In the past we've had prizes from Penny Arcade, Plantronics, Steve Jackson Games, and more.

This year we have donations from Logitech, and more to come soon!

Like this, not like the gas station.
Organizer of the Post-PAX Party. You should come!
Satellite Theater for life!
Arco on
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Posts

  • TraitoriousTraitorious Registered User regular
    Woo! This party is the shiznit! Hopefully I will be able to go again this year (if it's on Monday) as I am still not sure whether I'm gonna leave late Monday night or Tuesday.

  • sanovahsanovah Nerd of the West San Diego, CaliforniaRegistered User regular
    Yay and with this thread it's official PAX is coming.

  • WormdundeeWormdundee Registered User regular
    Haha, success. This means it's on my birthday again.

  • zerzhulzerzhul Registered User, Moderator mod
    All I know, @Arco, is that I still <3 you. I'll be there, even on Monday.

  • MetaverseNomadMetaverseNomad Registered User regular
    Hey Arco, just FYI, it's not a Jillian's anymore, it's now a World Sports Grille. (Which, might be better, actually!) ;)

    http://worldsportsgrille.com/

  • wunderbarwunderbar What Have I Done? Registered User regular
    edited April 2013
    If it is at Jillian's again can we at least make sure that most of the arcade machines are working? That kind of sucked last year. I'd also like to throw my .02 in and say that I wans't a fan of having the raffle prizes sitting on the table and people just went to grab them. I thought it was more fun to get everyone together and have some fun drawing names for prizes, etc.

    EDIT: got trigger happy. I'd also love love love it if it was at a venue that was closer to downtown. I didn't mind Jillian's, or whatever it is called now, but it's quite a hike, and I think you'd get more/longer staying people if it was closer to the WSCC.

    wunderbar on
    XBL: thewunderbar PSN: thewunderbar NNID: thewunderbar Steam: wunderbar87 Twitter: wunderbar
  • CitizenCitizen Registered User regular
    I've already planned to be going to this. I'll have 7 others with me as well.

    Other than that, I trust you to keep this awesome.

  • Travman93Travman93 Billings, MTRegistered User regular
    As a first time PAX attendee, are these events going to be 21+? I will be 20 at the time of PAX weekend, and it'd kind of stink to miss out on this sort of stuff.

  • byakuenbyakuen Somewhere in SeattleRegistered User regular
    I'd say go to Gameworks since it's close to WSCC and you could book that room upstairs for the party.

    ♥ Properly Pleased Participant of Past PAX PrimeWest: '10, '12, '13, '14, '15, '16
  • LindabearLindabear Portland, ORRegistered User regular
    I would love to have some beer with my arcade games.

    PAX Prime 2013 [X]
    PAX Prime 2014 [X]
    PAX Prime 2015 [X]
  • gremgrem Registered User new member
    This being my first PAX, is it safe to assume that attendance to this party is essential for maximum happytime? It sounds that way. Also, hello!

    If you're looking for an alternative, I'd second the Gameworks suggestion. I've seen successful parties in the reserved room, and it's super close.

  • sanovahsanovah Nerd of the West San Diego, CaliforniaRegistered User regular
    Gonna echo support for a GW instead of Jillians. I had a beyond ridiculously fun time last year, but that was more because of the people there more than the venue. Jillians is just really far out there and the construction made it almost impossible to get there by foot.

    So considering they changed names or ownership and the fact that it is just a colossal PITA to get to I throw my vote for the GW right by the convention center. That is assuming we're voting for a  place =p

  • edgeofbladeedgeofblade Warlock Houston, TXRegistered User regular
    Had a blast last year. PPP really is an essential cap to a long(er) con. It helps stave off post-pax depression with an easy fun wind-down.

    6YJGH2V.png
  • LordFizzlebeefLordFizzlebeef Registered User regular
    Wherever it ends up being, I'll be there.

  • jthom252jthom252 Duarte, CARegistered User regular
    Did this last year, was lots of fun, wouldn't mind somewhere closer to the convention center but it didn't seem too bad to get to last year on foot.

  • CrogothCrogoth Registered User regular
    had to sell my tickets last year because of a hiccup with a hotel reservation that left me broke, but this year i'll definitely be there!

  • NijhazerNijhazer Sunnyvale, CARegistered User regular
    I don't know about Gameworks, man... Since it's right across from the convention center, lots of groups opt to have post-PAX get-togethers over there. I'd imagine that it would be incredibly crowded. Has anyone ever been in Gameworks after PAX ended?

  • ColdbrewColdbrew Down in Front Productions Lake Stevens, WARegistered User regular
    edited April 2013
    Yeah I think Gameworks would be busy that day anyway, but the biggest issue I see is capacity; we can fit so many more people at Jillian's then we could at GW, plus we can have live bands and such.
    I'm not saying Gameworks would be a bad place to have the party, I just don't think it would work out as well. Perhaps we could look into it though.
    EDIT: I know groups are able to reserve all of Gameworks (or at least used to be able to) so I suppose that would be an option, but it would probably end up costing more, and we'd have to get the ball rolling soon before a game developer or publisher reserves it for that night, because that always happens during PAX.
    Hey Arco, just FYI, it's not a Jillian's anymore, it's now a World Sports Grille. (Which, might be better, actually!) ;)

    http://worldsportsgrille.com/

    Is it still pretty much the same place though? Same owners and such?

    Coldbrew on
    NSw0gum.png
  • Baka AlBaka Al Registered User regular
    Glad to see you're hosting another PPP this year Arco. Will definite ba along to it!

    And whilst Jillians/World Sports Grille/wherever may be a bit of a hike, they have been good hosts for the party over the last 2 years so whilst I'd appreciate a shorter walk back to the hotel, I'm not sure it's worth the extra work involved with a new venue (e.g. Allowing random console to be hooked up to several of the screens for the fighting game pit)

  • Chuck Liddell FanChuck Liddell Fan Registered User regular
    Wish I could go to this but will be leaving Sunday night / evening after pax

    Oh my goodness
    Oh my Dayum
    Oh my goodness
    They goin' Ham
  • Travman93Travman93 Billings, MTRegistered User regular
    I guess I could narrow down my previous question to will THIS party be 21+?

  • ColdbrewColdbrew Down in Front Productions Lake Stevens, WARegistered User regular
    It's been all-ages in the past, even with our own bar, so that'll likely remain the same.
    Can't guarantee it, of course, but I wouldn't worry about it.

    NSw0gum.png
  • BadNews65BadNews65 Data Solutions Analyst ArkansasRegistered User regular
    If its an all ages event, that takes GW out of the equation. They kick everyone under 21 out at a certain time don't they? I know they did last year when I was in there after PAX.

  • BigRedBigRed Seattle, WARegistered User regular
    I will actually be able to go to this for a change!

    Fistful of money waiting for reg to go up.

    <MoeFwacky> besides, BigRed-Worky is right
  • AylaviereAylaviere Overlord Vancouver, BCRegistered User regular
    edited July 2023
    [Deleted]

    Aylaviere on
    East 2015: Hostel/Hotel [✓] Time Off [✓] 3 Day Pass [✓] Pokecrawl [ ]
  • ArcoArco Registered User regular
    edited April 2013
    Fielding some questions:

    - In case anyone's not familiar: Last day of PAX, 3 hour party (we stay a LOT longer, but the food/drink/bands stop at 3 hours), food + drink tickets, bands (we've had The Protomen (!), Danimal Cannon, The Megas...), Rock Band, fighting games, pool, ping pong, darts, arcade machines, etc. This would be our 5th (!) year, and each year is more amazing than the previous.

    - It's a pretty high priority that the event be all-ages, or at the very least 18+. They've been 18+ in the past, and I have no intention of changing that. Jillian's has been all-ages friendly in the past.

    - Picking a new venue is unlikely, for a few reasons. 1) The closer to the convention center we get, the more expensive it is. We did the first two years at the Taphouse, and we got less for more money (and weren't treated as well). 2) The closer we get, the more traffic and competition we get. We have to start worrying about randos coming into the party, security, competing against other parties for reserving the space, etc. 3) Jillian's has worked with us in the past, and as people have mentioned, they're very welcoming and tolerant of our group. Things like letting us hook up TVs, setting up a stage, etc. Lots of places just aren't this accommodating; trust me, I've checked. 4) Picking a new venue would require an investment of time and effort on my part that I'm not really comfortable with. When I started running this party I was a college student; now I have a busy job. If I had to plan this from scratch, it wouldn't have happened last year. ;)

    I've been told that the venue is still the same management, even though it's no longer Jillian's. I'll be reaching out to them this week to confirm. If there's a BIG push for a new venue we can explore that possibility, but it sounds like at least half of the posts so far are okay-to-enthused about Jillian's.

    - I really have no control over whether the arcade machines are working or not, but I'll happily pass along the feedback to Jillian's. The staff there is PHENOMENAL and has gone way above and beyond in working with us for previous years, so I'm sure if I let them know that this was a source of friction, they'll do whatever they can to improve it.

    - The raffle: The problem with doing the raffle the old way (someone on a microphone handing out prizes one by one) is that it takes time and it demands everyone's attention. Every year we add more prizes, which means handing them out takes more time. Last time we did it this way it took over half an hour. Every year that I did it the old way, people complained that it took too long. There's really no way of trimming it down; we have like 30-50 prizes to hand out, and each prize takes around a minute. That's 30-50 minutes when everyone has to pay attention to me, when they can't really be enjoying the party, when we don't have bands playing, etc.

    Last year's approach was an attempt at solving the bulk of these problems. Having the raffle prizes picked out ahead of time means people can peruse the table at their leisure (they can leave early or arrive late, won't matter), no time is taken, the bands can continue to play, no one (me) has to spend party time doing the raffle, etc. I realize it might not be as fun, but I think it's a better approach that has many more benefits than drawbacks. If anyone has a better suggestion, please throw it out there.

    That's about it. Keep the questions and feedback coming!

    Arco on
    Like this, not like the gas station.
    Organizer of the Post-PAX Party. You should come!
    Satellite Theater for life!
  • sanovahsanovah Nerd of the West San Diego, CaliforniaRegistered User regular
    edited April 2013
    I can't say I terribly care where we're have it because like I said to me the fun came from playing CAH and pool with everyone not from the fact that it was at Jillians. So personally the only thing changing venues would do would change how far I walk.

    That said if we do keep it at Jillians I think we really need to come up with a # or meeting place and time for a bunch of us to walk over. I should have a basic idea of where I'm going this year but Jillians is still out in the boonies and very separated from the rest of pax where it's easy to get lost.


    My biggest and only complaint last year was that Jillians is kind of in the middle of nowhere and only having a vague idea of where it was supposed to be compounded with all the construction that was going on last year made it a super duper PITA to find. I tried to meet up with a few people via Twitter shortly before I left but that ended up falling through leaving me wander my way over there getting lost quite a few times and having to retrace my steps because of the construction.

    sanovah on
  • ArcoArco Registered User regular
    Yeah. I'd highly advise meeting/Tweeting to organize walk overs or cabs.

    If you like, we can establish a hashtag to help facilitate this, and I can tweet out news relevant to the party! #ppp13?

    Like this, not like the gas station.
    Organizer of the Post-PAX Party. You should come!
    Satellite Theater for life!
  • sanovahsanovah Nerd of the West San Diego, CaliforniaRegistered User regular
    Lol that works. Just something we recognize as a community.

    I wanna try and organize a group walk this year more than 5 minutes before a leave. So a recognized # helps tremendously with that goal.

  • wunderbarwunderbar What Have I Done? Registered User regular
    @Arco, thanks for addressing a lot of what has been posted, most of what you say makes perfect sense and I'm hope you know we all appreciate the huge effort you put into it.

    I'll lob a couple things out there, mostly about the raffle. The time thing being a concern I fully understand. How about something where we do the gathering for the 4-5 "biggest" prizes? most of the prizes could be on the table for people to find, and then some of the highest value/most sought after could be given away old style. If someone who has won a prize from the table gets their name/number pulled, they have to give that up to someone else. I think that could be the best of both worlds. We are getting a large group together after 3 (now 4!) days of running around a convention center, it's nice to get us all together even for a few minutes as a post PAX "what an awesome time!" bit. Something like that could take no more than 10 minutes, and also give us a big chance to thank you, for putting everything together.

    And about the arcade machines, based on the new website it doesn't even sound like they are there anymore. That could be why half of them were broken last year. Why fix them if you know they are going away soon?

    XBL: thewunderbar PSN: thewunderbar NNID: thewunderbar Steam: wunderbar87 Twitter: wunderbar
  • kemikalkemikal Registered User regular
    wunderbar wrote: »
    And about the arcade machines, based on the new website it doesn't even sound like they are there anymore. That could be why half of them were broken last year. Why fix them if you know they are going away soon?

    On the Plan Your Event page:
    "We have private and semi-private spaces, ping pong tables, darts, 22 pool tables and a full gaming hall."

    It doesn't explicitly say that they have arcade machines, but I would assume this means they do.

    Assassin's Ball, Prime '13: @CowboyVerse
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  • peetsnackpeetsnack Team Green Poké Assist, Lord Commander of the Night's Watch, Head Girl House Hufflepuff The Cleave LandsRegistered User regular
    kemikal wrote: »
    wunderbar wrote: »
    And about the arcade machines, based on the new website it doesn't even sound like they are there anymore. That could be why half of them were broken last year. Why fix them if you know they are going away soon?

    On the Plan Your Event page:
    "We have private and semi-private spaces, ping pong tables, darts, 22 pool tables and a full gaming hall."

    It doesn't explicitly say that they have arcade machines, but I would assume this means they do.

    That could just be copypasta from old marketing materials.

    I like the idea of having the 'top' prizes be raffled off.

    A totally different thing that they do around here is called a reverse raffle. Basically, everyone's ticket goes up onto a board, and if your name is drawn out of a hat, you get taken down and lose. There are prizes for every certain number of draws, usually a good prize for 'losing' first, and then by the end, word of mouth has let everyone know who is still in the running for prizes. It might be something to try if you are still wanting to hang on to the raffle idea.

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  • Griever92Griever92 Calgary, Alberta, CanadaRegistered User regular
    Wasn't able to make it back in '10, looking forward to it.

    Previously Attended: ~Prime '10 ~East '11
    Prime '13 : 4 Day Badge [✓] Hotel [✓] Patience [  ]
  • AylaviereAylaviere Overlord Vancouver, BCRegistered User regular
    edited July 2023
    [Deleted]

    Aylaviere on
    East 2015: Hostel/Hotel [✓] Time Off [✓] 3 Day Pass [✓] Pokecrawl [ ]
  • BekerBeker Child's Play Program Director SeattleRegistered User, Penny Arcade Staff regular
    Far as getting there, depending on the time you leave, the streetcar (SLUT) would take you most of the way for a couple $.
    http://www.seattlestreetcar.org/slu.htm

    -Beker/Erick
    zx6ak2M.png
  • ShadeweShadewe Registered User regular
    Sounds interesting. Keep me informed. Will be my first after party.

  • ArcoArco Registered User regular
    edited April 2013
    The idea of raffling off the "grand prizes" live while putting the rest on the table is an excellent compromise. I think we'll do that. :)

    Arco on
    Like this, not like the gas station.
    Organizer of the Post-PAX Party. You should come!
    Satellite Theater for life!
  • sanovahsanovah Nerd of the West San Diego, CaliforniaRegistered User regular
    edited April 2013
    If/when @Arco confirms that the party is still at Jillians or whatever It is now I will be trying to organize a big group walk at least to the party from hotel X. Might try and organize one back to hotel X, but honestly not sure how good of an idea that would be considering most of us will be drinking to some extent.

    sanovah on
  • LexiconGrrlLexiconGrrl Registered User regular
    @Arco - when you do get the space confirmed, would you confirm the age limit (if any) too? I'd like to add it to the event sticky.

    Happily on Sabbatical. Don't bug me.
  • TOGSolidTOGSolid Drunk sailor Seattle, WashingtonRegistered User regular
    You have my axe once more @Arco ! I'll be glad to help set up again and handle all the console shenanigans as well whatever else needs doing.

    wWuzwvJ.png
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