Worlds
is coming up fast - with the first group stage game starting this week,
now's the time to figure out how you're going to watch the action. If
there’s one nearby,
you could attend a viewing party. Or if
not, you could run your own - you’d be surprised how easy it is. From
living rooms to cinemas, here are the 5 main steps to run your own
viewing party!
Do you want to meet new people or just hang out with some close
friends? Deciding how big your event is going to be is your first step. A
good way to source for numbers is to create an Event on Facebook.
Advertise it in League of Legends interest groups, on your local comic
book shop's bulletin board, or even just by messaging people on your
friends list! Need a reminder of when the matches are? Check out the
World Championship 2014 schedule
here.
If more than 10 people have signed up, you might want to move your
viewing party out of your living-room and to a more public place your
guests can access. Try asking if you can run your event at locations
like college campuses, bars, restaurants, PC cafes, comic book shops or
cinemas. When choosing your venue, here are some of the key things you
should make sure:
-
Internet - Bring a laptop along in advance and
test the connection to ensure it’s stable enough to run a high quality
stream. It's also worthwhile to bring a back-up, like a WiFi dongle or a
phone you can tether the connection to, just in case the internet drops
out on the day.
-
Screens - Check the quality of TV screens or
projectors that are available in the venue. Confirm with your venue how
many of their screens you can use - sometimes they might not have access
to the video feeds of some of the screens. Finally, check that the
audio is synced up with the video, and is loud and clear.
-
Food and Drinks - Ask if guests can bring their
own food, if you can order in or if your venue has refreshments
available to purchase. If you want to drink alcohol while watching the
games, check with the venue if this is okay.
-
Opening Hours - If you're watching the Worlds
games live this year, some of them are at unusual hours of the day
(early starts for most of Europe!). Check with your venue how early you
can get in to set up before the games start, and how late you can stay
if your guests stick around to socialise after the games have finished.
-
Capacity and Tickets - Confirm with the venue
owners if there's a maximum capacity, as you don't want people turned
away at the door if it's too full. Also, if you plan on selling tickets
to offset the costs of running your party, find out if this is allowed
and if your venue can provide on-door security to check tickets as
people enter!
Once your venue is locked down, update your event and get your guests to RSVP. Now is also the perfect time to
submit your event so we can show it on our Viewing Party Map!
Now that everything is organised, it's up to you to make your viewing
party unique. Ask your guests what extra stuff they'd like to see or do
at your viewing party. Here's some ideas for you to try:
- If your viewing party is at a
restaurant or a bar, you can design a League of Legends themed menu by
naming things that are currently on the menu after League of Legends
items, characters or maps.
- Ask people to predict the winners of that day’s games, and reward the closest entrant with a mystery skin!
- Contact a local bakery to see if you can get a League of Legends
themed cake or cupcakes made. Poros and Lulu cupcakes are pretty easy
to do, see what else you can come up with too!
- Create some decorations or signage for your event - whether it's
just A4 print outs of the schedule, advertisements for your next
viewing party, or full colour standing banners of beautiful artwork -
anything extra you add will make the event cooler for everyone who
attends.
It's the big day and you don't want people to just show up, watch the
games and go home. You can try organising some extra activities to do
pre- and post-match, for example:
- Watch the
Road to Worlds documentary.
-
Make a playlist of League of Legends YouTube videos to play in the background - take suggestions from your guests, or
here's
some of
our own.
-
Ice breaker activities - think of some
activities to get people talking to each other, even if it's something
as simple as name tags that have your summoner name, favourite champion
or role on them.
-
Pub quiz - make a League of Legends quiz to put
people's knowledge to the test - Riot Navigator is infamous for his
super difficult quizzes, covering topics like lore, champion titles and
quotes, items, skills, and esports.
-
Raffle - Get people to stick around to the end to take part in a raffle draw!
-
Group photo - get everyone who attended together in a big group photo!
Once your viewing party is over,
send us pictures, videos, Vines and Tweets (#Worlds) and let us know how your event went! GLHF!
