Task Allocation for your Event

As you have progressed through your studies, you have had the experience of evaluating the development of your own skills and knowledge in various eSports roles. You should now have an idea of which role best suits you and the one you would like to pursue the most. However, this is not a one person show, it is impossible for one person to carry out every role. Remember, there is no I in Team! Given you will be organising an event, you will need to take the time to allocate roles to various members in the team.

When you are deciding on allocating roles to your team members, be sure you know the team… really know them. For example, you would not likely give the introvert of the team the role of the host, it is likely this person would much prefer to work behind the scenes where the focus is not on them. Discuss the roles you are going to allocate and ensure the team are comfortable within them.

What is prioritising?

Planning and prioritising are skills that should not be underestimated and often go hand in hand. Think of a time when you have gone to do your groceries and forgotten to buy something important at the supermarket or forgotten what it is you when for in the first place- we have all done this!

When you think about it logically, one way to avoid this from happening is as simple as making a list. You plan to go to the shop and make a list of the most important items is prioritising. Making a list helps avoid those distracting cookies and soft drinks and ensures you stick to what you need without forgetting anything important.

To put it simply, prioritising is putting our effort into what is more important, allocating our resources to what we need and not what we want.

What is Planning Ahead?

Most people do not take certain things into consideration because they did not map it out in their head properly before doing the activity

Let's explain this with an easy example: If you need to go to from point A to point B by car, you may need to think about when you should leave point A to get to point B on time. If we knew there would be traffic, it may be smart to give yourself some extra time.

If you struggle with time management, set yourself an alarm to ensure you have allocated enough time to get to where you need to be.

Planning is as simple as organising the process of our actions.

What should a team do to work around deadlines?

Teamwork can be tricky. Think of the team like a clock, and like a clock, every part needs to be working for the mechanism to be completely operational. This is a good example of how a great team works.

Creating deadlines for our teams is a must because, as we learned with our SMART goals, if we don't measure our progress we don't know where we are going. If you do not create deadlines, the team will not know when to have their tasks completed by.

So, what tools do we need to get there?

• Assign roles and responsibilities: everyone should know what to do and what's expected of them.
• Catch-ups meetings: good moments that serve as memorandums for people to share what's happening and how are we advancing on what's needed.
• Proof of work: actions speak louder than words. The team should be able to show you what they have been doing and their progress.
• List what is missing: pay attention to everyone's work and give input or feedback if needed outlining what is required.
• Set a date for the work to be done: set realistic dates for people to finish their work- this is very important. Setting unrealistic deadlines for the team can put unnecessary pressure on them and result in poor output and a loss of motivation.

It is important at the end of the day, everyone needs to be accountable for their own roles and responsibilities. If help is needed, ask for it. If time needs to be altered, troubleshoot and pool resources to help where you can - after all… many hands make light work.

Now you know the day and time of your event, you need to have a schedule of all the things that need to be done before the BIG day. This will help with time management and make sure you are prepared and not left with any surprises on the day.

These could include things like: marketing, equipment resourcing, venue preparation, team meetings, etc.

Creating the Schedule of Activities for the event:

Recommended to be download with pdf. We can use infographics with Canva to create the chronogram.

Things to think about;

• Admissions starting from
• Admissions ending at
• Revealing Teams competing and Tournament format for the Public
• Event Date
• Event Starting Hour

You have a schedule for the days leading up to the event, now it’s time to think about the day of the event and produce a schedule. The audience, players, teams, coaches and event staff are going to want to know the schedule for the day. Important information should be available, so people know when to tune in or turn up.

When you are scheduling an event, especially if it is online, you will need to consider the following:

• Breaktimes
• Availability
• Time differences

It is important to determine what equipment you will need for the event. Some of the equipment may include:

• cameras
• PC systems
• accessories
• physical space you will need to place it in
• networking and power requirements.

Be sure to keep track of your equipment so you know where everything is and who it belongs to so you can return it.

Hot tip! You should encourage those bringing their own equipment to have it labelled with their names so it can be returned easily.

For your event to run smoothly you will need to know who to communicate with and how. Communication lines Must be open at all times. A breakdown in communication can have serious implications on the event. One preventative measure that can be taken to avoid breakdowns in communication is to have a communication plan.

A communication plan will help you breakdown communication to your audience, participants, and the event production team.

The benefits of a good communication plan include:

• Builds excitement around your event
• Engages your audience before, during and after the event
• Keeps the production team members on the same page to avoids problems
• Clear channels of communication.

Having a back-up or contingency plan in place just in case something goes wrong could save your event.

Firstly, it is important to understand the nature of problems that can occur in eSports as well as some possible reasons behind them. Simply speaking, the problems can be split into two types - technical and logistical.

Technical problems generate maximum dislike from both viewers as well as players. Some common examples include server glitches, server crashes, equipment failure, internet problems, and power outages.

Logistical issues are usually related to poor planning. These issues arise with last minute changes or decisions made by event staff and players. Common occurrences include players backing out due to problems with travel/health, loosing equipment, not having clear tournament rules.

Watch: (62) Event Safety Plans. What's in one? | Event Management | Event Planning – YouTube (3:14 minutes)

This video summarises the experience of what it is to create your first event, from its conception to its delivery. It teaches us what a safety plan is and what does this involve in it. It recommends us panning out the event so we leave no grey areas, making us look like we tough this through.

Read through the following five scenarios and select whether the statement that follows is true or false. Click the arrows to navigate between the tasks.

Practice makes perfect

One important thing to remember is practice makes perfect. We are not born with expertise, we accumulate it over time through experience. Not having experience of in a particular area does not mean you will not be able to leave a good impression, but it does mean that in order for us to do that we will need more than luck.

Fun fact!

Did you know? It is proven that humans retain more than 75% of things when doing them.

Practice and rehearsals

Think about a time when you may have been talking to someone and you have needed to repeat yourself because they were not listening. Or perhaps we did not project our voice enough for them to be able to hear us?

Advertising is the art of making people listen, creating awareness and changing perceptions. It is all about sending the right message to the right people.

The importance of advertising

1984, was a famous novel written by Orwell, exposing the idea of how susceptible we are to information. This is not new news really; we know for a fact that this exploded way before this masterpiece the second World War is a great example of the importance of propaganda. Both sides during the Second World war appeal to three key ideas for the successor their propaganda:

• A clear message
• Repetition
• Emotional appeal

Advertising works the same. You need a clear message, repetition and it needs to resonate with the audience.

How does advertising work?

Well, you see, advertising creates a link between desire and necessity. The purpose of good advertising is to generate an urge, a reason for a future behavior. It aims to trigger a powerful emotional response that you will differentiate and remember.

Watch this video about how neuroscience can guide us on how brands use advertising to influence our behavior:

Watch: How Apple and Nike have branded your brain | Your Brain on Money | Big Think (5:34)

How can we create advertising for our eSports event?

When it comes to advertising events the message should be relevant but simple. It should answer these important questions:

• Who: The organisers
• What: Name of the event
• When: Date of the event, Day the subscriptions start/end
• Why: Value to the attendant
• Where: Where do I register? Where is the event being held?
• How: How do I register? How can I be part of the event?

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Creating the Rules: You may bend the knee but not the Rules!

Creating a comprehensive and well written rule guide is essential for ensuring a fair and enjoyable eSports event for all participants.

• Define the game and tournament format
• Establish eligibility requirements
• Outline tournament structure and scheduling
• Define game specific rules
• Establish penalties and consequences
• Clarify Communication and dispute resolution
• Include code of conduct

This information should be compacted and delivered to the competitors Direct Messages, email and be posted on all social media platforms days before the event. It is recommended for them to be written on a pdf document.

Creating the bracket for the event

This is recommended to be streamed live on the discord in between matches. We can create our own in battlefly.

• Brackets
• Teams/participants Names/IGNs

Now that we have the message ready, for the purpose of this event, we need to be realistic. We are not going to use TV, radio, or any paying methods for advertising for our first ever event. Instead, we should try to reach to people we feel comfortable with such as friends and family. Find out what platforms they use, how do they get their information?

When it comes to selecting the channel now days social media comes as a default in everyone's mind. After all, isn't this the place we are all in?

But there is still a question to ask here: Which type of social media? And how do we pick this?

This also has an answer, and it has to do with functionality. Which of all available free social media channels would fit our advertising?

Defining the virtual Channel for sponsoring your eSports event

Social media has come to stay, with one click we can access shared information from our friends, family and discover possible interests in content. Virtual platforms are a must for advertising events. It is difficult to name them all, but there are a few that you should consider before creating our own event. Let’s take a look at these in detail.

Facebook

Facebook is an oldie but a goodie. The amount of people that already use Facebook is absurd and the reach of your posts may be broader if this channel was selected. This does not include the fact that Facebook has its own channel to broadcast transmissions called Facebook gaming and its own way to create events as a calendar.

There are a couple of downsides however: It is not easy to interact with. There are some extra steps needed to interact with posts and the demographic tends to be older as Facebook was never designed to be a mobile app but a browser webpage.

Here is some more information on how to create an event for Facebook.

Instagram

This is an amazing way to promote visual advertising. Instagrams features able the user to interact rapidly and comfortably on the app, with just a tab you can be interacting with any post and connecting with people immediately!

Instagram also has an amazing feature of counting down the time for an event. This would be great for the last couple of days as a reminder. Aimed for younger generations, this social media platform has become the favorite for brand exposure.

Twitter

Elon Musk knew he struck gold when he set his eyes on Twitter. Being the #1 digital platform for news and rapidly shared messages, Twitter has become a favorite amongst those who understand the value of time. It’s lack in number of characters available for posts sadly limits this platform, but used well it can be a great advantage for any eSports event to use as a massive message platform.

TikTok

This relatively amazing new platform for rapid sharing of content is becoming one of the most favoured apps in the social media market at the moment. This algorithm allows people to connect not only with what they have been searching for but with what is close to them. It is a great social media platform to redirect people to your product or service.

With TikTok live events, you can reach a geographically close audience in a small period, this is probably one tool that will be used for future events aimed at younger audiences. The downside? You will need at least 1000 followers to get this option.

Discord

The most famous app amongst gamers is Discord. Discord has been slowly taking over the social media market in gaming. Aimed at building communities, Discord's purpose stands with the practicality of voice communication. It's basically a digital radio that allows users to join specific channels where private information will be shared.

When it comes to creating online eSports events this is a must. With a paying option for Nitro, Discord’s premium service, Discord is becoming the default social media for online eSports.

Creating a Social Media Strategy

If you have chosen the avenue of using social media as your advertising tool, you will need to come up with a strategy.

1. Choosing the right Audience: Define your audience. Who do I want to attend the event and who do I want to watch the event?
2. Choosing the right social media: Which are my competitors and audience default social media platforms to communicate and get entertained?
3. Choosing the right engagement: What is my audience looking for? How can I make it interact with the platforms I'm creating?
4. Choosing the right times: What's their availability when it comes to time, time zones, schedule of the event, and breaks? Everything has to be properly studied according to their behavior.

How to Run an eSports event

Preparation is key. The following is an example of an ideal sequence to follow when running an eSports event.

1. Invitations are already confirmed. Have a database ready with all the contact information for participants.
2. Date is set. Remember everyone the days and hours for the event through emailing and social media.
3. Team is available and working. Everyone should know how to reserve the day for the event and have full availability for it.
4. Debrief of what's going happen. Remember all the team members the process of the event itself, the roles, responsibilities and plan.
5. Contingency plans and back up plans. If things go wrong, make sure you have a backup plan. Have people ready to take over and assume responsibilities that aren't theirs.
6. Everyone knows event sequence. Everyone should have with them the schedule of the event and be aware of their roles in it.

On the designated platform (said on the invitation) of interaction with your participants, try to keep them as simple as possible by keeping them in the same place. For example if you are hosting on Discord, all of the information pertaining to the event should be in Discord.

You will need to be prepared for questions, have someone ready for their common and uncommon questions.

Be ready to entertain. Have interactive activities planned like quizzes or funny sketches to keep your audience involved and attentive.

Watch: (65) Creating the ultimate esports event - YouTube (10:04 minutes)

Running the event

It is important to consider that while you have a sequence for planning ahead, you will also need a sequence for the event as it is happening on the day.

The following is an example of how an event would be run on the day.

Sequence of the day any online event

1. Countdown to the event
2. Introduction to the event
3. Interaction with the viewers
4. Quick review of the plan for today
5. Briefing of what's about to happen and the teams
6. Analyst desk or Interviewers to animate and hype crowd technical aspects and gaming lobby
7. Entering the game last hype
8. Game casters with the game
9. Analysts desk / casters only
10. Presenter or host

Client Relationship Management or CRM

It is super important to review how everything was played during the event. For this we should be seeking vital information that will help us improve in the future. Rest assured that, if we have a mindset seeking constant improvement, better results will be shown in future events.

Client Relationship Management is a key concept used in business to refine that link between our customers and our brand.

It is vital for the growth of any event to have key insights from production, competitors, participants and outsiders.

To achieve this the following must be done:

• Debriefing with the team. It is important to have all possible input from the production team.
• Clear Technical and personal mistakes. Everyone on the team should feel accountable for their performance during the event, we should all try to be as introspective as possible.
• Observations made by outsiders, viewers, participants, teams, staff. All social media should be considered as a great listening input.
• Do not assume that because something has worked in the past it'll work again. Whenever we create a different event let's assume that it's a whole different audience. Let's use our experience as a guidance on how to approach new ones.
• Thank people publicly and privately for their attendance.
• Use private surveys for the attendants through email for more detailed information about our event.