A1 Different types of esports events 

Large scale, e.g. national, international.

There are a number of international events that happen in the esports sector, one that is well known is the "League of Legends World Championship" a competition that has a large number of followers, players and significant prize pots available to its competitors. The event has been held in    

• Jönköping, Sweden (DreamHack 2011)
• Taipei, Taiwan / Singapore, Republic of Singapore/ Busan, South Korea / Seoul, South Korea (2014)
• Paris, France / London, Great Britain / Brussels, Belgium / Berlin, Germany (2015)
• USA: San Francisco / Chicago / New York / Los Angeles (2016)
• China: Wuhan / Guangzhou / Shanghei / Beijing (2017)
• South Korea: Seoul / Busan / Gwangju / Incheon (2018)

If we look at the "Student Championships" held by the British Esports organisation, the reach of this competition spans schools and colleges nationally. The champs enable students across the UK to experience the highs and lows of professionally organised competitive gaming. The event, normally held weekly on Wednesday evenings, allows competitors to play well-known team based games such as Valarant, Overwatch, Rocket League and League of Legends. 

Small scale, e.g. regional, local and internal, inter-school / college, intramural.

Small-scale events that happen provide fantastic opportunities to those that may be new to the Esports competitive game platform, and/or learning the ropes of a new game. This type of event normally held in closer locations can be one-off like the "Medway Gaming and Creative Festival" which allows local and non-professional players the chance to compete against other hobbies or wannabee pros to win a prize at the end of a short time frame. 

One such example was the League of Legends competition where players from the navy and a local college competed in the final at the festival.

Tournaments e.g. LAN, online.

Tournaments can be run locally and over the internet. A popular way of playing during the early 2000s was to create a "LAN Party" where players would take their consoles to a central physical location and use network hubs to play against each other. I our current-day technological advances in networking and internet facilities have enabled the ability to play games from home, in the car and even on the toilet via mobile phones, laptops and other technologies.

These tournaments open up for a wider coverage of gameplay, communication and social integration between competitors.

Event formats

The format in that events can happen can depend on the games that are being competed. the selection of formats can be;

Round Robin 

Round Robin is a way to organize a tournament where each team plays against every other team. It's a pretty common format in esports, especially for leagues or group stages of a larger tournament. It helps to ensure that every team gets a fair shot at winning since they all get to play against each other. The team with the most wins at the end of the round-robin is typically the winner of the group or league. It's a pretty straightforward way to run a tournament, and it's easy for fans to follow along and understand who's in the lead and who's still in contention.,

League,

The League format allows for teams to play each other potentially twice, as each game would be classed as a home or away. By playing each team twice, teams are able to obtain points based on the outcome of the games, for instance, 3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw and 0 points for a loss. This format is seen globally in most traditional sports such as football, hockey and countless others.

Knockout

A Knockout event format is a tournament where teams or players are eliminated after they lose a match. It's like a bracket system, where the winner of each match advances to the next round, and the loser is out of the tournament. It's a pretty exciting way to run a tournament, because there's always a winner and loser in every match, and it can get pretty intense as the tournament progresses and the stakes get higher. It's also a good format for a tournament with a lot of teams or players, as it allows for a clear winner to be determined in a relatively short amount of time. It's a great way to create a sense of urgency and tension for both players and fans, as one loss can mean the end of the road for a team or player.

League and Knockout,

one-off

A one-off event format in esports is a tournament or competition that takes place over a short period of time, usually in one day or a weekend. This format is often used for smaller tournaments or events where a quick and decisive outcome is desired. It can be a great way for teams or players to get a lot of experience and exposure in a short amount of time, as well as for fans to enjoy a lot of action-packed matches in a shorter period of time. It can also be a great way to create a sense of excitement and energy as the matches are played back to back and the tournament comes to a conclusion quickly. It's a great way to create a more engaging experience for both players and fans.

charity

A charity event format in esports is a tournament or competition where the proceeds or a portion of the proceeds go towards a charitable cause. This format is often used to raise money for organizations that work to improve the lives of people in need or to support a specific social cause. It's a great way for the esports community to come together and make a positive impact on the world while also enjoying competitive gaming. Charity events can take many forms, from online tournaments to live events, and can involve a wide variety of games and platforms. It's a great way to bring people together for a good cause and make a positive impact while enjoying the excitement of esports.

Explore esports events in general and discuss at least three existing esports events covering:
Discussion of the event,
Format and purpose, 

(FURTHER CONTENT WILL BE ADDED TO THIS ACTIVITY IN WEEK 2)

Anonymous Assessment - Learners assess an anonymous piece of work containing deliberate mistakes against given success criteria.

Learning aim A: Investigate the success of different types of esports events

A.P1 Explore the different types of esports events

A.P2 Describe factors that contribute to the success of esports events

A.M1 Explain factors to be considered for different types of successful esports events#

AB.D1 Produce and confidently pitch a structured and well-organised plan with justification for the type and format of the esports event, responding to questions from the audience.

A2 Factors to be considered when planning an esports event

Purpose of the event.

When creating any event it is vital to understand WHY. Why are you running the event? What are you hoping to achieve? What makes this event special?

The Whys and Whats are important metrics that you can use to judge later whether the event, if it was run, was a success. In the previous weeks, we looked at other events that have been run globally, nationally, regionally and locally, each was created to do different things. Some of the events have been created to generate interest in the game platform itself generating revenue from potential investors, sponsors and spectators. Other events may have been to promote the evolution of esports and the scope that the sector had and the potential career opportunities within it. Some other events may be just using it as a platform to generate awareness of health matters or as a tool to fund treatments for those less fortunate. 

What ever the purpose of the event it is important to outline in any proposal the intentions of the event as this will provide detail to any potential sponsors of the event so that they feel confident and invest.

Aims and objectives.

The aims and objectives are more detailed than that of the purpose. The aim is what your intending of running/doing. This detail could be to have 4 stations of 5 PC's where people that attend the event compete against each other in a specific game. The detail of the objective is providing the logistics of the event, for example having specific games running at set times with finals scheduled to be at the peak time of the event to draw bigger crowds.  

Budget,

The cost attached to the running of an event often can be underestimated. The running of any event requires planning and careful considerations around things like. Staffing, stage, venue, lighting, and heating costs amongst many more as is displayed below;

an example of a simple budget sheet would look something like below.

Undertake research on the costs of running an esports event. Reflect on the hidden costs that may be attached to running an event. Within this research select and identify at least 3 events. You should try to review small, medium and large-scale events.

Health and safety,

It is vital to ensure the safety of all those involved in the organisation, implementation and clear-up of any event. Considerations must be given not only to the those visiting the event but also to individuals running the event.

The use of a risk assessment when planning for the event will allow the organisers to reflect and review on what could be a hazard or risk that could cause harm to anyone. 

A risk assessment might look like the below image;

The section of LIKELIHOOD x SEVERITY assess the significance or level of harm that could happen using the table below;

Venue hire,

The planning of any event requires a location to be included. This should be a consideration that reflects on a number of simple elements that could impact how successful the event will actually be. These could be the following;

Transport connections - It is important that most people are able to get to your location, not all people drive or have access to private transport. Therefore having links to Train, Tube, and bus routes will provide accessibility to your event.

Facilities - When potential visitors get to the event are they able to access toilets, refreshments, or food outlets? If the venue is remote, but with access to transport and there are no facilities users may choose to leave earlier than you would like.

Parking - Those that are able to make their way to your event using private transport are they able to park within the venue or close by.

Marketing and Advertising

The success of any event will rely on a number of things inside the planning stage. One key area is around marketing and advertising this is down to the fact that people need to know about your event are its location and ultimately how much is going to cost them. The plans of an event can use a number of different marketing strategies to promote their events, some of these strategies rely on traditional methods such as posters billboards TV advert placements, Whereas the use of new capabilities such as social media can allow an event organiser to market and promote their event to audiences globally not just within the local region.

Resources

Human

Technological

Physical.

What are the Success factors?

Setting and achievement of goals and targets in an event is important, this will enable the event organisers to identify whether the event has been a success or a failure that may require improvements before the re-running of the event. The factors that could be used to reflect and review an event could be;

Participation numbers - this is also referred to as footfall which is the number of people engaged within the event, this could be physical or virtual as some events are over the internet or even in the metaverse. 

Interactions -  this is where we monitor the number of people using or discussing or retweeting any of our marketing materials that we've been using to let other people know. We can use Google Analytics as well as Facebook insights and other analytical programs within social media to see the interaction within our posted content and see if it's engaging with our target audiences.

Ticket sales - this is one of the more traditional ways of recording how successful our event could be. However, it might not necessarily give us an accurate point of who turned up to the event as some people may buy tickets that don't actually attend the event.

Attendees - attendees are those people that actually attended physically our event. This could be recorded via things like the number of tickets that were redeemed upon entry of the event, or where someone uses a click counter to count the number of people coming in and out of the event.

Views - if the event was to be streamed we'd look at information such as the views on the stream to give us a good indication as to how many people accessed our stream at that point.

Income/money raised - this is important as we need to understand whether our event was to make a profit or a loss. Consider that all the money that could be raised might not necessarily be raised through ticket sales but through things like food sales merchandise sales and other donations.

Enjoyment - this is possibly the most important factor of any success. Some events use things like trust pilot to gather information as to the overall enjoyment or engagement within some element of an event to judge his overall success. This could allow us to reflect on whether this event could be run again or whether any information that was gathered could inform improvements to the event in its next showing.

Continuing on from week1 where you selected and discussed 3 existing esports events, you should now extend the discussions to include detail of the below for EACH selected event:
Aims and objectives, 
Required resources, 
Marketing and advertising, 
Success factors

Anonymous Assessment - Learners assess an anonymous piece of work containing deliberate mistakes against given success criteria.

Learning aim A: Investigate the success of different types of esports events

A.P1 Explore the different types of esports events

A.P2 Describe factors that contribute to the success of esports events

A.M1 Explain factors to be considered for different types of successful esports events#

AB.D1 Produce and confidently pitch a structured and well-organised plan with justification for the type and format of the esports event, responding to questions from the audience.

B1 Planning an esports event

It is time to consider your own events! what could they be? what would people want to do? what is the draw of your event? Where is it going to be? These are lots of important questions and reflections that should not be rushed in the early stages of planning. 

Spend 15 minutes of reflection to consider your options in relation to the questions above. Record your reflection using a mindmap (This could be paper or in a digital for to support your explorations.)

Once you have completed your reflections you will need to structure your idea in a way that others will be able to understand and for any potential investor to gain a clear idea of your proposal. 

The following heading is key to the success of getting the message of your idea across

Aims and objectives.

What you are doing? Why your event is needed, who are you targeting? What it is that you are hoping to achieve by running your event? How are you going to do it?

Event type and format.

What format will your event be in and the event type will be used and why.

Budget

What is your cost of resources, equipment, venue hire, and if used in your event prize pots? These are important to allow you later to possibly use this as a reference to the profit that may have been made.

Health and Safety

You must consider your audience and workers' safety. It is a legal requirement to show that a risk assessment has been done and that suitable first aid is available.

Venue

Where are you holding your event? Why have you chosen the location that you have? what are the facilities including access, parking, location, and transport links?

If a local "School/College room" is selected as the venue, this could provide opertunities to reduce the cost implication of running the event. It is worth considered that your event might be a simple inside the organisation event allowing others in the school or college to participate.

Marketing and advertising,

How are you going to get people to know about your event? what are the strategies that you are going to use to make them aware? e.g. posters, flyers, billboards, social media, adverts, merchandise.

Resources

What will you need to make your event run? It is not just consoles or PC's , what about, human, technological and physical.

Contingency planning

‘What if’ scenarios e.g. ‘what if players or teams don’t turn up on the day?’, ‘what if I have an odd number of players or teams?’, ‘what if the weather is bad on that day?’, ‘what if I have to change the venue?’.

Plans to measure the success of the event

How do you know that it's been worth your time and effort to run this event? how are you going to record the success? e.g. obtain and collect data and statistics from the event, questionnaires, surveys, interviews, and fan pages/forums.

Anonymous Assessment - Learners assess an anonymous piece of work containing deliberate mistakes against given success criteria.

Learning aim B: Plan and deliver a pitch for an esports event

B.P3 Create a clear plan and pitch for a selected esports event supported by relevant materials

B.P4 Deliver a clear pitch to an audience for an esports event plan supported by relevant materials

B.M2 Deliver a clear and structured pitch for the esports event, responding to audience questions appropriately

AB.D1 Produce and confidently pitch a structured and well organised plan with justification for the type and format of the esports event, responding to questions from the audience.

B2 Documentation and materials for pitching to an audience

Presentation format and planning documentation

The presentation of the an idea can be done using a wide range of ways. The most important point of any pitch is CAN YOU GET YOUR IDEA ACCROSS TO YOU AUDIENCE SO THEY UNDERSTAND YOUR VISION. The presentation of this infomation can take many forms and each will have its benefits and drawback and usecase. The list below outlines some of the options available to use to create a pitch

PowerPoint presentation, possibly the most commonly used tool to present information to an audience. This tool has oftern been over used to provide to much detail on single slides and for presenters to read from them "Death by Powerpoint". Quick wins would be to include short sharpe "nuggets" of data that are supported by notes and speaker discussions. 

Prezi, an online tool that is an alternative to the traditional presentation. This tool can be used to break up content in to sections that are strung together with an annimation to the next point, a little more interactive than the powerpoint option Prezi allows users to include audio, video and hyperlinks, as well as making the presentation visually interesting  

vlog,

blog,

ideas board,

event page,

website,

promotional video,

folder of evidence,

e-portfolio,

portfolio.

• Marketing and advertising e.g. examples of posters, flyers, billboards, social media posts/pages, adverts, inclusion of branding.

• Handouts and visual aids.

B3 Presentation skills for pitching to an audience

• Pitching the plan to a suitable audience using presentation skills:

Structure of presentation delivery, e.g. tone, pace, gestures, body language, eye contact, use of visual aids, use of graphics/branding and appropriate images, handouts, correct terminology, attire, professional approach

Answering questions and feedback politely and appropriately

Anonymous Assessment - Learners assess an anonymous piece of work containing deliberate mistakes against given success criteria.

Learning aim B: Plan and deliver a pitch for an esports event

B.P3 Create a clear plan and pitch for a selected esports event supported by relevant materials

B.P4 Deliver a clear pitch to an audience for an esports event plan supported by relevant materials

B.M2 Deliver a clear and structured pitch for the esports event, responding to audience questions appropriately

AB.D1 Produce and confidently pitch a structured and well organised plan with justification for the type and format of the esports event, responding to questions from the audience.

C1 Receive feedback on the content and the presentation of the pitch

Methods of gathering feedback

The gathering of feedback is vital to allow for any non-biased views of your proposal before it is put in to action. The recording of this feedback can be done in a number of different ways.

Handouts - a simple sheet with questions and options that people can provide thier thoughts on the idea before the event, or after the event.

Worksheets - Simular to that of Handouts these are prescribed activities that can be given to people to gauge understanding the event idea.

Quesstionaire - The more traditional way of gathering data, this is made up of questions that can allow users to give detailed answers that are open about the event and also numerical where people completing the questionaire can rank on a scale, eg 1-5 (1 being best, 5 being worst)

Focus groups - These are set in rooms where groups of people discuss thier feelings and thoughts and confer between each other giving a group view rather than an individual view point. 

response systems - 

voice recordings/videos - 

Create a Microsoft form that enables you to gather and capture feedback of your event idea. Consider the audience that is being targeted, possibly create questions to obtain thier thoughts and ranking on things inside your event, for example, What score would you give the selected venue for the event on a scale of 1-5 (1=best 5=worst). Try to incorperate a number of different questions that allow you to get written feedback (Qualitative) as well as statistical (Quantitative) data.

Anonymous Assessment - Learners assess an anonymous piece of work containing deliberate mistakes against given success criteria.

Learning aim C: Review the plan for the esports event

C.P5 Use pitch feedback to make changes to the esports event plan

C.M3 Reflect on pitch feedback, and own performance, to explain improvements to the esports event plan

C.D2 Evaluate the original plan for the esports event based on pitch feedback and own performance and justify a set of recommendations.

C2 Review the esports event plan

Review the feedback from the pitch audience on the content, perceived success and presentation skills.

The gathering and reflection of feedback can provide opertunities to make a proposal of an good event to a outstanding event. The expression "You cannot see the wood for the tree" is very true in most projects or activities that you maybe involved in. This is due to your very closeness to the idea itself that you may not see beyond what is rigth in front of you. This could be the ability to extend the idea to include more options and choices for the poeple coming to take part, or that time will not allow for the complexity of a competition. 

This is why the reflection and review of feedback that has been obtained is vital. This information may require small changes to make a large and significant impact to the project idea. It is vital to record this information and the changes made in reports to demonstrate what has happened. However, if there are suggestions and elements of feedback that you disagree with, you should not dismiss them without responding to them.  Responding with a rational of WHY these have not been impliments will demonstrate a clear reason to why. This could be down to cost, time or that it would move away from the very objective of the project, i.e promotion of esports and the teamwork involved.

Show how feedback has been utilised from the pitch audience covering

The use of "Before and After" will present any changes that have been made from the original idea and proposal, enabled the story of the development of the project to be clear.  

Review the content of your plan and make any required changes

Reflect on own performance

The use of self reflection is something that not everyone likes, or can do, however, reviewing our own work can allow us to defend what our message/objecvite is/was and to reconfirm that our idea is clear and correct to our initial ideas. Critical analysis of ourselve might present obvious issues that we have such as, time management, budgeting and/or creative thinking.

Reflect on the potential success of your event

The idea that you have may be completely radical or simple and traditional, but if it were to be run what potiential of sucess do you think that it may have? are your ideas achieveable, would the community attend the event, could it make the revenue needed to pay for itsself and/or the prize pots on offer. Be realistic in this review area and justify you views and thoughts.

Action plans and target setting to develop your presentation skills e.g. skills audit, S.W.O.T. (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis and S.M.A.R.T. (Specific, Measured, Achievable, Realistic and Timed) targets.

Anonymous Assessment - Learners assess an anonymous piece of work containing deliberate mistakes against given success criteria.

Learning aim C: Review the plan for the esports event

C.P5 Use pitch feedback to make changes to the esports event plan

C.M3 Reflect on pitch feedback, and own performance, to explain improvements to the esports event plan

C.D2 Evaluate the original plan for the esports event based on pitch feedback and own performance and justify a set of recommendations.