Overall opinion of Huntington Beach?

[Wadidiz]

Just got in last night from a physically exhausting but incredible experience. I have my own set of opinions and experiences from the event but I'm wondering what other peeps think.

I talked to Robbo and the Nexus crew, met Shamu for the first time (a cool guy and very good ref) but I was disappointed that I missed Baca and TJ.

I ran into some opportunities for myself that could change my life if it pans out.

I'm really thankful to Magued and the Joy Boys for taking me there, and to Bart and Ged from WDP.

Now what is the overall opinion of the event and what might it mean for the future of PB in America?

Steve

 

[Micah]

I felt it an incredable step forword for paintball here in the states. I wanted to play more than anything. Of course that wasn't meant to be.

I did feel that the Graffiti "Art" (I use the term loosely) was poorly done and pointless. It wasn't the Image that I would have gone for. But what do I know? It wasn't my money.

I'm happy the weather held out for it as well.

-Micah

 

[Baca Loco]

Limiting myself to the event alone--it was outstanding. I have a few quibbles (at least one of which will be addressed if we have another beach event next year) but you can read those--assuming Ant leaves them in the article--next month. Huntington Beach is a great area. Weather was fine. Outreach to the community was unparalleled. Event ran smoothly for the most part and format mods in semis and finals worked really well.

At a minimum it means everyone else attempting to put on a national or international tournament has a high standard to live up to now.

Steve, I asked after you on a couple of fields but didn't have a good opportunity to track you down. Sorry I missed ya.

 

[shamu]

From a non-playing perspective, I thought this was a great event. I enjoyed meeting some of the people I've seen on here, such as Wad, Robbo and the guys from Nexus. Sorry I missed Baca and TJ. Maybe in Vegas...

OK, review time...
Location - on the beach in a high traffic area, in the center of town: nothing to complain about there.

Venue - good layout, good security for the players and their gear, great extras like free massages, fruit and water.

Field design - fast design, rewarded aggressive play, the lack of standup back bunkers was definitely a change from the normal US design. The JT field in particular had some intense action around the mini-mayan pyramid

Surface - sand wasn't as packed as was originally promised but it was OK. Slowed people down on the break but I saw a lot of quick bunkerings. The negative was getting sand in places it just shouldn't be Not bad overall.

Organization/scheduling - overall organization was OK, some good, some bad. The prelim schedule was put out early, game scheduling was pretty good - we only had to wait for teams twice on the NPPL field. Things got a little confused with the finals schedule but the new finals format worked well.

Promotion - Outstanding! This is really what set this tournament apart from anything I've been to in the past. Mainstream media coverage, outside sponsors, non-paintball spectators... I felt like I was in a real sport

Reffing - Pretty good, both in my opinion and from the feedback I've seen on the boards. The big question is can they maintain that level for the next event without flying the Swedes in again (although I wouldn't mind working with them again )

There were some negatives to the tournament. I don't think they allotted enough time for field set up so the fields weren't 100% ready on Thursday (as was scheduled), communication with the refs and support staff could have been better. Hopefully this was a result of HB being their first event and these things will improve at the next event.

 

[repairman]

Hb Event reponse to Shamu

Shamu,
I know that you probably were not meaning to knock the event with the set-up. However for them Pure Promotions/WDP to
buy all new equipment and get it all set up for the first event
before thrusday was a tuff task. No event has ever had to jump through the political red tape that they had to to put on this event. HB is a great city but is a very conservative town. They had to get permit after permit. Most people have half a year to pull such an event off. They did it in 4-weeks. I know that you will be impressed with the next event and that things should run even better.
So people complained about the sand but everyone had to run on it. No one got hurt diving on the stuff and if you got the smallest bit of dust on your gun the blowers at the air station were their to clean your marker with.

 

[smelly pete]

again, WDP innovators have taken the bull by the horn, and put together what i have gathered was a superb and brilliantly run event. they have gambled quite alot of money and showed how to run a first class tournament. in all the years of big tournaments, i probably saw a couple of sponsors from outside the industry getting involved, now it seems with huntington beach, there were as many outside sponsors as there were paintball companies.
everyone will be keen to see just how good the other events will be. the future of this sport looks promising.
we should all be very excited.

 

[Bobvannes]

I thought it was amazing. Much better on every level than the first PSP event.

 

[Micah]

Originally posted by Bobvannes
I thought it was amazing. Much better on every level than the first PSP event.

You mean the one in march that hasn't happened yet?

 

[Baca Loco]

Originally posted by Micah
You mean the one in march that hasn't happened yet?

No, smartypants. He means Vegas last year. Rocks and glass. Concrete and heatstroke.

 

[Micah]

I stand corrected.

I'd like to see what PSP does in response to this event tho.

I can't wait.

-Micah