I love this event and am grateful to Allen and his staff for promoting the Super Billiards Expo. It is very special that we have something like this on the east coast and we should not take it for granted. I appreciate how difficult it must be to put this event together and I hope it continues to improve and continue to be supported by the fans and players.
Rather than start a thread for ranting, I wanted to start a positive thread that would offer observations and constructuve feedback to help make this an even more successful event in the future.
I was there and offer the following balanced / constructive thoughts. I am interested in the feedback and suggestions of other attendees.
Rather than start a thread for ranting, I wanted to start a positive thread that would offer observations and constructuve feedback to help make this an even more successful event in the future.
I was there and offer the following balanced / constructive thoughts. I am interested in the feedback and suggestions of other attendees.
- The venue / logistics were very disappointing compared to the Valley Forge Convention center. Having the attched hotel and a number of bars / restaurants in the faclity made a huge difference in the past. I would park my car when I arrived, and not touch it again until I left. Very convenient. Finding parking at this facility was difficult and I dreaded when had to leave to head back to the hotel or out for food. Perhaps running periodic shuttles (even if you have to pay a couple of bucks for the service) would help.
- The food was so/so if you wanted to grab something quick, but is not something you can live on for 4 days. If you advance in the tournament it becomes difficult to leave, and as I said above, it is very inconvenient to leave. More food choices, perhaps with booths from local restaurants would be a good solution.
- Inconsistency with regard to being able to enter and exit from multiple locations throughout the facility was inconvenient and frustrating. No matter who I asked and how often I asked, I just could not get it straight when I should enter through the back doors or the front. Simply having hand stampers in multiple locations and consistently allowing entry and exit from multiple locations would have eliminated frustration and been more convenient. The convention center is very large and constantly having to walk around half the building was a pain.
- There was not enough room for the spectators or moving around throughout the amateur tournament area. The tables that formed the isles where the spectators watched were extremely tight. Whether you were sitting or standing, you had to get up every two seconds to let someone who was walking up the isle squeeze through. How anyone in a wheelchair navigated there way through this area (and I saw a few trying), it must have been impossible. I think there was too much jammed in the one room between the 14.1 tables, trick shot tables, three cusion tables and all the tournament tables. As much room as there was, I think that it could have been expanded further. I think there was more available space utilized by another convention behind the amateur playing area. It might be advisable to expand the space.
- Seperation of the action tables from the vendor area would have avoided issues with regard to allowing individuals to play on the action tables vs. the need to protect the vendor merchandise. These action tables were often the only tables you could get on while tournament play was going on
- Lighting was really poor. I especially heard this from the seniors and super seniors, although the rest of us had a problem with this as well. It was just too dark and there was often distracting light reflection on the balls from the lights. Lights over the tables would definately help
- Concrete floor was another issue I heard alot about, especially from the seniors and super seniors. Not sure what can be done about this. As some pointed out, the surface in the past was not much better. I think this just became "another thing" to complain about, just to add to peoples frustration
- Bathrooms - this is a tough one, but there just needs to be more facilities when you have this many people together at one time for this long. There were long lines at the rest rooms constantly. The poor restroom attendants did what they could to keep them clean, but it was a difficult task. Open to suggestions on this one as I do not think there is an easy answer here.
- Scheduling seemed to be an issue with pros and amateurs alike. Amateur play times would be rescheduled from 7pm one day to 5pm the next. Day pro events would run over and players you bought a day ticket to see, you had to purchase another ticket to the night match to see. Better organization and planning may help here. Shot clocks on the pros might help to elimate run over. Perhaps there were just too many matches scheduled in given timeslots. Also, when the Wednesday warmup started, all the tables were not setup and as a result, finding a practice table was difficult and the tournament ran much longer than it should have. Players had to wait for hours for their matches to start. If the event started Wednesday evening, all the tables should have been setup
- Online brackets were awesome as was the iphone/ipad app. The more online information, the better!
- Mini-tournaments! This is something not limited to this venue and was something that I know people wanted in the past as well. This would require more space and more tables, but this would be tremendous. For those of us who travel from significant distances - single elimination on Thursday is brutal. I know that there is a second chance tournament, but mini's throughout the week would be awesome.
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