My FLGS is having is having its store championship in March, in which I am supposed to be the TO. I am not an employee of the store. I am just a customer who has shown interest in growing our X-Wing community. Where I live there has not been much of an X-wing scene until recently. Last year we only had 8 participants in the store championships.

We are starting to see more players for game nights and other events and I am afraid that more people will show up for the championships than what the store can accommodate. At best the store can fit 20 seats. Since I am not an employee of the store how should I handle this situation if it happens? I hate to say first come first served and screw over people who may have traveled several hours to get here. The owner does not seem to think we will have a problem, but I would like to cover my bases.

Finally the store does not have a website only a Facebook page, so selling a ticket to reserve a seat is probably out of the question. Should I have the owners update the Facebook event to state seating will be limited? Any help I can get is greatly appreciated.

Have the store take signups well in advance of the event. People who paid ahead of time get seats first. After that, people who signed up on the list (either physically in the store, by calling in, or emailing, etc.) get next priority. After that, walk-ins.

Good luck!

not a TO, but I can tell you what people in our area have done so far:

The first Store Championship was on January 2nd. Last year, there were 24 people. This year, 45. The TO made a facebook event and told people to RSVP there to hold seats, and planned accordingly. There was a 90+ person regional int he same place last year, though, so there was plenty of room.

The second one was just this past weekend. Last year, the store limited to 16 entrants and got exactly 16 with no one turned away. This year, they limited to 32 and had people RSVP on facebook. There were 24 RSVPs and we got 24 attendees.

Using facebook as a "registration" tool is handy. It lets people who are coming from far away check in so they're sure to have a seat, and you can check the event page to see if anyone's missing.

not a TO, but I can tell you what people in our area have done so far:

The first Store Championship was on January 2nd. Last year, there were 24 people. This year, 45. The TO made a facebook event and told people to RSVP there to hold seats, and planned accordingly.

This is an issue you may have, Kanan. See, I called that store that skotothalamos is talking about and asked if we could pre-register anywhere. The employee said no, but since he wasn't the TO, he didn't know about the Facebook page for RSVPs, so we didn't sign up. Fortunately there was plenty of room so we didn't drive 2 hours for no reason, but in your case, someone may call the store, get told there is no need for advanced signups, and then show up and not get a spot. You'll want to make sure there is ample communication between you, the players, and the store to avoid that happening.

And remember not everyone is on facebook ...

And remember not everyone is on facebook ...

That's for sure. I run a website for our local community, and every time I post a tournament I ask that folks either 'join' the fb event or fill out the form at the bottom of the web post. The site emails me whenever someone does, and I keep a tally of website 'joins' to add to the fb confirmations. ('Starring' each of these messages in your email account is a good way to take a quick count.)

Our website is linked in my sig (760th Fighter Wing), if you're interested. Click the post of any of our tournaments (Store Champ is most recent) and scroll to the bottom for the contact form.