Buy ins - Stay at £75? Increase? Decrease? Side events?I think the buyins work pretty perfectly.
Festival style three and four day events - good? or too long?Think is is spot on aswell, gotta remember that 90% of us are working stiffs and any longer would be too much holiday to use, and the better halfs will revolt!
Timing - An event every month, every two months, or four big festivals every year maybe?Hmmmmm....i like 4 festivals a year, as it gives people time to save but i fear this would mean that the spread of events (ie locations) would be sp****.
WCOAP - Should it extend further with the addition of two day side events and an even larger main event?Id love to see a larger field in the main, but would prefer an even deeper structure (ie wsop structure over 4 days)
Team events - Should we invite multiple teams from same communities? structure?Should prob just rename it the GNF cup and be done with it!
Start times need to be earlier than 2:30 though. (same for all events). Would like to see an online league in which the top 7 win spots in the APAT Forum team for next year. Whomever wins the event gets captaincy and the ability to pick the wildcard 8th member. Think this league would get lots of runners, which = rake for the site. Think its the one team event (ie not the internationals) in which everyone should have equal chance to qualify as normally you appoint a captain and then they pick the team they see fit.
Formats - Should we be looking to include anything new? Should we run one of the nationals in a different format, outside of the WCOAP and ECOAP?Bounty event? Shootout event? Bounty Shootout event? Would love to see a 9-6-2 event over 3 days at the festival next year. Day 1 is played 9 handed. Day 2 is 6 handed down to final 16/8 players. Final 16/8 are then draw in Heads Up brackets which chips counts carried forward from each day. May be a logistic nightmare but would be a cool game.
Registration - Thoughts on satellites, direct buy in via client, generic satellite packages versus specific satellite packages, should satellites packages include a contribution towards travel and hotel?Direct buyin on IPN would be useful, would encourage more to deposit on there and maybe play more. Sats are fine for seat only, and like the fact you let people use them for what they will.
Seat reservation - Should this continue? If so, why? If we added a Paypal button to enable players to pay the 10% fee upfront, would this work? So players not taking up their reservation would lose the fee element of their buy in?Hard to say, do you have a lot of issues with players not turning up!? Think direct buyins on IPN would spot this problem if you closed reg say 2 weeks prior to event. That way you can still fill empty spots etc.
Locations - Overseas? New locations? For example we could take the ECOAP to Western Europe. Would players come, if destination was cheap and outside of holiday periods?Europe doesnt work for me (think missus would kill me if i used my holiday at work for poker abraod and not for a summer holiday with her!)
Commercial - To increase our budgets we might ask you to qualify for events at a third party site, or join us for a crazy night of blackjack or slots tournaments. Is this acceptable, not acceptable, would stop you playing, etc?Not bothered either way, understand your reason behind it.
Awards - Further develop the medals? More bracelets? Differentiate between live and online event awards? Added value?Like the medals. Love the WCOAP bracelets. Added value is always good. Maybe online POTS could get next years series for free? idk, something to keep it within the community?
Merchandise - Should we sell stuff? Shirts, cards, chip set, card protectors? How deep should the range be? High quality or cheap? Would you buy high resolution pictures of yourself at events, branded with the event name, APAT logo and in an APAT sleeve?Id buy the pic if it was the winners photo! But think Merch is a great idea. Without being rude, if people are willing to spend money, and APAT can make a margin on it then its worth doing. Also bodes well for free advertising going forward. Im sure many would wear there APAT shirts at other events whether it be at local casino or bigger events.
As for cards, chip sets these are brilliant ideas. If good quality i would buy both for my monthly home game, and would act as a great conversation topic with the players i play with. Just imagine how many of your members play homegames with non apat"rs. You could get your brand to hundreds, if not thousands of new faces.
EDIT:
Would love to see a ladies event at the WCOAP/ECOAP.
Been mentioned before that there is a huge gap, and i think grabbing hold of the market could be really good.
The standard of the ladies game is very solid in the UK scene, and it would encourage people to get the GFs playing, less arguements when you book the time off and a safe environment for new faces to learn with no "stigma" or "pressure"
