Possible pinball tournament at the Winnipeg Keycon science fiction convention

[Yuriy M]

Hi guys.

I've been a pinhead for as long as I can remember and I want to let you all know about what I may be planning for this year's Keycon.

Now, for those of you who don't know, Keycon is a Winnipeg science fiction & literary convention that focuses on sci-fi, fantasy and related literary genres in any form. It includes, but is not limited to, writing, visual arts, television and film.

The convention will be in its 32nd year and always takes place at the Radisson Hotel downtown during the Victoria Day long weekend. Specifically, the convention will run from May 14, 2015 to May 17, 2015.

For the past couple of years, I've ran a pinball tournament at the convention. Here's how the story goes:

When Keycon was celebrating its 30th anniversary back in 2013, it also marked two other anniversaries: the 100th anniversary of H.P. Lovecraft and the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who. I've been attending Keycon since 2001 and throughout all my years, I never contributed anything of importance to the con except being just another con-goer. So, for the con's 30th anniversary, I had an idea. Considering that it was the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who, I decided that I wanted to bring in a Doctor Who pinball machine and hold a tournament. I talked the idea over with the con-chairs and friends and they agreed that it would be a fantastic idea.

So, with the idea set in place, I had a good discussion on where the machine would go and whether it would be feasible to put it in an area of the hotel where it would be a welcome addition and not a needless distraction. So after a bit of searching, the 11th floor space behind the stairs was found to be the perfect spot.

I then made arrangements for the establishment of the tournament. I made and printed out posters, I promoted the tourney on Facebook and bought Doctor Who themed prizes at Michael Rodent's Bed, Bath and Kitchen Accessories Co. Some of the prizes included a Doctor Who Monopoly game, Sonic Screwdriver replicas, complimentary pencils, figurines, bobble heads, a lunch box and Dalek replicas.

The tournament was held on Saturday afternoon roughly between 2:00 and 3:00 PM. We had plenty of people sign up and the tournament was recorded with a video camera for record keeping. Those who made the leaderboard were offered to pick a prize at the end of the tournament.

The Doctor Who pinball machine was ordered from Allied Coin and Irv was more than gracious to provide it. Honestly, the whole tournament  would've never had went off as well as it did without Irv's help. He made sure to keep the pinball machine in tip-top condition during the duration of not only the tournament, but the entire Keycon weekend as well.

The pinball machine was set to free play for the weekend and everyone and I mean everyone loved it! The kids even more so as they couldn't keep their hands off that machine!

So with that in the books, I repeated the same tournament the following year at Keycon 31 and it was a smash hit with the con goers with some of them begging me to do it again this year for Keycon 32, 2015!

Now here is where things get sticky: I left my old job back in 2013 and am still looking for new work in the city. It is at this point that I need to seriously watch my budget when it comes to tournament set ups, machine rentals and prize purchases. I absolutely would like to do another tournament this year but to pay for all the expenses would require me to have some extra dough to which I am reluctant to put out due to my current job situation.

I'm thinking of doing a fundraiser for another Keycon pinball tournament but I don't know if anyone is willing to participate. My friends have said that they could do a fundraiser but they would also need to have this greenlit by the con-chairs for this year. John Speelman and John Mansfield are the current con chairs for this year's Keycon. If any of you here are going to Keycon and would like to see a pin tournament, let the folks on the Keycon Facebook page know and I'll see what can be done.

Namely, the fundraising would go towards 3 pinball machine rentals and prizes. Considering that I do my rentals through Irv of Allied Coin, the machine rentals could go to $500 and prizes could range between $500 to $800.

There is also the added possibility that I may get a new job prior to Keycon which could help immensely towards the next tournament.

Well, that's all I got to put in. Feel free to ask me any question you like.

[Yellowghost]

How much for entry? Count me in.

[Yuriy M]

You don't have to pay to sign up for the tournament but you do need to have your con pass with you on the day that the tournament is being held be it weekend or Saturday.

You can visit the link to Keycon's main website for more info on the convention itself by clicking on the globe under my username.

[Yellowghost]

Anybody friends with the owners of "reset". That would make a nice plan B.

[Yuriy M]

Anybody friends with the owners of "reset". That would make a nice plan B.

Checked out info on Reset. It would be a great place for pinball hangouts.

I'm still planning the tournament for Keycon though and it is open to congoers.

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