Arranging Tournament Space and Crowd Management

ArrAnging TournAmenT SpAce & crowd mAnAgemenT

Konrad WieczoreK

a brief summary of what’s to come:

� The scale of things. � How much space is needed to play Magic? � What to look out for when arranging space for Magic tournaments? � General overview of crowd management.

IntroductIon

why?

the human Scale

The human being is the basis for all measurements and standards that concern things that humans interact with.

the human Scale

dImenSIonS of a magIc Player

Billy

dImenSIonS of a magIc Player

dImenSIonS of a magIc Player

175 cm

85 cm

dImenSIonS of a magIc Player

135 cm

85 cm

PlaySPace

PlaySPace

PlaySPace

30 cm

60 cm

The bare minimum

PlaySPace

PlaySPace

PlaySPace

PlaySPace

PlaySPace

Subject

40 cm

90 cm

a comfortable playspace

total PlaySPace

30 cm

total PlaySPace

~120 cm

60 ÷ 90 cm

ArrAnging gAming SpAce

FixTureS

What to look out for

Natural light

comes in two varieties: � focused (bad) � scattered (good)

can be controlled via curtains or blinders.

What to look out for

acoustics

not often a problem, but usually seriously annoying once problematic.

What to look out for

smells

check for any unpleasant smelling areas and determine what is causing the smell. Usual suspects:

� toilets � trash cans

What to look out for

thiNgs you are able to feel

Some examples: � sticky floors � unpleasant table surfaces � heat vents � cold areas

What to look out for

What to look out for

Feng Shui风水

SIxth SenSe

SIxth SenSe

SIxth SenSe

The feature match scenario

SIxth SenSe

A

B

how To ArrAnge SpAce eFFecTively

DetermiNe poiNts of iNterest

Typical Pois at a Magic tournament: � Judge table (registration, reporting results) � The pairing/standing board (checking pairings/standings) � Toilets � Tables

arrangIng SPace

figure out optimal commuNicatioN betweeN pois

If your POIs are fixed, try to make sure it’s easy to get from one to another. If you have the ability to place your Pois where you please, try to create pathways that require your players to move around the least.

arrangIng SPace

Space required for comfortable two-way communication

arrangIng SPace

120 cm

logical, coNtiNous table NumberiNg

a player should not be forced to wander around the venue trying to locate his or her table. avoid assigning consecutive table numbers to tables that are far away from each other.

arrangIng SPace

Avoid choke poinTS!

arrangIng SPace

a classic room entrance choke point

arrangIng SPace

crowd mAnAgemenT

uNDerstaNDiNg crowD behaviour

crowds are groups of individuals with distinct objectives that additionaly share a crowd mentality. individual crowd members will make their own decisions, but they’ll often take into account what other crowd members are doing in the pro-cess.

croWd management

The Cattle Effect

croWd management

croWd management

how To minimize The cATTle eFFecT?

step 1: preDict the behaviour of the crowD beforehaND

croWd management

side events main event

result slip boxesvenue

croWd management

step 1: preDict the behaviour of the crowD beforehaND

end of round 3

side events main event

croWd management

step 1: preDict the behaviour of the crowD beforehaND

side events main event

end of round 4

croWd management

step 1: preDict the behaviour of the crowD beforehaND

side events main event

eventual fix

step 2: visioN DeNial

croWd management

step 3: proper sigNage

croWd management

croWd management

croWd management

pairings

result slips

croWd management

Influencing crowd behaviour via signage

MagicGrand

Prix

Just don’t overdo it

croWd management

� The human scale � The amount of space Billy needs to play Magic � What to look out for when arranging tournament space (use all 5 senses) � Basics of arranging space:

� Points of interest � communication � Logical layout � avoiding choke points

� crowd mangement: � Understanding crowd mentality � controlling crowds through planning, vision denial and proper signage

Summary

ThAnk you.iF you hAve Any QueSTionS, now iS proBABly A good Time To ASk Them.