Monthly Archives: August 2011

My thoughts on MLG through the second day.

For this being the first time I’ve attended a MLG event while covering it as a member of the press, I have to say… it’s pretty overwhelming.

The chances of being close to a random StarCraft pro player is greater than I had ever expected. I swear, when I’m in the front row of the main stage section, I feel like I’ve become a StarTales Bomber magnet.

20110827-205656.jpg

Ice cream—the secret reason Koreans did well in Raleigh.

I even got Coca and Nada to pose for a picture while eating ice cream. How crazy is that?

He comes out to watch other competitors play to prepare for his remaining games, but he does it with this unreal focus.

Moments like those are unreal. I would not have thought that the Korean guests would be allowed to wonder the general area by themselves for the most part. I thought they’d be inside this giant bubble the entire time with limited interaction with the main venue. But I guess I was wrong.

We have gotten pretty good access to most of the players, too. I had my doubts after some of the miscommunications of Friday, but overall, it’s been better than expected.

Maybe that’s the theme for this event. Just how everything has turned out. The drive down wasn’t that bad, and the accommodations are better than I had been led to believe (many thanks to Bjorn for his hospitality). Even though this big hurricane threatened the event the entire time, the event hasn’t missed a beat at all.

Hats off to MLG on this one. They’ve made the most out of a smaller space, and it shows.

I’m going on a vacation.

This might not be the first vacation that I’ve ever taken from my current position at work, but it sure is the first vacation that I’ve taken in quite a long while where I can remember going to someplace by myself. Even if I am going down to Raleigh to an MLG event for ESFI.

The imminent nature of my departure is getting the best of me, today.

…

What the fuck am I saying?

A press pass and I.

Barring something completely crazy happening within the next few days or so, I should be attending MLG Raleigh as a member of the press corps. It’ll be the first time that I have been given a press pass to report and support others who’ll be reporting the competitive games going on at the venue.

I’ll be with ESFI, a site that I write for, and will be gathering information about future games that might be included in the MLG scene as well as covering the StarCraft 2 league play that’ll be happening.

One of my primary goals for the trip is to pilot a series of impromptu video series based around the floor of the venue. I’ll use what I learned on the bus tour to inform how I can upload videos that aren’t just simple quality but can be produced on the fly. Thanks to the iPhone 4 and—I’m hoping—some decent cellular coverage, HD videos that’ll be uploaded quickly will be what I’m chiefly responsible for.

No, I don’t get paid for this, but I do get to spend a vacation doing something awesome.

Be sure to follow me so you can get the latest about what I’m up to while I’m in Raleigh.