Episode 352: So You Wanna Run a Tourney
It takes a LOT of work to run a big scale pinball tournament. Deborah Tahlman was the Tournament Director at the Stern Pro Circuit event at Pinball Expo. She discusses what goes into such a huge...
Highlights
- The Chicago Expo Flip Out tournament had approximately 200 players on average over the last couple of years between A and B divisions
- The 2023 Chicago Expo required a 40-person volunteer team and Debra anticipates needing 60 people next year
- Stern Pinball provided 36 games for the main tournament at 2023 Chicago Expo
- Planning for the Chicago Expo tournament begins immediately after the previous year's event, with major pieces coming together about 6 months prior
- The Expo tournament is positioned as one of the top tournaments in the Stern Pro Circuit based on player volume and experience
- Zach McCarthy won the 2023 Chicago Expo main tournament with Jared August in second place, Carl D'Angelo third, and Dalton Healy fourth
- The 2023 tournament had 60 games across four different components and five different divisions
- Fox Cities Pinball streamed the tournament on Twitch
- Venue lighting and carpet are critical logistical considerations for running pinball tournaments in non-traditional spaces
- Tournament directors often experience a 9-to-1 ratio of criticism to compliments from the community
Notable quotes
“It's not about finding necessarily the person who's very skilled with a little bit of luck on their side. It's all about finding the most skilled pinball player.”
“I have no time at all for anybody who doesn't volunteer and complains. It's easy to throw stones.”
“if you're ever going to run a pinball tournament and you're bringing pinball machines into a space that you're not used to running tournaments in check the lighting that's the first thing you do”
“Stern Pinball took care of us in the biggest way possible this year. Bigger than ever before.”
“It's not about the whoppers it's the friends you made along the way.”
“There are so many moving pieces and parts to this puzzle that it boggles my own mind as I'm actually executing the thing over the last four days.”
“for those that don't know, the Stern Pro Circuit are kind of the best 20 tournaments, whopper-wise, in a calendar year based on a three-year run”
Entities
- American Pinball· company
- Chicago Coin· company
- Jersey Jack Pinball· company
- Never Drains· company
- Stern Pinball· company
- Battle of the Bells· event
- Chicago Pinball Expo· event
- Flip Out Tournament· event
- Pinball Profile· media
- Fox Cities Pinball· organization
- Stern Pro Circuit· organization
- Carl D'Angelo· person
- Dalton Healy· person
- Debra Tallman· person
- Fez Rank· person
- James Brooks· person
- Jared August· person
- Jeff Teolis· person
- Jim Swain· person
- Kristen Gregory· person
- Rob Burke· person
- Wayne Roos· person
- Zach McCarthy· person
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