Administration: Pt.2 and Pt.3

[mutuhaha]

2. Finalizing game plans

Prerequisite: A committee, with all their roles and jobs. Again, commitment and motivation.

Things to be done at this point:
- Decide on date, time and meeting arrangements
- Decide on the game rules
- Decide on battlefield location
- Finalize number of participants
- Logistics needed
- Proposal

Date, time and meeting arrangements:
Decide on the date and time of the water war. Decide where the participants are to meet as well. Use this information when telling the participants of the details.

Deciding on game rules:
Together with your trusty committee, decide on the game rules. Get ideas and feedback from the participants if you wish.

Decide on battlefield location:
Consulting your committee, decide on the battlefield location and identify the authority from which permission has to be obtained. Try to identify a few locations as some authorities may have to deny usage for whatever reason.

Finalize number of participants:
Now is the time to get the details of the participants, they may ask you where the event is held and when. Accordingly tell them the date, time and meeting arrangements decided. Also tell them of what attire, equipment and stuff they can and cannot bring. If they bring electronic equipment like cellphones, remind them to waterproof it with a plastic bag or ziplock. Give out a centralized contact information for them to call your committee up.

Logistics needed:
This list includes everything (usually almost) being used in the water war. From this, a shopping list can be drawn up for the next phase.

Proposal:
Although not needed, I highly recommend typing out a neat, orderly proposal form so that people can easily review it and spot possible flaws. Better still if you submit it to the online community for evaluation, especially if you’re doing a seriously large event. I don’t mind looking through the proposal if you send it to me, expect bombardment of questions, but that’s just to help make sure you know your stuff thoroughly.

Other business:
Any other paperwork that needs to be done.

3. Setting the plan in motion

Prerequisite: Not just an idea of what you’re going to do, but a concrete plan (rules, venue, time details, logistics etc), preferably on a neatly typed out proposal. Also need a pretty accurate estimate of participants. Have your shopping list. Have the targeted battlefield. Last but not least, your committee must still be intact.

Things to be done at this point:
- Obtain permission for battlefield
- Confirm game plan
- Buy/borrow logistics
- Draw up roster of officials (medics and marshals)
- Issue final confirmation to the players

Obtain permission for the battlefield:
Try to obtain permission to use the intended battlefield. Remember to tell the date and time (or at least rough period) when negotiating. If relevant authority agrees, then you have your battlefield. If not, then find another battlefield and try to adapt (preferably not revamp) your game plan, repeat with the list of battlefields drawn up previously. If the committee seriously cannot find a single battlefield and if there is insufficient time to solve the problem, consider contacting the participants and postponing the event in the worse case scenario. Once the battlefield is obtained, proceed to survey for hazards and dangers thoroughly. In the first place, battlefield should not be too hazardous (like a nuclear waste dump).

Game plan confirmation:
Confirm the game plan with the committee and if you like, certain members of the player population. At this point, try to preempt loopholes and problems with the game plan. To reduce big-time cheating, think as if in the shoes of a cheater and through that, find out ways to slip by the rules and think of counters and clauses to prevent such cheating. Take into account the limitations of the battlefield and try to balance the different teams. For example, try to fairly position the teams’ starting positions to give equal access to refill points.

Logistics:
Once battlefield and game plan is confirmed, get the shopping list, update it and buy/borrow the stuff. When buying, keep the receipt(s). When borrowing, keep a log of who the item(s) were borrowed from, to ensure proper return. Lastly, gather and account for all the logistics needed.

Official roster:
Figure out who is going to be on marshal/medic duty, what duty and where. The roster should have the name of the official, location on duty, equipment needed for duty and contact number (to contact ingame). Try to spread the duties out as much as possible. If player moderators are needed, have a list of names of responsible players who can be entrusted with the moderator power. Bear in mind the work dynamic of the committee and assign in-game roles appropriately.

Final confirmation to players:
This is where you officially invite all previously surveyed players to participate in the water war. State:
- Venue
- Time
- Date
- Attire
- Equipment needed
- Meeting place
- Organizer contact information
- Etc

For those below a certain age, you may want parental consent. For close-knit neighbourhoods, it may not be that necessary, but for large events, it’s a courtesy and on the safe side.
The release of the official player registration should be ideally some time before the real water war itself, to allow time for teams to form and word to get around. One to two weeks should be sufficient for medium sized events.
This is also the time to recruit player moderators if needed.

Note on player registration:
If there are no teams in the area as nuclei for players to form around, then consider that you will be dealing with a large population of individuals. Either have a game which involves these individuals without organizing them into teams (e.g. assassination), or have a team registration system. For example include on the publicity material the need for a team (min and max size: so and so). When team forming amongst individuals is required, giving more time would be ideal, unless an immediate and overwhelming response is received.
If teams cannot form on their own, but the individual population is still present, then this presents a problem on the real day itself, because there will be many individuals to be playing a team game. In that case, on the day itself, have a system where such individuals can walk in and join a team on the spot. Even if teams are formed beforehand, you may still want to keep this system as there may be a few people who haven’t gotten into teams. As an organizer, be prepared for whatever outcome fate may throw at you and deal with it appropriately. Foreseeing such things helps a great deal.

[mutuhaha]

Same as before, post in Pt.4 and Pt.5 thread. Using another post to make it more obvious, rather than put a small obscure note at the end of each article section.