Wednesday, August 27, 2014

It's a sellout!

For the second year in a row, Sky High Tabletop Play is SOLD OUT! Thank you to everyone who has purchased tickets. This is going to be a fun, high energy, fantastic event.

If you missed the boat, we do have a waitlist here: http://skyhightabletopplay.shindigg.com/. At this point, it is unlikely that we're going to sell any more tickets, though. We'd love to, but the Columbia Tower Club is only so big. We want to make sure everyone has a seat somewhere, and it's not fair to current ticket holders to go beyond what we've already sold. Still, it can't hurt to add yourself to it. Note that if we accept a waitlist request, it's binding (meaning we charge your card right then and there) so make sure you set an expiration time and/or cancel your request right away if you wind up making other plans.

Tickets are also transferable. While we will not be facilitating any ticket transfer requests (we've got too many other things to do in the next 24 hours!), you are welcome to post "needed" or "selling" messages to the "The official "Need Tickets/Selling Tickets" thread" on this page. All ticket transfer requests are between the buyer and the seller, and can be facilitated by the seller via their shindigg.com account. If you do wind up buying tickets from someone, please MAKE SURE you PRINT your ticket. We will be creating the master list sometime tonight or early tomorrow, so if your name doesn't appear on the list, the only way you can prove that you are the owner of a ticket is to have a valid printout with you.

Tuesday, August 26, 2014

The dreaded P-word: Parking

Hello again, everyone! We're excited for Thursday evening, and we hope you are as well. We've very near a sellout (only 10 tickets left!), and are busily preparing to make this our best event ever.

Unfortunately, there's one topic that will always cause the blood to boil a little bit in downtown Seattle: Parking. There is no one solution that is best for everyone, but hopefully this will help.

First, obviously, if you're from out of town and staying downtown, the Columbia Tower is walking distance from most hotels. From the Convention Center area, it's about 6-7 blocks, and is mostly a gradual downhill walk on 5th Avenue. If you're worried about getting back to your hotel after the event, we highly recommend using Uber. They're clean, reasonably priced and prompt.

If you are local and absolutely must drive, here are some pointers:

  • The Columbia Tower garage will charge you the day rate for the ENTIRETY of your stay if you arrive even 1 minute prior to 5:00. If you're like many and plan on showing up when the doors open, this might not be the best option for you, because even though you'll be parked in the garage during evening hours, if you arrive before 5:00, you will accrue day rate charges the entire time and will get a nasty shock when leaving. Several people had this problem last year. Avoid this at all costs!
  • If you do arrive after 5:00 and are SURE you'll be leaving before midnight, the Columbia Tower garage, at a flat $9 rate, might not be a bad option for you. Just make sure you do leave before midnight or you will start accruing day charges once the calendar flips.
    • Side note to this: Another strategy, if you're arriving after 5:00 but staying until 2:00, would be to park in the CTC garage, pay the $9, and then move your car to the street before midnight.
  • If you're arriving after 6:00, the open air garage on 4th and Cherry (on the roof of the Arctic Hotel) is a decent option at a flat rate of $8.00.
  • If none of these options fit your schedule, our best suggestion is to park on the street and pay for the first 3 hours of parking. After 8:00, it's free. If you need an escort back to your car, please see one of the hosts. We will make sure you are taken care of.
Keep in mind also that there is a football game at CenturyLink Field on Thursday (Washington State vs. Rutgers), but parking isn't usually impacted as far away as the Columbia Tower for events like this. Nonetheless, there may be some parking areas that are charging premium game rates, and street parking may be a little more difficult to find. If you do decide to park in a garage that is not the Columbia Tower garage, please make sure you read all the signs to ensure that your car won't get locked up overnight!

Finally, as is common sense for any urban area, don't leave valuables in your car where potential thieves can see them! While you can never be 100% sure your car won't be a target, you can reduce the odds of a mishap to pretty darned close to 0 if you follow this one rule.

Oh, and finally finally--DON'T DRINK AND DRIVE! See one of the hosts if you think you've had one too many. We will take care of you.

See you all on Thursday!

Welcome to the #76thFloor

Here is this year's floorplan! Click the image to make it bigger.



Some highlights:
  • There are 246 chairs in the 2 main conference areas. We are capping GA tickets at 185, so with the vendors, it'll be cozy, but we should have enough room for everyone. Please obey Wheaton's Law and don't be a (table hog).
  • The Circus Maximus game in the Blake Island conference room (far left, adjacent to the corner room) is something to behold. Please stop by and play!
  • VIP rooms consist of all of the small conference rooms in the northeast corner (lower right side on the map), as well as the Board Room on the south side (small corner room in lower left). The Circus Maximus game is open to everyone. Incidentally, the club is going to renovate the northeast corner and make that area one big room, so that will be a huge help for us next year.
  • The game store and lending library will be in the Columbia room (large conference room on the right). We will also have our prize table in there.

Sunday, August 24, 2014

Beverages! Oh, and we're over 90% sold out.

We only have 20 15 tickets left!  Get them while they last at http://SkyHighTabletopPlay.shindigg.com.

To celebrate PAX, why not have a drink? Here are the signature drinks that you will be able to get at the event. We're working on one more as well--stay tuned!

GALLIFREY DOUBLE SUNRISE
A sweet and tart cocktail with a cherry kick to it that rounds it out very nicely.

Gallifrey Double Sunrise

Ingredients for Gallifrey Double Sunrise:
  • 1 oz Pineapple Juice
  • 1 oz Lime Juice
  • Orange Juice
  • Grenadine


THE TICK BLUEBERRY LEMONADE
Either have the bartender hand the person a spoon when they hand them the drink or put a tall spoon in the glass for them to walk around with. It’s sort of a “thing” with the Tick.

The Tick Blueberry Lemonade

Ingredients for The Tick Blueberry Lemonade:
  • 12 oz. bottle of Jones Soda Berry Lemonade
  • 1 oz. Blueberry liqueur
  • 1 oz. Vodka
  • 1 Blue Twizzler


The Doctor's Sonic Screwdriver
Ah! Big, flashy, lighty thing, that’s what brought me here! Big, flashy, lighty things have got me written all over them! Not actually, but give me time. And a crayon.

The Doctor's Sonic Screwdriver

Ingredients for The Doctor's Sonic Screwdriver:
  • 1 shot vodka
  • 1 shot blue curacao
  • 1 splash Rose Blue Raspberry Mix
  • Fill glass with orange juice (to color)


Love Potion #8.5
Inspired by the drink of the same name in The Sims 2

Love Potion #8.5

Ingredients for Love Potion #8.5:
  • 8 Raspberries
  • Crushed Ice
  • 10ml / 0.33oz. Chambord Raspberry Liqueur (Or Raspberry Juice)
  • 50ml / 1.5oz. Raspberry Lemonade
  • 100ml / 3.3oz Champagne (Or Tonic Water)
  • Top Up with Lychee Juice
  • Mint Sprigs
  • Fresh Lemon Juice

Monday, August 18, 2014

Event Update: 10 days to go!

Our event is only 10 days away!  We have sold our entire allotment of Tier 1 and Tier 2 tickets, and only a limited number of Tier 3 tickets remain.  Get them while they last at http://SkyHighTabletopPlay.shindigg.com.

MENUS:

The VIP menu is still having the finer points of it fleshed out - there will be 4-5 options for each course this year as opposed to the 3 last year (will be themed to feature Washington's local bounty). We will be reaching out to VIP guests in the next few days regarding their meal orders. 

Chef Tyler and our food guru worked out a lot of details for the menu. We're presenting a luau theme with the general meal this year. General admission dinner will be (subject to changes, of course, but unlikely to do so):


  • Whole roasted Kalua pig (no, you won't see the whole animal on display) served 2 ways - shredded and loins. Served w/ a tropical slaw and w/ or w/out buns for sandwich style
  • Whole sides of fish - what type of fish is TBD depending on what looks good at the fishmonger when the purchase is made. Given what's good end of August, we're likely looking at either steelhead or mahi mahi. Preparation style TBD depending on type of fish
  • A tropical salad w/ fruits both local and exotic, mixed with peppered greens (likely mizuna) and tossed with a lime white balsamic and orange olive oil vinaigrette (gluten-free menu choice, though the above may qualify as well)
  • Tropical rice pilaf, specifics TBD


SPONSORS AND DEMOS:

The following companies will be physically in attendance showing off games and providing prizes and instructionals:

  • Japanime Games, who will be demoing ‘Krosmaster Arena’, with a giant Krosmaster board and figures
  • Eagle-Gryphon, which will be showing off games such as ‘Francis Drake’, ‘Fleet’, ‘Games of Art’, and possibly the new ‘Defenders of the Realm’
  • Frog the What, who is demoing their upcoming Kickstarter ‘Slaughterball’
  • Privateer Press, makers of games such as Level 7 (Omega Protocol), ‘Zombies Keep Out’, and ‘Bodgers’ (pending final confirmation)
  • Harebrained Schemes, demoing ‘Golem Arcana’
  • Calliope Games, likely again be bringing the life-size ‘Tsuro’ game board
  • Volunteers will be on-hand demoing games from various publishers who support the event in various ways but cannot physically attend, including Plaid Hat Games (‘Bioshock Infinite’, ‘Mice & Mystics’), GMT (‘Dominant Species’, ‘Command & Colors’), Stronghold Games (‘Space Cadets’) and numerous others.

Behind the scenes, we’re currently working on having some special guests hosting the games they’ve designed. This is of particular interest to those who are into the ‘King of Tokyo’, ‘Werewolf’, 'Pathfinder: Adventure Card Game' and ‘Smash Up’ titles to use as examples. We’ve already secured the confirmation on some of these, but not sure if they want us pre-announcing their specific attendance or not.

PRIZES:

So this list is going to evolve as things roll in. Last year, most of our donors and supporters didn't get things to us until about a week before the event, which will likely be the case again this year. We will update the status of these periodically as things show up. What is presently a known commodity to be given away at the drawing:

GAMES:

Note: Many of our donors are providing or have provided multiple copies of certain games. The exact amount that will be given away is either the total they've provided or the total minus 1 in case we don't have a copy of the game to demo or put in the lending library. This is per the publisher's requests, as part of the reason they support this event is so that people will be exposed to their games. So if we publish a picture of the prize table with 4 copies of Bioshock Infinite on it and give away 3, the 4th one is at a demo table; it didn't "fall off the truck".


FOOD GIFT CERTIFICATES & MORE:


  • John Howie (of John Howie Steak, Seastar, Sport, and the new Wildwood Spirits Co. & Beardslee Public House) has once again gone completely over the top with donations. We still don't have everything in-hand yet, but he's giving away an immense amount of stuff, including the first item at our event that is worth so much, it's necessitating a silent auction. For those traveling, John has what is considered by many to be the finest steakhouse in the Northwest, and what is arguably the best seafood restaurant in the entire nation.
  • Calozzi's Cheesesteaks on 4th & Union (best, realistically only, authentic cheesesteaks in town) has put in 2 $25 gift cards.
  • Tom Douglas restaurants (multiple James Beard awards, including the James Beard award for best restaurateur in the world last year) has donated lunch for 2 at his famous Dahlia Lounge along with an autographed copy of one of his books
  • The Miller's Guild, a nose-to-tail themed homage to all things meat & James Beard award winning chef Jason Wilson's latest endeavor located on 6th and Stewart has donated 2 gift cards

Wednesday, August 13, 2014

Event now 75% sold out -- Less than 10 Tier 2 tickets remain!

UPDATE -- Tier 2 is now sold out.

We are more than 3/4th of the way sold out, and a very limited number of Tier 2 tickets remain.  After that, procrastination tax applies once again and ticket prices rise by $10.  Get 'em while they're left!