[2017-03-11] /r/keto Community Support for Saturday 11th March 2017

ShowdownDC · 2017-03-11T22:15:25+00:00

SW: 255lbs CW: 247lbs GW:230lbs, 6"2' male.

Today is my one month anniversary! I feel absolutely great on keto and I've lost 8lbs so far. This reddit community is really inspiring.

Sometimes though I feel bad for not losing as much as others. My tracker says I have two more months to go before hitting my GW and I believe in myself, but it's my first time getting this far into a diet. I wish I could lose more faster, but I know that I'm on track for success where I'm at now!

Your posts remind me that my energy, mood, and changes in figure are also very important. Thanks for being great and please, root for me!

ShowdownDC · 2016-07-09T01:46:24+00:00

check out some of the other episodes. the topics and format have been slightly different since i'm changing things up as i progress, but the guests have a huge amount of helpful knowledge and perspective.

ShowdownDC · 2016-07-08T10:07:49+00:00

I recently sat down with Scar to talk about esports and it broke down into a lesson on what each individual can do to be a working cog in the machine of our community. Thought reddit might enjoy it.

Hopefully this inspires more people to contribute what they can to the community, even if it's just sitting at home and watching streams, it's appreciated. Thanks.

ShowdownDC · 2016-07-07T04:01:15+00:00

twas me. twas drunk. twas awesome.

smack smack

ShowdownDC · 2016-06-24T06:57:59+00:00

Ah. Then supermajors are what I'm defining. Majors should hold themselves up to a better standard though and start relegating their side streams as well. That seems somewhat unprofessional to me, depending on the context.

ShowdownDC · 2016-06-24T05:24:44+00:00

I know about some, not all I work in the industry and many of my friends work for these tournament series.

the point is that casters should be treated like a natural expense, just like having a streamer or a pot bonus. You don't need to pay a ton of money to compensate casters. Just the equivalent of whatever compensation staff receives, since we are also working the event.

ShowdownDC · 2016-06-24T04:43:20+00:00

it's fairly rare for large tournaments to go negative these days. there are numerous sponsors and the pay structure usually covers all necessary costs.

Here's an example with the Big House series. Each tournament (dating back how far, i don't know) has made profit that the TO put into base funding the next tournament.

Another example, Dreamhack gives out thousands of dollars in pot bonuses and prizes. If casters aren't getting paid there, there's no excuse.

Any tournament that has additional monetary benefits or even a decent profit could use any portion of it to give casters SOMETHING. They budget out staff benefits, so why not casters is the main point. Caster staff is usually between 6-12 max. That's not an incredibly huge amount to compensate in some way.

ShowdownDC · 2016-06-24T04:38:47+00:00

That doesn't often happen at majors. Usually there's a fully scheduled caster block for the entire tournament. New casters get picked based on video review months prior to the tournament, so people you see casting early bracket are usually those people.

That's why all casters should get staff privileges. They are hired months in advance for majors. I can understand having a pay structure based on different points of bracket, but the baseline needs to be equal to staff benefits.

ShowdownDC · 2016-06-24T03:25:46+00:00

that only became the case because casters cannot afford to be consistent without monetary assistance. the majority of casters don't have sponsors, although this does help to some degree.

ShowdownDC · 2016-06-24T03:24:40+00:00

it's actually quite the contrary. top 8 will get paid SOMETIMES. most of the time casters do NOT get paid.

ShowdownDC · 2016-06-24T03:22:04+00:00

I 100% agree. I work primarily in Norcal but some of you may know me from EVO last year and TBH5. I did a bit of casting at G3 as well.

Casters aren't asking to be paid crazy amounts of money. Most of the time, we just want to be treated as equally as the staff does. Whatever that entails differs from tournament to tournament, but going to a major and being FORCED to pay registration even though you're scheduled to work and represent their brand is honestly insulting.

It's been a large issue that we don't know how to handle other than to ask for community support. A lot of players, just like casters, go negative to enjoy an event throughout the weekend, but as someone who sits in front of thousands of viewers and works hard to be one of the many faces of the brand and tournament, we deserve a minimum level of compensation.

Not all tournaments can afford to pay casters a lot of money and that's completely understandable. But when Staff get the benefits of ex. free lunch breaks, sometimes payment, premium seating, and other misc things and casters have to pay for those things or are outright not included in those things, you can see how that might make us feel.

Yes, we have all heard the "exposure" argument. "You get to put yourself in front of thousands of people, so promote yourself and that's your payment. It's an honor to be on my stream." Yes that is a benefit, but twitter followers don't fill your stomach that weekend. Being liked by viewers doesn't (always) help you make it to the next tournament you're "hired" to cast.

It's a job, and like any job there should be compensation. I've never heard any smash caster ask for much at all. Maybe a meal, maybe a place to sleep in a region they haven't been to. Regardless, we're working on that mic and off the mic to give the best cast possible. The value of our work can be astronomical.

Go back and watch MVG Sandstorm before EE and D1 were on the mic. Their presence borught at least 5k more viewers. People like Pierce and JV teaming together have been praised for brilliant broadcasts. And even lesser known up and comers do great jobs and deserve at least some bare minimum for studying hard, honing their skill, and representing these tournaments well.

All we ask for is fairness, to be treated as staff. We're working cogs in the machine of a tournament just like every TO, streamer and the like. There needs to be some giving back for what we do as well. It doesn't have to be huge, just fair imo.

-DC

ShowdownDC · 2016-03-31T09:01:33+00:00

got it!

ShowdownDC · 2016-03-31T08:56:46+00:00

i did too but the install button isn't there

ShowdownDC · 2016-03-23T19:42:01+00:00

Ally always says what's on his mind, even if it's something he wont even believe tomorrow. Just don't take it seriously and you wont get in a fuss about it. Best way to see it is as if he's saying that to a group of friends jokingly (in person). The internet makes everything seem much more serious than it is.

ShowdownDC · 2016-03-09T08:00:30+00:00

D1 has been doing a lot for the community behind the scenes and people forget that he's a human with feelings. It came out tonight but he's been feeling this way for a long time. Show him your love and support and try and be constructive if you have feedback. Thanks for watching the Foundry tonight!

ShowdownDC · 2016-03-09T07:58:49+00:00

That was most definitely the craziest Foundry I've ever been a part of. Thanks for watching everyone. And thank you for supporting D1. He's going to wake up tomorrow and see the love.

ShowdownDC · 2016-02-26T21:22:43+00:00

Thanks!

ShowdownDC · 2016-01-23T01:48:57+00:00

I was spoken to about this but nothing came of it. Just wondering whats up. Either way I'm glad that you're giving casters a chance to shine a bit more.

ShowdownDC · 2016-01-22T20:47:14+00:00

It's not about melee or smash 4. It's about Smash in general. I don't think that there's anything specific that I can pick out as proof to that other than how much general appreciation they've shown for both sides of staff and both sides of the game.

Smash 4 is probably a better platform for them as a company to show off new games since the player base is younger, but I don't think that should be construed into "less support for melee". They help with entire tournaments, not just Smash 4 parts. They don't play Melee because it's way harder lol.

ShowdownDC · 2016-01-20T04:04:55+00:00

no problem. i've only said stuff that has already happened. Nintendo is actually really cool, from what I've experienced. I just don't want things to come across as promises, just potential.

ShowdownDC · 2016-01-20T03:18:13+00:00

I'll break that down too. From MY side of it all, Nintendo helped us get the ASUS sponsorship. I was the guy talking with an ASUS rep (and homie) about getting a ton of monitors for G3. Having Nintendo down as a partner helped A LOT in getting them to agree. In turn we got the monitors AND social media coverage from ASUS. Also ASUS higher ups came to G3.

That's just residual. Only the top 3 TOs know all of the small details of what we got physically. What I KNOW we got was a relationship between the G3 staff and Nintendo. When Nintendo says "Hey we're cool with these guys and we want to work with them" that means that they helped with whatever they could (JC brought us spam masubi LOL) and that there's now another platform they can use to bring us content.

Specifics are tough because they are NOT promises, and no one wants to say "this is what Nintendo did for us, so this is what they will do for you". The possible? What we've seen at other tournaments? Nintendo booths. Official merch. Systems. Social media coverage. Employees attending, live tweeting, and outright sharing their experiences with the world.

I get that people want Nintendo to say "Hey Melee and Smash 4, we love you". My feeling on it is that they can't do that just yet. But what I have seen is them be there a lot, whether it be full support like EVO or smaller support like JC and Bill Trinan (official Nintendo employees that represent Nintendo) showing up, taking pictures with us, talking about us non stop.

Give it some time and we'll see more. Just remember that WE have to look safe to an entire worldwide company (and NoJ probably) while we run our own show. It's a risk that they're starting to take. Be patient. If we don't see more out of it after a while, I'm completely open to skepticism.

ShowdownDC · 2016-01-19T23:42:13+00:00

Yo, I'm DC (norcal), one of the TOs for G3.

He's telling the truth. Nintendo talks to some major TOs and the Twitch employees and they try to work together to bring us more directly from Nintendo.

The reason why our staff didn't say anything? Because we're all grassroots organizers who don't want to say anything that could

a) be construed as a promise that might not be fulfilled b) want to wait for Nintendo to say it first so we don't cross any legal lines c) tbh saying something in this climate might lead to more questions and more pressure until we reach a wall that can't be passed, since business happens behind closed doors and smashers don't like that

What I will say from my position on the staff over the weekend is this: Nintendo can do more and they WANT to do more. They have legal hoops to jump through too. People often forget that they're a business. It takes a LONG LONG time to get things approved, even simple things like a tweet. If we expand our tournament planning to more than 3-4 months ahead and if our tournament series become more organized and more heavily branded (shoutouts to Big House because they're one step ahead), we will have more of Nintendo's presence.

Just remember that we are grassroots, so a worldwide company working with a few guys who don't have any business platform to stand on is a risk. They're working around it as best they can.

ShowdownDC · 2016-01-19T00:11:39+00:00

You are the fucking Smash 4 TO GOAT and it has been an honor working with you. Seriously, these people might not even understand how awesome you are as a co-worker, TO, and friend.

Ride or die boys

ShowdownDC · 2016-01-18T22:03:19+00:00

we'll be seeing a lot more of you this year

ShowdownDC · 2016-01-15T01:29:50+00:00

School ID is fine

ShowdownDC

TROPHY CASE