Ok, this may be the last thread about the Virginia State Yo-Yo Contest.
In case you have missed it, here is the important information about the contest:
Virginia State Yo-Yo Championship.
The Virginia State Yo-Yo Contest will take place on Saturday, January 21, 2006, from 1:30 p.m. until 4:30 p.m. in the Food Court at The Shops at Willow Lawn. Four divisions will be available: Beginner (8 years old and younger), Sport Ladder (age divisions), A Freestyle (Virginia residents only), Open Division (anyone, any style). World record attempts will also be recorded. Kids of all ages are invited to compete and watch as some of the top regional and national yo-yoers perform. This year's competition combines the Suffolk Peanut Fest Contest with the State Championship and is sanctioned by the American Yo-Yo Association. Registration begins at 12:00 p.m. and is open to kids of all ages. Entry fee $5 per person to compete, free to watch. Questions? Call Tony Basch (804) 513-6650 or Dick Stohr (703) 451-3439 or visit http://www.willowlawn.com/events.php or http://www.webhsu.com/vastates.
If you will be going and haven't had a chance to let me know, please shoot me a PM and let me know you'll be there, so that I can make sure we have enough food afterwards at the party to be held at my house.
You may be wondering what, if anything, you can do to make this contest even better. Fortunately, I have answers. Here is what we need. If you can take care of one of these areas, PM me and let me know.
1. We need two types of videos of this contest. First, since world records will be attempted, we would like to have someone with a tape-based camera volunteer their talents (or at least their camera) to record record attempts. Second, we want to have contest videos posted shortly after the competition. In addition to having someone volunteer to tape the freestyles, we'd love to have several folks bring cameras to tape informally, both during the contest and afterwards.
2. Clip videos. If you have DVDs, CDs or hard drives with clip videos, please bring them to the contest. I'm going to load my laptop up to play videos on a projector at the mall, primarily to get passers-by watching good yoyoing and interested in the contest while folks are warming up and registering.
3. Let me know of any food allergies, pronto.
4. Since I will need to run back to my house after the competition and before everyone else gets there, I'll need someone to take the point position on making sure we clean up after ourselves at the mall, so that we can get invited back next year. I think you'll be impressed by the work that the mall is putting into this competition, and the staging will make for a good contest.
5. To add one more component to this event, we're going to have a low-level modding workshop at the after-party at my house. So far, I'll be showing off how to do the silicone mod (because it's really just that simple), Pat Cuartero will demonstrate the Raider mod, and Matt Dougherty has agreed to do some satin-finishing. If you have some skills (or if, like me, you don't, but the mod is almost impossible to screw up), feel free to bring along modding equipment.
6. At the after-party, there will be side contests that have nothing to do with yo-yoing skill (so folks like me have a chance to win). There will be prizes for those side contests. Those prizes are pretty cool. 'Nuff said.
7. Anyone who lives in Norfolk would be a saint in my book if they would be so kind as to stop by Doumar's and pick up as many of the glass souvenir jars of ice cream cones as possible. I would, of course pay for them, and I can guarantee that the person who brings the most jars will be a happy camper. For those of you not in the know, Doumar's *invented* the ice cream cone, and their cone really is amazing. A little NYYR, but it will still make the contest even better (at least from my perspective).
Questions? Let me know.
Tony