My experience at bam12
Wowee, what a whirlwind that was. It's been 3 weeks and I've only now had time to think and process the whole excursion. BAM12 was Pugilist Tech's first foray into an offline tournament, and it was amazing. Exhausting, but amazing. So, I wanted to get my thoughts and experiences on paper, for those interested.
First and foremost, we can't talk about BAM without discussing the community. I really didn't know what to expect, before coming to BAM. I didn’t know whether people would be suspicious of us because we were new to the scene, or if they would be interested in us at all - but it couldn't have been further from the truth. Everyone was super friendly and, of course, super passionate.
I have not talked more about fighting games, arcade sticks, buttonboxs, mixboxs, gamecube controllers, and controllers generally, more in my whole life.... and it was a blast. It is truly wonderful to share my passion with others, and that was very special and meant a lot to me and the team. I lost my voice by day 3, but after all the time I had spent speaking, I think that was a genuine achievement. I want to thank everyone who came to the booth to either chat or buy something from us - it was incredible to meet you all.
From a player’s perspective, I found out the hard way that the difference between my skill level and everyone else’s is…very significant. From spectators’ perspective, watching the best of Oceania fight it out was fantastic. I didn't get to see quite as much as I would have liked, because we were so busy, but I got to see some games on Saturday and some finals on the Sunday. The standard of play was second-to-none, and being part of the crowd really added to the atmosphere.
If anyone reading has yet to come to a large tournament, then you are definitely missing out. It is well worth the trip.
I’d also like to thank every customer, and also make some apologies. We really didn't have enough stock when coming to BAM, and were effectively cleaned out by the end of Saturday – so apologies for being a bit light on inventory. Having said that, it was so exciting to see you all genuinely excited about the products we did bring along. So, thank you to each person who visited and purchased from our store. It meant a lot that you spent your money with us. I wish we could have had more stock for all of you to purchase.
Quite a few of you gave feedback on what products we had and suggestions on what to stock. This was a BIG help to us and thanks to your recommendations, we have some big orders on the way, with more quantity and more variety. We are continuing to build our prototypes and look for interesting new stock. Smash players, we haven't forgotten you. Come hell or high water, we will find some stock for you. For everyone else, we will offer complete products in the future. Keep watching this space for new announcements.
To the Couch Warriors team, congratulations on an epic event. Thank you for including us and being such an amazing help on the day, with a special shout out to Daniel and Dean especially.
This is a hobby business for me (given the size of the market, it kind of has to be), which means I get a lot of help from different people. So, thank you to Nicole, she is my other company's marketing manager, and she did an incredible job. To my wife, thank you for helping on the Saturday and Sunday, I couldn't have done it without your support.
In summary, we have a lot of people to thank and am very grateful for the entire experience. This is just the start for Pugilist Tech and we will continue to grow and support the community in any way we can.
