Bookworm And Kings Daughter Beat-Down Fight Day 2013

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The Kings Daughter
Sonbeam
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Post by The Kings Daughter »

I echo both gentlemen! Thank you for coming, and thank you to a great opponent and fantastic mod! :D
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SnC Forever. Miss you still.
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bookworm
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Post by bookworm »

Behind the Scenes Stuff
A lot of preparation went into this event in the past couple months to make sure everything would be just right. What follows is a look into the planning that the public didn’t see, as well as acknowledgments and thanks to those who made this event possible.

Ever since AE announced the holiday, I knew I wanted to do something special on it when it came around. I didn’t give it serious thought for a while, being so far off, I just lightly considered it off and on. The idea that kept coming to me was to have a special celebratory debate. That was what brought about the institution of the holiday after all. I decided to give it more thought when it was closer.

In early January I began some serious planning. I was pretty sure the debate idea was the route to go, so I contacted TKD to get her opinion. I also contacted KF because he had expressed interest in being the announcer. They both supported the idea, so I began expanding the details.
The idea for a multi-subject debate came to me one day, and I really liked it. It seemed like it would be unique and fun, and it also made sense. Since this only happens once a year, we may as well cover as many things as we can. The question then was where the topics would come from. That was when the idea really took off and I knew it would be a hit.

Originally the main event was going to be that TKD and I had a semi-scripted debate. That may have been enjoyable enough for people to watch unfold, but what if the public somehow had more invested in it than just being an audience? What if they actually chose the topics? I ran it by KF and he thought it would work, so it was settled. The position of announcer morphed into moderator. He would accept the topic suggestions and be in charge of the debate lineup and schedule.

Passing that part of things on to KF opened some great new possibilities. If he kept the topics to himself until the debate, no one, not even TKD and I, would know what was going to be next. We would have to debate on our toes. And even better, he could randomly select who took which side. The whole thing would be genuinely spontaneous content. That should definitely be fun for the audience to watch, and even for the two of us debaters.

And finally, I created a fun little logo for the holiday.

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After finalizing the details of all that with TKD and KF I thought I was done. I had the event all set, it would be the perfect way to celebrate the day. But then a whole new side of things came to my mind, and I started on a whole new aspect of planning.

What came next was all technically unnecessary. You may read about it and not get it. And that’s fine. I know not everyone thinks this way and would want to play along this way. But I do and I did.
One of the things that I like most about the ToO is taking the Town aspect of it seriously. Imagining that this really is a Town, with ordinances and regulations. That holding events isn’t just done in a thread, it’s done in a location. That things don’t just happen, you have to make them happen. Things don’t come from nowhere, you have to arrange their setup and financing. I find it very fun to think about it that way, and it just makes me happy.

So, once I entered that mindset, the logical question was where this grand debate was going to be held. We could just stand around outside City Hall, but that wouldn’t be very fitting for such an occasion. It wouldn’t be very comfortable either. No, we needed a special venue outfitted just for this event.
It was a no-brainer who to go to: Dan’s smiley crew, Arkman Construction. Not only did I know they would do a superb job, but it would give the whole thing a level of validity. With the company that constructs the ToO birthday presents behind it, the event would be seen as the serious and official thing it was meant to be.

I contacted Dan and pitched him my request, more or less. I didn’t want to reveal the details of what it was for. To my great delight, he agreed to draw up the paperwork for the smilies to take the job in spite of the minimal information. Now there was just one thing to take care of. The money! These construction projects cost millions of dollars, which is perfectly reasonable with their quality and excellent workmanship, but was entirely out of my price range. However, I had a plan. The ToO gets a government grant for official Town projects such as the birthday presents. If this building could qualify for that then everything would be perfect.

I contacted Catspaw’s office and told her about how I was planning a celebration for the upcoming holiday. I said that although I’m spearheading this effort, it’s really not for me it’s for the whole Town. This is an official Town holiday, so it will be an event for everyone. Because of this she agreed to classify the building as an official Town project and not a personal one, thus making it eligible for the Town’s project grant. I happily passed the news on to Dan and made sure all the finances would be taken care of.

I then began drawing up a blueprint for the inside of the arena. I had the main detail in my mind from the start; I wanted the debate podiums to be located inside a boxing ring. I just knew that had to be the setup, because it was perfect for what the event was: a ‘beat-down fight’ debate. So I drew up that main area first and created the rest of the building around it, and ended up with this:

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Then all that was left was to decide on a name. I considered naming it after someone significant to ToO history, but wasn’t sure who would be the right choice. The more I thought about it I decided it may be better to just leave it unnamed. I still needed something to call it though, so I thought it would be pleasantly ironic to have the name be Unnamed. So that’s where that came from.

Then, I gave a satisfied sigh and relaxed. Everything was taken care of, we just had to wait. TKD, KF, and I were very excited and really looking forward to this. In just under two months we would put it on, and hopefully everyone would find it as fun as we thought it would be.

On February 28th Dan sent the invoice I had requested, just out of curiosity of what the final cost did end up being.

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And then on March 1st we posted the reminder of the upcoming holiday and the call for topic submissions, and you know the rest. :)
Acknowledgments and Thanks

American Eagle - For instituting BAKDBDFD as an official ToO holiday. I don’t know if you were completely serious at the time, but if you were I hope this first official observance of it met your vision.

Catspaw - For sanctioning this undertaking. Without her support we wouldn’t have been able to acquire an official venue for this event, which would have made it not quite as fun.

DanP740 - For overseeing the collaboration with the Arkman Construction smiley crew in building the wonderful venue of Unnamed Arena.

Knight Fisher - For assistance in planning details of the festivities, and for moderating the celebratory debate.

The Kings Daughter - For engaging in good natured discussion with me on what we now know as BAKDBDFD 2012, unintentionally sparking what would become an official ToO tradition, and for being willing to do it again in celebration of the intentionally observed BAKDBDFD 2013.
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