c4countdown

George Armstrong

Thanks to everyone who came down to Oxford yesterday, and to Lee for teaching us some important life skills - check out some highlights from our session here: https://focalcountdown.com/2025/08/17/f ... -training/

George Armstrong

Good afternoon, Those of you who regularly frequent our FOCAL tournaments might be aware that one thing we proposed for 2025 was to organise a First Aid Training Day in light of some incidents that occurred throughout 2024, so that more organisers and attendees were equipped with vital life skills ...

George Armstrong

A few comments/suggestions on the above: -FOCAL events organisers/ hosts are not paid or reimbursed for their time. FOCAL is a nonprofit organisation and no-one involved makes anything financial from it. -Any venue deposits therefore would need to pay up front out of pockets, and you would reimburse...

George Armstrong

https://greem.uk/colive/list - from here you can get the live results of any tournaments at which there is WiFi

George Armstrong

Good afternoon, Those of you who regularly frequent our FOCAL tournaments might be aware that one thing we proposed for 2025 was to organise a First Aid Training Day in light of some incidents that occurred throughout 2024, so that more organisers and attendees were equipped with vital life skills t...

George Armstrong

Scheduled it for 3pm. Finished by 4 so didn't clash <3 A brief rundown: Overview of current FOCAL budget. Discussion on safeguarding, including physical and mental First Aid training. Adam had designed a new concept website. Will look to take pages from that and incorporate them. Also looking to br...

George Armstrong

We'll be getting some custom pens and notepads on the day. Comparing to last year, the venue price has gone up, and well as just about everything else in life, so the extra money coming in has stopped either the entry fee going up, or the quality of the event going down (whichever way you choose to ...

George Armstrong

I'm proud to announce that this year's FOCAL Finals/Open will be sponsored by Crest IT Crest IT offer a flexible range of IT Support packages to suit your business needs. This can include access to full-time dedicated onsite IT support, ongoing monthly packages with unlimited telephone help, or pay ...

George Armstrong

Proudly sponsored by CREST IT - https://crest-it.co.uk https://i.imgur.com/7vkQ3t9.png All to play for in two separate tournaments! Who will be our 2025 FOCAL champion? Date: Saturday 29th November 2025 Venue: Novotel Milton Keynes, Saxon St, Leyburn Ct, Heelands, Milton Keynes, MK13 7RA (map) Admis...

George Armstrong

Are the results being posted here? Seeing as no one else has yet: 1 Jack Worsley 6 5 424 W 2 Bradley Horrocks 6 5 362 L 3 MSR 6 5 359 4 Fiona Titcombe 6 5 325 5 Dan Byrom 6 4 395 6 Stephen Read 6 4 393 7 Tim Hebbes 6 4 334 8 Richard Priest 6 4 321 9 Tracey Mills 6 4 306 10 Euan Crabb 6 4 268 11 Cha...

George Armstrong

Good evening, You may recall late last year one of the proposed ideas going forward into 2025 was to arrange some first aid training courses in order to give more members of the community vital experience in being able to handle any physical or mental health incidents or issues that may occur at a t...

George Armstrong

Final standings & results: Finals Played Wins Points 1 Dylan Taylor W 8 8 518 2 Jack Worsley L 8 7 551 3 Dan Byrom 8 6 492 4 Stephen Read 8 6 485 5 Tim Down 8 6 462 6 Tim Hebbes 8 5 475 7 Richard Priest 8 5 468 8 Tom Carey 8 5 461 9 Andy Platt 8 5 452 10 Gabriel Thallon 8 5 438 11 Jonathan de So...

George Armstrong

This is a me problem but I found the screen to be too small for my dodgy eyes when I was at the rear tables but maybe next time I can bring 2 pairs of specs The text is normally limited to being at the top of the screen so that if you're sat behind people their heads aren't in the way. You're also ...

George Armstrong

As of today we're officially half full

. If you wanna secure your place at CO:Sheffield next month, £12 to www.paypal.me/GArmstrong97/12 is the best way (or message me for more options). Getting exciting now

George Armstrong

Afternoon folks. I've got a provisional booking for 15 for dinner after CO:Sheffield at COSMO buffet for 7pm after it won the previous poll. If you're intending to come to it, please let me know via DM.

https://www.cosmo-restaurants.co.uk/res ... /sheffield

George Armstrong

My understanding was that it stemmed from the idea that the top 8 should get into the final event free, but given that most people are agreed that travel/accommodation costs are the main thing, I'm not sure it's necessary. Also I think the final event is generally held in a (s)wanky conference room...

George Armstrong

Blog post now on the FOCAL website, words by Maus - https://focalcountdown.com/2025/02/22/h ... -to-coliv/

George Armstrong

To be absolutely clear, I wasn't suggesting any suspected shenanigans in tournament finances and apologise if my post gave that impression. I'm just always pro-transparency - make it clear what the money is spent on, not because I believe anyone is being dishonest, but just because transparency is ...

George Armstrong

There is a glut, with a couple that are two weeks apart. Cost and dancing around other commitments is challenging with that, for me and I'm sure for others. Not for admission, but for travel and hotel costs. Given previous instances (i.e Valentine's Day, the Durham Miners' Gala, and various festiva...

George Armstrong

I did suggest to George that Focal could pay for and own enough of Adam's nice sets of cards to ensure everyone at a Lincoln style event is enjoying the same quality play experience (this is assuming Adam has both the capacity and will to produce them - not sure what's involved!) I think it would b...

George Armstrong

Personally, whilst I loved the first ever triple header, I have to concede that it was a pita to get to on time (even before the train issues I'd have only just made it by train so ty for the lift Callum!) and I was also absolutely shattered by the time I got home (and admittedly spending the evenin...

George Armstrong

Have you bought your prizes for CO:LON yet? Got a couple of random smelly bits from Xmas if you'd like some donations?

George Armstrong

Or tl;dr use an rng - https://co-host.netlify.app/ <3

George Armstrong

Calling out letters primary school style: I'm having badges made for next year that have simply 'NO' written on them in order to discourage this. Do we get a "NO" badge if we refrain from acting like children, or if we do? :lol: If you get the no badge, it gets stuck into your forehead. W...

George Armstrong

Ben Wilson wrote: ↑Tue Jan 28, 2025 4:46 pm Calling out letters primary school style: I'm having badges made for next year that have simply 'NO' written on them in order to discourage this.

Do we get a "NO" badge if we refrain from acting like children, or if we do?

George Armstrong

The bit where we have to stand still in silence and listen to a 15 minute exhaustive checkbox list of upcoming events is always excrutiatingly boring and kills a lot of momentum and excitement in the room. I understand that hosts need to promote events, and this is seen as a good opportunity to do ...

George Armstrong

There's no official decision on whether or not you can or can't announce sign ups yet. Before this year it was only Braintree that didn't announce sign ups. Lincoln, Liverpool, Rugby and Sheffield (as recurring events from last year) following the trend this year will help me to see what, if any, ef...

George Armstrong

Scheduled it for 3pm. Finished by 4 so didn't clash <3 A brief rundown: Overview of current FOCAL budget. Discussion on safeguarding, including physical and mental First Aid training. Adam had designed a new concept website. Will look to take pages from that and incorporate them. Also looking to bri...

George Armstrong

Following on from MK, I decided to utilise this trend and wrote a few promotional ones over the weekend to help advertise CO:Sheffield next May. Shameless plug ;) : https://www.facebook.com/events/1127161078773560/?post_id=1152051926284475&view=permalink&notif_id=1733842948780879&notif_t...

George Armstrong

Good morning folks, For those not at Milton Keynes, you might not be aware of the announcement, so here I am to explain. As you'll know, Darren decided to step down as Chair, and you voted for who you'd like to replace him. Thank you to all the organisers who took part in the vote, but now comes all...

George Armstrong

As Fiona says, yes please sign up as soon as you know you're definitely going. It really helps organisers know how much money they'll have spare for prizes, customs pens and paper, the sort of thing we've got to order and have delivered. Fwiw the cap on Sheffield is the very top of what I can put in...

George Armstrong

If that's the chippy near the Ark, last time someone had lunch from there and I pinched a chip, it was so bad I didn't finish said chip. Make of that what you will. Dunno what time people are turning up. For me, if I'm on the train, I'll just about make it to Hykeham for 17.20 and can imagine others...

George Armstrong

Yesterday there were clumsy conundrum disputes pertaining to premature buzzing and losing conundrums due to spelling errors. I mean if you spell it wrong, it's wrong and you don't get the points. Ideally hosts of Bristol events could avoid using cons that can be easily misspelled, eg METER/METRE su...

George Armstrong

Countdown in Sheffield is back, but what can you expect from CO:SHE 2025?: Our Venue: We will once again be at St Bartholomews, Primrose Hill, Langsett, Sheffield, S6 2UW. Just a 15 minute drive or 20 minute tram ride from Sheffield Station. There is a small amount of parking onsite and plenty of si...

George Armstrong

TBF it would have been even worse with 8 games. The Yorkshire trains arriving late and us having to wait for people, lots of slow newbies, etc. Hopefully smoother this year and I will try and get the overhead projector working as well. And I kept messaging to tell you to start and wait for us to ge...

George Armstrong

Logged it as a ticket on Apto, am assured it's all fixed now

George Armstrong

Question for the northern lot. Are there any times of the year where you feel like it's tough to get to any event because there are several in a row so very far away? But to answer this point, yes. Luckily for myself, I finish work early enough in the day to travel on Fridays, but for anything sout...

George Armstrong

E.g next three Blackpool/Dublin/Glasgow. Getting to any of those is quite tough. Arguably it's easier to get to both Dublin and Glasgow from London and the surrounding areas than it is from the wilderness of the good ol' North. London has plenty of airports... But on the whole I think this year's c...

George Armstrong

Anyone else remember when Tony Atkins shot to meme fame getting off a bus?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpmFnUTkpL0

George Armstrong

Lincoln/Blackpool - 5
Birmingham (counting the "Brums" as Birmingham) - 4
Manchester/Milton Keynes - 3
Everything else (discounting hosting) is 2 or under.

So 3 atm but by the end of the year, hopefully FOCAL Finals means Milton Keynes can push me up to 4.

George Armstrong

CO:Sheffield 2024 18 May 2024 STANDINGS Players are ranked by number of wins then total points scored. P W Pts 1 Jack Worsley 8 7 488 (won final) 2 Jonathan De Souza 8 7 443 (lost final) 3 Callum Todd 8 6 547 4 Dylan Taylor 8 6 462 5 Thomas Carey 8 6 459 6 James Robinson 8 6 439 7 Adam Latchford 8 5...

George Armstrong

(possibly) Final update of the day, we now have the venue from 10am, so doors will open slightly earlier than originally planned

George Armstrong

Looking to cap Sheffield at 42 as I've told the venue to expect around 40. Now at 35 with 1/2 who've messaged with intentions. If anyone's told you they're coming and they haven't signed up yet please give them a nudge 🙂 . If we get a few more through the cracks like Reading and get to 45/48 it'll b...

George Armstrong

Good news folks, Bella Italia (the Sheffield St Paul's one) have said yes. We've a booking for 20 for 7pm. Yes that's later than the other booking but it's in Sheffield city centre so we're closer for trains home so one offsets the other. No preorder needed this time but I'll attach a menu for your ...

George Armstrong

Bad news folks, unfortunately Temple of Fun have been in touch. Here's what they had to say: "We are really sorry to be messaging but unfortunately Church will be closed to the public on Saturday 18th May. We are taking part in a festival that is happening all across Kelham, which is ticketed e...

George Armstrong

Sounds like a good plan to allow flexibility to have extra games if timings allow so. Please don't leave it too late to decide the number of games. For example, if you decide after game 4 that a 7th game is possible on the day, I think this is reasonable notice as a lot can change in the leaderboar...

George Armstrong

Some folk have made the point in the past that the grand final format at an event should be the same as the format played throughout the day for the sake of fairness and consistency. Possibly wait until after Reading, see how the 15R games go and possibly adopt them for the whole of the Finals/Open ...

George Armstrong

Following Callum's suggestion I've made a booking for dinner at Church - Temple of Fun for 20 at 18:30. They need a preorder for food items but only the day before so no rush. If you're wanting to come please let me know :) https://templeof.fun/pages/menus?fbclid=IwAR3GqAnfldmv_ZPV82V8Eh06dBRXTmH6cQ...

George Armstrong

Also on the topic of time keeping - kicking off roughly on time is appreciated so we don't miss our trains home! In the event attendees have bad fortune and get delayed just let their two table mates play with no host for game 1 round 1 to buy them an extra 30 minutes. Fwiw I did message Andy at th...

George Armstrong

Reasons to go with standard declaration; It's the way it's done on the show/ apterous/ Jack's app, so it what people are used to. Plus given most attendees will be doing it this way, it makes it easier for new players to understand how the game works. Worst of all is when some hosts, whether doing s...

George Armstrong

Callum Todd wrote: ↑Wed Jan 31, 2024 7:44 am Going to suggest this place for post-event scran if no plans have already been made:

https://templeof.fun/

Looks great Callum, should be something for everyone - and very close to our venue! Will canvas opinions on FB.

George Armstrong

Yeah thanks again Ben. I'll second everything GC said. Much better atmosphere at the social club than the fox and hounds, but I don't think we'd even be able to describe the food as "ok" this time I didn't eat at the social club. Are you saying the food there was better than OK or worse t...

George Armstrong

Yeah thanks again Ben. I'll second everything GC said. Much better atmosphere at the social club than the fox and hounds, but I don't think we'd even be able to describe the food as "ok" this time

George Armstrong

Rhythm. Gimme some vowels man

George Armstrong

Up on the FOCAL site as of yesterday - get promoting people <3 https://focalcountdown.com/liverpool-2024/

George Armstrong

Might as well throw my two cents into this. Firstly George was fantastic the whole day and I think everybody (except myself!) in the room were saddened to see him come so agonisingly close. Hope to see you get your first event win under your belt soon! Still can't quite believe that, especially afte...

George Armstrong

Dan Byrom wrote: ↑Sun Nov 19, 2023 10:24 pm Count me in for food please!

Unfortunately the venue have set a capacity which we've met (actually we went over and have had to reject a couple). However Beachy has made alternate meal plans so worth messaging him. Ofc anyone else is welcome to join us for the karaoke (up until 10pm)

George Armstrong

Countdown has found itself a new Yorkshire home in the beating industrial heart of Sheffield! But what can you expect from CO:SHE 2024?: Our Venue: We will be at St Bartholomews, Primrose Hill, Langsett, Sheffield, S6 2UW. Just a 15 minute drive or 20 minute tram ride from Sheffield Station. There w...

George Armstrong

A quick update on plans post event: We've got the karaoke room booked again at Legend One in Milton Keynes for after the tournament. If you're interested in joining us for some quality Asian food and possibly a tune or two let us know

https://www.legendonemk.co.uk/about

George Armstrong

It's also a day when Liverpool are at home, which is not good news for hotel prices. If Liverpool weren't, Everton would be. Equally the Liverpool game could well be moved to the Sunday if Liverpool continue to progress in the Europa League or a Friday/Monday with TV rights so it's not really causi...

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