Having enjoyed ZOTAC and DREAMHACK (minus unforunate no-shows) I'd like to see if anyone is interested in helping setup something similar to the regular ZOTAC for North America.

The idea was inspired by Rapha's recent victory and comments, as well as Dahang's incredible play and Zero4's inability to travel due to work and family. In tandem with the fact many of us enjoy watching casts, VODs and live tournaments and think there's at least 500 to 1,000 of us in North America.

The goal is that this could be the start of a regular community funded tournament if people could set aside their negativity and "spare a coffee or two a weeks worth of chump change" it would be possible to have them every Sunday, or every other Sunday, similar to ZOTAC.

I'm willing to put up the first $750 to see how things go.

I was thinking something along the lines of a points race, $100 each Sunday, for 5 weeks or 5 sessions (bo3). The top 4 or top 8 point getters get to battle it out for $250 the 6th week or session.

If we could have one or two prior to Quakecon the beginning of August that would be ideal, but I'm not sure if anyone can help get things organized by then.

The ultimate goal would be to allow donations and hope that others can contribute $2 to $10 so that this could continue throughout the year. I'm quite certain I could contribute again, but really, it should be a community effort. Sometimes it takes someone to kick-start things, so here I am.

What I can't do myself, and what I hope, is that others with experience would be interested in helping with the following:

- organize rules and tournament structure
- oversee organizing casting, coverage and promotion

It would be nice to have this grow to be:

- regular
- support both an open and invitational bracket
- be community supported financially in part or full

If community supported, feedback and vote by majority for:

- map pool
- tournament structure
- players invited

It may be unrealistic to think this could come together prior to Quakecon, that's a nice to have. Moving forward, setting up a small website to accept registrations, provide coverage, accept donations and recognize donors, as well as promote sponsors would soon follow (easy enough to setup).

I'll be sponsoring the initial $750 through my company, so hopefully it'll inspire someone else to do something similar, or organize something similar.

Obviously this would be a volunteer based thing, with 100% of proceeds going to the players that make the effort to stay in shape and participate... so, if you feel the need to be paid to cast or whatever, this isn't for you, but you're welcome to watch and enjoy :)

The hope is to see people such as Zero4, Rapha, Dahang, Chance, (whoever I've left out) make an appearance and enjoy some competitive matches, as well as new players, so that the rest of us can enjoy great games and coverage.

Furthermore, if anyone has a small business or works at a small business, it doesn't hurt to see if there's any possibility to contribute a small sponsorship. Businesses often spend $100's on purchasing backlinks or advertisements online, why not try something different and contribute a $100 to be recognized as a small sponsor for an online tournament and get some decent backlinks from "good community" sites. Food for thought.