The Manila Experience
Well yeah, we are on the way back from the Phillipines. It has been some really amazing days, long hardworking but still amazing days. First off, flying 12+4hours+3hours train is not really something you look forward too. Its a too long trip in my opinion but due to the buissniesstickets it was actually not bad at all. Able to lie down, able to relax is a huge part of a travelng experience and i really thank the organisators for that. When you almost have to travel for a whole 24h you really need to be able to relax at some point. Otherwise the traveldays will exhaust you, not this time tho. It was amazing
Arriving to this country i actually had no idea what i could expect, i've never been here before, but with the extra security provided by Valve i was abit worried. We arrived at night, the sun was nowhere to be found in the sky but it was so hot. So damn hot. I can honestly say if it was only for the weather i would never be able to live here. The humidity makes it impossible. We traveled by bus from the airport to the hotel. With policeescort. We ran red lights and one way streets like there was no rules. I guess thats the pros of having an escort like that. When we arrived to the hotel it felt really good. Alot of nice people always calling you sir and beeing very respectful and helpful, even sometimes to the extent that i felt bad about it. I mean i grew up in a working home, i chopped my own wood, so its not easy to just feel good when people are that extremely polite.
Anyway, the rooms where great, the hotel aswell. Food not so good for me, but it was still okey. Even if the food were rice or pasta there was always sallad to choose, and the maincourses felt well done. I mean they had taste, and you could tell it was made by professionals. Breakfast is a chapter for itself, i dont even think i visited all the corners of that breakfast table since it was so large. I mainly eat the omelettes anyway.
For the other meals it was a great system, if you ended earlier there was always dinner (we never ended earlier) and if you ended later it was midnightsnack. Can tell Valve has done their fair amount of events since they really take care of the people. Its a big part of having a successful event, the talent, the workers, the producers has to be able to feel full and got their rest.
Anyway, the event started few days after we arrived, and this was our biggest worry. We have never produced anything bigger then just a stream from home, and we had done alot of research and PGL said they might be able to provide us with some of the equipment. The rest we rented. I know the PGL guys from before, atleast some of them, i know they are good guys. But after this event thats not enough to say. They had their hands full with own work but still found time to help us and back us up, giving us tips, or providing us with stuff that we never brought to the event. They really made our trip possible, without them we would probably not even have managed, but with their help we could perfect the simple equipment we had to make a decent, if not good, streamingexperience for the people back home.
Viewernumbers? Good, decent. I mean Alliance where knocked out early, so was coL, Secret also. So all the Swedes actually was gone early. Also the time in Sweden during this event was like 04.00 - 17.00 which is by far the worst time you can run a stream in Sweden, atleast the viewers i have. But still it was fairly decent, im satisfyed, but i would love to run an event where the times are good for swedes AND we also could get the swedes in the professional scene to do good. You cant get everything you wish for though.
And yeah, im in the middle of "after an event" anxiety. Really. After an event in this size you always feel num, tired , and when i am longing enough after my wife and my kids, the question that comes back to me is always "Is it worth it?" All these hours, all this time. Is it worth it? Will the Swedish broadcast be invited to more event, was this just a tes or are we welcome back? Alot of questions running trough my head right now. But really all i want is to sit down in my sofa in my home in Falun, and surround me with the people that i have been missing for two weeks now. I can't wait. The International is next. Lets see if we will be there. Fingers crossed.
Lastly i would like to thank everyone supporting us during these events, every person who thinks its great that we have a Swedish production. People who randomly comes by to take a picture, or companys like PXL and WLTR who believe e-sports and swedish e-sports is a good way of showing themself. Also thanks to all the moderators and coworkers in the stream - alof of the work you dont see is made by these people. Also thanks to everyone else. I feel humble when i get your support. Time to board. Cya next time. Maybe?