[GrannyMae]

Freudian,

your original post made perfect sense and was almost word for word the initial reaction i had received from someone close to party (not a party employee)

the initial reaction was that this series would be good for everyone *but* party. when i made some contacts at party, i was told that they would love to show support for ISOP through advertising or some other form, but really did not need the tourney. the contact at party was very supportive and actually posed the same questions.

for example, the response from the chief was "Granny, we'd love to be a part of ISOP, but are not sure if there is value in staging an actual tournament in the series, but let us know what we can do to support it."

so my response is that if they are willing to support it, then i think it would be a great idea to just go ahead and stage the event instead of just being an advertiser or sponsor.

here is the bottom line, ISOP is a tourney league that while not only open to posters, is certainly an event that was created with the 2+2 community in mind. the posters here are HEAVY party and skin players, but in the big scheme of things, the players that may try another site or three due to ISOP will undoubtedly always remain party players (i.e. ISOP is of little threat to harm party's numbers).

given the low threat that ISOP presents to party, given that staging one of the stops at party would show tremendous support for 2+2 posters, then it seems like a perfect fit and great gesture to hold an event. party has not snubbed us. there was an offer made from the *very top* to support ISOP through other ways (sponsorship etc), so we in the ISOP crew would love to see party go ahead and hold an event since they have shown support for the program anyway.

as it stands, i promised to get back to party with an answer on "how it would benefit them" along with the final detailed proposal. that is happening this week or next, and that's why i was not able to go past the 'who knows...' comment.

i was challenged to tell them how it will benefit them to be an active participating site, rather than a sponsor or advertiser. my response to them this week will be an echo of what i have just posted about it being a great gesture to the community here, and could not hurt their bottom line or marketing plans due to the fact that they have grown to such levels. since ISOP could never really hurt party and skins, then why NOT make a bunch of 2+2ers happy. seems like nothing but EV+, and as a matter of fact, we would LOVE to see them host the first event.

your original comments were very intuitive Freudian, and within a week to 10 days we will see exactly what role party will play. let's hope it is one of a tourney host, but we are proud that they want to support us in some form. it is only the form that is yet to be determined.