The Cast are Dice 2011 TicketsWhere: Stoke 6th Form College, Leek Road, Stoke-on-Trent, ST4 2RU
When: Saturday 20th August 2011 & Sunday 21st August 2011
Times: 10am to 10pm Saturday, 10am to 8pm Sunday (unconfirmed)
The best board gaming weekend in the UK is finally back!
After two very successful events in 2006 and 2007, we have finally managed to find a new venue for this year, which meets our (rather fussy) requirements of being light, clean, airy, and above all family-friendly.
More details will be sent to all attendees nearer the time as more things are finalised, but at the moment we know that there will be:
- A massive games library of approximately 500 titles (or more)
- A shop at the venue where snacks and drinks can be bought
- Other places to eat and drink within easy walking distance
- A hotel for those that need to stay overnight also within very easy walking distance. More details on a special rate coming very soon.
- Colour name badges (including BGG avatars, if required) for all weekend tickets booked in advance!
- A free game with every £15 weekend ticket booked in advance!
Don't miss out on the most fun pure board gaming event of the year! Book your tickets now, and choose which days you can attend below ...
NumbersThere are initially 200 advance tickets available for each day. The venue is very flexible, we have plenty of space, and we'll be able to cater for well above that number should we need to, including people that walk in on the morning of the event.
The last two times we have run this event, it has been very successful. However, there has been a gap of a few years, so we're not sure how many to expect this time around.
If it looks like we might sell out, we shall look at expanding the area we intend to use to accommodate more people.
The current number of people registered are:
Saturday: 123
Sunday: 108
Games LibraryThe games library will contain somewhere in the region of 500 games. These games are coming from the collection of Shire Games, as well as Nick & Sue's personal collection, and will therefore be very up-to-date, containing many newer releases.
As we would like all of our games returned in good condition (as they were the last two times ... thank you everyone!), we will once again enforce a "no food or drink on the table" rule for the games from the library.
TournamentsWe have tried to run tournaments at previous TCAD events, but it always proves very difficult to get all of the people you need available at the same time and place!
Therefore ... at the moment, we have no plans to run any "official" tournaments this year. If anyone would like to run an "unofficial" one, by all means get in touch and we'll see if we can help out.
Food and DrinkThere will certainly be a little shop open in the venue. This sells tea and coffee, as well as cold soft drinks, crisps, etc ... at slightly subsidised prices.
We are still talking with the venue about the possibility of this shop also doing some simple hot food (pies, sausage rolls, etc...) as well.
There is a "Subway" and a couple of pubs within very easy walking distance of the venue, so there are plenty of options.
Of course, you are welcome to bring your own soft drinks and cold food (sandwiches, etc) with you. And there's a large refectory where you can sit and eat (as well as play games)
ChildrenAs with previous events, we are not putting an age restriction on the convention, but all children under 16 must be accompanied by an adult.
All children under 6 will be allowed in free, but above that age we will assume they are here to play games and will need to buy a ticket!
Also please be aware, when bringing children that the following will apply:
- Children under 10 should not be allowed to wander unaccompanied around the venue.
- If space allows, one of the many areas we have use of will be declared an "adults only" area, where gamers won't have to worry about their language quite so much!
- Any complaints about the behaviour of any children at the convention may result in those people being asked to leave.
Basically, we would like everyone to enjoy themselves and have a great weekend, and to some people that will mean a weekend gaming as a family, and to others it will mean a weekend away from the family and gaming with other adults. As long as everyone respects that, then we won't have any problems!
Costs The costs per person for The Cast are Dice 2011 are as follows:
Advanced Bookings Weekend Ticket: £15
One-Day Ticket: £8
"On the Door" Costs: Weekend Ticket: £20
One-Day Ticket: £10
Included in this ticket price is:
- Use of the games tables (obviously)
- Unlimited use of the Games Library
- Name badge, including BGG avatar & geekbadge, if appropriate (and if booking in advance)
- Free "door prize" on arrival for all advanced weekend bookings
- Anything else that we might think of later ....
** - We are going to have some sort of prize for everyone who books a weekend ticket in advance. These will all be games provided by any excess ticket money, as well as by Shire Games and our many other generous sponsors. For fairly obvious reasons, the largest percentage of these giveaways will be smaller games, and they will be awarded tombola-style as people arrive, so the people who arrive earlier will have a greater choice from whichever category they draw "out of the hat".
Please note, we do not intend to make any money out of the convention. Once the number of registrations passes a certain point, we will have recouped the cost of hosting the event. After that point, all ticket money will be re-invested in prizes and giveaways.
How to RegisterThis year, the only way to buy tickets is to buy them online here:
TCAD Tickets, and we will email you to confirm your tickets and to get all the information for your badges, etc.
