Social media is the predominant form of communication today, and Facebook is the leader in that circle. I don’t make the rules of societal communication.
But if I did… skywriting. Just FYI.
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There’s skywriting… and then there’s whatever this is
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But - do we want to open up pinball to new people by allowing them to vote on a part of a competitive sport in which they have yet to participate? Seems a bit of an odd way to get them interested.
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A lot of people benefit from a PAPA event besides the participants.
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What is odd about it?
My first competition was a PAPA event. I found out about it from a friend (I didn’t have facebook in 2007). Facebook is one of the new ways people find out about things going on.
If even 1% of the new people who have never competed are sent the poll by a friend and they say, “WOW, I had no idea this existed. These tournaments are all over the place. This looks like a big deal!” and actually attend a show or play in one event, then it is a success.
Growth in the number competitive pinball players can only come from people who have never competed.
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Pinball has a long history of welcoming outsiders. Not a jock or a nerd? No prob, plenty of room at the arcade for everyone. Look around at any pinball show and you’ll see these people. Pinball is loaded with ‘odd’ people. These people have no problem using technology. They just don’t want to be on FB. There are plenty of people in the hobby like this. Sure the noobs are all over FB. They’re young and everyone else their age is doing it.
Maybe you guys could survey people at shows. I bet 10% or more of the community isn’t on FB. This specific incident isn’t a big deal, but then I read here that game titles for PAPA are being released on FB. I looked and I can see the info there, but there’s a big login screen blocking the view. Not user friendly.
Looking at the bigger picture, have you tried playing in a match play tourney lately without a smart phone? You’re at a disadvantage without one. So now we need to carry a smart phone and have a FB login to keep up with the Jones’? That’s not even talking about costs. What’s the cheapest someone could spend to compete in a circuit event? This hobby used to be for everyone. Now it’s moving in a more eletist direction. Not good.
At a minimum, I would hope that PAPA would copy and paste all the info posted on FB to the website. I worked for HP for 20’years. Plenty tech savvy. Could probably teach Kevin a thing or two. I’ll never be on FB, thanks.
After the reveals are completed the entire game list will be posted on papa.org. I believe someone is also posting them on here as well. They are also listed on twitter. They will also go out in our email newsletter. We use a lot of different methods to communicate.
There were a few lower cost circuit events. Magfest was free entry into the tournament (had to pay to get into the show). Buffalo was best game @ $1 per game, no entry or registration fee.
Neither Pinburgh nor PAPA WC requires a smart phone. Having one might make it easier to find your groups, but we also print them all out at the desk.
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“To win at pinball is to lose at not having a smart phone”
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In a word, yes. I’m not a big facebook fan, and don’t have a wall (in other words, no one can post to my account including me), but I would rather keep up with friends / groups / events than not. Life is imperfect.
While I agree that not everyone can afford a smartphone, they are far from an elitist luxury. Anyone who travels the circuit can afford one. Traveling without a smartphone in 2017 is a form of masochism I can’t begin to understand.
Hobbies require money, and life doesn’t wait for luddites.
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Cool story. Time machines cost money too.
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Replace “entertainment” with “gambling”
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It was cheap entertainment in the 1990’s too. Remember way back then?
Well this is a competitive sport now, not just something to do in bars. There are things you need to have in order to compete at a high level. Locally, not having a phone is no big deal, I know the tourneys that run here on MP have a tablet you can look at.
How is a smartphone required for match play tournaments? I can see that you pretty much need a smart phone for selfie leagues (though we have people who play with friends and borrow their phone), but for match play tournaments?
Not true says my mom . . . digital camera, go home, load SD card into computer, pull off selfie pics, email your son, have them posted. EASY!!! 
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Similar to @pinwizj (although this person is not my mother) we have a Selfie League participant in PDX who bought a crappy digital camera specifically to participate in selfie league while keeping his flip phone.
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[quote=“phishrace, post:53, topic:2395, full:true”]It was cheap entertainment in the 1990’s too. Remember way back then?
[/quote]
Edit: nevermind, I’m not even sure what you’re trying to argue at this point.
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we should do a “Polaroid League”, wouldn’t that be awesome!
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Chris Chinn has played in more tournaments in the last 3 years than anyone else and he just uses a flip phone! SPECIALS!
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