Episode 247. Snow Galvin and the big Colorado weekend

Pinball Profile·podcast_episode·14m 19s·analyzed·Mar 6, 2020

Analysis

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TL;DR

Snow Galvin on organizing Colorado's major pinball tournament weekend with NACS, Women's Worlds, and Pinmasters.

Summary

Jeff Teolis interviews Snow Galvin, organizer of Colorado Pinball Collective's major tournament weekend hosting the North American Championship Series Finals, Women's World Championship, and Pinmasters. Snow discusses the logistical challenges of running three concurrent tournaments with six cameras, volunteer coordination, game sourcing from local collectors, and the mental/competitive aspects of tournament play formats including pin golf.

Key Claims

Pinmasters has doubled in size compared to Vegas events due to increased space at Game Exchange in Colorado
high confidence · Snow and Jeff discuss how the event grew from typical Vegas constraints to accommodate 72 players per group at the Colorado location
The Women's World Championship features 24 top women players competing in best-of-seven single elimination bracket with qualification structure: top 16 from open rankings, top 8 from women-only events, with top 8 getting byes
high confidence · Snow explains the championship format and seeding structure in detail
Snow Galvin is seeded 8th in the Women's Championship after being bumped up due to Daniel Peck's withdrawal
high confidence · Direct statement by Snow confirming her seeding
NACS has 53-54 registered players competing in the Finals
high confidence · Jeff states the player count for the North American Championship Series Finals
Pinmasters will run in pin golf format with up to 144 players potentially participating
high confidence · Snow mentions the TD challenge of managing 144 players in pin golf format with emphasis on machine reliability
Kerry Wing won the Women's World Championship last year
high confidence · Jeff references Kerry Wing as the previous year's champion
Colorado Pinball Collective sourced 10+ machines for the tournament weekend from various local collectors and venues
high confidence · Snow mentions picking up 10 machines, with Game Exchange providing 6 additional machines for the show

Notable Quotes

“I've been really thrilled with the support from local players and people that are traveling in who have actually just offered without even being solicited to help us out.”
Snow Galvin @ early segment — Illustrates strong community volunteer support enabling the event
“it's my husband and I, and he's doing so much work. He's gone above and beyond. I'm so happy for everything he's contributed.”
Snow Galvin @ mid-segment — Credits her spouse's technical contributions including real-time API software for bracket notifications
“I don't know how carl and jim do what they do you know i don't know how they play so well and run the event and like stream it and all of these things”
Snow Galvin @ mid-segment — References Carl D'Angelo and Jim Belsito as examples of event organizers who successfully manage both playing and broadcasting
“It is all about delegation. Oh my God. Yeah. One person cannot do it all.”
Jeff Teolis and Snow Galvin @ mid-segment — Key insight on managing large-scale tournament production
“one thing that we're trying to do is get the camera on a meaningful game, a consequential game...we have people that are going to be monitoring the cues and the brackets...notifying us ahead of time, hey, you got to get the rig over to Iron Maiden. This is a game seven”
Snow Galvin @ later segment — Details the broadcast strategy using volunteers to identify high-stakes matches across six cameras
“My husband wrote a really nice piece of software that we're going to be using for the first time during the NACS and Women's Broadcast...it basically uses Challenges API to pull up real-time event notifications anytime a match is updated”
Snow Galvin @ later segment — Announces innovative custom software for real-time tournament notifications using official API
“if I recall, I think Kaylee George last year had a 10, which is the worst you can do on a hole in pin golf. and he still made the playoffs.”
Jeff Teolis — Illustrates competitive resilience needed in pin golf format where single poor holes don't eliminate players

Entities

Snow GalvinpersonColorado Pinball CollectiveorganizationJeff TeolispersonGame ExchangecompanyNorth American Championship Series FinalseventWomen's World ChampionshipeventPinmasterseventCarl D'Angeloperson Jim Belsito

Signals

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community_signal: Colorado Pinball Collective implementing innovative real-time tournament notification system using Challenges API for broadcast coverage
high · Snow describes custom software written by her husband pulling real-time match updates and score changes for camera direction coordination
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event_signal: Women's World Championship format restructuring with 24 players (16 from open rankings, 8 from women-only events) with variable bye structure under consideration for future
high · Snow explains current year format with possible changes mentioned for future iterations
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community_signal: Strong volunteer ecosystem supporting major pinball tournament production, with unsolicited offers of help from local and traveling players
high · Snow emphasizes volunteer coordination as essential enabler, compares herself to Carl and Jim as managing both playing and event duties
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competitive_signal: Pin golf format emphasizes individual mental resilience and head-to-head strategic thinking; performance variance high even among elite players
medium · Discussion of Kaylee George scoring worst possible hole but still making playoffs; Snow discusses mental challenges of format
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event_signal: Major Colorado pinball tournament weekend combining NACS Finals, Women's World Championship, and Pinmasters with expanded infrastructure (6 cameras, mobile broadcast rig, real-time API software)
high · Snow and Jeff discuss detailed logistics: NACS 53-54 players, Women's Championship 24 players, Pinmasters up to 144 players in pin golf format

Transcript

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0:00

it's time now for another pinball profile i'm your host jeff teals you can find our group on facebook we're also on twitter at pinball profile email us pinball profile at gmail.com please subscribe on your favorite podcatcher and check us out on instagram at pinball profile we're going to colorado right now because all the great players are there right now not me i'm sitting here in Ontario, that's fine. Didn't earn it. Not like other people who are going to the NACS and the Women's Championship and also Pinmasters. A big weekend and making it possible is people like our special guest today, Snow Galvin. How are you doing? I'm good. How are you doing, Jeff? Snow, this is going to be nuts. You've got the world coming to Colorado there and I know Colorado Pinball Collective is a big, big part of that. Lots of streaming. It's going to be nonstop. Are you ready for it? How many cameras are we talking? We will have six cameras. We'll have the mobile rig. We'll have the tried and true tested bits of Carl's things. Anytime we up our gear, he's the first call I make. Tell me, what do I buy, Carl? Well, I've been watching Colorado Pinball Collective for a few years now and chatting online once in a while when I see you're online. So you know what you're doing from that tech standpoint, but this is kind of a whole different kettle of fish with the big, big tournaments going on. Yeah, it absolutely is. However, we've done quite a few test streams, and I've certainly traveled and competed in a lot, hoping I did enough research. One thing that I've got going for us is a huge crew of volunteers. I've been really thrilled with the support from local players and people that are traveling in who have actually just offered without even being solicited to help us out. And so it definitely couldn't be done without them. And all of the people who have donated games for this as well. I picked up 10 yesterday and delivered them all down to Game Exchange. Game Exchange is providing six for the show. And then there's a couple more coming from two other locations as well. So grateful for the owners of these machines that are entrusting us to keep them safe and having them play well. Well, think about it too. Pinmasters, one of the events this weekend, part of the Stern Pro Circuit, is doubled in size because of GameXchange, because of what's going on in Colorado and people like yourself and all these volunteers that do make it possible. Pinball is such a great community. You want to have a big event, you need some help, you go and get it. It's absolutely true. GameXchange has gone just above and beyond. Like anything I've needed, they have provided just really, really generous. So anyone that's been in Vegas for those events the last couple of years, I always had a great time. But as I think a lot of people understand, real estate and square footage can be at a premium. And they'll all be pleasantly surprised to see we have a pretty big space for all of the players, especially since Pinmasters has doubled, like you said. So during Nationals, it is 78 players all at one time. And then 72 for each group and pinmasters. But we have ample square footage, and I'm very thrilled about that. Well, yes, it kicks off with the NACS and also the Women's Championship. You are one of the 24 women who have played so well that you're there. In fact, I think you're nine seated. Is that correct? I think I got luckily bumped up to eight because Daniel Peck won be able to make it Okay Well you are definitely an amazing player We see the skills in tournaments I remember the very first time I ever saw you play when you came up to Buffalo this is a few years ago. And I was like, wow, this woman can really play pinball. And I'm sure you kicked my butt at the time, but the big event kicks off with a couple of events on Thursday. You've got the North American Championship Series Finals. And I think there's 53, 54 people. And then we've got Also, the Women's World Championship happening. Last year, Kerry Wing was the big winner. 24 of the top women player, and they are from all over the world. It's going to be quite a big event, and I know you're excited for that. Yeah, absolutely. It's a real treat to be able to host, you know? And to be totally honest, you know, we used to have the Lion Spring Classic up here that would get exceptional players to travel in. But as pinball's grown all over, you know, that event, you know, it just outgrew the capacity, right? So it's super exciting for me not to have to travel anywhere. I'm so thrilled. This is really my first time having a local event where the people come here. I'm so thrilled. Okay. Does that mean the pressure's on, though, Snow? It's always a challenge to host and to play well, especially if I'm going to be pretty wrapped up in the broadcast as well. It's my husband and I, and he's doing so much work. He's gone above and beyond. I'm so happy for everything he's contributed. and yeah you know it's going to be a challenge but i don't i don't think about that i don't know how carl and jim do what they do you know i don't know how they play so well and run the event and like stream it and all of these things i can't even do you know to gum and and walk at the same time but i know that we have solid games we've got a solid crew of people i know that josh and company run a great tournament and the facility is large enough and if required we have enough air conditioning and heating. Doesn't matter. Sounds good. Keyword, delegate. If that helps out. It is all about delegation. Oh my God. Yeah. One person cannot do it all. So explain for those who don't know how the Women's Championship works. So it's the top 16 in women's open rankings. So that would just be those who play in the open events and the top 16 that happen to be registered women and then the top eight from women's only events and then the way it works now i understand that there's going to be some changes in the future but for this year it's the top eight get buys you know and then it's going to be the nine through 16 from the open and one through eight and the women's they're going to play and we'll go from there and same format as nationals as well so it's a best of seven single elimination bracket. A big bracket. Yeah, that's interesting. Some people say, oh, there's an easy path. There's a tough path. I think when you get to this level, they're all tough paths. You know, they really, really are. I think that there are certain situations where, you know, maybe your first round's all right, but your second round won't be, you know? Yeah, exactly. So it's, but that's what makes it so exciting. I will definitely say that among the volunteers, one thing that we're trying to do is get the camera. This is one of the real struggles, but get the camera on a meaningful game, a consequential game. So we have people that are going to be monitoring the cues and the brackets, which will be updated in real time due to more volunteers and notifying us ahead of time, hey, you got to get the rig over to Iron Maiden. This is a game seven Yeah This is a game seven or somebody is up by three or there a potential for an event to take place you know And so that I think is everyone challenge I don't think that there's ever a perfect solution, but we're really going to try and show the meaningful games and the most exciting games that we can. Perfect. And that's good, too. It'll probably be a nice variety of people as well. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, especially with, you know, I'm interested to see how long the queues get, you know, because we have doubled the games. I know I remember from two years ago, I went to Vegas and the queues were sometimes like seven or eight deep on the really popular games. You know, nobody was queuing up for four queens or seven, eight deep for that. But, you know, certainly for X-Men, I know that was a popular one. And so I'm very curious to see how quickly things move or not quickly or or whatever. So that should be really nice. I also say that my husband wrote a really nice piece of software that we're going to be using for the first time during the NACS and Women's Broadcast. And it basically uses Challenges API to pull up real-time event notifications anytime a match is updated in score. So let's say you and I are playing and we were one-on-one, but then you just won a game. there should be a discrete pop-up that says, hey, Teolis is now up against Snow's 2-1. So we're hoping to try and capture the larger scope of the tournament rather than just the task at hand and whatever's on screen. And it's a challenging task, especially as, you know, hobbyists who are broadcasting. I'm very excited. This is going to be very good. And a lot of people are going to be enjoying that this weekend. And that's just Thursday, for crying out loud. Then you've got pin masters that's chaotic how do you feel about pin masters i find the pressure so difficult because one bad game can just throw you right off uh i think that if you think like that then it will oh that's my problem there you go you know i heard that a lot at indus with the classics target match play i got so sick of hearing players oh i'm out this is such a waste of time i'm already eliminated i'm like yeah dude you have at least four more rounds and you're not eliminated except that you just did. You just eliminated yourself. So no, I don't buy into that. I don't think that any strong, like really the best competitors, that's not where their brain's at. And I'm working on it too. I'm really working. I'm not great at it, but I do know that that's the secret. Okay. It's a struggle for me, but you are correct. Because if I recall, I think Kaylee George last year had a 10, which is the worst you can do on a hole in pin golf. and he still made the playoffs. So you are correct. Didn't matter. But he's also Kaylee George.