INTRODUCTION
It’s back to school weekend at The University of Oklahoma and we thought we’d break the ice for all of our students returning back or coming for the first time to campus. Last year we spent a lot of time building and growing relationships on every front. Now it’s time to start flexing some of them as we enter the new year. For our incoming freshmen and transfers, welcome to your new home! We hope your time here is amazing and we plan to give you a few more reasons to celebrate your decision to be part of the Sooner family. For our returning students, welcome back! We made a lot of progress since we opened up the doors to the start of this back on November 4th, 2017. For anybody just learning about us and are curious about what we achieved in less than a full school year take a look at our recap article showcasing testimonials and accolades from last year HERE. We do encourage you to learn about the organization through this link. It will be important as you continue to read and if you want to be involved in opportunities like this moving forward. Please take the time to review this guide to our back to school programming, giveaways, mixers, and cookout. We will also be highlighting our strategic partners and their purposes at the end of the document. Take your time and read everything! This is your guide to all 4 of our events this weekend versus creating separate articles.
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EVENTS OVERVIEW AND SCHEDULE
Let’s set the tone for our ultimate giveaway and then we’ll dive into the details for all the individual events and how you can have a chance at winning it. As we have ramped up energies we naturally gained new partnerships along the way. Thanks to the work of the One University Store, our retail space on campus, and their constant connectivity with manufacturers, vendors, and distributors we are happy to announce a partnership with Dell/Alienware for our back to school programming as well as an upcoming campus-wide tournament that will conclude closer to the end of the Fall 2018 semester. More on that in September.
For this event, Alienware has provided an AW2518H 25″ Gaming Monitor. That’s right!! A brand new G-Sync 240hz 25″ Alienware Monitor!!!! We wanted to make this as level a playing field for all OU gamers so we came up with a participation and engagement focused system to keep it fair and friendly. Keep reading to find out what this weekend is all about and how to get a chance at this amazing monitor provided by our efforts and our partnership with the One University Store and Dell Alienware.
ULTIMATE GIVEAWAY PRIZE
To celebrate the successful growth of our efforts at OU, the ONE U store have partnered with Dell Alienware to give away this monitor for our back to school programming. Their partnership has been extremely beneficial to the growth of our initiative by linking us to deeper conversations in the industry that are paving the way for serious partnerships and future opportunities. For now, check out the ultimate giveaway’s specs below:
ALIENWARE AW2518H GAMING MONITOR
SPECS
Nvidia G-Sync 240hz 25″ 1080P Display
HDMI/Displayport Input
Adjustment: Height, pivot (rotation), swivel, tilt
Response Time: 1ms
Additional Features: 4-Port USB 3.0 Hub
FULL SPECS CLICK HERE
EVENT SPECIFICS AND DETAILS
Alright! Now that you know what the ultimate giveaway is and how to get a chance at winning it, let’s dive into the four events we have planned for this weekend and what to expect.
EVENT 1: ONE U/OU ESPORTS INTRO ITINERARY
Date: Friday, August 17th, 2018
Where: The One University Store inside the Oklahoma Memorial Student Union
Time: 12PM to 1PM
This specific event is to help start breaking the ice on who we are and what esports is. Kris Davis, Vendor Relations Advisor, will highlight the purpose of the ONE U store on campus and how it supports the Esports Association and growth in our topic. Mike Aguilar, Lead Advisor, will then briefly discuss the opportunities esports at OU brings to the table and provide a macro view on this wildfire topic specifically in the collegiate space. This event invites parents to attend as well and they both will welcome questions, discussion, and insight to our topics.
EVENT 2: NIGHT AT THE UNION ITINERARY (UP TO 2 ENTRIES FOR THE ULTIMATE GIVEAWAY)
Date: Friday, August 17th, 2018
Where: The One University Store inside the Oklahoma Memorial Student Union
Time: 1PM to 830PM
This event is all about socializing with a dab of competition thrown in for fun. This event has a lot of logistics involved so take your time reading this one as there are three main parts. First, you can only participate in one tournament which results in one entry for the ultimate giveaway.
All events will have a pre-registration window with rulesets that will be declared at the time of tournament start. Since this is the first time we’re doing this we have no basis for anticipating the number of participants nor do we want to limit opportunity. All tournaments will have a designated tournament operator. All tournaments have prizes for the top 3 placements.
Check below for more details on all three tournaments including prizes, facilitators, and signup windows.
Sm4sh Bros. - WII U
Tournament Organizer: Kenny Thai, President of Sooner Smash Brothers (A Peer Student Organization at OU)
Signups: 1-430PM
Tournament Start: AS SOON AS FIRST 32 SIGNUP*
Prizes:
1st) Roccat Suora Gaming Keyboard, Roccat Kone Pure SE Gaming Mouse, and Roccat Taito Mouse Pad (Mid-Size)
3rd) Roccat Hat
Preliminary Ruleset:
- Rulesets can be adjusted based on the volume of signups with cutoffs being invoked if timing becomes critical.
- First, you’re welcome to bring your own GameCube controllers.
- *This tournament will have a staggered launch structure due to the potentially high volume of participation.
- As we start getting signups we will build brackets on the fly and start executing matches with the final cutoff for signups being at 430PM tops. NO EXCEPTIONS!
- Elimination rules will be determined at tournament start time.
Mario Kart 8 - SWITCH
Tournament Organizer: Ricky McNeal of HXC Gaming (Our direct 3rd party console tourney facilitator)
Signups: 1-3PM
Tournament Start: 330PM
Prizes:
1st) Accessory Power Scoria Headset, Accessory Power Mouse Bungee/USB Hub
3rd) Roccat Hat
Preliminary Ruleset:
- Rulesets can be adjusted based on the volume of signups with cutoffs being invoked if timing becomes critical.
- 4 players per set
- 4 races
- Top 2 make move to next round
Speedrunners - XBOX ONE
Tournament Organizer: Jack Counts, President of the Esports Association at OU (Our Student Org)
Signups: 1-5PM
Tournament Start: 530PM
Prizes:
1st) Accessory Power Scoria Headset, Accessory Power Mouse Bungee/USB Hub
2nd) Accessory Power Theorem Mouse
3rd) Roccat Hat
Preliminary Ruleset:
- Rulesets will be adjusted based on the volume of signups with cutoffs being invoked if timing becomes critical.
- Elimination rules will be determined at tournament start time.
- Format: 8 groups of 4 for round 1. Winner from each game moves on in the bracket. 2 groups of 4 for round two, each group plays until two winners are determined (winner from first game doesn’t play in second game). Final group of 4 for third round, play once to determine winner.
EVENT 3: STUDENT ORIENTATION WEEK: INVOLVEMENT FAIR
Date: Firday, August 17th, 2018
Where: South Oval (Outside – Look for the Innovation Hub Trailer)
Time: 5PM to 7PM
Every year different student organizations and student engagement focused departments pool together on the South Oval of campus to showcase the various options across our university that are available to students based on their interests. We will be teaming up with our departmental partners from the Tom Love Center for Entrepreneurship, Tom Love Innovation Hub, and helping to showcase VR gaming with Beat Saber. Look for the big Innovation Hub trailer and come to grab a pamphlet, ask us any questions, and try your hand at some VR games! Yes this event is going on at the same time as our mini tourneys in the Union, but for those that don’t want anything to do with the tournaments they can stop by our table in the South Oval to talk to some of our leadership and veteran members about the org.
Heads up: Start learning about Beat Saber because a campus-wide tournament is coming in this title with an even bigger prize pool than this event.
EVENT 4: MEET & GREET COOKOUT ITINERARY (1 ENTRY FOR THE ULTIMATE GIVEAWAY)
Date: Saturday, August 18th, 2018
Where: Tom Love Innovation Hub
Time: 7PM to 930PM
This location is still part of OU campus but pretty far South and out of walking distance. Join the org asap and we can coordinate rides through the #public channel of our Discord there and back. This building locks down after hours however we will have access to it. We request that you walk to the SE corner of the building where we will be grilling and this will be the main entry/exit point for us. We will be cooking up hot dogs and will provide water. This is completely free for OU students who show us their access to our Discord server on their phone. There will be a tip jar available to help us with the cost, but there is no requirement to contribute. This event counts as a single entry to the ultimate giveaway and there will be a signup sheet. MAKE SURE YOU PUT YOUR NAME DOWN FOR CREDIT!
This specific event continues the trend of breaking the ice, sharing who we are, and introducing some of our leadership and veteran members. We want everyone to come out and mingle. Our golden rule is “we will debate not degrade” and our mission is to provide a safe haven for gamers across OU. Come and meet the students leading the charge on this extremely progressive topic. This is an open forum type event where we to express that we are all gamers and while we all may play different games this is still your community and campus for any and all gaming energies.
DOOR PRIZES, TEAM BUILDING, ICEBREAKERS, MIXING
We will have a teamwork/ice breaking tournament using Overcooked 1 and 2 on the Nintendo Switch. If you have a Switch feel free to bring it and any copies of Overcooked 1 or 2 to assist. There will be a door prize for tonight but this entire event is focused on socializing. You’re welcome to bring board games and anything you’d like to play that would be great for team building, icebreaking, and hilarity.
Some of the prizes may include and are not limited to gaming hardware, bags, shirts.
HOW TO PARTICIPATE IN THE ULTIMATE GIVEAWAY
The first thing to know about all of this is we kept this entirely free to all OU Norman campus students, but with that in mind, we did impose some opportunities to help us out and educate everyone along the way about the topic of gaming and esports and the specific opportunities at OU. So let’s get started! We are utilizing participation as a means to give people the opportunity to have a fair chance at this amazing prize. This means that the more active you are along the weekend the better chance you have to win this prize. Here’s the breakdown:
- 1x Entry = Membership to the org! Remember that article we referenced at the top of this post? Did you join the org? No? Well, if you want a chance at all to win this you need to be a member of our org. All OU students are eligible to be a member, it’s completely free with zero strings attached. If you’re not interested then your journey in this article stops here as there is no way around this requirement. We sent out a mass mail in July saying join up now to stay ahead of the barrage of opportunities.
- 1x Entry = Membership to the org prior to 8.15.18. The early bird entry! Thank you to those who joined from last year and all new members from our OUMM blast back in July.
- FREEZE!! THOSE TWO ABOVE ENTRIES AND YOUR ELIGIBILITY FOR THE ULTIMATE GIVEAWAY ARE ONLY ENABLED BY ATTENDING EITHER OF THE TWO BOTTOM EVENTS!
- 1x Entry = Participating in any of the 3 tournaments during “Event 2: Night at the Union”. You can only participate in one tournament and that means only 1 entry.
- 1x Entry = Attending “Event 4: Meet & Greet Cookout” will result in 1 entry.
Total entries available: Up to 4 per student.
*Student leadership (The High Council) is capped at a single entry for this prize no matter what and the drawing will take place sometime on the 20th. Follow us on Twitter and IG @ouesports as well as look for the announcement in our own Discord in the evening.
We hope our programming brings you out to at least come to say high, meet other gamers on campus, and help us continue to build our community. Continue reading to see what departments on campus and in the industry helped us build this weekend.
ABOUT OUR EVENT PARTNERS
There is no way we are doing this alone. Thanks to a hyperactive advisor from OU IT, another hyperactive advisor from ONE U, and an amazing cast of student leadership we call The High Council we laid the foundation for a scalable organization with roadmaps to full departmentalization, both internal and external community outreach, career development, curriculum evolution, fundraising, and so much more. We had 2 main motivators along the way. First, exemplify what it means to be a gamer, a sooner, and an organization worthy of wearing the OU interlocking logo proudly on its chest. Second, create a culture where the golden rule is “We will debate NOT degrade.” Mission successful! We will highlight more details about our specific programs as we get into the 2018 – 2019 school year. For now, let’s applaud all the entities that helped make this weekend happen!
Follow @ouesports
OUR SPONSORING PARENT DEPARTMENT
The University of Oklahoma Information Technology department signifies a collective of expertise in the increasingly demanding and evolving technological world. They provide resources and services for infrastructure, sustainment, strategic planning, and innovation across the entirety of the university.
In August 2018, OU IT approved further formalization of our esports efforts. More coming later on that!
Follow @OUITSolutions
OUR OU DEPARTMENTAL PARTNERS
The One University Store serves as your one-stop-shop for technology here at OU. We encourage innovation by featuring the most utilized technologies on campus. Part store, part playground. Experience technology like never before and be inspired to innovate!
#WeDoStuff
The mission of the Tom Love Innovation Hub (I-Hub) is to increase innovation and entrepreneurship at the University of Oklahoma and throughout Oklahoma. The I-Hub is an effort, across the University of Oklahoma and our broader Oklahoma community, to lower barriers for innovation and entrepreneurship, create serendipity between students, faculty, staff, and the community, provide opportunities for learning and mentorship, and support the launch of new ventures.
Follow @OUInnovationHub
Supporting all OU students in the discovery, development, ideation, and launch of their wealth generating ideas; with top-ranked educational programming and a robust entrepreneurial ecosystem, including the Sooner Innovation Fund and Sooner Launch Pad, our multi-stage incubators. Whether a student is a social pioneer, technological innovator, product creator, or entrepreneur – we want to turn their ideas into sustainable businesses.
OUR LOCAL COMMUNITY BUSINESS PARTNERS & PEER STUDENT ORGS
HXC Gaming (Hardcore Gaming) is Oklahoma’s leading organizer of eSports console video game tournaments. HXC host bi-weekly events, large tournaments, and community building leagues to help casual and competitive gamers. HXC Gaming thrives on community building for console gamers. Red Dirt Rumble which are hosted at the Innovation Hub brings casual and competitive gamers to sharpen their skills in competitive fighting games tournaments.
Follow @HXCGamingEvents
Sooner Smash Brothers is an Interest-Based Student Organization at The University of Oklahoma. It is an established community focused on weekly meetups catering to players of various Super Smash Brothers games on Nintendo consoles.
OUR INDUSTRY PARTNERS
Alienware is an extension of Dell that caters to the high-performance segment of gamers. It is also deeply involved in the massive growth of the esports industry. Alienware has become a brand recognized as an industry influencer and has continuously impacted gaming across the board.
Follow @Alienware
ROCCAT designs the best gaming products in the world. We combine detail-loving German innovation with a genuine passion for what we do. The result is a forward-looking product portfolio adaptable to the gaming trends of tomorrow. The industry-leading experiences we develop are born of a deep affinity with gaming community that we ourselves are very much a part of.
Follow @ROCCAT
Accessory Power is a consumer electronics manufacturer dedicated to providing a diverse range of high quality products for over 30 years. Complete with 4 main brands, GOgroove audio accessories, USA Gear bags and mounting, ENHANCE gaming and lighting, and Revive charging and power, Accessory Power fits the needs of every customer, every market place, every time. With a superb understanding of the market, Accessory Power offers knowledgeable customer solutions, multi-lingual packaging and staff, offices and warehouses in US, Asia, and Europe, and an industry leading 3 Year Warranty on every product.
Follow @accessorypower
