Child's Play

A few weeks ago, Kelly came up to Memphis for a visit. During one of our nerd conversations, he passively mentioned that he had an idea to hold a tournament where adults play children's games for charity. He mentioned that he had the idea a few weeks ago but didn't really think it was that good of an idea. I disagreed, but we quickly changed the subject to whatever the next nerdy thing we could think of was.

About a week after he left, I messaged him on Facebook and told him that I liked the idea so much that we should do it. We both began telling people about it and have received very positive feedback. We had originally decided to hold a single event in Memphis, but Kelly received such a positive response from his contacts in Pensacola about it that we have decided to hold two tournaments. One in Memphis. One in Pensacola.

The main event will be the tournament. Contestants will pay a small entry fee to enter the tournament. Contestants will then compete in children's games (Candy Land, Chutes and Ladders, Don't Spill the Beans, things like that) for a prize(s). We'll sell food and have other ways of raising money at the event. a lot of the details are still being worked out, such as locations and date(s).

The money raised will go to Child's Play, a charitable organization operated by Gabe and Tyco of Penny Arcade. Child's Play raises money for children's hospitals. That money is used to purchase toys and games for the children who are receiving treatment at those hospitals. Donors can specify to Child's Play what hospital to donate the money to. Kelly and I haven't decided on a specific hospital yet, but I'm sure we will pick a hospital local to Memphis or Pensacola since that's where the events are being held.

We chose to donate through Child's Play instead just making a straight donation to a children's hospital because Child's Play is an organization operated by gamers. As well as helping children across the country, Child's Play is also a face for the gaming community to the rest of the world, showing those outside the gaming community that gamers aren't just a bunch of lazy, jobless dopes who still live in their mother's basement.

Kelly and I are very excited about this event. I'm already in talks with two venues about using their facilities to host the Memphis event. Kelly has spoken with Bobe's Hobby House about supporting the Pensacola event in some way. Keep checking DualAnalogs.net, our Facebook and Twitter profiles (@PattyCakesDA, Kelly doesn't have one yet and you should bother him about it. [Kelly says: "I was going to make an account, then I remembered that Twitter is stupid"]) , and our personal profiles for more information as we work out the details.

For more information about Child's Play, visit http://www.childsplaycharity.org./

For more information about Penny Arcade, visit http://www.penny-arcade.com/