Commissioners Share Ideas and Stories Across Six Sim Leagues

[KC15 340]

I recently watched a twitch stream that was made up of the commissioners of six different sim leagues. Those present were: PBE, SHL, ISFL, SCFL, EFL, and GFSA. Can you see who was not present? Yes, yes, the SBA, but who really cares about that? lol No, our beloved Beketov was not there to represent the VHL. I want to explore why that was the case, why it was super cool, why we should be working to get into the next round, and what I’m doing about it from my humble little end.

 

Why the VHL was Conspicuously Absent from the Stream

 

It is pretty simple. Bek didn’t know about it, because Bek and the VHL were not invited. SBA wasn’t either before anyone goes off on that tangent. Well, here’s a fair point. You can’t participate in something you don’t know anything about and you are not invited to.

 

And as much as it could be a lot of fun to whip ourselves up into an “us vs. them; why is VHL always being pooped on?” frenzy, I believe there is nothing sinister afoot. Basically, the people on the stream were already in contact with one another based on a shared charity effort and just naturally tried to get things going with those they already had a recent relationship with. These leagues had worked together to raise money for COTA (The Children’s Organ Transplant Association). I believe we were invited to join that effort, but declined simply because we had already done some charity work recently and you need to space those kinds of efforts out some.

 

Why It Was Super Cool

 

There were several things that were fun about the stream from the very, very simple to the more profound that could have a huge affect on our league. One of the very simple things that was fun was just getting to put a face with a voice that has been heard on streams of games and other league events or a “voice” that just comes across in the written word. People rarely look like I picture them.

 

Another thing that made the stream so interesting is that users from each of the leagues had the opportunity to submit questions for the panel ahead of time and could even give a shout out to favorite people in shared leagues that were announced by the moderator from time to time. Some of these questions were actually quite thought provoking asking, for instance, about how Covid has affected our leagues and what will happen when things open up and people have more opportunity to leave their computer screens and interact in the “real world”. Other questions talked about how different leagues handled similar issues like player progression and what tech solutions might work in other leagues. And yet other questions just led into great, funny stories about things that have happened in the leagues over time – just pure fun.

 

It was also just great to see the crossover between the leagues that we all know about, but to also learn about leagues we’ve never been exposed to. For me, the GFSA and SCFL fall into that category. Seeing all these different people in the various leagues – some in multiple leagues and others in only one – also made me feel like part of something bigger. Not just the VHL, but the sports simming universe as a whole. Fun!

 

And it was cool to get a bit better understanding of the army of very dedicated and hard-working people it takes to run a sim league and to remember that they are really doing the work simply so the rest of us can have as enjoyable experience as possible. Very cool and when you are confronted with some real jerks in your life, it’s nice to be shown all these selfless people as well.

 

Why the VHL Should Be Working to Be Involved in the Next Stream

 

Ok, didn’t I just say it was fun? But to delve a bit deeper, I think there are three more specific reasons we should want to be involved.

 

Participating in a stream like this just gets you a little more excited about our hobby. That excitement translates into greater commitment to the VHL and makes for a better experience in our own user-created hockey universe when we return from the shared twitch stream. Interest in any league can wax and wane. These kinds of special events can help recharge the batteries.

 

Great ideas are shared in these kinds of streams that can materially change the user experience of another whole league full of people. Our systems (banking, updating, etc.) are top notch, but anything can be improved upon. And the SHL banking system was acknowledged as superior to other similar money-based leagues and with the SHL commish promising to start conversations with their tech team about what it would take to port it over to another league, it might just find its way into a few more leagues. We might not need the help in banking, but what other improvements might we find in other areas if we were in regular contact with all the other leagues in such a public forum?

 

Finally, this kind of forum is an excellent tool for recruiting to each of the leagues. These people are already sold on the fun of sim leagues. Many are in two, but know little about the third and fourth. Great stories are told that make it sound like so much fun in that new league they are learning about. People are impressed with the way a commissioner handles themselves and they think, “I ought to join that league. They seem to really know what they’re doing.” We would surely get that benefit if Beketov were able to be part of the panel. Multiple people on the panel reported a large boost in recruiting after the first stream and I am living proof that the second stream had a similar effect. I had retired my ISFL player a while ago, but the stream got me charged up again and after thinking it had been a long enough rest, I recreated as a DE just this morning. I wouldn’t have even had the ISFL on my radar had I not watched the stream and had it not been so interesting.

 

Steps Am I Taking to Get the VHL On Screen for the Third Stream

 

First, I had already contacted Bek to see why no VHL this time around. That has put the opportunity on our commissioner’s radar. And I’m writing this Media Spot, right? That raises awareness in the whole VHL community.

 

I’ve also already followed up with my PBE commissioner and received a promise to keep the VHL front and center of any plans for an eventual third stream of sim league commissioners. I’m going to contact my SHL and ISFL commissioners as well. I think this is a great league and I want us represented.

 

Conclusion

 

If we want this niche hobby of sports sim leagues to thrive, it is going to be important that we always look for new and creative ways to promote it. I think this stream of a panel of sim league commissioners is one of these ways.

 

1207 words:  Claiming for the weeks ending 8/15 and 8/22

 

[dlamb 1,326]

Anyone got a link?

[KC15 340]

2 hours ago, dlamb said:

Anyone got a link?

See if this will work:  https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1112440426

[diacope 1,696]

Tactically keeping it cool 

[Dom 1,445]

Great article! I never heard of that stream but I do agree that it could only be a good thing for the VHL to join the fun!

[Beketov 9,025]

11 hours ago, KC15 said:

I believe we were invited to join that effort, but declined simply because we had already done some charity work recently and you need to space those kinds of efforts out some.

Just to confirm: this is true. It was, I believe, right after our Christmas drive, or something like that. Basically we had just finished up a large charity drive and decided that, even for charity, it was an unfortunate look to continue asking our members for money so close together, gotta pace that stuff.

 

By all means though put me in contact with these guys. I believe PBE was mostly dealing with Beav (RIP) so I’ve been pretty hands off with them but if it’s something I can find time to take part in later I would enjoy doing so. We certainly didn’t miss it because we figured we were better or it was beneath us or something, we were just never told.

[KC15 340]

9 hours ago, Beketov said:

Just to confirm: this is true. It was, I believe, right after our Christmas drive, or something like that. Basically we had just finished up a large charity drive and decided that, even for charity, it was an unfortunate look to continue asking our members for money so close together, gotta pace that stuff.

 

By all means though put me in contact with these guys. I believe PBE was mostly dealing with Beav (RIP) so I’ve been pretty hands off with them but if it’s something I can find time to take part in later I would enjoy doing so. We certainly didn’t miss it because we figured we were better or it was beneath us or something, we were just never told.

 

Cool!  Gave Hummus God from PBE your discord and he said he'd reach out.

 

 

[KC15 340]

Claiming week 2 of 2.  

 

I do plan to submit a theme week MS, but I will claim the capped portion of that next week.