Let me tell you two stories of amateurs running paintball events:
1) a non standard venue, used for airsoft was identified and was of interest to paintballers
There was one, or occasional limited use, by a small number of players with very limited paint
An established event organiser planned an event and a lot of interest was generated (aiming to use powder balls)
A small paintball team secured an earlier date, for limited numbers and limited paint, for their first ever event
The venue was a shopping centre in the centre of reading (the mall)
The costs of the venue were high and limited numbers/limited paint were making things unviable, so it changed to unlimited paint, unlimited numbers
Things went badly wrong, and from bad to worse
They had bit off more than they can chew, it promptly turned into a pool of clear paint, players were due to be helping the clean up, but were leaving early
Money was owed, paintball was banned from the site, the team ceased to exist, the rest is history
2) two blokes played scenario for a few years, they badgered their local site for running an event for years
They gained a third, formed a team, and were granted a date to take over the venue. Then the panic began - would anyone book - yes, with their history (and timing), friendships with other teams - people actually booked and turned up
Then the next panic - were they realy capable of running an event?
It was not perfect, but it worked
Why did this event work -
It was perfectly timed, for 'run by players for players'
They had spent years seeing how some of the best games were run
They partnered with the site - for the venue, the facilities, the staff, the logistics, the risk assessments, the insurance, the booking system, the paint, etc
They provided the scenario, extra labour to tweak game zones, etc
By cooperating, identifying responsibilities, discussing the differences between punters and scenarioists etc the key factors were covered
Nothing went wrong to require use of the insurance, but the team, the site and the insurers were all happy
In the second example the team still run events, and have learned a lot of lessons along the way
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There are two ways to run an event - in conjunction with the site, or by renting the site by the day. By doing so in conjunction with the site you MAY be able to use the sites insurance, however every site is differnent and their insurance is strongly linked to their risk assessment and measures / policies they have in place
How are you running an event? Are you using an existing site? Are you experienced in paintball? Have you got risk assessments? Have you the money to fund the insurance?
One off event paintball insurance is available
