Hawaii Suite at EVO 2024

TLDR

This proposal to Nouns provides financial support to the Hawaii Suite which is the premier after hours event at the biggest fighting game event of the year, EVO Las Vegas.

Nouns Esports is sending players to compete in the event, and this will be a great opportunity to increase the Nouns presence with a physical footprint.

EVO 2024

EVO, originally known as “Battle by the Bay,” began in 1996 as a 40-player tournament for Street Fighter II California. Over the years, it has grown into the World Champions for Fighting Games, relocating to Las Vegas and rebranding as EVO in 2002.

EVO 2024 is set to be a 3-day event held from July 19-21 at the West Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center.

Last year’s EVO 2023 featured over 9,000 players from 71 different countries, making it one of the largest and most diverse esports events in history. EVO 2024 is expected to surpass previous records, continuing to cement its place as a historic landmark in esports.

EVO is more than just a fighting game tournament; it is a celebration of the entire community. The event includes tournaments, networking opportunities, parties, business deals, and much more.

Hawaii Suite

The Hawaii Suite began in 2015 when a group of friends decided to rent a suite to play fighting games after the main event ended for the day. Hosted by the Hawaii Fighting Game Community, this private suite has become a highlight of the EVO event.

The Hawaii Suite features exclusive after-hours fighting game action, exhibitions, casual matches, and high-profile tournaments.

This year, the Hawaii Suite is back and seeking a premiere partner to help support the increasing costs of operations due to a change of venue. Until now, the suite has been funded by generous private individuals, but this year’s costs are pushing the boundaries of their generosity.

The Hawaii Suite is wants to partner with Nouns to highlight the project while continuing this established pillar of EVO side-event culture. Nouns Esports is also looking to genuinely engage with the community as well to ensure extra visibility on the prophouse rounds that are sponsoring players and tournaments. In addition, holders of a Noun will get priority access over the general public to the suite while there is space available.

Programming

Building on our existing programming, we aim to produce events that are engaging to both returning viewers and newcomers.

This year our schedule features:

Date	Event Name	Description
7/18	Ladder Tournament	A dynamic tournament format where players play freely against other entrants with the finals being the top 6 facing off against each other.
7/19	High Roller Tournament	A high-stakes tournament with a buy in, attracting top-tier players.
7/20	Regional Tournament	A team-based competition showcasing diverse talent from various regions.
7/21	Finals Post-Play	A celebration of competition followed by casual gameplay and community bonding.

Brand Integration

In-person and online brand integration to an estimated 4,000+ live viewers (estimate based on last Hawaii Suite viewership)

• Noggles for the commentators and spectators to take photos with
• Nouns merchandise giveaways to participants on all days
• Nouns Esports SF6 Player Smug will be a commentator of the Regional Tournament
• Short-form content produced with players at the event
• Promotion Nouns.GG rounds
  • Tournament Organizer Round
  • East Coast Throwdown

Team

Keolaization is a 24 year old fighting game enjoyer who has taken part in a lot of gaming events and fighting game communities in both the US and Japan. Due to his in-depth knowledge of the FGC, he was approached by one of the members of Nouns Esports, which led him on the journey to understanding how the NounsDAO is looking to fund cool projects and empower members of all different communities. During his year working on projects with Nouns Esports, he helped with organizing the onboarding of the Nouns Esports Street Fighter brand ambassador Smug as well as coordinating the Nouns Esports EVO Japan 2024 invasion. Go Nouns! ⌐◨-◨

James “Leviathan” Wang is a high-level competitor who started in the arcade culture of the 90’s and played a large role in developing the Hawaii Fighting Game Community. Using his connections as a respected player and his multilingual and multicultural background, he built and has been continually funding the Hawaii Suite for 10 years to help bridge the east and the west with connections that transcends language barriers.

Alex Valle is a former Street Fighter and Tekken US national champion from the 90s arcade generation who took his passion in gaming to developing the growth of his local scene in Southern California. Alex co-founded Level Up Productions with longtime friend Jimmy Nguyen and together pioneered event production and live streaming for fighting games with community events such as Weds Night Fights and SoCal Regionals. Today, Alex doesn’t compete much in tournaments, but he can still rush down the competition… if there is a worthy opponent.

Jimmy “ShinJN” Nguyen is an old school and seasoned gamer with roots stemming in the early 80s; roots that continued to grow through several eras and generations of gaming. Jimmy’s FGC journey started in 1991 with Street Fighter II: World Warrior in the arcades and continues till this day. where he has made impacts in content creation, community cultivation, and event production. Since 2009, as the Co-Founder and President of Level Up Productions, he and fellow co-founder Alex Valle continue to cultivate the Fighting Game Community with weekly & monthly events as well as developing and producing special events and programs with developers, publishers, and endemic brands.

Budget

We are requesting 12,600 USDC from Nouns to offset the costs in exchange for the aforementioned deliverables.

Total costs of the Suite are ~ $27,663

Room Rental: $21,513 Production: $2,050 Brand Integration: $1,600 Food & Beverage: $2,500

Last year Keolaization was inspired by Nouns Esports to ship Proposal 341 which was defeated but this year he’s back with a team of Street Fighter builders back with what we believe is a more focused and better opportunity for Nouns to support one of the largest esports events of the year.

Thank you for reading and your consideration. ⌐◨-◨