Before you decide you want to read this wall of text, bear in mind this is not your average blog, but a place for me to tell a few things about the past few months here at Duh-Events. Most of it will be about the organization of Intel Pack4DreamHack, but also a few things about being an intern for Jeroen in general.
So, like I said, for the past few months I have been working as an intern for Duh-Events and probably the most awkward employer you can have, Jeroen. He appreciates a good story, just don’t tell him something he can use against you, because he most definitely will use it to embarass you. This doesn’t mean he’s a jerk, but he will do everything in his power to make you feel uncomfortable as long as someone finds it funny enough. All in all, Jeroen is a great guy with lots of experience, even though he can act a bit weird sometimes. If you can stand his cruel jokes you’ll have a great time here at the office. Being an intern here is relaxing in its own way, but with great internship comes great responsibility, mine being Intel Pack4DreamHack.
Intel Pack4DreamHack is one of the smaller events of Duh-Events, but still big in its own way. My main focus here at Duh-Events as the new intern was the organization and execution of the twice-a-year bus tour to DreamHack in Sweden. Of course I also took care of some side activities and visited a few awesome events in the name of SCIENCE (actually Duh-Events), but the job I was tasked with in the first place was making sure Intel Pack4DreamHack had another awesome Winter edition. Judging by all the positive feedback and happy faces, I have a feeling I pulled it off quite nicely.
Now, I didn’t do it completely by myself. If I had, the trip would probably not have been as succesful as it was. Even though Intel Pack4DreamHack was considered “my event” this edition, I still had help from the veterans who know exactly what they’re doing, unlike this scrub. My coaches for this project were mastermind Jeroen den Hartog and Rob Schins, who I could barely understand because Limburgs. Intel Pack4DreamHack has more to it than you might think, so it’s a good thing these two gents were ready to assist me.
To make sure all our Packers enjoy DreamHack, and most importantly, actually get there, we have to do a lot of preparation. The deciding factor of whether or not we can even go to Sweden is Intel. The project is called Intel Pack4DreamHack for a reason, so the first thing to start off IP4DH is making sure we get a GO from our contact at Intel.
After that comes the announcement, lots of sign-ups, choosing who gets to come with us and notifying them. To promote the event, we have a website to maintain, which means posting relevant content and even some non-related content. Making sure we had new content to post was mainly my job, but Rob also had his fair share of articles to post online. Intel Pack4DreamHack isn’t complete without flashy goodies with fancy brand names on them. When those goodies finally arrive, be prepared for what’s about to come, because that will most likely be the most awkward time you can have here at the office. Every edition we present you with short clips to show off the goodies, but what we don’t show you are the bloopers and screw-ups which we actually should. For a three second clip we managed to screw it up so bad it took us almost ten minutes until we finally got it right, which was mostly because Jeroen couldn’t keep a straight face while filming. I might have had something to do with that, but I won’t confess!
Without a bus there can be no Intel Pack4DreamHack, so after we have a GO from Intel, the first thing we do is secure our massive bus that we call home for a part of the event. When that’s done, we still have a massive list of things to do, like coming up with interesting items for our website, arrange the traditional gaming pc giveaway and other fun contests. It’s actually too much to sum up and the trip hadn’t even started yet. When that moment finally arrived, we had so many things to do to make sure everything went according to plan. Things like checking to see if everyone on my list was present, handing out goodies, picking everyone up. Luckily there isn’t much to do during the ride to Sweden, so that meant a few hours (sixteen) of rest, relaxation and awkward sleeping positions.
Already bloodied and broken because of constant bickering for space in the bus we arrived early in the morning in Jönköping, where we were greeted by a cold wind. Excitement was in the air, DreamHack was about to start for the Packers, but not before we unloaded our tightly packed trailer and snapped a great group photo. For me there were some “special intern tasks” to be done, like making sure everyone got their wristband and marking our territory by hanging up flags all around our row.
It didn’t stop there. In its essence, DreamHack is a giant LANparty where you can game to your heart’s content, but to be honest, I haven’t done much gaming myself. Lots of things had to be done and finished for the website. DreamHack also featured a showcase floor with many different gaming brands, so of course we had to go chat a little, meet people and greet our contact at the Intel booth. The halls were enormous, so to say I made a few miles is an understatement. This doesn’t mean I didn’t have any fun. My time at DreamHack was absolutely amazing, just not what I was expecting, in a positive way. At the end of the weekend I was completely wrecked, but it was all worth it and I’d definitely do it again.
This edition we had the first ever Intel Pack4DreamHack Cosplay contest and I think I can say it was a success for us. We had some pretty awesome submissions and even better winners. What absolutely makes us happy is the fact that one of our Packers won the official DreamHack Cosplay contest! Here’s to hoping this will become a proper part of Intel Pack4DreamHack, including another Dutch/Belgian winner.
Besides DreamHack I’ve done a lot of things which I wasn’t familiar with yet and thanks to Duh-Events and Jeroen I’ve learned so many new things. Intel Pack4DreamHack is a unique event and I’m proud to have been part of at least one edition and making it a success. My time here as an intern has been an interesting one and it was definitely worth the effort.
– Chris Tempels
