This is it. This is the end.

This semester of Social Media Marketing was a great success! During this class we used all sorts of social media to promote our businesses including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Blogs, and more. Of the platforms that we used for this class for me the most rewarding has been this blog. Although, not too many people outside of the class have actually viewed the page I felt that this blog gave me a great opportunity to showcase my writing style and my personality when it comes to gaming. My blog has been a place for me to be creative, funny, and if it was a real business I would have been able to connect with my customers on a level I don't feel the other platforms would allow. 

If this was a real business I would focus mainly on the "Big 4" social media platforms. Facebook is a must because it is so versatile. You can use it to post ideas, to ask opinions, to share other social media posts, and so much more. The rates Facebook charges for their impressions is quite reasonable for the customization and function. A feel a well run Twitter is also a great idea for businesses because it can do most of what Facebook can but provides you with a different feel and a different demographic of users. I feel like a blog is a great addition for most businesses, however I do not feel like it would be a suitable replacement for an actual website. Lastly, Instagram provides a unique way into the mobile devices of your customers by sending pictures directly into their hands. For a business like an E-Sports Lounge being able to post all of the pictures from the events is a great boon as it can reinforce your position on the E-Sports scene. 

Overall, I had a great experience in this course. The work was a bit tedious without a true social media aggregation tool but, I felt like the lessons we learned about using social media for business are absolutely paramount in being an effective marketer in today's world.  

The Arena Mobile

Have you ever been looking for your favorite stream, fumbling through the clunky layout of websites like Twitch.TV and Azubu? Do you like watching streams of multiple games and from multiple different streamers? If you answered yes to any of these questions than you, my friend, are just like us here at The Arena E-Sports Lounge. 

The Arena Mobile Icon

Luckily, we are very excited to unveil the newest addition to The Arena E-Sports Lounge family. Our new The Arena Mobile application. The Arena Mobile is a stream aggregating tool that will bring the power of all of the popular streaming platforms, all of the popular games, and all of the popular streamers into one fully user created space. Take the design into your own hands using our tiles function. You can set your favorites and get notifications when those streams are online. In addition, you will have access to  The Arena E-Sports Lounge sponsored stream in crystal clear HD with no commercials. 

Stop using your old obsolete streaming services that would limit you to one stream or one game at a time and step into the future with The Arena Mobile. 

Draven Wants YOU to support Men's Health Month

It's November friends and lets be honest with each other. I'm a dude and chances are 99% of you reading this are dudes. With being that said, its our month to shine. Stand up with your brothers and toss the facial hair trimming gizmos, gadgets, and products in the trash (okay in the back dark corner of your bathroom storage but who is counting right?) as we support each others health by going grizzly.

DRAAAVEEENNNN

This month at The Arena E-Sports lounge anyone rocking their man flag straight up on their face and willing to take a picture with one of our staff will get 1 hour of gaming on the house. Ladies, we don't want you to feel left out and as I'm sure you know we definitely need the support. So, we will have Draven's on a stick for you to hold so you can show your support for the men in your life and take advantage of the sweet sweet free gaming time.

Help support men's health by donating the money you would have otherwise spent on hair and face products to https://www.no-shave.org/participate. For more information on the initiative visit our friends a No Shave.org by clicking the link below.

No Shave November Bros

Are you the Ruler of the Mountain?

Ruler of The Mountain

Are you a god at gaming? The time to prove yourself is upon us. The Arena E-Sports lounge is hosting the regional gaming event of the year as the Ruler of the Mountain tournament takes over the Chippewa Valley on November 14th 2015.

If you think you have got what it takes in Madden 16, League of Legends, Hearthstone, or Mario Kart 64 you will not want to miss this event. The Ruler of the Mountain style tournament will pit players against each other in a 1v1 situation. The only rule: May the best gamer win.

Whomever shall sit at the top of the mountain when the clock strikes 6 pm, or when all of their challengers have been vanquished will be named Ruler and take home the grand prize of $500 dollars in exclusive gaming gear. Each ruler will have a prize package specifically tailored to commemorate their domination of the game of their choice.

Sign ups will be available on our website or in person at The Arena E-Sports lounge until November 12th. Qualifying matches will start November 14th 2015 at 10 am. The Ruler of the Mountain for each game will be announced at 12 pm and all challengers will get their one shot to dethrone the Ruler.

All gamers ages 15+ are invited to attend as this is an alcohol free event. Entry into the tournament is only $5 and all entries will get an exclusive Ruler of the Mountain event lanyard and name tag.

Mark your calendars and hone your skills. We will see if you have what it takes November 14th 2015 at The Arena E-Sports Lounge.

Don't forget to check out The Arena E-Sports Lounge's brand new Youtube page. You can find the link on the right side of our page -------------------------------->

Captain's Log 10-25-2015

This fall hasn't been your average fall here at The Arena E-Sports lounge.  Things have gotten a bit....darker. Mostly it’s been the little things. Monitors being on in the morning when we all swear they were off when we left the night before. Strange streams playing on full blast in the middle of the afternoon. It took a while before we started putting the pieces together but it seemed an otherworldly presence has started to take over. Then, this afternoon the reality of what that meant came crashing down all around us. 

I had just returned from the post office to pick up the day's mail. I sat down at my desk to sort the mail: junk in the garbage, bills in the drawer, the usual routine. I got to the bottom of the pile and there sat a strange manila folder with no address attached to it. Only the words, “Open me" written in permanent marker on its face. I slowly opened the metal clasp and flipped open the top flap. Out fell a peculiar little flash drive.  Before I could grab it from my desk, it flipped up, and launched itself perfectly into my PC. As the flash drive clicked into place every computer, television, and speaker in the building broke out in an evil crackling laugh. By this point the entire place was in pandemonium. The lights flickered and the laughter stopped. For the next three hours every screen was locked with the words, "Appease me or the end is near. Bring 150 sacrifices to me October 31st. Give them anything they wish. Happy sacrifices taste the best." The message concluded with the smiley face :^).

Just when things seemed to be getting back to normal. The screen flashed just one time, just long enough for those of us still riveted to the screens to catch. Michael “ImaQtpie” Santana darted before our eyes with a lone message. “I’m Coming.”

To ensure the safety of gamers everywhere we have chosen to answer the call. Saturday October 31^st we will be throwing the gamers Halloween dream. The first 150 in the door will receive all you can eat, all you can drink, all you can play wristbands. The place is yours, the games are loaded, and the “secret cauldron” will be brewing up specialty drinks all night. The gamer lord ImaQtpie is set to arrive at 10pm sharp so don’t be late. For all of our sake. 

The Rise and Fall of the NA empire

All three North American representatives at the 2015 League of Legends World Championship Tournament had a chance to make it our of their groups come the second week of the stage. Two of the three were sitting in 1st place and only needed to win a single game to make it out. The world was shocked and so were we.

Then, week two happened. Cinderella story Cloud 9 with their 3-0 week 1 needed to eek out a single victory to advance into the quarter final round. They would fall to 3-3 and miss the quarters in a reverse sweep by their group proving that you need more than one strategy to win on an international stage.

Counter Logic Gaming also collapsed from 1st place in their group to dead last posting embarrassing losses in all 3 games of their week 2 group stage. The team's mental fortitude immediately came into question and rumors of "tilting" were aplenty.

The team with the smallest chance to continue, Team Solo Mid, showed a continued lack of macro game play. They managed to gain early leads in every game of their week 2 match ups but could not put the pieces together to find a single victory. This abysmal showing lead to the announcement of a house cleaning roster move. Top laner Dyrus, Jungler Santorin, and Support Lustboy all stepped down in the week following their group stage demise. The coaching staff wouldn't remain untouched either as head coach Locodoco would step down and into a gaming analyst position.

Our Friends at the Breast Cancer Research Foundation

Don't forget this weekend is our Hearthstone Tournament of Champions. October is also Breast Cancer Awareness Month. So, come down support your favorite local Hearthstone players and have a Pink Ward shot to support the cause!

One Shot. One opportunity.

 NA Team Cloud 9's logo 

Its becoming crunch time extremely quickly in this years World Championship Tournament. 3 of the 4 groups have been decided and the Quarter final stage has nearly been set. Group stage Pick'ems across the world have been blown to pieces with upsets a plenty. North America's Cloud 9 has exceeded all expectations taking a 3-0 start to the first week. Their ticket out of the group stage has not been punched as they will face off with their group once more on Sunday October 11th.

Counter Logic Gaming has been another Pick'em buster dropping every game in the second week of this stage including an embarrassing loss to the Brazilian Wildcard team Pain Gaming. Lack of team synergy and a massive mental collapse have caused this number 1 seed to drop all the way to the bottom of their group.

The only group to play out in its most obvious results was group C. Korea's SK Telecom dominated the stage going 6-0 and doing it with ease. Their second place runner up China's Edward Gaming also preformed well winning 4 of their 6 contests.

Now that we have caught up with this weeks group stage action. We here at The Arena E-Sports Lounge would like to take a moment to shift gears and talk about something else that happens in October that is very near and dear to our hearts.

Breast Cancer Research Fund

October is Breast Cancer Awareness month and whether or not you already know it every single person who reads this blog will be affected by this disease. Our mothers, daughters, sisters, grandmothers, and wives all stand at great risk to get breast cancer. Believe it or not gentlemen 1 in 1000 of us will be diagnosed with breast cancer in our lifetime. This disease affects 1 in 8 women and with early detection and treatment is curable.

So to help take a stand The Arena E-Sports Lounge has collaborated with The Breast Cancer Research Foundation to present our first Hearthstone Tournament of Champions. 50% of all team entry fees will go directly to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. We will also be doing a special on our Pink Ward shots. For ever Pink Ward shot sold in October one dollar will go to help fighting this treatable disease. With your help we can make an impact in the lives of thousands of women world wide. So come down with your favorite decks and make a difference October 17th 2015. Registration for the event starts at 10 AM with the first matches starting at noon.

For more information on the amazing work being done by the Breast Cancer Research Foundation check out their website http://www.bcrfcure.org/

Lights... Camera... Action

Our Friends at Box Office Smash

The World Championship Tournament is upon us. Our Group Stage Open House Extravaganza is off to a smashing start and with it we are ready to unveil our newest project here at The Arena E-Sports Lounge.

Coming  April 11th 2016 The Arena E-Sports Lounge in collaboration with our friends at Box Office Smash are proud to present the film of our journey, "A year on the Nexus." Ever wonder what it takes to start an E-Sports venue? Have a passion for entrepreneurship? Our collaborative project will highlight the ups and downs of the first year of a new business.

Your Source for E-Sports in the Chippewa Valley

Keep your eyes peeled for more promotional material created by Eau Claire's own Box Office Smash as we move closer to April 11th 2016. We will be hosting an all inclusive VIP night showing and invited anyone interested to RSVP to our Twitter @TheArenaESL. Seats will be limited and the prizes involved will be grand! So don't miss out and check back often for updates from us and Box Office Smash.

League of Legends World Championship Group Draw

The stage is set, the groups are set, and its almost time for the World Championship 2015 to start. But, before it does we would like to take a second to analyze the groups that have our very own North Amercian League Championship Series representatives in them.

Starting at the top, the number one seed from NA is Counter Logic Gaming. Drawing the easiest group of all three NALCS teams, group A features The Koo Tigers of Korea, The Flash Wolves of Taiwan, and last but not least PAIN Gaming the International Wildcard team out of Brazil. CLG struck gold with their group draw getting paired with both an international wildcard team in PAIN and landing underachieving Flash Wolves whose disappointing showing at the Mid Season Invitational was followed up by a second place finish in the summer split of the LMS. Barring the choke of the year CLG is virtually guaranteed a spot in the Semi-finals.

Who will advance?:  Counter Logic Gaming and Koo Tigers

The second place team in the NALCS was Team Solo Mid and they seem to have drawn what we in the e-sports community lovingly call THE GROUP OF DEATH. Group D features arguably the best team in the world in LGD out of China, KT Rolster of Korea, and Origen from Europe. After signing a plethora of Korean pros LGD dominated the Chinese league scene winning both Spring and Summer split of the LPL. Was the Team Solo Mid's boot-camp enough to push them over the hump of being relevant on a world stage for the first time in years? My honest opinion is no. After watching the team literally fall apart at the seams vs CLG in the NALCS final and then struggle to win scrimmages during their 3 week boot-camp in Korea I have very little confidence in their chances or Origen's chances of making it out of this group.

Who will advance?:  LGD and KT Rolster

The third and final representative from North America is Cloud 9. They took the hard route in having to make a clean sweep through the gauntlet round of the playoffs. For their effort the are rewarded with a shot at the cup. Group B is full of top talent starting with European juggernauts Fnatic, second place Chinese team Invictus Gaming, and first place Taiwanese team AHQ E-Sports Club. After not dropping a game in the regular season Fnatic is poised to blow their way out of this group and into the semi final round. Once their ticket is punched the waters begin to get murky. Conventional wisdom states the Invictus would be the logical choice to join them with new additions KAKAO and Rookie. Their year long struggle in the world's most competitive league scene will have them battle hardened and ready to compete. Cloud 9 will have difficulty masking their weakness in the jungle when top tier jungle players like KAKAO, Mountain, and Reignover will be looking to exploit Cloud 9's Hai from minute one of the game.

Who will advance?: Fnatic and Invictus Gaming

It looks to be another rough year for North American League of Legends as we see only one team making it out of their group and into the Semi Finals. CLG will be our last hope of bringing the championship cup home if everything goes as we see it. Good luck to all teams participating in the upcoming tournament.

Don't forget all tournament long to stop down and enjoy specials on all League of Legends drinks and watch your favorite team on one of our 25 big screen TVs!

Check back often to find analysis and updates for all things E-Sports.

Group Stage Open House Extravaganza

The quest for glory begins on October 3rd, 2015 at 7 am as the best teams in the world clash in the biggest E-Sports event of the year and you are invited. Riot Games and The Arena E-Sports Lounge are proud to present to you the Group Stage Open House Extravaganza. Come in to watch all of the League of Legends World Championship 2015 group stage action live, with all of your friends on our 25 big screen TVs.  

Start your World Championship 2015 off right with a breakfast catered by local restaurant Grand Avenue Cafe beginning at 6:45 am. Starting at 12 pm we will unveil our entire line up of League of Legends drinks on a Group Stage buy one get one special. Hurry down and have a Health Potion, a Bjergsen Pentakill, or a Rush Hour shot as you cheer on your favorite team. Among the carnage of the group stage we will also be giving away tons of League of Legends merchandise including Riot Points cards, t-shirts, action figures, exclusive Riot skin codes and more.

Lastly, The Arena E-Sports Lounge with the great cooperation of Riot games is stoked to announce our 2015 Group Stage Open House Extravaganza grand prize. Two all inclusive VIP tickets to the World Championship Finals in Berlin. This exclusive VIP package includes airfare, lodging, front row tickets to the World Championship Finals, and a meet and greet with the North American or European team of your choice. So don't be late as only the first 250 in the door will be entered into the giveaway.

For all your group stage scheduling, games, and analysis check out your one stop info center 

http://worlds.lolesports.com/en_US/worlds

Source 

A New Challenger Approaches

Once upon a time, in a land not so far away, e-sports enthusiasts were shackled to their computer chairs. Sentenced to an eternity of seclusion with nowhere to share in their passion aside from a few websites with basic chat-rooms.

Out of the darkness a new light has emerged. The Arena E-Sports Lounge looks to liberate geeks, nerds, gamers, and noobs alike from their servitude to the 20 inch monitor gods. No longer shall we be forced to scream, "PENTAKILL! PENTAKILL!" in solitude.

The Arena E-Sports Lounge is a place where all of the popular games including League of Legends, Hearthstone, Dota 2, and Counter Strike Global Offensive are always on the big screen. A place where the drinks are always ice cold and the camaraderie is always at a 10. So whether you are a TSM fan, a CLG fan, or just along for the great drink specials The Arena E-Sports lounge will be your new favorite place in Eau Claire, WI.