For our 25th event, Laclede’s LAN returned to Saint Louis University’s Wool Ballroom in the Busch Student Center for another weekend of LED-lit, Monster-fueled, Twitch-streamed gaming! After cancelling two events due to public health concerns, it was great to be back in SLU’s space, and we’d like to specifically thank the SLU School for Professional Studies for helping make this event possible (and helping us secure golf carts to shorten the walk when parking had to change at the last minute)! We also got an internet upgrade for this event – also thanks to SLU – and although it took a bit of adjustment on our part two work through the routing hiccups, we’re looking forward to utilizing it in the future!
Thanks also go to LANFest – we wouldn’t be able to do what we do without them. They provided some awesome door prizes – Cooler Master gear, gaming headsets, full PC cases, and other PC upgrades like an Intel i9 CPU valued at $1000! Additional thanks go to Jason Wild from LANFest for streaming our entire event to LANFest Twitch. Speaking of Twitch, thanks to MadDawgMike and BlackMagix from Twitch STL for setting up their booth, handing out swag, and being part of our event. Thanks also to our community streamers Crosby and Aquacheese for streaming at our event and spreading the good word of Laclede’s LAN to all their followers!
This was our first LAN since our recent staff reorganization, and it went well. In the future, we’ll be using places like Discord to have more open discussions about the nuts and bolts of our events to encourage our community to get more involved if they’d like to do so.
Laclede’s LAN was proud to donate $10,000 to SLU’s “Summer at SLU” program for K-12 students! These camps and academies offer opportunities for elementary and high school students to learn STEM skills over the summer.
The Ultimate Gaming Experience tent, hosted by Ryan Nuspl, had an absolute smorgasbord of arcade machines, Nintendo systems, Intellivision, Atari systems, a Commodore 64, and dozens of other fascinating artifacts of gaming history. Visitors were able to check out all of these systems as they were hooked up to multiple screens and spread out in a comfortable seating arrangement. Ryan and company run a summer camp called The Retro Guys tent that teaches kids the history of gaming, significant historical gaming milestones, and how to build their own arcade cabinet using Raspberry Pi’s. Laclede’s LAN was able to donate ten complete Raspberry Pi kits for their program. If you have hardware or would like to make a donation to this great camp, contact [email protected]. We’d like to thank them for coming, and will welcome them back anytime!
Dr. Pam utilized her chiropractic knowledge and adjusted numerous gamers and staff during Laclede’s LAN to keep everyone comfortable and gaming longer. She’s based in St. Louis, is accepting new patients, and looks forward to attending the Laclede’s LAN events in 2023.
Finally, thanks to all of you for being part of our LAN community, and special thanks to those of you who help us set up and tear down the event! When we’re already aching and exhausted from running around all weekend, your assistance on Sunday means more than you know.
See you next time, mouse cowboy!
Tournament Results
| Tournament | 1st Place | 2nd Place | 3rd Place |
|---|---|---|---|
| CS:GO 5v5: Double-Elim, Best of 3 | Dirty Donkeys | fragging4miller | Miller Bros Money Crew |
| DOTA2 5v5 | Butt Club 2.0 | Lagnarok | |
| Halo: Infinite 1v1 | Recon | StabbdNtheTumy | Meerkat |
| League of Legends: Double-Elim | Lagnarok | 5ADC | Butt Club 2.0 |
| Rocket League 2v2 | Retirement Home | Poquito Redirects | BHN |
| Valorant: 5v5: Double-Elim, Best of 3 | Tom’s Kittens | Will to Live | Sticky Bandits |
Flash Tournament Results
| Game | Winner(s) |
|---|---|
| Tricky Towers | Meerkat |
| Starwhal | Skeeziks |
| Paddle v Paddle | Geb |
| Mariokart 64 | NecroFase |
| FINAL | NecroFase |
At A Glance
Attendance: 103 BYOPC gamers, 22 event staff, 8 logistic volunteers.
Staff: Justin Benedick, Kevin Berges, Matt Burchett, Patrick Byrne, Marie Cowen, Nathan Cowen, Tony DiPietri, Tim Dollarhide, James Dudley, Ryan Henning, Adam Kruger, Tanner Melius, Jason Murley, Melanie Molina, Jason Robertson, Nick Sarakas, Michael Scalera, Tony Scharf, Christopher Schellenbach, Patrick Spencer, Andy Tevlin, Zach Waske
Logistic Volunteers: Ethan Betsinger, Morgan Betsinger, Amy Cantrall-Frye, Jonathan Cox, Michael Frye, Nicole Kreeger, Allison Kortkamp, Claire Sauer.
Photographers: David Skaggs and Latrelle Yancey.
Charities Supported: EI-BO, Summer @ SLU
Streamers: Aquacheese, B1ackMagix, crosby_films, LANFest, MadDawgMike.