NoJennyNo: Esports: IEM Katowice and Insomnia Birmingham

Dear world,

I finally got my computer back!
It's been a month of break in blogging thanks to weeks-long delay in Dell repair department. Understandably so, since usually by the time they were able to reach me I was gone from whichever country I requested the repair in.

So with the long gap and about 5 countries visited during the month, I will summarize the most memorable trips in one short-ish post. The gaming trips, of course.

IEM Katowice

Posing at the Spodek Arena

IEM, or Intel Extreme Masters, is one of the largest gaming events in the world. This particular Championship Event in Katowice, Poland, however, was also season 10 and with it brought a lot more hype. With 100,000 total attendants, 1.6 million peak viewers, and $500,000 in total prize money, it was arguably one of the top most exciting Esports events of the year. This sleepy town of Katowice more or less depends on the Spodek Arena and the popularity of this annual gaming event for economy with only 2% unemployment rate throughout the city.

Of course, this was all news to me (and everyone who's not heavily involved in Esports) until my actual arrival to the event. I only tagged along my boyfriend who was invited to be a caster for the Hearthstone Tournament.

The atmosphere and the concept of a large scale gaming championship tournament is difficult to put into words. I mean, how is one to explain that video games can support an entire city based on a single event? So here's a little clip to summarize the entire weekend.

Some photos of the arena, inside and out.

Spodek at night

During the day

10's of thousands of people in line to get in

2nd stage, Starcraft tournament

More Starcraft

The main stage for CSGO

Winner lights

My boyfriend watching games with Mike, CEO of Blizzard

Backstage

Boyfriend getting his makeup done for the casting stage

Casters for Hearthstone

Lights, camera, action!

Afterparty.

There are a few companies sponsoring parties throughout the weekend, but Twitch parties are usually the best. If Twitch sponsors one there are two sections, the main one and VIP areas. VIP is lit with purple lights and an open bar. Needless to say we don't have much photos after the first few minutes.

Boyfriend with other Hearthstone and Starcraft casters

Ben and Kevin, some of the favorites :)

So much love

Why the sad face

Let's face it, sometimes I am the third wheel

Photobomb

So much fun!

Insomnia Birmingham
Or i57, indicator of the number of events Insomnia Festival has held. It is the biggest gaming event of UK, one that focuses less on tournaments/pro gamers and more catered to the visitors. It's a huge LAN party, which is simply bringing a computer and renting wifi/space for a fee during the weekend along with thousands of others who share a passion for gaming. There are exhibitors, activities, and of course tournaments throughout the weekend but on a much smaller scale in comparison to IEM.

The NEC that held the event was one of the nicest, with Birmingham being the second largest city in UK and a shopping center just across the event space. I stayed at the Genting Hotel which was newly built in Nov 2015 and conveniently located inside this shopping center. The airport was also just 5 minutes' drive. So awesome.

Hotel lobby

They also, for whatever reason, upgraded us to one of the nicest rooms they had to offer. Great view of the lake and high quality furnishings - it would have cost 5-10x in any other city - not complaining one bit.

Living room

Coffee!

Living room and view

Grey even in the sunniest of days, but hey that's UK.

Bedroom

Bathroom

I test-jumped on the bed. Several times.

Tournament and the event itself.
I unfortunately don't have much images, as I participated in the main tournament myself. Not only that, I got food poisoning upon arrival and spent most of my time trying to rest and get better. Despite the obvious sickness and insomnia due to being sick, I managed to beat some boys in Hearthstone before getting too ill to continue and tapping out. E didn't win the main event, but entered the second event called Redemption Cup and managed to win that against some of the best players in the world!

Arena

The only photo. Blurrrrry

Tournament area

Stage for the tournament

Boyfriend on the stage

E came an hour late due to miscommunication and it counted as a loss in the first round, but went undefeated in all the rounds all the way to the top. First Hearthstone tournament after only a couple months entering the pro scene, not shabby!

They typed the wrong amount, but still. Win is a win!

I will end the post with some food, since when is my blog ever appropriate without some foodporn? Birmingham is known for the best middle eastern food in UK. Despite getting food poisoning the night before, I decided to go for it. Probably not the best idea, since I got sick again, but totally worth it. I chose Asha's among the many highly rated low to high end Indian/Pakistani restaurants. It did not disappoint and I highly recommend - even if you have stomach issues.