If you are going to make the effort to judge, be sure and have all the requisite stuff. Bring sets of objects, extra dice, markers, and lines to keep the game running smoothly. Have Army Sheets printed out and plenty of pens available; double-check build totals and be clear about how you are going to run your tournament. I use a Swiss-style tournament at Dragon’s Lair. Remember, no one wants to sit around for 20 minutes while you figure out the pairings for the next round. Keep things tight and organized. Work with your store, help them understand what the right amount of product to order is, make sure they get prize kits, coordinate special events with them and keep them up-to-date about what the Heroclix group is doing. Communication is key to goodwill.

If you have prizes, announce the prize in your weekly email. If you have a special prize (we recently had a Dr. Manhattan donated by the store) create a special event that ensures that everyone, not just the winner, has an equal chance of winning the big ticket item. You’ll get more turnout and people will have more fun when they know they have just as much chance to win something cool as the local ‘pros’.  

Basically you have to create an environment where new players are not blown out of the water by guys who know how to play. This game has such a steep learning curve that you really have to go out of your way to make it easy on new players to keep them coming back to HeroClix. My experienced guys understand that they are going to have to play 'learning' games from time to time and they're cool with that.

It is all about making connections and keeping things light and friendly. I firmly believe that an overly serious competitive atmosphere will kill this game at any venue -- in that type of situation you'd only get hardcore players attending and never get new ones to stick around! After all, who wants to get their asses handed to them in under 15 minutes, week-after-week? How is that fun?

Remember, fun is what the game should be about.