Thread: Weatherstock IV

Originally Posted by larry138

I even said during the event up at Weathertop in /say that I felt bad for anyone just trying to quest in the area.

At the end of the day, they were inconvenienced in a very minor way in one specific region of the world, while playing a video game, for a few hours out of a 365-day year. The servers are completely turned off far longer than that in the space of a year. The fellow in question could have gone to a different region where the chat channel didn't bother him, or even turned the game off and gone outside to play in the yard. I for one am tired of extreme, extreme minorities dictating to everyone else how to behave.

On the plus side, it was that complaining that got me to go visit the concert for the first time since I've known about it, and even got me to put together a short film about it.



Thanks again to all involved for enriching my LOTRO experience, and reinforcing my decision to dip my toes into the MMORPG world.

Originally Posted by larry138

I was at the event briefly and had fun, but to play devil's advocate, what did this user do that was so deplorable? He was trying to play the game and his experience was hindered by the event. It doesn't sound like he did anything malicious.

They reported the frontman of the band for spam instead of just turning off the channel that was bothering them. For the record, posting lyrics in regional is no more spam than having an extended conversation in regional would be. If you don't like what messages are being posted, that doesn't make it spam. Ignore it or turn it off if you don't like it.

And also for the record, this happening may be the final straw that drives the person in question away from LOTRO forever, a person who has always been a positive, creative, giving community member and who has brought enjoyment to many, many people.

Deplorable? Malicious? Those might be a bit harsh. Unthinking, unreasonable and unjust? Yes, I'd say so.

Originally Posted by Fionnuala

They reported the frontman of the band for spam instead of just turning off the channel that was bothering them. For the record, posting lyrics in regional is no more spam than having an extended conversation in regional would be. If you don't like what messages are being posted, that doesn't make it spam. Ignore it or turn it off if you don't like it.

And also for the record, this happening may be the final straw that drives the person in question away from LOTRO forever, a person who has always been a positive, creative, giving community member and who has brought enjoyment to many, many people.

Deplorable? Malicious? Those might be a bit harsh. Unthinking, unreasonable and unjust? Yes, I'd say so.

We can report a player and his friends 20 to 30 times for purposely grieving events with the forced emotes and purposely sitting on top of our characters and they do NOTHING, but they give your husband a warning for posting lyrics in regional? Are kidding me? This needs to be addressed at a higher level than that GM. I'd call their support line and get a supervisor and a &^%#$ apology.

I have the highest praise for Ingolemo and how he handled himself.

/doff hat

well done sir.

If you're that angry, do something about it. My wife and I have found that, in order to be heard by people who matter, we have to bring this kind of griefing to their attention. To the gentleman thinking about giving up, I would ask that you do as suggested and call Turbine directly and bring this up, all of it, and demand something be done.

We good people, we RPers, we meek do NOT have to stand for being mistreated, ignored, or having our events ruined. In war, you have to be prepared to fight. The way I see it you can either fight this to the top or get used to being mistreated by these miscreants, by the GMs who are ignorant (or worse, uncaring) of the circumstances, and by the corporate brass who are unaware that this is happening.

Stand and fight. Fight with phone calls, with letters, and with the written word. Spread to the four corners and on the winds. If this kind of behavior infuriates you like it infuriates all of us on all the servers we frequent, DO something about it.

*bows and flees back to Laurelin*

Makalaure and Phedelene have already thanked everyone on behalf of Andunië, but I will do as well. Thank you everyone, attendants and organization, for such a wonderful event and experience. With events like this one, all win, and music wins. Also, congratulations to the other winners, Mornie Alantie and the Strollers, as well as the rest of the bands: I really enjoyed the spectacles you performed, all with a distinct style yet all good!

Fionnuala, I am really sorry to hear that from Ingolemo. Considering I was the one singing two bands before, and right after him, that warning could have been on me instead of him. Regarding this, the regional singing was requested by the organization to workaround the /say bug - a well known bug where some people won't read what another character says in the channel no matter how close they are, and with the only known solution to physically cross the other character -. Considering that the organizers even got codes from Turbine for the awards, I found it very strange that a GM warned a competitor during the event. Maybe it is time Turbine and the community sit down and talk about their relationship regarding these things.

My proposal as a possible solution: to create a global event server, Bullroarer-type, where you can copy your character and with RP tag for extra rules protection. When something like Weatherstock shows up, people just copy their homeland character to this server as in Bullroarer, and no one from any other server suffers lag while playing, and any griefer is known to have copied a char just to grief - so simply ban the griefer. Technically speaking, the solution already exists, so it is a minimal effort on their side. If you had not to install a second client for that, you could even use Bullroarer itself, just by Turbine turning it on for that day!

As for the time frame some blamed, since the merge of Codemasters and Turbine servers, it is some kind of compromise: a time frame both americans and europeans can attend. For my time area, this meant beginning the concerts at midnight and through dawn, but since the greatest player base comes from both areas, I felt it was a proper time frame to maximize audience for a true global event. Server prime time? Yes. Such an event should be done in prime time.

As for trolls, they are and ever will be trolls. All servers have them. If they grief you, ignore and report.

So Fionnuala, at least from my side, encourage your husband to keep it up! Two people out of 500 didn't like what he did... That is a pretty awesome ratio! So I want next year to listen to his next hits, like "Hungry hobbits go to Gondor"! Because the show must go on. And that means, count me in for that summer welcoming event you were suggesting the other day.

On behalf of RKO, I would like to thank everyone who helped make it possible for us to play at Weatherstock this year for the first time. Carica Berrywine, our ever helpful roadie was awesome! Sparkleigh Larkspur who interviewed us & took photos for the Landroval times - we loved your articles! Floradine of the Lonly Mountain Band who did the great posters for the bands. The Lonely Mountain Band who did an awesome job organizing Weatherstock 2012! All the other bands who contributed their talent & artistry to make the concert a resounding success. Lastly, the 500 or so raving fans who were the reason we all came in the first place.

RKO didn't take any prizes this year, but just you wait! We'll be back, better than ever for Weatherstock 2013!

Thanks from all of us at RKO & the Runic Knights Kinship on Brandywine!

Steeloak,
Bandmaster of RKO

Just wanted to hop in and thank everyone for a wonderful event! My fresh loremaster was able to attend a good hour of songs and fun on weathertop. After that my cousins on Anduin called and I had to leave, but it was awesome!

I'll sure try and be there next year and bring over some friends as well! *hums Weatherstock Forever*

Bodsworth (soon to be Rugglesby if he reaches lvl 15 )


p.s. Gotta say that this is what makes this game great. These kind of epic events, in which it's not about achievements and k/d ratio's, but good, clean, out of control fun (and pipeweed, of course). Thanks to all who organized, helped and thought this all up, you are the best!

Originally Posted by Harperelle

But on a brighter note, I want to thank everyone for a fantastic Weatherstock! This was the year that Weatherstock became a LOTRO event instead of a Landroval event, with bands from Belegaer, Brandywine, Crickhollow, Landroval, and Laurelin all participating.

...And Silverlode.

But I digress. Don't Tempt Me Frodo had a great time, and we plan on coming back. In fact, we're even opening a new kinhouse on Landroval, and keeping the kin on this server for events and socializing, which is a thing very much lacking on Silverlode. The final vote was indeed a very close call, and even more thrilling when we weren't really expecting anything at all. Hearts in our stomachs and all that.

Congrats to all of the winners! It was a really awesome show, and a very fun crowd. We can't wait for next year.

Originally Posted by Avarlothien

...And Silverlode.

So sorry for the mistake! Believe it or not, Silverlode was actually the first server I listed, but then I decided the fairest way to list them all was alphabetically and I somehow lost Silverlode in the shuffle...

We really enjoyed your performance, and it was one of the LMB favorites, getting edged out by Strollers by 1 vote in our final poll. As one bander put it, "They're just like BBB only from Silverlode!" That's either high praise or damning condemnation, depending on your point of view.

--Harper

Fantastic event despite the efforts of some. I arrived late but was able to enjoy the show via a mix of /regional, twitch feed and the cstm podcast feed. Without regional lyrics it would just have been half a song.

Would like to think that somone like sapience was lurking on a toon incognito enjoying the show and made a note of the GM's name for a training session this week, tempting to pm him a suggestion along those lines. Find it very surprising that someone on duty that night was apparently unaware of the event especially something of this size and not in it's first year.

Thank you for a great event, I had a wonderful time attending! The event was truly a home run hit out of the park!

Thank you to all the performers, all the bands did an amazing job, I enjoyed all the performances and wish they all could have gotten an award, they were all deserving!

Many thanks to the Lonely Mountain Band for hosting and pulling off an amazing achievement ... I can't imagine being able to do something like that. The security folks did a great job, with all the low level attendees and performers, keeping the event safe from harm.

The Turbine server team seemed to be on the ball, I appreciate that they kept everything chugging along and everyone able to participate in the event, their use of reducing the client viewing distance to reduce the server load with client-server interactions seemed to be an effective approach.

Unfortunately, failing grades to the Turbine GM team, and to Turbine management. As is to be expected on the Internet, you will always encounter perverse folks on your travels, and there is often nothing reasonable you can do to satisfy them, so the best approach (IMHO) is to put them on /ignore and move on rather than try to reason with them. Unfortunately, some folks did not put them on /ignore, nor move their chatter to PM's, so I could still view some one-sided discussions. Then at least one GM got involved, and failed to support the event that was the major focus of the region at that current time.

Perhaps the best approach would be to allow Turbine to host the next Weatherstock, given their lukewarm support of all of the hard work volunteered by the players? Perhaps if they had to pay their staff to pull something like Weatherstock off, they would then be in a better position to appreciate the difficulties and the need for staff support? The lack of support for suppressing forced emotes that interrupted the performances and disrupted the event was so very disappointing, along with not supporting the requirements for effective chat communication channels.

It's amazing to me that the players, to include the hard work involved by the performers and the hosts (the logistics of getting band characters on Landroval and getting them all trained in the necessary instruments sounds daunting in and of itself), all of the folks who showed up for the event (all of us customers) can't even justify support from one GM during the event? It's disappointing the lack of support that Turbine provides for in-game events where so many players have invested numerous hours to pull off "for free", and it only takes a couple of perverse players to grief the event due to lack of Turbine support staff. Shame on Turbine management, their lack of support is disappointing.

Again, perhaps if Turbine management had to pay their staff to pull something like Weatherstock off, they would then be in a better position to appreciate the difficulties and the need for staff support?

Anyway, not to end on a sour note, but rather to focus on the great event and the wonderful time that I had, thanks again to all those who pulled off such a fantastic achievement ... what a great game this is, with really cool player events ... it was fantastic, I'm looking forward to going again next year!

I didn’t know what to expect with Weatherstock (my first) and I was surprised at how enjoyable the event was. Lag wasn’t the problem that I thought it was going to be. Unfortunately I had to leave in the middle of it and missed some of the bands but what I heard was some great music and I thought the outfits were also great fun to see. Kudos to everyone who made it possible!

Mycroft, if you're this angry, tell Turbine so! Tell them with screenshots, emails, videos, etc. MAKE them hear that this will not stand anymore! Posting in a forum can only do so much, you know?

Thank you, for putting on such an event! This was my first time attending Weatherstock 2012, and I loved every minute of it! All the bands did a great job, and were wonderful to listen to. The audience was also excellent. I have never seen so many people in one spot before. I will be sure to attend Weatherstock next year.

Many thanks to all the involved people from Weathestock IV for the perfect organization, the great music and the magic night. I'll never forget! Thank you all!

I love your song http://www.tinyurl.com/WeatherstockForever it's a great earwig already

I'm already impatient looking forward to next year and Weatherstock V.

We have a lot of Screenshots in a big picture album. you're welcome to visit our pages
http://album.suedviertel.com/#21.169


Laslenla Rosenblatt
from DE-RP Belegaer
http://suedviertel.com

All of the photos and videos of Weatherstock are awesome. Thanks everyone for posting them!

I have the sick feeling that someone - no idea who - is going onto YouTube and reporting all the Weatherstock videos for "copyright violation." I note that several are now inaccessible. It looks like they are pending the results of a copyright violation investigation, which is why they aren't working. The only way I know this is because when I go to look at the analytics of mine, an error message comes up saying

"Because this video has been claimed by a copyright owner, statistics cannot be made public."

Anyone else know anything else about this? I note that several other videos by other contributors, from Japan, Germany, etc., that I previously enjoyed on YouTube, are also as inaccessible as the one I posted.

I don't want to jump to conclusions so won't suggest this is the work of unhappy people from the server, but I am curious what kind of legitimate copyright has been violated. Has there been a problem with in-game videos being posted? Are other LOTRO videos not related to Weatherstock also being subjected to copyright claims? Is this related to the music?

I know that YouTube will only pull a video if the actual copyright holder is the one making the claim.

It seems to have happened quite fast to be a general LOTRO kind of thing, but would love to know more about what is going on, if anyone has any suggestions.

Originally Posted by Sito_Origami

I have the sick feeling that someone - no idea who - is going onto YouTube and reporting all the Weatherstock videos for "copyright violation." I note that several are now inaccessible. It looks like they are pending the results of a copyright violation investigation, which is why they aren't working. The only way I know this is because when I go to look at the analytics of mine, an error message comes up saying

"Because this video has been claimed by a copyright owner, statistics cannot be made public."

Anyone else know anything else about this? I note that several other videos by other contributors, from Japan, Germany, etc., that I previously enjoyed on YouTube, are also as inaccessible as the one I posted.

I don't want to jump to conclusions so won't suggest this is the work of unhappy people from the server, but I am curious what kind of legitimate copyright has been violated. Has there been a problem with in-game videos being posted? Are other LOTRO videos not related to Weatherstock also being subjected to copyright claims? Is this related to the music?

I know that YouTube will only pull a video if the actual copyright holder is the one making the claim.

It seems to have happened quite fast to be a general LOTRO kind of thing, but would love to know more about what is going on, if anyone has any suggestions.

Keep in mind that copyright owners/Record Companies/Music Publishing companies regularly search (many using searchbots) to search for their copyrighted songs/films/etc., on YouTube.

Unless you can argue/prove "Fair Use" ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_use ) of their copyrighted material, they are within their rights to protect, what is essentially their property.

(Keep in mind also, though you might have a case for "Fair Use", it doesn't preclude them [with their "deep pockets] from initiating a Civil Action, that would require you to hired legal council to prove your arguement of "Fair Use"...a costly endeavor.)

You haven't identified the song used in the video you posted, but I'd venture a guess that it might be a more modern copyrighted song?

We've had the same happen to many members of The Eriador Music Society, on their own YouTube Channels recently, when posting videos of our/their performances of ABCs they've created for the game.

Your best bet is to stick with posting older "Public Domain" songs to YouTube, if you can't provide a case for "Fair Use".

On the other hand, I've noted a few of the performing groups this year, saying they used personally composed songs by their members, and it would be wise for those folks to note their own Copyright of their own work when publishing them as well, to protect their interest in their work/property.

Blame the "Corporate Suits" (Lawyers), rather than any LotRO player...you summed it up pretty well with this statement:

"I know that YouTube will only pull a video if the actual copyright holder is the one making the claim."

I asked someone at Turbine for permission to use one of their songs as the audio track for a LOTRO video and they said "Yes" without hesitation. I also saved the two copyright and content rating video clips from the Biggest Fan video contest, to add those to the end of my videos. That way, I can be sure that Turbine/WB are given proper credit. No problems, so far.

However, every time I upload a video, I get a warning that I have a copyrighted soundtrack. The email threatens that my video may be removed and all sorts of nasty things may happen to me. This warning comes from a third party company that makes it sound like they are associated with YouTube. I ignore it, because I did get permission first. Nothing bad ever came of the warning.

"I was there!" or "I survived Weatherstock" *smiles*

Hello Landroval, It was great beeing your guest. It was great beeing part of something this big. I came as a visitor from Belegaer and was overwelmed by the hospitality in your world. And I was absolutely thrilled by the Weatherstock event. And I need to say some words to thank a few people. Ok, the word 'few' is not really correct.

Thanks to this great audience! I was there as one of the musicians. And all members of our band were so nervous. And I'm pretty sure the other bands felt the same. But then I rembembered a great musician who once said "All of you are here to have a great time, right? So are we!" *laughs* And a special thank you to all visitors from Belegaer who stood with Symphonia et Gloria and Mornie Alantie untill the very early morning!

Thanks to all the great bands who performed that night. I had so much fun listening to you. And each single band did an absolute great performance on the stage. And I know how much work it is for a band to prepare such a night

Thanks to all who voted for us on the Free Peoples Award! YES, WE WON!!! *laughs* After listening to all the bands I wasn't sure to receive anything at all, as all bands had so great music and I loved them all. A big hug for that!!!

We will definately be on Landroval more often to be with you and hear more music from your bands and from time to time have a little concert again.

And then of course, I wanna thank all members of the Lonely Mountain Band. Statement is simple! You did a great job. I don't want to know how much work it is to organize such an event. I don't even have the slightest idea of the effort behind. Additionally you had no manage one or two crisis during the concert. Dealing with trolls and drunken people ... that ain't easy. But you did it!

Again ... it was just great! THANKS!!!!

The day after I had an idea. It would have been great if your song "Weatherstock forever" would be the last song of this night. Played by two musicians of each group that performed that evening plus members from LMB. Would be something for next year. *laughs*

And of course ... thanks to Floradine for making it as easy as possible for the two bands from Belegaer to feel home on Landroval! You did an amazing job, too!!!!

I'll hope to see you all on Weatherstock V

Marebald

Hello everyone!

So I think that it's no surprise that we've been working with Harperella in getting some promotion and prizes over to Weatherstock this year. I've been in frequent contact with her regarding the event, and she and I have discussed the few issues that occurred.

Please know that we've already spoken with the GM staff, and that Ingolemo's warning was made in error. We're sorry that this mixup occurred and that Ingolemo has received an in-game warning, but we've gotten that all straightened out. We totally don't want to see one of our finest singers carrying a warning for simply singing his lyrics during Weatherstock!

With that behind us, I hope that you all had a great time at one of the best concerts in Middle-earth, and I personally cannot wait to see what everyone has in store for next year's event!

Wonderful. Thanks, Celestrata.

I wanted to say 'thank you' to the organisers and participants of Weatherstock. It's so well-done and it provides a measure of pride for us Landrovalians to be the home of such an awesome event.

/cheer
/smoke

Originally Posted by Celestrata

Hello everyone!

So I think that it's no surprise that we've been working with Harperella in getting some promotion and prizes over to Weatherstock this year. I've been in frequent contact with her regarding the event, and she and I have discussed the few issues that occurred.

Please know that we've already spoken with the GM staff, and that Ingolemo's warning was made in error. We're sorry that this mixup occurred and that Ingolemo has received an in-game warning, but we've gotten that all straightened out. We totally don't want to see one of our finest singers carrying a warning for simply singing his lyrics during Weatherstock!

With that behind us, I hope that you all had a great time at one of the best concerts in Middle-earth, and I personally cannot wait to see what everyone has in store for next year's event!

Thanks for the follow up, Celestrata! I was convinced from the get-go that this whole thing was just a miscommunication, and I'm glad you have confirmed that. This has been a great Weatherstock and now we can go back to focusing on the music!

--Harper

Originally Posted by Avarlothien

...And Silverlode.

But I digress. Don't Tempt Me Frodo had a great time, and we plan on coming back. In fact, we're even opening a new kinhouse on Landroval, and keeping the kin on this server for events and socializing, which is a thing very much lacking on Silverlode. The final vote was indeed a very close call, and even more thrilling when we weren't really expecting anything at all. Hearts in our stomachs and all that.

Congrats to all of the winners! It was a really awesome show, and a very fun crowd. We can't wait for next year.

Wonderful to hear that DTMF will have a Landroval presense. I look forward to more improv performances such as the winds of fate and fortune may bring. Cheers to the band.

Originally Posted by Celestrata

Hello everyone!

So I think that it's no surprise that we've been working with Harperella in getting some promotion and prizes over to Weatherstock this year. I've been in frequent contact with her regarding the event, and she and I have discussed the few issues that occurred.

Please know that we've already spoken with the GM staff, and that Ingolemo's warning was made in error. We're sorry that this mixup occurred and that Ingolemo has received an in-game warning, but we've gotten that all straightened out. We totally don't want to see one of our finest singers carrying a warning for simply singing his lyrics during Weatherstock!

With that behind us, I hope that you all had a great time at one of the best concerts in Middle-earth, and I personally cannot wait to see what everyone has in store for next year's event!

I am so relieved to see this, Celestrata. I was absolutely dumbfounded to hear about the warning and I would view it as a huge plummet from grace if Turbine were really meaning to take such a stance.

Thanks for the update, Celestrata.

And, of course, thank you LMB for hosting the event. It was fantastic to be a part of the audience for the first time. I hope to make it next year as well.

Originally Posted by Celestrata

Hello everyone!

So I think that it's no surprise that we've been working with Harperella in getting some promotion and prizes over to Weatherstock this year. I've been in frequent contact with her regarding the event, and she and I have discussed the few issues that occurred.

Please know that we've already spoken with the GM staff, and that Ingolemo's warning was made in error. We're sorry that this mixup occurred and that Ingolemo has received an in-game warning, but we've gotten that all straightened out. We totally don't want to see one of our finest singers carrying a warning for simply singing his lyrics during Weatherstock!

With that behind us, I hope that you all had a great time at one of the best concerts in Middle-earth, and I personally cannot wait to see what everyone has in store for next year's event!

Thank you so much, Celestrata, on behalf of Ingolemo (who very rarely visits the forums) and myself. Your kind words mean a lot to us and we're glad the issue was addressed. We'll certainly be back next year with an even better show.

Ingolemo pardoned! Everyone wins!

The masses cheer to his glory!
<3

Originally Posted by Avarlothien

Ingolemo pardoned! Everyone wins!

The masses cheer to his glory!
<3

The candelight vigils and hunger strikes worked!

--Harperella

At all that made it possible: congratulations on such a marvellous event and many thanks for the hard work, please keep it up.

It's good news, Celestrata that things have been straightened out. It would have left a bitter taste in my mouth to know Ingolemo got a warning for posting his lyrics. For this was such an awesome event and I'm really glad I attended as a visitor from Belegaer with my little minstrel.

Hope to be there at Weathertop again next year and watch and listen to such gorgeous bands.

It is good to read that things have been talked and clarified.

And certainly, room us a slot for next year too!

Im relieved as well. Thank you for letting us all know how it worked out.

While I am glad the warning got revoked I also can on the other hand understand the person reporting it.

I was playing at the same time in LL and would have appreciated to have less text flowing by in /regional to be able to find people to group with etc. and only knowing that there was the event and being a good sport about it kept me from reporting it.

I do not see where it would be an problem to make an event channel for the event and advertise it every few minutes in /regional etc.

I have honestly never ever met an person that did not know how to join an channel.

Originally Posted by akkibora

While I am glad the warning got revoked I also can on the other hand understand the person reporting it.

I was playing at the same time in LL and would have appreciated to have less text flowing by in /regional to be able to find people to group with etc. and only knowing that there was the event and being a good sport about it kept me from reporting it.

I do not see where it would be an problem to make an event channel for the event and advertise it every few minutes in /regional etc.

I have honestly never ever met an person that did not know how to join an channel.

Er, well, it was sanctioned and supported by Turbine, and they didn't feel like trying the herding cats exercise of getting 500+ people into a new channel. On top of that, I already am in four chat channels(the limit) as are I am sure many others.

Next year we'll be moving the lyrics into /rp, but keeping the event information and announcements in /regional. This should cut down on noise complaints.

--Harper

Originally Posted by akkibora

While I am glad the warning got revoked I also can on the other hand understand the person reporting it.

I was playing at the same time in LL and would have appreciated to have less text flowing by in /regional to be able to find people to group with etc. and only knowing that there was the event and being a good sport about it kept me from reporting it.

I do not see where it would be an problem to make an event channel for the event and advertise it every few minutes in /regional etc.

I have honestly never ever met an person that did not know how to join an channel.

1. Posting lyrics in a public channel is no more spam than having a lengthy conversation in a public channel is. If you don't like what you see in a public channel you are free to turn it off. No one finds groups in regional channel. It's not used for anything except event announcements and kinship ads. Turning it off doesn't hamper your questing.

2. I've met plenty of people who didn't know how to join a channel and it was a long time before I learned how to do it after beginning to play myself. This game attracts a lot of people who are not used to MMO mechanics.

For the first time ever, I missed a Weatherstock.

Sorry I missed it (not sorry I missed the griefing).

Well-Done to the organizers (as always)!!

Originally Posted by akkibora

While I am glad the warning got revoked I also can on the other hand understand the person reporting it.

I was playing at the same time in LL and would have appreciated to have less text flowing by in /regional to be able to find people to group with etc. and only knowing that there was the event and being a good sport about it kept me from reporting it.

I do not see where it would be an problem to make an event channel for the event and advertise it every few minutes in /regional etc.

I have honestly never ever met an person that did not know how to join an channel.

LFF is the local Looking For Group channel, not Regional.