I have been asked to present an operator class at the upcoming Laser Tag Convention in Las Vegas and I would like to crowdsource some opinions about what makes a laser tag arena really impressive. My own point of view comes from personally having played in nearly 400 different laser tag arenas. However, I consider my blog readers to have a wealth of experience in this area too! I would love to incorporate some of your thoughts and player perspectives, so I invite you to take this survey and contribute your opinions to the topics I will be discussing at the convention.
Regardless of whether you are a tournament level player or a casual laser tag player, if you would be willing to tell me what you think, please take the survey here:
Each quarter when I announce the charitable organization that we will support with Tag 4 A Cause for a three month time period I appreciate the support of those who take on the laser tag 5K challenge on their own virtually (Shadowdragon, I’m shouting you out for doing every single one!). However, now that I have done a few of these in-person events along the way I also recognize that there is nothing that garners support for a cause like being able to talk to people directly. That’s why I am so excited to have not one, but TWO Tag 4 A Cause events planned during the month of February in different parts of the country.
How does it work? When I set up at a laser tag arena for an event I have the custom resin laser tag 5K medals with me. When you make a donation (which you can make directly to the cause using the link on my website) and you pledge to laser tag 5 kilometers of laser tag I award you a medal. Often times we pair this with a “golden phaser” high score trophy challenge, just like we will at both of these upcoming events.
If you can’t make it out to an event in person you can always participate on your own at any laser tag arena, anywhere. Fill out the form on the website and I will send your medal to you in the mail. Now through the end of March 2022 all Tag 4 A Cause donations will benefit Ronald McDonald House Charities. You can find all the info here:
I am looking forward to hitting the road again for the upcoming Tag 4 A Cause nights. The first will be at Flight Zone Trampoline Park in Gillette, WY on February 5th from 4:00-8:00.
And the second will be at Apex Entertainment in Albany, NY on February 19th from 2:00-5:00.
I look forward to having you join us in supporting a great cause however it works best for you, either in-person at an event or virtually from your own favorite laser tag arena. However you choose to do it, thank you for help by us Tag 4 A Cause!
For women who love competition, pageants and laser tag have more in common than you might think! While getting ready to help crown a new Miss Finger Lakes into our sisterhood I had some time to chat with Sydney Park, the reigning Miss New York (and 3rd runner-up to Miss America) and the topic of competition came up in the conversation.
We of course discussed pageant competitions, as just last month Sydney placed in the top five at Miss America. We also talked about how laser tag is what I do now to satisfy the desire for competition in my post-pageant life and how my interest in tournament competition is what really got me started along my laser tag journey.
As I am never one to miss an opportunity to promote laser tag, I handed her a microphone and asked her to share her thoughts on the subject. :)
On route to this event, I simply couldn’t resist stopping for a game of Cybertag.
But the rest of the weekend was all about growing the sisterhood. For those who don’t know, I was Miss Finger Lakes back in the day. I was honored to help “crown it down” with this group of former Miss Finger Lakes titleholders as we welcomed our newest MFL, local morning show anchor and reporter Chelsea Lovell who was just crowned Miss Finger Lakes 2022.
I thank Miss New York for being part of the night with us.
So what does this have to do with laser tag? Well, pageants and laser tag really do have something special in common (besides both being a great competitive outlet for women like me). When you are part of one of these communities you have “family” wherever you go. I know people literally all across the country because of these activities. In fact, when I completed my 50-state laser tag journey in Texas a couple of years ago, who was by my side (besides George Carter)? It was my Miss Finger Lakes sister Lorna Rose who came out to support me and cover the event for Sportscon.
Pageants and laser tag recently intersected for me in another way when I ran into one of my New York State Maple Queen sisters at an event.
It was about time for me to update my tag apparel and I wanted to get some new gear before heading off to the next Tag 4 A Cause event scheduled for February 5th at Flight Zone Trampoline Park in Gillette, Wyoming. And because pageant sisters are a strong network and always try to support each other I went to former maple queen Deidra Hill at Delco Creative for the custom embroidery work on my fleece and sport jacket. The new gear just arrived and her work is amazing!
If you need custom apparel work she is a pro and you can reach her at www.delcocreative.com.
Teaming up with Deidra and reminiscing about our days holding the New York State Maple Queen title made me nostalgic to pull out this little piece of history.… well, of course I am talking about the tiara, lol, and NOT that other amazing piece of history I am holding!
Ok, yes this is actually taking the long way around just to hint about something very cool that you will hear about shortly. ;) Call it my little Easter egg buried in this post.
However, bringing it all full circle, good preparation is one of the keys to success in both pageantry and laser tag, so knowing that Flight Zone is holding a LaserBall event the same day as Tag 4 A Cause gave me a reason to seek out some practice so that I can arrive as prepared as possible. I can switch gears very quickly and I want to thank this group of Fun Warehouse members for helping me get some practice games in to feel a little more prepared with LaserBall before my trip.
With some practice under my belt and my new apparel ready to go, now I’m all set to represent Tag 4 A Cause in style. Next stop…Wyoming!
Tiviachick’s Tag 4 A Cause is back and will benefit Ronald McDonald House Charities now through the end of March. Join us in supporting Ronald McDonald House Charities and your gift will help RMHC programs to help alleviate some financial burdens for families with sick children. 90% of top children’s hospitals around the world are home to at least one RMHC core program (source: www.RMHC.org).
Want to support this cause and also take on the laser tag 5K challenge? It’s as easy as this: donate, play laser tag and earn an achievement medal! Full details can be found here:
You can complete your laser tag 5K challenge on your own or join us for an upcoming Tag 4 A Cause night (TBD). More info at www.TiviachickLovesLaserTag.com.
I want to give some big thanks to these Laserforce players who helped kick off the new year by participating in the first Tag 4 A Cause Laser Tag 5K Challenge of 2022!
The FWH members here all made donations last night to Ronald McDonald House Charities while earning their laser tag 5K challenge medal during a very full night of tag. And just to add a little extra fun, participation in the challenge also qualified them to play for the “First Phaser of 2022” trophy during the first game of the new year scheduled to take place just after midnight.
I was rocking my light up mask all night to celebrate New Year’s with some glitz!
Members events like this are always a great time because we get to play some of the more unusual game formats that are not typically offered during public nights. I especially enjoyed an original game that Fox had initially programmed for a different site, but also added here using the emulator. The game is called Armageddon and it allows you 90 shots and 9 lives before you are out of the game. It also includes stuns, so you probably can guess what system it emulates. ;) This was my first time even hearing about this game. I love that we are able to enjoy such a wide variety of game formats.
The night also included some classic LF games like the newly released LaserBall and we dusted off some other formats like D&D and Gladiator. And the members earned some new achievements during a few games.
The one we most wanted to get tonight (because you really only have one shot at it) was The Final Countdown, which required us to sign in and start a game prior to midnight on New Year’s Eve and be playing it as the clock crossed over into New Year’s Day. Some of these achievements are difficult to obtain and with :45 seconds to midnight we made it into the start of this game with just a sliver of enough time to earn the achievement.
After that it was time for the first game of New Year’s Day and this was the designated Tag 4 A Cause high score game of Escalation. Whoever pulled the highest score in this one would take home the “First Phaser” trophy. I love this format because you can rack up some really high scores and strategy sometimes outshines traditional technique. This round was won by one of our young, newer members. Congratulations to Maddie (aka Dovewing/Nobody) finishing with a score of 82,141, which earned her the First Phaser of 2022!
The new Tag 4 A Cause Laser Tag 5K Challenge has officially launched and between now and the end of March we will continue to raise funds for Ronald McDonald House Charities. As always, you can participate and earn your own 5K medal at any laser tag arena, anywhere and the next Tag 4 A Cause night will be announced soon. Want to learn more? Check it out at https://www.tiviachickloveslasertag.com/rmhc.
I look forward to lots more laser tag ahead and I wish everyone a happy, healthy and safe New Year!
