$100,000 Quartzite AZ Jan 22-24 2016
- Thread starter Thom Emery
- Start date
Thom Emery
TVWBB Super Fan
I've been thinking about judging this event...but you might have to pay me $100,000 to drag my butt all the way out to Quartzsite, AZ! 
Bob Bass
TVWBB Gold Member
Email from Smoke on the Water
To all the friends of Smoke on the Water Productions it is with heavy heart that after much discussion we have decided to cancel the Quartzsite, AZ event.
Due to pending lawsuit for breach of contract, we can't go into much detail. What I can say, the deadline for depositing the $100,000 prize money is three weeks past due. Our last attempt to collect we were told the Main Event Showplace wanted to pay their fee after the event.
Our main concern is the teams and their guarantee. We can't allow a breach of contract and risk the funds not be there. I'm not willing to risk that and have a philosophy if they don't have it now they are not going to have it later.
Also, the infrastructure was not going to be up to our standards. After our last meeting another breach of contract, Main Event wanted to charge each team $150 for electricity since he didn't realize we were going to have close to 200 teams competing. Plus there is no lodging within 20 miles. We were promised trailers on site to house everybody. There was an excuse and that fell through. First red flag!
That's about all we can say at this point and apologize for any inconvenience. We will start refunding registration fees Monday. We have a six series event with Golden Nugget Properties ending in Atlantic City, an event in SOBOBO casino in CA, BARBER QUE in Birmingham, AL, and two events in Vegas at this point.
I think I'm just sticking with promoters I have a relationship with. This a first for us and will be a last. Again just looking out after your best interests and apologize. Merry Christmas!!
Ron Cates
CEO Cates & Company Creative
To all the friends of Smoke on the Water Productions it is with heavy heart that after much discussion we have decided to cancel the Quartzsite, AZ event.
Due to pending lawsuit for breach of contract, we can't go into much detail. What I can say, the deadline for depositing the $100,000 prize money is three weeks past due. Our last attempt to collect we were told the Main Event Showplace wanted to pay their fee after the event.
Our main concern is the teams and their guarantee. We can't allow a breach of contract and risk the funds not be there. I'm not willing to risk that and have a philosophy if they don't have it now they are not going to have it later.
Also, the infrastructure was not going to be up to our standards. After our last meeting another breach of contract, Main Event wanted to charge each team $150 for electricity since he didn't realize we were going to have close to 200 teams competing. Plus there is no lodging within 20 miles. We were promised trailers on site to house everybody. There was an excuse and that fell through. First red flag!
That's about all we can say at this point and apologize for any inconvenience. We will start refunding registration fees Monday. We have a six series event with Golden Nugget Properties ending in Atlantic City, an event in SOBOBO casino in CA, BARBER QUE in Birmingham, AL, and two events in Vegas at this point.
I think I'm just sticking with promoters I have a relationship with. This a first for us and will be a last. Again just looking out after your best interests and apologize. Merry Christmas!!
Ron Cates
CEO Cates & Company Creative
Thanks for the update, Bob. This looked like a disaster waiting to happen. When you compared the Google Map satellite image of the site with the promoter's Photoshopped version of the site with a bunch of "facilities" and "venues" overlaid on top of the barren property, I got an uneasy feeling about the whole thing.
Rich Dahl
TVWBB 1-Star Olympian
Barb and I have gone to some events in Quartzsite, it's a haven for Winter snow birds and their RVs, in the Summer the population is about 5000 in the Winter it hits over 1,000,000 with RV's parked out in the desert all the way to Yuma.
They have a huge RV show and used to have the largest gem and mineral show in the country. Except for that it's a gas up and potty stop town.
They have a huge RV show and used to have the largest gem and mineral show in the country. Except for that it's a gas up and potty stop town.