TechFlash Summer BBQ & Ping Pong tourney approaching fast

The first annual TechFlash Summer BBQ & Ping Pong Tournament is just 13 days away. We've assembled a great line-up of entrepreneurs, VCs, attorneys, PR professionals and developers from the Seattle tech industry who think they have what it takes to be named the king -- or queen -- of pong.

Among those in the field are Amazon.com’s Andy Jassy, Concur’s Rajeev Singh, BuddyTV’s Andy Liu, Frazier Technology Ventures' Len Jordan, Big Fish Games' Glenn Walcott and WhitePages' Alex Algard. The 48 tournament slots are now accounted for.

There's still room for the BBQ, but we are expecting that to sell out too. So, if you want to cheer on your favorite techie or just hang out in a relaxed setting and shoot the breeze, make sure to sign up here. Here are the key things you need to know, along with the detailed FAQ that we sent to ping pong players earlier this week.

What: TechFlash Summer BBQ & Ping Pong Tourney
When: July 23rd, 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Where: Georgetown Ballroom, 5623 Airport Way South
Why: We love to see heated competition in the Seattle tech industry.

Here's how this will work. Next Monday at 5:00 p.m., we plan to hold a selection show at Teddy’s Tavern in Seattle where we’ll set the bracket in the 48-person field.
 
Since we haven't seen any of you play, we'll be choosing names randomly out of a hat at Teddy’s. Come on out if you have time

(Teddy’s has ping pong tables on the back deck, so it could be a good place to practice up before the big July 23rd tournament). Otherwise, please visit TechFlash the following day where we’ll post a PDF of the bracket.  (At that time, feel free to let the official trash talking begin.)

Then, on July 23rd -- in a sporting event not seen around these parts since the glory days of the Sonics -- we'll be getting everyone together for a giant ping pong smack down.  (If you are not in the tournament, don't worry as we'll have a recreational table set up for more casual play).

We've also lined up some sweet and spicy BBQ courtesy of Smokin' Peet's in Ballard. And prizes? Yes, we'll have prizes. 

Bing, Microsoft's newly rebranded search engine, will have some surprises in store as the presenting sponsor. Additional sponsors of the event are Solutions IQ; Seattle University's Master of Software Engineering program and Microsoft BizSpark. Our ping pong bracket sponsor is the Washington Technology Industry Association.

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Here's a FAQ for those participants in the July 23rd tournament:
 
What time should I arrive? 3:50 p.m. sharp. The bracket consists of 48 players and we'll be trying to move quickly from match to match in order to complete the tournament in a reasonable time frame. If you can't make the tournament on time, it will result in a default.
 
When will the finals be held? It depends on how quickly we move through the early rounds, but we are hoping to take a networking/dinner break at 6:00 p.m. Afterwards, we'll resume the tournament with the blockbuster final rounds.
 

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