Just published by Czech Yo-yo Association
http://worlds13.com/


What do you think?

I think I wanna go. Worlds desperately needs to take place outside of Florida. Keeping it in the same city, especially an overpriced tourist trap like Orlando, isn't doing the sport any favors.

I have very mixed opinions on this, I think that in order to be called worlds it is necessary that the event should travel. However, I think that the way this has been happening, and some of the people pushing it have been a bit disrespectful, and unprofessional.

This is just my 2cents, I definitely can see both sides of the coin though.

I think they decided on it being in Orlando for x amount of years and its written in the contract it will be in orlando for x amount of years and i feel they should honor that

Here is the thing that nobody seems to talk about. The World YoYo Contest is run by Greg Cohen, owner of YoYoGuy based out of Florida. For Worlds to move he would have to organize it somewhere else in the world or relinquish control of it. I don't see that happening anytime soon. People can push all they want but Worlds is Greg's event.

I do agree that it would be nice for the international event should travel. Instead of trying to force Worlds to move it might be better for a group to come together that represents different parts of the globe and has out an event that travels from year to year.

Ok, I dont want to be rude but some points here:

- What makes "official" a contest run by a guy who rules a store? That he paid for a copyright? That he signed a contact with an hotel by himself?
- Wich "contract" does the players have with it? The brands? The national associations of each country?
- Why should people all around the world buy a pretty expensive flight ticket to attend an event held in a pretty expensive hotel in Orlando?

I can write even more reasons for a REAL change. They are talking about Prague, and it is great. But World Yoyo Contest should be an event for the yoyoers and people, for the community, not only for americans or the guys with the money (or sponsors) to fly there.

We are living in XXI century and we have the social networks. Presidents of each national yoyo association (including me, Spanish Yoyo Association) should talk and decide what to do and where.

For me Prague seems to be perfect (cheap, beautiful, the organization has experience, etc), but I dont think it should be a permanent placement. Like Olimpic Games, we should decide locations for next 2 or 3 years so those places can be ready for it.

And if we cant call it world yoyo contest because someone has a patent or name registered, we can put a different name. Worlds should not be property or anyone.

PD I assume criticism because for people living in USA is probably more comfortable, cheap or easier for many reasons (under 18 years old for example). But you should think about people in France, Hungary, Poland, United Kingdom, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, Turkey, Germany, Finland, Iceland, Russia, Slovenia, Japan, China, Hong Kong, Singapore... should i go on?

sorry, double posting... delete please.

Alfredo, you and I are definitely on the same page. As far as the current World YoYo Contest, here is some history on it:

http://www.yoyowiki.org/wiki/World_Yo-Yo_Contest

Worlds as it is known right now is hosted by Greg in Florida. If there is to be a true Olympic style yo-yo contest that brings the best of the best from around the world it should probably switch cities every couple of years maybe do it in true Olympic style and have it switch cities every four years. So for example if this were to start next year in Prague it would stay there for four years and then move to say Tokyo and be there for four years. This would allow organizers time to set up the next four years worth of venues and allow players that may not be able to make the travel the first year time to save for a subsequent year. If it can't be called World YoYo Contest maybe it should be the International YoYo Contest or something like that... can't call it the Olympic YoYo Contest, the International Olympic Committee has brand rights to the olympic name.

I just want to make it clear that I agree with you in everyway, although I am bummed that it would be more expensive for a couple years, the idea is that it travels so I could catch it at a closer venue.

What I disagree with is the tactics that certain people are taking to push for it to move, it seems to be undermining this years event, and I think that some of the people doing it are being very disrespectful and unprofessional. In other words they have a good plan, and are trying to take action which is good, but are doing it the wrong way.

Totally agree, saying "you are very bad organizing" doesnt make me better. I opened a group for all the international association presidentes to discuss about it (including greg). It must be a decision taken by most of the countries, like a democratic movement.

Saying actual world yoyo contest sucks is not the way to go at all. Looking how we can make it better is the key.

I remember hearing that Prague were planning their own worlds event for 2013 many months ago so it shouldn't come as a a huge surprise to anyone following the situation.

However it is really surprising that they would make the official announcement during Worlds and set the date to clash with next year's WYYC. I guess they're really trying to force Greg's hand. It does seem really disrespectful but we don't know what's gone on behind the scenes in terms of the relationship behind he Prague organisers and Greg.

Many people tried to contact Greg and all they found was a brickwall. They decided to go on with it. But the unprofessional ones may not be the ones you think of.

There's also another issue, which is the whole YYF/DUNCAN 5A Patent thing. I'm not throwing stones here, not at all, actually I met Brandon and we discussed the "issue", it's a little bit complicated, but all in all, it's been 2 worlds without YYF, I seem to also understand that asian/chinese brands would also be happier if worlds were somewhere else than in the US.

Worlds in Prague will have lots of support. It'll be more expensive for those in the US to whom it's probably fairly affordable, but MUCH less expensive for the rest of the world, where the general consensus is Orlando = $3000, if it happens in Prague, I can't imagine it being over $1800 for anyone, all included, the entry fee for 1 division in Orlando should cover the entire accommodation fees for the whole trip in Prague. Keep in mind that South East asians or Eastern Europeans don't make as much money as we do in US or Western Europe, the trip to Orlando is a no go for many of them, while a trip to Prague, which is a VERY CHEAP city, will be much easier to take for many people all over the world.

CYYA Proved, with how they handled EYYC, that they're able to do it just as well, if not better than Greg. And if they decided to get on with it, trust me, worlds 13 is going to be in Prague and it's going to be absolutely EPIC.

But IMO, the "brickwall" is the reason why they went on and did it. I'm sure if Greg was more open to discussions, it would have been different. But he basically closed the door for several years to come, without any will to hear out the other side.

You seem to have so much inside knowledge. Where did you get this information? How do you know it is factual?

good question

about Greg, I know I did as a blogger try to contact him to discuss the subject, other people also reported little to no discussion possible regarding the subject. The main info is that the Hotel at Orlando is booked several years in advance and this would then prove problematic the sudden change of schedule.

About the 5A/patent Duncan/YYF stuff, I asked the questions and for clarification directly to Brandon during a diner we had at the last EYYC. He's very comfortable discussing the subject. The involvement with the whole YYF/Duncan thing and the info I have about the subject, mainly from Brandon is something I'm not very comfortable discussing. There are no "good guys" or "bad guys" here, just laws, business and strict stuff that can't be easily overcome.

I know YYF is actively supporting the european scene since they opened YYF-europe and it's fairly obvious that they play a big part in the Prague events in particular. And chinese/easter european manufacturers are also very active in the euro scene.

Oh and about the prices in Prague, I was there, it's cheap

Then it's assumption on my part:
USA has the issue with patents, KK and 5A stuff that proved to be an issue with YYF Sponsoring worlds in Orlando, one could only assume that chinese manufacturers may also be driven off the US by the patents on KK (as they produce and sell KKs and yoyos in mass in europe).

The thing is, for a long time, Greg was the only one willing and able to organize worlds and this was in Orlando, but now, today, other countries and cities are more than ready, willing and able to host it as well, so there's no reason, really, to keep leaving it in one place.

That's not true at all. YYF could have easily just not screwed with Duncan and pushed their buttons in the first place. Also, pretty sure no one's been sued by Duncan yet for sponsoring contests that involve 5A. So...what's YYF waiting for? The answer is nothing, they're just trying to make Duncan out to be the bad guy, when in reality they're clearly in the wrong here. They weren't fooling anyone with spintop buttons, so what were they thinking?

where do you get this info?

because you're more mad at YYF than Brandon is, there's no bad blood between the two brands. it's just business. We had that spintop button conversation as well with him, ask him directly as he's comfortable and happy to answer any question regarding to this.

The thing is, Duncan HAS to defend their patent because if they fail to do so, they may lose it. And there is a legal/patent issue that is very specific to YYF regarding the 5A thing and some YYF players. this is info I got first hand a few months ago.

again there is no "good or bad" here, please don't make a war where there is none. it's the very reason why I went ahead and had this meeting, to get my facts straight from the source, and I did.

Did you notice how this year Tyler were wearing a YYE t-shirt?
it's very difficult to argue for me here because there are some specifics I'd prefer not to disclose here in "public"

There is some punishment going on by YYF here, no matter what is said by either side. Keep in mind these are companies, they have to keep up appearances and not bad mouth the competition, that is just good business sense.

To the best of my knowledge the only company that has a 5A license from Duncan is YoYoJam, yet I see a whole hell of a lot of sponsor companies on the stage walls other than YYJ. Better yet, I am not seeing a single lawsuit from Duncan targeting these other companies. YYF can easily sponsor US contests with 5A divisions, it chooses not to which sends a clear message... if you want that YYF money you better not have a 5A division. I'm not too surprised, typical bully behavior, if you can't control it, kill it.

The one thing I am really curious about, if YYF is so concerned about the legalities of the 5A patent why are they putting their name on the videos from Worlds and other contest showing 5A contestants. They even have Tyler's video from Worlds 2012. I don't care what shirt he is wearing, everyone knows what team he throws for. How is this kosher for them but sponsoring isn't?

According to Yoyoskills company called Diamond Noir also has licensed it.
http://www.yoyoskills.com/?p=10666

I'm sorry but you'd have to ask Brandon about this, or maybe even Ben.

I "go by" YYF because personally, they helped me a lot setting my shop up, they support our community in a way no other brand comes even close, the support has been constant and unconditional now for almost two years.

All the supposed "bad stuff" they do, I only read about it online, but the true hard facts have proved otherwise constantly for me over and over again. I'm dealing with YYF on a weekly basis now and they have been nothing but perfect gentlemen on every single occasion, they actively helped our community grow at a pace that I wouldn't be able to follow only by myself. Of course they're making money on it, and their brand grows with it, which is the normal reward regarding on how much they put in the community in the first place.

So between internet allegation and true personally verifiable facts, understand that my position is clear here.

And also due to the information I got from the source on Duncan's part, I believe I have a fair yet -and I give you that, probably still incomplete- understanding of what's going on between Duncan and YYF about the patent thing.

Those are business choices about business and legal issues, on both part. There is no bad blood whatsoever in between.

If ben wasn't more passionate about yoyoing than he was about money, he'd be in the porn business, not in yoyoing, but once your company reaches a certain size (like Duncan or YYF both of which are owned by larger international companies) the business part becomes much more technical, calculated and important.

But yes, the fact that YYF will most likely support worlds in Europe has to do with a lot of things, and the 5A patent is likely to be one of them, but by far not the only one.

sent some additional info by email.