There is a group of people that are starting up a Lan Party group in the midwest of the USA. I have a few details as to what will happen, so read on
They plan on holding 1 to 3 day gaming events, held in conference centers in central wisconsin to start out with. If all goes well, and everybody enjoys the experience, they will start to move other places, including other places in wisconsin, and surrounding states. These states might include: Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, and Missouri.
Here is some idea as to how they plan to work the events.
1 day events = Most of the day even, starting around 12, and ending usually around 5-6 in the morning. General gaming will proceed until 8 pm at night. After 8 pm, they will hold a tournament, and will be giving prizes away to the top three.
Some prizes include (but are not limited to

):
3rd place: (General Idea)
T-shirts, mousepads, free admission to the next event, webcams, free copy of a game that will most likely be a hit and be released in the near future (all winners of the games that are released after the event will be mailed the game)... and stuff like that
2nd place: Something usually better than the earlier. This might include, new sound cards, software packages, free admission to the next X amount of events, video capture cards, and stuff in that general category.
1st Prize: Graphics Cards, Speaker Systems (Either Creative or Logitech), free admission to the next X amount of events, software packages. Whatever they feel is worthy of a 1st place winner. There is talk about whole PC systems being given away if the parties are successful, so look for them around the 3rd or 4th event. And trust me, they won't be cheap systems

.
Just remember, these are just the details that i received earlier, nothing is set in stone, and there's a TON more that can be added to the prizes list.
After the first few events, they also do plan to have a warm buffet for all to enjoy for their time that they stay. For the first few events, food will be limited to a snacks and drink table. They will make sure the location is near restaurants for the first few, so our people don't go hungry.
Now, for the 2 day events, gaming goes on for the 1st day, and tournament goes on the second day.
3 Day, first 1 1/2 days is gaming, the second 1 1/2 is tournament. For people who don't make it in the tournament, they are welcome to stay and continue gaming till the event's end.
Sleeping arragements are pretty much the same for lan parties. They will list hotel prices for the hotel we are staying at, but most people usually just stay by their computers and bring sleeping bags, and sleep on the floor of the conference room.
There is one thing i must tell everybody, and can't stress this enough. The gaming group will NOT be held responsible for any stolen items. Please keep a keen eye on your system. There will be someone up during the Entire Event (if it is more than 1 day), to keep an eye on things. If you sleep in a hotel room, we will make sure you know how to take care of your system, and at the same time, keep it on the network. (One of the staff will have a way of doing this). Also, they will not be held responsible for any transfering of illegal files, and malicious files during the event. This includes, pirated software, music, virii, trojans, sub7's, worms, etc. Note: If they do catch someone doing sometihng like this, they will be banned from the events, and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
With that said, this is all the info I have right now, there will be a webpage put in in the next week contianing this information, and TONS more. So, i think it's definatly going to be worth checking out if your into lan parties. I will post the website once i find out it is up. I have been asked not to say the name of the group or the domain publicly until the site is finished.
[Edit]
Oh, there is one thing i forgot to add. Games being played, will include, but not limited to:
Unreal 2k3, Unreal 2k4, Halo, Counterstrike, Medal of Honor, BF1942, And just about any other good FPS you can think of. This will be on the calander on the website, along with the event. They will be trying to play at least 2 different games during the event, but sometimes only one.
Also, the group will be open to suggestions, so just reply to this post, and i'll make sure they get the thread, so they can read the suggestions.
Also, the events will be open to EVERYBODY, just will be held in the midwest of the USA
[End Edit]
-Oreo