For 8 days in December, 18 unique skill events will converge in Las Vegas to form SkillCon, the ultimate skill convention to be held at the Riviera Hotel and Casino.
Attendees will experience exhibitions, competitions, workshops, panels, keynote speakers, and seminars lead by high profile industry professionals. SkillCon will be producing 2 hours of competition programming for ESPN INTERNATIONAL during this 8-day event.
The highest level of object manipulation including Flair Bartending, Juggling, Yoyo, Kendama, Sign Spinning, Cardistry and many other events including Esports, Cosplay, Indie Games, Dodgeball, Major League Combat, Sepak Takraw, Rock Paper Scissors, Tutting, B-Boy Dancing, Wushu Martial Arts, Badminton and Cornhole will be on display throughout the week.
The convention is produced by juggler-turned-producer Jason Garfield. Garfield is a world-champion juggler and entertainer, and has produced a dozen television productions for ESPN television.
Watch the SkillCon preview trailer below.
Watch the SkillCon preview trailer below.
SkillControl is the main gaming event at SkillCon which celebrates the skill of game play and creation. SkillControl will last all 8 days of SkillCon and hold cash prize tournaments run by AZHP Gaming on the first 5 days including a cash payout of $1500 for Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, a cash payout of $1000 for Ultra Street Fighter 4, minimum $500 payout for Ultimate Marvel VS Capcom 3, and $1000 for Call of Duty Advanced Warfare.
Pro Battle League (PBL) will bring live gaming eSports regional competitions to Skillcon’s diverse 2014 line-up. PBL’s LAN eSports event will let gamers meet and play against professional competitive players. This first-of-its-kind event will allow players to rent computers or bring their own to play and compete in Team Fortress 2, Minecraft and Sportsball.
“In the past, eSports has been focused on the individual players and the games,” says PBL Los Angeles Legion franchise owner Nick Schlumpf. “eSports at Skillcon showcases to the gaming community how much fun it is for regional players and teams to compete in a live LAN event. We’re particularly excited for our sponsors and partners to feel the impact of dynamic in-game branding during tournament competitions.”
Tournament coverage, player interviews and results will be broadcasted and covered online through eXtv throughout the eight day event.
Indie Village will feature a variety of competitive video games by independent developers from around the world including: Super Pollywoggle / Sportsball / BaraBariBall / Speedrunners / Push me Pull You / Bearzerkers
Games will support at least 4 simultaneous players, with fast-paced gameplay, allowing for a range of players of all ages, from casual to fiercely competitive.
Cosplay Contest
Cosplay professionals Raychul Moore, Jennifer Kairis, Seth Hendrix and Yvonna Lynn will judge this New Year’s Eve cosplay spectacular with host Jennifer Zhang.
Major League Combat
Major League Combat integrates the skill of club juggling into a team sport where players must attack and take out the opposing team in a 100’ x 40’ competition arena. The Major League Combat finals will be shot for ESPN International at SkillCon.
Dodgeball
The World Dodgeball Society will present Viva Dodge Vegas, in association with Skillcon.
The best dodgeballers from around the country will converge in the Royal Pavilion. The tournament of champions will feature the best neighborhood teams, comprised of hard working and fun loving amateurs who play in social leagues within the society, ultimately determining which team is the best.
Takraw
Sepak takraw (or takraw for short) is best described as kick volleyball, a “no-hands" gravity-defying net sport in which 3-player teams use aerial kicks and blocks to spike a ball over a 5-foot-high net. Takraw is widely recognized across Asia for its delivery of near-constant highlight reel action and jaw-dropping agility.
Elite sepak takraw teams from around the United States will compete for the title of 2014 Sepak Takraw Open champion at SkillCon.
Sign Spinning
The AArrow Sign Spinners will be holding their regional competitions this year at SkillCon, bringing 25 of the top competitors in the sport of sign spinning to Las Vegas. Multiple world champions will be in attendance as competitors battle to win an automatic bid to the World Sign Spinning Championships.
Flair World Championships
Christian Delpech’s “FUNCTIONAL BARTENDING” will host the biggest Flair Bartending competition of the year. The Flair World Championship will hold competitions for three divisions: Amateur, Female, and Pro. The current lineup of pro competitors include: Rodrigo Delpech (Argentina),Tom Dyer (UK), Tomek Malek (Poland), Marek Posluszny (Poland), Denny Bakiev (Ukraine), Luca Valentin (Romania), Bruno Vanzan (Italy), and Matteo Melara (Italy).
YoYo
The Las Vegas Open YoYo Championship is a top-level yoyo contest featuring World and National Champions competing at the highest level of play for a chance to represent their country at the 2015 World YoYo Contest in Tokyo, Japan. The Las Vegas YoYo Championship is organized by National YoYo Masters André Boulay and Steve Brown.
Juggling
The World Juggling Federation sets the standard for the world’s most strictly judged juggling competitions at it’s annual events. Now in their tenth year of competitions, the WJF has produced twelve sport juggling competitions for ESPN and will be producing two full hours of competition programming for ESPN International at SkillCon. $10,000.00 is on the line for the WJF Overall Championship which will include competitors from Germany, Russia, Denmark, Wales, and the US.
The Dexterity Dance League
The Finger Circus is bringing the west coast’s first tutting event to SkillCon! Tutting is the dance style of making geometric shapes and illusions using your arms, hands, fingers, or even your face. Though the style has been around since the early 90s, Finger Circus is a dance crew that has reinnovated this style to new levels and publicized it around the world in just one year.
Cardistry
Zach Mueller, 19 year old cardist from Los Angeles, is bringing cardistry to SkillCon. Founder of Fontaine Cards, Zach started posting card-related videos on YouTube in 2007, and since then has developed a unique brand of cardistry, sleight-of-hand and playing cards. Along with cardist friends, Franky Morales and Calen Morelli, the crew will be bringing the first ever Fontaine Cards Booth to SkillCon. The booth will have cards, couches, cardistry videos, contests, good times, and more. Along with card spinning competitions, card-throwing contests and cardistry duels, Fontaine Cards will be holding two beginner workshops, one intermediate workshop and one advanced private skybox jam.
Rock Paper Scissors
Rock Paper Scissors (or “RPS”) is the world’s oldest strategy game. RPS is the first known form of “non-transitive tripartite” strategy—a system of three elements where each element loses to one, wins against another, and ties against itself.
Representing the sport at SkillCon is the greatest RPS player of all time, Master Roshambollah. During the week of SkillCon, Master Rosh will provide personal training in the sweet science of RPS: from the basics of how and when to throw, up to advanced techniques like reading tells, sending false tells, neurolinguistic programming and the art of the Hustle.
BBOY Dancing
The SkillCon Bboy Championships is a solo competition showcasing the best breakdancers in the area. Organized by Joe Remedy of the Brothers of War in Sacramento, this event is more than just finding the best Bboy dancer. It is about exposing the scene to the public and making a positive impact in our communities while having fun. Workshops will be taught by some of the most inspiring bboys in the Las Vegas scene.
Badminton
Badminton Depot will hold exhibition matches on December 27th and 28th at SkillCon. The main event will feature world champion and Olympian Howard Bach and Beiwen Zhang. Beiwen Zhang is a new rising badminton star from the United States.
There will be both double and single matches during the show. We want to show people how to play badminton at a professional level, while demonstrating that it is not just a backyard sport.
American Cornhole Organization
Until recent years, the game of Cornhole, in which competitors pitch “bean bags” at slanted boards, has been primarily recognized as a backyard/tailgating activity. All that has been changing with the American Cornhole Organization. The ACO is the governing body for the sport of Cornhole and is taking great strides to develop and bring awareness to the sport.
Frank Geers, the Owner and President of the ACO said, “People are always stunned when they're first exposed to the skill level of our players. We look forward to exhibiting those abilities at SkillCon and furthering the legitimacy of our sport.”
As a part of SkillCon, the ACO will be hosting an ACO Masters Series Major tournament in which players compete for ACO World Ranking Points.