Alex Jebailey discusses NOS' involvement with the FGC, talks eSports, SSF4 AE v2012 has most entrants so far at CEO 2012

1. You mentioned that you will, "shake the very foundation of the fighting game community," after you signed with NOS Energy Drink. Can you elaborate on this statement?

When I was first offered the potential sponsorship, my goal wasn't to go out and win more tournaments, but to prove to other sponsored players and hopefuls that it isn't always about winning or losing that gets you sponsorships, but how well you can represent a brand. There are some great sponsors within this community that give a lot to its players such as Mad Catz, DMG and Evil Geniuses, but outside of the usual, "Thank You," to sponsors after a player's win you don't see players suggesting to go out and buy stuff like products or return for that company.

I was super fortunate to have some great friends on Twitter start going out and buying NOS Energy Drink and tweeting pictures to me and NOS showing their support for the drink, that in turn went to corporate and I was receiving smiles and nods since. When I said I want to shake things up, I, as usual, was overzealous at the opportunity, but I wanted to show people that if you have the personality and a positive outreach to others within the same community, you can accomplish so much for those around you with a great sponsor.

A big company like NOS, which is a part of Coca-Cola, getting more involved with the FGC can lead to bigger and better things and I want to make sure that the FGC gets the positive recognition it deserves from outside companies that are potentially looking in to something that's growing so rapidly and become a part of it while keeping our grassroots intact. Also, I want to point out thanks to the help of NOS Energy Drink, I was able to form a small advertising partnership with Clear Channel radio to have CEO 2012 advertised to a base of over 300,000 listeners. CEO's success was built around my experience as a marketing specialist, and I'm glad I can put it to use with something I love so much, that is the Fighting Game Community.

2. NOS Energy Drink has been a large player in the fighting game community for some time now. Can you talk a bit about how they've impacted our scene and what future plans they may have in store for us?

NOS Energy Drink has been a great addition to the CEO brand, and as you can see they've been reaching out more and more to the Fighting Game Community and beyond. They were a part of the show Cross Assault, as well as at Final Round. Behind the scenes, I've been looking out for great events that I feel NOS Energy Drink could become a part of and been passing along their info to various NOS reps.

They are easily one of the easiest companies I've worked with in any event planning I've done, and are always more than willing to give free product. I personally would never try to sell anything I don't believe in, and they've been a great brand. Some people may not prefer the taste of an energy drink, but the majority of NOS drinkers rather enjoy it.

3. The term eSports has been dropped thousands of times as of late, especially with fighting games now being featured at MLG events. Being an experienced tournament organizer yourself, how do you feel MLG's way of running events compares to that of tournaments ran by the fighting game community?

I have been watching MLG very closely and seeing how they would treat fighters, and while I do not agree with their very long breaks in between matches, they have definitely improved since their first try and with the help of guys like TS|Arturo Sanchez, DMG|Juicebox and Tim Fennessey. MLG has a very different set of rules to follow with the amount of sponsorship money and advertising dollars they use in their events, so things have to be done a bit more the eSports way.

There's a lot we can learn from their events such as presentation, larger venue spaces, etc., but they could also stand to learn from us, and I think they slowly but surely are. What most people don't really think about, in my opinion, is the fact that MLG isn't a community but rather an event that throws selected games that could change every year.

MLG is great venue for physical spectators and has done an amazing job for the StarCraft 2 community, but those tournaments have always been more catered to showcasing the top players that are able to travel to every event through big sponsorship dollars. When it comes to fighters and our events, the majority of organizers have home grown an entire community as their base. It's hard for MLG to do the same since it's more of a traveling event 4 times a year, and doesn't have a community specifically for fighters to come out in each area, yet.

4. Which top players in the fighting game community can we expect to see at CEO this year? Will competitors from other countries be flying in to mix it up with the U.S. again?

Competition will be fiercer than ever this year. Thanks to the positive feedback spread by just about every top player and attendee that came to CEO 2011, most of their high profile friends are coming along such as EG|Ricky Ortiz, MRN|WolfKrone and much more. Last year CEO broke records for international attendance for a USA event outside of EVO itself, with over 22 states and 9 countries represented, that number will be higher this year.

I can already confirm DM|Xian from Singapore and AverMedia's Gamerbee will be returning this year. My plans are to exclusively show first at UFGT8 the official player reveal trailer for CEO 2012 with other international players in attendance.

5. Being a young player, how do you feel CEO|CJ Truth will stack up against some of these seasoned veterans this year?

He still gets very nervous on the grand stage, but for someone his age to consistently place in the top 10% of every SSF4 AE tournament he enters (and top 3 in every Florida AE event with myself and Flash Metroid, his biggest adversaries) is impressive in its own right. I see this as being his year to really breakthrough and hopefully make a top 8 at an EVO event. With more experience comes less jitters, and he's definitely maturing faster than any player I've ever competed with and against.

6. Lastly, how many registrants have signed up for each of the main games featured at CEO 2012 so far?

I'd love to share that information with everyone, but first let me explain the last minute wave. At CEO 2011, I had about 250 registered participants across all games up until June 1st. Then the last week of online registration, nearly 400 people registered within the very last days, so any number I give you now will be so far off from the end result.

I can tell you just about every game hosted at CEO this year will be well represented, with KoF 13 leading the pack so far. More than likely, Super Street Fighter 4 Arcade Edition v2012 will be the main event (it has the most entrants so far), of CEO 2012 with a very special prize courtesy of CEO Gaming and the King of Chinatown Directors and a new project they are working on to be presented at CEO.

As for overall attendance last year, I did not fill up my hotel room block until a week before the event. This year, I sold out my entire room block 45 days before the event with more rooms added right after. I'm nervous and also excited at the potential growth from last year's 900+ attendees to this years showing. If I had to push my chips all in on how many people would show up, I'd confidently guess nearly 2,000 people will attend CEO 2012 (Don't worry FGC, the ballroom has a capacity of 2,500).