With the announcement of Out of Bounds 2ronto and the submission deadlines for volunteers approaching, I interviewed Metroid Crime, the founder of Lady Arcaders, about the coordination of the event! Out of Bounds 2ronto is an in-person woman and femme speedrunning event taking place at the Society Clubhouse in Toronto June 15th-16th this year. Read the interview below!

What was your first experience with Toronto Games Week?

They put out a call for new event organizers on social media, and I happened to see it! I was shocked I hadn't heard of TGW before because I love attending both gaming and art events in Toronto.

How did Lady Arcaders come to be a part of it?

We proposed running an all women/femme speedrunning event, and to our surprise, it got approved! We were able to secure our venue thanks to TGW's support.

How did you choose the venue for Out of Bounds 2ronto?

Our staff did a LOT of research on venues, we started looking immediately after the first event ended. TGW has a list of venues that they tend to work with, but we went out of that scope to scout Society Clubhouse! They are a women-owned, community-driven event space in the heart of Toronto’s West End!

Were there any significant changes between Out of Bounds Toronto and Out of Bounds 2ronto?

We have a larger team at Lady Arcaders now, which makes planning a lot easier. We were also able to start prepping for the event earlier this year, so there wasn't as much crunch.

Were there any unexpected difficulties with Out of Bounds Toronto that affected how you coordinated the event this year?

We had a lot of technical problems last event that we honestly could not have predicted for, including: our streaming PC being placed on a table with a tablecloth, that caused the laptop's fans to overheat, and the venue getting so crowded that our equipment heated up and failed. We also had a hard-wired internet connection but not enough internet or cell service connection in the venue. We made sure to account for these for this year's event.

What was it like creating and coordinating Out of Bounds?

It is SUCH a cool experience! Being able to combine all of my skills throughout the years in gaming, media, community, tech, and live production into one single event awesome. I love working with my team, everyone is so talented and passionate about what we do.

What was your favourite part of Out of Bounds Toronto?

Meeting and hanging out with the members of the LA community! A few of us attended the other TGW events before and after OoBT, and that was a great experience. The event itself was just so much fun, being able to meet and talk to members of the community is always a joy.

What are you most looking forward to with Out of Bounds 2ronto?

I'm looking forward to sharing our love of speed gaming with the Toronto community! I'm also very excited for some of the things we have yet to announce.

Do you have anything you want people to know before the event?

Volunteer submissions are still open for a little while, and are available for positions online and in-person, open to all genders. We can't wait to share the schedule with you!