[10 Aug 2024 12pm-06pm ET] Tea Party: 25th Annual Boston Tea Party

[Administrator]

We are loading up for our 25th year of celebrating all that is the Boston Virtual ARTCC community, and you are invited to join us! On Saturday, August 10th, our controllers will bring you 6 UNINTERRUPTED HOURS of ATC across the entirety of the Boston ARTCC - Live from the Revolution ballroom located in the Renaissance Boston Patriot Place Hotel in Foxborough, MA. For those unaware, circumstances outside of our control forced us to scramble last minute and locate a whole new venue location to continue as planned for this year. Our friends at Flight Simulation Association graciously stepped in to support us. More information can be found here.

Our event includes staffing at Boston (KBOS), Bradley (KBDL), Providence (KPVD), Manchester (KMHT), The Cape, and more! Staffing will be available from 12-6pm ET. The event will end promptly at 6pm ET.

We are also continuing the tradition of hosting our annual Pilot Poker event. Pilots will fly into staffed towered airports and earn poker cards for each full stop landing. At the end of the event, pilots who have completed a full poker hand worth of flights (5 cards) will have the opportunity to win great prizes from our sponsors. Official Tea Party Poker 2024 rules will be posted below, so stay tuned!

We strongly recommend pilots avoid the delays at KBOS and help balance the traffic by flying to the regional airports with local ATC coverage.

[Cameron Peterson]

It is Summer in New England, and you know what that means…. Boston Virtual ARTCC's Tea Party Poker is BACK! We invite all pilots to participate and win some of the great prizes we have to offer!

 

Are you new to Boston Virtual ARTCC or VATSIM? Find out more about getting started with online ATC.  

 

What is Tea Party Poker?

Tea Party Poker is a fun game that gives pilots another reason to participate in the event, see more of our airspace, and the chance to win some terrific prizes! While there is absolutely no requirement to participate in Poker, it's become an annual tradition that many pilots take part in.

 

If you choose to participate in Tea Party Poker:

• Each time you land at a Class B, C, or D airport inside ZBW, send BOS_PK_CTR a private message and you'll get a reply with your virtual poker card(s).
• You must fly to airports that are at least 50nm apart (straight-line distance).
• Once you obtain 5 cards, you can keep flying, discarding, and picking up new cards to help better your hand.
• The pilot(s) with the best hand at the end of the event will win and pick their choice of available prizes.

 

The full set of rules is listed below.

 

Rules
All pilots who choose to participate in this competition agree to abide by the rules below. The competition rules may be modified for clarity or other reasons without prior notification to participants. Please refer to this page for any updates. These rules are current as of July 4, 2024. The Events Coordinator shall have final say on all questions or disputes regarding this competition, and will be responsible for determining the winners.
 
The full rules governing the contest are:
 1. Event Duration: The poker game starts at 12:00pm ET on Saturday, August 10 and ends promptly at 6:00pm ET (1600z to 2200z).
 
2. How To Play: A pilot is eligible to draw virtual poker cards by completing any Eligible Flight during the event. At the conclusion of a flight, a pilot may contact the designated event official (BOS_PK_CTR) via private message (PM) to obtain the poker card(s). The event official will respond via private message advising the pilot of the cards they have received.
 
• When contacting BOS_PK_CTR to obtain a card, your PM must include:

• Flight origin and destination.
• VATSIM CID
• Email Address (first message only).

• Pilots will receive:

• First drawing: two poker cards.
• Subsequent drawings:

                    - Two poker cards, if the landing is at an airport other than KBOS that is staffed by a Tower controller. Pilots have the option pick up only one card, if desired.
                    - One poker card, if the landing is at a towered airport staffed "top down" by an Approach or Center controller only, or if the landing is at KBOS.

• Pilots may contact BOS_PK_CTR to obtain a card after landing at the intended destination and once at a safe/appropriate location. Once the 'card request' message has been sent, pilots do not need to wait for a reply or card assignment; the next flight may begin immediately.
 
3. Notification of Winners, Prize Priority: By entering the contest and providing your email address to BOS_PK_CTR, you consent to Boston Virtual ARTCC emailing should you be a winner. (If you are not a winner, we won't contact you, nor will we retain your contact information beyond the conclusion of the event.) Winners will be notified at the email address provided within 14 days of the end of the competition and will be able to choose from the list of prizes available in order of their poker hand. Winners must respond to their prize notification email within 48 hours to confirm their priority and select a prize. Winners who do not respond within 48 hours will lose their priority to select a prize but may still be eligible for any remaining prizes at the time they reply to the email.

4. How To Win: The pilots with the strongest poker hands at the conclusion of the event will be the winners. The number of possible winners will be equal to the number of pilot prizes available. Pilots must hold a full hand (5 cards) to win; therefore, pilots must complete, at a minimum, 3 eligible flights to qualify. Winning pilots will be allowed to select from a variety of prizes in order based on the strength of their respective poker hands:

5. Eligible Flights: An Eligible Flight is any flight that terminates in a full-stop landing at a towered airport (controlled by Tower, Approach, or Center) within Boston ARTCC (ZBW) during the scheduled event times and complies with the restrictions outlined. Flights that originate outside ZBW airspace, and flights that originate before the start of the event, may be considered eligible provided they comply with the restrictions below. If a pilot is not certain whether a flight will be eligible, they should contact the designated event official (BOS_PK_CTR) via private message prior to departure.  

• The flight must be between airports that are at least 50nm apart (by straight-line distance). 
• The destination must be a towered airport (surrounded by Class B, C, or D airspace).
• The pilot must remain connected to the VATSIM network for the duration of the flight.
• VFR pilots must file a Flight Plan prior to departure that includes, at a minimum, their aircraft type, origin, and destination.
• The event ends promptly at 6:00pm ET (2200z) and any flights that conclude after this time will not receive a card.

 6. Discarding: Pilots who hold a full hand (5 cards) may try to better their hands throughout the event time by completing additional flights. Pilots wishing to do this should advise the designated event official (BOS_PK_CTR) of the card or cards they would like to discard at any point, before receiving new cards. At no point shall a pilot hold more than 5 cards in their hand.

 7. Designated Event Official (BOS_PK_CTR): Issuing and tracking of pilot cards will be conducted by a designated event official. Cards that each pilot has in their "possession" will remain unknown to all other pilots until the event is complete. A pilot may verify their card holdings with the designated event official via private message. All replies to card verification requests will be returned via private message.
  
8. Number of Decks: The competition will use a minimum of one deck of cards (52 cards) to start with, and the cards will be issued at random. Once this deck has been exhausted, a new deck will be added. Cards that are discarded will be placed back into the pool of available cards.
  
9. Duplicate Cards: It is possible that a pilot may mistakenly receive a duplicate card during the event. If this happens, it is the pilot's responsibility to notify the designated event official (BOS_PK_CTR) as soon as possible and receive a new card. Hands containing duplicate cards are considered "illegal" poker hands and will not be eligible to win.
  
10. Tracking of Poker Hands: Poker hands will be tied to a pilot's VATSIM CID, not their name or callsign.
  
11. Exchanging of Cards: Trading, exchanging, or transferring of cards between or among pilots will not be allowed at any time during the event.
  
12. Withdrawal: A pilot wishing to withdraw from the game must notify the designated event official (BOS_PK_CTR) by private message, or if unavailable, one of the BVA controllers staffing a position. The pilot's cards will be returned to the deck(s) and made available to other competitors to collect. Once a pilot has withdrawn, they may not attempt to re-enter the competition.
  
13. Shared Cockpit Flights: Cards are issued to flights, not pilots. Participants who choose to fly together in the same aircraft (i.e., shared cockpit flying) will be considered a single flight and receive one set of cards. For the purposes of the competition, the name and CID of the pilot who messaged BOS_PK_CTR will be considered the pilot who is participating in the competition.
  
14. Disqualification: Pilots who are disqualified will not be allowed to re-enter the competition. The Events Coordinator will have the final say in any disputes regarding pilot disqualification. A pilot may be disqualified from the competition for: 

• Failure to comply with VATSIM COC.
• Refusal to comply with ATC instructions.
• Attempting to cheat or circumvent the competition rules.
• Providing false/misleading information to the event official.

 
Disclaimer
In no way should this competition be seen as a promotion or simulation of gambling. There is no purchase necessary to play or win. Gambling is not endorsed by Boston Virtual ARTCC or any of its affiliates, including VATUSA, VATSIM, and the event sponsors.

[Cameron Peterson]

Boston Virtual ARTCC is excited to announce our list of prizes for this year's Tea Party Poker event!

 

 

We're excited to work with several great developers from the community to offer prizes to participants of Tea Party Poker. The first-place participant will have the choice of all available prizes while each subsequent winner will be able to choose from the remaining items. 

 

 

Grand Prize

Welcome to your full Airbus cockpit in civil flight simulation: WINWING’s Airline Panels and URSA MINOR Joystick, tailored for flight simulation enthusiasts and professionals alike. The life size replica not only captures the essence of a full-scale airline cockpit but also offers an unparalleled level of realism and immersion. 
 

The prize includes:
1. Perfect Trio: EFIS L + FCU + EFIS R 
     1:1 Full-Scale Structural Molding, Color Matching with Real Aircraft, Variable Speed Input
2. URSA MINOR Airline Joystick L 
     Integrated Dynamic Vibration Motor, Hidden 5-Way Switch, Radio PTT Trigger
 

Into reality with WINWING: https://us.winwingsim.com/view/index.html
 

 

Additional Prizes include:

•  FlyTampa: FlyTampa-Boston for MSFS
•  Navigraph: Unlimited one-year subscription

•  LatinVFR: Product of choice

•  Verticalsim: KSYR – Syracuse Hancock International MSFS

•  Flightbeam Studios: Scenery gift card

•  iniBuilds: Scenery of choice

•  FlightFX: SF50 Vision Jet G2, Marwan Gharib’s HJet, Chicago Executive Airport, DuPage Airport

•  FlightFactor: Product of choice

 

The prizes will be available to pilot winners of Tea Party Poker and the air traffic controllers that participate in the event. Please join us in thanking the sponsors who have donated these amazing prizes to the community to help make the event a memorable experience! 

[Cameron Peterson]

After circumstances outside of our control left us out on the street for our live event on August 10th - the BVA community came together and showed how special it really is. Within 24 hours of hearing the news that our original venue had ceased operations and closed indefinitely, we were able to pull resources together and began working on our plan B. Fortunately, our hotel contacts were able to secure their function hall on short notice and get us full support in executing our event as scheduled. From room rental, food and beverage costs, and electrical drops necessary to allow our controller setups - BVA was faced with a deficit that was not accounted for with the original cost for our attendees. 

 

Our Tea Party Working Group and Administration Team went to work to determine the best course of action to cover this deficit. For those that don't know Boston Virtual ARTCC is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization and everyone who was working to make this event possible is doing so as a volunteer. Members of our events team have spent time and money out of their own pockets to plan this event for months, and now re-plan it within a matter of 24 hours - but we did it and had some help in doing so. 

 

With the new venue costs as well as an increase in food and beverage expenses, we anticipated having additional charges to our attendees or having to request donations to cover any overages. After hearing about our predicament, the team at Flight Simulation Association (FSA) sprung into action to cover any cost differences allowing us to proceed with the event at no additional charge to our attendees in order to pay it forward to our great community of pilots and controllers.  FSA is the organizer of FlightSimExpo, an in-person convention for the flight sim community that enables attendees to connect with developers, vendors, and demo a wide range of new hardware. Boston Virtual ARTCC is excited to welcome FlightSimExpo 2025 to Providence, Rhode Island on June 27-29, 2025, the first time the event is held "within" our virtual airspace. As part of our gratitude to FSA for covering these costs and enabling our community to move forward without additional fundraising, we feel it’s imperative to encourage our community to continue to support their organization.

 

Flight Sim Association offers multiple membership tiers with a wide range of digital content that educates new and experienced simmers alike, as well as discounted and free products from well known vendors. A large number of BVA members also support FSA and FlightSimExpo through volunteering opportunities each year. Please feel free to review membership and volunteer opportunities available by checking out Flight Sim Association here.