I'll judge. I have 2 machines, a gamepad and both modern versions of Windows at my disposal now.

Also I can help advise you on some of the pitfalls and helpful tips that both Dom and I ran into running 2005 - 2007. But beyond that I cannot do too much. I really need to focus on my school and training.

What I've observed...

Stages: Some like it, but most get bogged down by it. I'd get rid of it personally, it had it's purpose in the past.

Competitors: Make everyone register with real names and contact information and agree to a small, but specific legal agreement to cover your butt! Dom and I had a big incident about this in the Big Boss. I won't get into the details, but lets say a legal agreement would have saved us a headache. Also registering lets you count the interested. You really do need these numbers to gauge the event's success and the community's reception.

Judges: Don't look only in the PGD community, Dev-Mag and other groups would probably be more than willing to do the job as well. Also machine specs of judges will dictate tech level in the competition too.

Sponsorship: Don't just go looking for prizes alone. Also see if they would be willing to front some cash to help create other prizes and advertisements too! ie. T-shirts, award mugs, etc... Be sure to ask all previous sponsors, especially the loyal ones that were with the event since 2005. Also tangible prizes speak a bit louder than software.

Themes: You can either go with the PGD Annual tradition where you pick and aspect of gameplay OR you can make a change and do something else. For my personal feeling on it; I'd like to do casual games/thinking games OR for the non-tradition perhaps go with a genre like Arcade, board game or Platform/Shooter.

Event Timeframe & Length: I'd say 3 - 4 months is optimal. But this depends on when it's held. I don't know if the summer is better or worse for me. I'll be moving (possibly across country) sometime after July. Then again if I'm judging then add 3 to 4 months to that... it might not matter.