Invitations have been sent, plane tickets have been reserved, and our old friends the soundproof booths are undergoing their final maintenance and inspections: In just a few short weeks the first teams arrive in Seattle for The International. Most of the tickets have been sold: Tickets for the Road to the International (Oct 20-22) are completely sold out, and only about a thousand remain for The International (Oct 27-29). As TI approaches, we have a couple announcements (and reminders of past announcements):

• Pubstomps: For as long as there have been Dota tournaments, there have been Dota pubstomps: opportunities to gather with friends and fans and watch together. This year, for the first time, we're planning on including some of the pubstomps from around the world live in the TI broadcast. We'll be back closer to the event to talk more about how this will work and ask interested pubstomps to register.
• Short Film Contest: We had a record number of entries this year. We've narrowed the ninety submitted films down to about twenty that will be available for viewing and voting in the client from 9/29 through 10/9. The top ten entries selected by the community will be shown during The International, where we'll also announce the overall winners.
• Cosplay Contest: Sign-ups for this year's cosplay contest are open until midnight CST on Sunday, 10/1. SteelSeries is sponsoring this year's contest, so in addition to $20,000 USD of cash prizes, winners also get a variety of SteelSeries gear. (And, as a reminder, you don't need to be a ticket holder to enter: If you're selected as a top-ten finalist, you automatically get three-day passes for yourself and one guest.)