Con in a Box - Resources for boardgaming convention directors

This blog is dedicated to helping boardgaming convention directors run successful cons.

Prev «  1 , 2 , 3 

Recommend
7 
 Thumb up
 tip
 Hide

Advertising Your Con on BGG

Eric Engelmann
United States
Rockville
Maryland
flag msg tools
Congress of Gamers conventions
badge
Eric's actual photo!
Avatar
Microbadge: Citizenship Recognition - Level I - One small step for geek... One giant leap for geek-kind!Microbadge: I sell board games for moneyMicrobadge: EurogamerMicrobadge: "The mob is the mother of tyrants." —DiogenesMicrobadge: Congress of Gamers attendee
My experience with BGG advertising used to be great. Changes to the site have made it much less attractive. The text below is what I used to do.


Board Game Geek advertising and PPT templates you can edit.
Although it's not mentioned on their site, BGG offers an easy way to market your small, local con with just a $100 budget, showing 100,000 ad impressions to just those BGG users in your con's area. BGG takes four sizes of ads: 320×1200, 1456×180, 600×500, and 640×100 pixels.
If you aren't an artist, you might just edit these PPT templates I created for a recent Congress of Gamers campaign. When done editing them for your own con, "save as" PNG format and they will be the right sizes for BGG's ad portal.

I ordered 100,000 impressions ($100) for states near my cons. Chad
(chad@boardgamegeek.com) usually has submitted ads running the same or next day.

320×1200 ad http://emsps.com/cog/marketing/BGGads/320x1200.pptx
1456×180 ad http://emsps.com/cog/marketing/BGGads/1456x180.pptx
600×500 ad http://emsps.com/cog/marketing/BGGads/600x500.pptx
640×100 ad http://emsps.com/cog/marketing/BGGads/640x100.pptx
Twitter Facebook
4 Comments
Sun Mar 1, 2015 10:24 pm
Post Rolls
  • [+] Dice rolls
Recommend
3 
 Thumb up
1.00
 tip
 Hide

Tournaments

Eric Engelmann
United States
Rockville
Maryland
flag msg tools
Congress of Gamers conventions
badge
Eric's actual photo!
Avatar
Microbadge: Citizenship Recognition - Level I - One small step for geek... One giant leap for geek-kind!Microbadge: I sell board games for moneyMicrobadge: EurogamerMicrobadge: "The mob is the mother of tyrants." —DiogenesMicrobadge: Congress of Gamers attendee
Tournaments

I need sections on:

Types of Tournaments - As cons grow in size, the competitions they provide can support a greater number and more complexity. For a small or new con, focus on the tourneys for which you have enthusiastic volunteers. Start with a single award (perhaps with three places) for best overall performance. You could choose just one popular game for a tournament, or several, or a single set of awards for overall cumulative performance. The key is to keep the process simple enough that the volunteers who lead it don't feel like they are working instead of gaming. A new venue left me without ANY volunteer to run a formal tourney structure, AFTER I advertised and scheduled a tourney. Solution? A decathalon style, self-propelled tourney. I printed a 24" x 36" poster (see http://emsps.com/cog/downloads/tournamentstandings.pptx) (tiled 8.5"x11" sheets would also work). Then I super-simplified the scoring process and provided score slips (see http://emsps.com/cog/summer/downloads/SimpleResultsForm.docx). Winners updated the standings poster themselves. Here's a picture of the resulting chart behind the winner. http://emsps.com/cog/archives/2017summer/photos/winner.jpg

Game selection process
I've tried sending a poll to previous registrants along with options from the previous year. This strongly favors selection of the previous year's games, even with a write-in vote option. An online voting system would be better. I suspect some existing, free online poll system would work. Suggestions? If you expect to get 100 or fewer responses (quite likely), you might try Survey Monkey. Here's the poll I've created for Congress of Gamers 2018 cons: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/K89P96G

Scheduling principles and tips
Marcy, who has run many of my con's tournaments, urges running small groups of games (2, 3 or 4) with the same start times (most important) and lengths, when possible, since this minimizes labor for the coordinator. Having one widely-familiar game and one newish game in each block will please two audiences. Here's a simple way to schedule tourney games using a Google sheet. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/10R9leSeOWdMiK4tJPMNm...

Recruiting and managing GMs - Go to any other cons within driving range of your location and recruit GMs of existing tourneys. Being a GM isn't about being GOOD at the game, but about being able to manage players and games to ensure the players have fun while they are competing. A great GM can tone down any over-competitive behavior without having to lecture the misbehaving player. He also has the experience to seat a wide range of players and fairly adjudicate non-standard finishes. Actually, an acceptable GM for your con might just be ANYONE willing to do the job. At most small cons, the GM plays in the tourney, often asking the con director to adjudicate any issues in his own games.

Scoring, reporting, and awards - Assign point values to place finishes in games. Carefully and EXPLICITLY define the determination process.

Sharing the tourney schedule with attendees - I've seen three methods to help attendees get to their tournament events. The best is a smartphone app with schedule, links, maps, alarms, etc. Check the one WBC uses, on https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.boardgamer... for Android and https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/world-boardgaming-championsh... for iPhones. I've asked if it can be generalized for use with other cons, and was told it could be, but hasn't been yet. I'll pursue this more vigorously during WBC 2019. In addition to this, you can use a printed program. This is typically a Kinkos job. Congress of Gamers uses a SINGLE sheet program to save paper, costs (I print them myself, at home), and provide a convenient mini-program for attendees. See an example draft on http://emsps.com/cog/downloads/ScoreCardforTournaments.xlsx

Balancing competition with fun - to be written
Twitter Facebook
1 Comment
Sun Mar 1, 2015 10:22 pm
Post Rolls
  • [+] Dice rolls
Recommend
4 
 Thumb up
 tip
 Hide

Registration Process

Eric Engelmann
United States
Rockville
Maryland
flag msg tools
Congress of Gamers conventions
badge
Eric's actual photo!
Avatar
Microbadge: Citizenship Recognition - Level I - One small step for geek... One giant leap for geek-kind!Microbadge: I sell board games for moneyMicrobadge: EurogamerMicrobadge: "The mob is the mother of tyrants." —DiogenesMicrobadge: Congress of Gamers attendee
Registration Process

A few considerations when deciding how to manage registration:
1. If the con is new, and you aren't sure your facility and staff can handle more than XXX attendees, you must use the registration process to place and enforce limits.
2. The registration process is a great opportunity to collect the data you need to communicate with attendees before the next con you run, and in case of con date/time/etc. changes.
3. Registration can be a useful tool to recruit volunteers, select tourney games, market con services (auction store, etc.)
4. Registration is used to set prices, with varying levels for pre-registrants, volunteers, at-the-door prices, multi-day bundle pricing, etc.
5. Form of payment accepted could be cash, credit card, PayPal, check, and misc. other payment systems. Event management systems can do everything for you for a fee, or you can simply use PayPal's service.

I'm hoping to provide a list of software for registration and list management. Please let me know what you use!

Some registration systems:
TableTop Events - A complete tabletop gaming convention management package. Fees are 2.5% + $0.99 per badge, plus credit card fees of about 3%. So, a $20 admission costs you $2.09. Lots of small cons are using this. https://tabletop.events

Eventbrite - If you're charging for ticket sales on http://Eventbrite.com, you pay 2.5% of the ticket price plus $0.99 per ticket, plus a 3% payment processing fee in U.S. dollars. So, a $20 admission costs you $2.09.

PayPal - Probably 2.9% plus $.30. So a $20 admission costs you $0.88. Here's the PayPal solution: https://www.paypal.com/us/webapps/mpp/standard-integration


I've been unable, so far, to find a truly low cost registration system.

In the mean time, here's the manual process I've used for five years now in a 250-350 player con.

Offered PayPal for pre-registration - Here's the current Congress of Gamers pre-reg page.
http://emsps.com/cog/registration/preregister.htm

Use badges you "sell", and which must be worn at all times, to verify payment. Details to follow.

Have a clipboard form to record email addresses for on-site registrants. Here's the form I've settled on: http://emsps.com/cog/downloads/emailcollectiontemplate.ppt

Have plenty of ones and fives to make change for $20 bills. A cash drawer is nice, but don't put large bills in it.
Figure out where the nearest ATMs are and what cards they accept. Take a picture of the ATM panel and print it.
Remind participants to bring their own badge holders, if they have them. Even really cheap ones are $.25 or more each. Check eBay and watch for free, disposed holders at any professional events, and dirt cheap ones at yard and estate sales.

For Congress of Gamers, I'm now using a Word template, editing names as pre-registrations are paid through PayPal. Here's the template I'm using:
http://emsps.com/cog/registration/badgetemplate.docx
When completed, print on an very lightly colored paper to fit your badge holders. Buy a used paper cutter sometime during your year of planning. Print and cut enough blank badges that there's no way you will run out, and have door registrants write their names on them. This design maximizes badge space for 3x4 inch badge holders and typical laser printers.
Twitter Facebook
0 Comments
Sun Mar 1, 2015 10:20 pm
Post Rolls
  • [+] Dice rolls
Recommend
5 
 Thumb up
 tip
 Hide

Games Library

Eric Engelmann
United States
Rockville
Maryland
flag msg tools
Congress of Gamers conventions
badge
Eric's actual photo!
Avatar
Microbadge: Citizenship Recognition - Level I - One small step for geek... One giant leap for geek-kind!Microbadge: I sell board games for moneyMicrobadge: EurogamerMicrobadge: "The mob is the mother of tyrants." —DiogenesMicrobadge: Congress of Gamers attendee
Games Library

Many boardgaming conventions offer a library of games attendees can play during the con, generally for open gaming, but also for when copies are needed for tournament play.

I've seen four styles of library management, often used in combination.
1. The con director has a decent personal collection he presents
2. A local gaming group has a collection they lend (I'm working on an idea to have portions of the con library distributed to local clubs until the next con, to increase use and reduce library transport and storage constraints)
3. Attendees bring their own games and shelve them for communal use
4. You outsource the library function to a company like http://gencongameslibrary.com/ Their current minimum library is 1000 games, with your con paying lodging, meals, admissions and a fee for wear and tear. Probably not the best choice for a small con, but it's inspired me to offer my own library (about 300 games, https://boardgamegeek.com/collection/user/Eric%20Engelmann) for just the cost of the hotel (or your spare bedroom), meals, and con admission. The catch is that your con must be in a place my wife would like to visit and two days or less driving from Maryland, unless it's in California's wine country, Washington State, or Colorado. I've since found two other gamers who offer a games library loan service: https://www.facebook.com/GulfCoastPokemon/ and https://www.facebook.com/alexandre.bernard.716?fref=gc&dti=5...

Library issues
1. Shrinkage - While actual theft of games is pretty unusual, even when there are few or no lending controls, games do occasionally get carted away, and sometimes not recovered until noticed a year or more later. Based on my limited experience at mid-Atlantic cons, this number may be something like one game per 200 attendees. I've seen a recent trend of base and expansion game contents co-mingling, which can be a problem when you have multiple library contributors. I now make a point to check expansion box contents when it could be an issue.
2. Damage - Mix games with food, drink, carpet designed to hide stains, unfamiliarity with components and packaging, and rushing between events, and you are sure to eventually lose or get sticky or stained bits. Collect all the "found" bits and take them to the following local cons, so players who eventually discover they are missing a key game bit can recover it from the bit basket.

Best Games for Your Library
Because there will be a lot of gamer mixing, it's a great idea to have a large variety of popular and short games. Some players will be keen to try the very latest titles and expansions. Others will enjoy playing a classic their local club no longer brings to the table. Especially at larger cons, some will enjoy getting together a table of players to play something especially long, obscure, quirky, or extra challenging. For example, from a field that included 800 games, including most of the top 100 BGG tiles, the top three games played from the library at the Winter Game Fest, Jan 2015, were Machi Koro, Splendor, and Thurn & Taxis.

Presenting and Managing Your Library
1. Easy-to-assemble (and stack/store) plastic shelves work great for smaller board games libraries. Make sure they stack and travel well. I bought what looked like a great set at a great price from CostCo, but discovered that the disassembled shelves are a huge pain to store and transport because they were't completely rectangular and couldn't be stacked (they slide off stacks during transport). Here's what I use for my own cons: https://www.amazon.com/Gracious-Living-4-Shelf-Medium-Shelf/...
2. If you have a larger library, wheeled shelves make transport and setup a lot less labor. You organize shelves alphabetically or with a catalog number attached to shelving unit (this works better for very large libraries, as I learned through managing 4000+ books for sale on Amazon). Wrap with pallet wrap plastic before rolling into your trailer.
3. Label each game with owner's name (con, person, club, etc.) and contact info, so they can get back (sooner or later) to the owner. I've just started using a cut strip of white painter's tape with a label attached to the top, since this makes the game just a bit more valuable when you eventually sell or trade it. Avery 55163 repositionable labels are an interesting option. Here's an example for the Congress of Gamers library with logo text. http://emsps.com/cog/administration/CoGLibraryLabel.GIF Note that I constructed the graphic (logo and text with PowerPoint) then pasted it into each label in the Avery Template.
4. An inventory (with BGG links) you publish on the con's web site can help with marketing. Here's a web site that will help attendees choose among games in the con library. Use "Eric Engelmann" for my con's library. http://boardgamecaddie.com
I post a QR code, URL and short instructions on the wall behind each library shelf.
5. A check out/in system can be helpful for identifying missing parts or other game problems, usage statistics, and possibly reducing some portion of inventory shrinkage. Clipboards with pencil taped to a string and tied to a clipboard works well for me. Here's a template for the form http://emsps.com/cog/downloads/librarycheckouttemplate.pptx
6. A bag of parts bags can be helpful, especially if you have new games, which seldom have enough parts bags for efficient storage. I bought 1000 2 mil 4"x6" zip bags on eBay, delivered, for $14.50. Sell the excess in your auction store.

Donations
1. Larger cons can often get free library copies from companies who recognize cons as amazing marketing opportunities. Any size con can ask for and often get some level of participation. This could be a pseudo-employee game demo staff (and they come with a copy of the game), a promo item as a prize, a play-to-win copy of a game, or a demo copy for the con library. Here's what little info we have on which publishers respond to requests from small cons: https://boardgamegeek.com/blogpost/61156/getting-support-gam...

This from Russ Rupe: ...I'm both a small publisher and a small convention organizer.

As a publisher, when asked for prize support, I will visit the con's website. If it has one that is not a pile of crap (i.e. showing some level of effort, organization, and dedication) then I tend to say yes to prize support if the convention can give me a reasonable assurance that my game will get played in a busy room of attendees. How they give it away afterwards doesn't matter a lot to me. What matters to me is that it hits the table in a crowded room and does not sit in shrink on a prize table for the whole weekend.
...for Tennessee Game Days...we tried Play to Win a few years back and liked it. ...we stumbled upon the idea of a Tour of Gaming Destinations ...gamers join an experienced Tour Guide who leads them through a roster of 2-4 games with a similar broad theme (co-op, deck building, dice, space, trains, area control, total conquest, etc.). When you complete a game, you get a literal stamp on your passport (which doubles as your con badge and program), and you get a digital stamp in our computer which acts as a ball in the hopper for door prizes. Every attendee gets 1 stamp per day, but Touring attendees get that plus 1 per Tour game (2 for really long games), increasing their odds greatly that their name will get drawn.

Each publisher can submit 1 game that we will guarantee gets put in a Tour; the rest of their donations are put on the prize table or the silent charity auction for the food bank (their choice). So, if a publisher sends us some uh...dusty titles, they'll be put to good use but not necessarily featured in a Tour. If they send several strong titles, we may put them all in a Tour.

When we draw a name for prizes, that attendee chooses from all the games on the prize table. That way they aren't constrained to winning a game they played but maybe didn't like. And if they liked a game a lot, they don't try to game the system (play it over and over to get more balls in the hopper).


2. Gamers will sometimes donate games to your con library. Ask! Include a "donation by" sticker or card on/in the box and an optional reference in your online listing. Make sure donors understand that games that see little play will eventually be traded or sold.

3. Vendors/exhibitors will often make you a great deal on games in lieu of space rental. Give them plenty of time to order games for you and to order stock for their convention sales/exhibit area to accommodate sales to newly introduced players.
Twitter Facebook
1 Comment
Sun Mar 1, 2015 10:19 pm
Post Rolls
  • [+] Dice rolls
Recommend
10 
 Thumb up
 tip
 Hide

Marketing Your Convention

Eric Engelmann
United States
Rockville
Maryland
flag msg tools
Congress of Gamers conventions
badge
Eric's actual photo!
Avatar
Microbadge: Citizenship Recognition - Level I - One small step for geek... One giant leap for geek-kind!Microbadge: I sell board games for moneyMicrobadge: EurogamerMicrobadge: "The mob is the mother of tyrants." —DiogenesMicrobadge: Congress of Gamers attendee
Marketing

Bigger isn't necessarily better, but larger attendance permits some activities a smaller con can't support. Caution! As your con grows, so does risk. It will usually get MORE expensive to rent space per gamer, and require more dedicated volunteers, or paid staff, etc. A con you and your gaming friends have a blast running for 150 people can become a highly stressful and expensive disaster when you expand to 400. It's best to carefully manage growth.

Back to marketing.
Besides the repeat attendance and referrals a well executed con generates, growth generally happens through good marketing. Here are some marketing activities for smaller cons.

More important than anything else, build a database with names, email, phone, and volunteer status of potential attendees. I've just used Excel, but will be looking for better/alternate options from other con directors.

1. Reserve space WAY in advance and start marketing early. A year is not too long. Don't forget to give the facility the info they need to market your event to their other users.
2. Market directly to local gaming groups, including relevant Meetup.com groups. I've started sending a note to the Meetup.com page contact, giving them a heads-up of the con dates six weeks in advance, and offering to host their meetup at the con. For the meetups you can visit, distribute a one sheet flyer listing date, location, and a focus on those activities which local clubs don't provide.
3. Submit your con details to con calendar sites.
Here are a few I know of:
http://boardgamegeek.com/wiki/page/Game_Conventions
http://casualgamerevolution.com/game-cons-2019
http://boardgamegeek.com/forum/32/boardgamegeek/conventions
https://www.findgamers.us/conventions
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScwXCCIY4z_wHm7n1a0...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_gaming_conventions (they'll remove any con that doesn't cite plentiful traditional media coverage)
http://gameconventioncentral.com/
http://www.upcomingcons.com/gaming-conventions
http://www.eventsforgamers.com/ (they are very selective about listing small cons)

Many game publishers used to offer calendars for events featuring their games, but very few still do. Fiding and documenting them is a LOT of work for very little benefit, but any I find will be listed in the comment below.

4. Visit cons up to two hours drive away from your venue and place flyers. I need a section with flier design principles and templates. Recruit GMs while there. Also see if the con director would like you to fill any holes in their games library. If so, bring games and shelves with your con's prominent labels on them. I need a section on how to recruit and manage GMs.
5. Try to involve local gaming stores. They may have a bulletin board for posting notices, and you might even recruit them as a con vendor.
6. Do a Craig's List "Event" post for the con. I also create For Sale and Wanted posts for the Auction Store feature of my cons. The auction store ad has worked well for me.
7. If you have local colleges/universities/high schools, see if they have a bulletin board you can post on.
8. Send notices to local media. Most newspapers, local magazines, television stations, and radio stations have a community calendar of events that is free for posting. Identify them and write text in advance, so you can bang through them one month out when you are really busy with other con prep activities.
9. Suggest that local http://meetup.com gaming groups (set distance to 50 miles) use your venue and time for their meetup. Be sure to mention the recruiting potential.
10. Pay to place ads on appropriate gaming web sites, local convention programs, etc. A small, local con should probably focus on reciprocal marketing with other semi-local cons unless it's a solid tourism location. Advertising is expensive and should be highly focused on just those who might attend. BGG offers 50000 local gamer impressions for $50. Check specs and PPT templates in this blog. It's easily the best advertising deal I've ever seen.
11. Post your con "Event" on Yelp. This was super-tedious for me the first time, and I'm probably still doing this sub-optimally, but I'll share what appears to work best for me. First, go to yelp.com and create an event under the category "Festivals and Fairs". Search in Yelp never discovers events, so it's unlikely anyone will see an event in a large metro area until a week or so before the event. Of course, share the link to the event with your crew and have them click appropriately to indicate interest and then comment on how great it is for first time attendees. For these general public fora, use text and photos that appeal to families and hip millenials rather than hard core gamers. Here's my latest Yelp entry: https://www.yelp.com/events/falls-church-congress-of-gamers-... If you don't want to pay extra to give your con increased exposure, then the best "free" strategy is to post just 7 days before your con starts.
12. Post your con on Eventbrite. Unless you want them to run everything for you, just offer a few tickets through PayPal. The process seems easy. Warning! This is my first time trying Eventbrite, and I haven't researched how they get their cut yet. I'm just using them for advertising. Here's a recent posting using them: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/board-game-convention-in-tysons... For these general public fora, use text and photos that appeal to families and hip millenials rather than hard core gamers.
13. Post your event on WhoFish.com Here's my most recent posting using them: hmmm... I created one, but can't FIND it. That's bad. Maybe it takes a long time. For these general public fora, use text and photos that appeal to families and hip millenials rather than hard core gamers.
14. Post your event in https://allevents.in/ For these general public fora, use text and photos that appeal to families and hip millenials rather than hard core gamers.
15. Post your event in https://us.eventbu.com/ For these general public fora, use text and photos that appeal to families and hip millenials rather than hard core gamers. I don't see any way to post to this specific site.
16. Post your event on http://Eventful.com
17. Post your event on http://EventSetter.com
18. Post your event on http://Evvnt.com

19. BGG entries. For each scheduled game at your con, visit the game's entry in BGG, then, under the Forums, organized play section, create an entry for your con's game event.

20. Post your con in the events space of NextDoor.com for your neighborhood, assuming the con is near your neighborhood.

Clearly, marketing can involve a lot of work. If you are REALLY lucky, you may find a volunteer for this.

If you want to reach out to gaming newbs, you might include something on your web site that explains what a board game convention is like. I like this short video for that: [url]https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=YnG-...
[/url]

Flyer Design Principles and Examples
In this section, I'll try to provide some basic principles of effective flyer design and links to some flyer templates you could start with.
1. A flyer's core job is to get people to visit your web site.
2. It's better to have an eye-catching image and title than a lot of detailed text. People walking past a bulletin board or table of literature need to notice your flyer. If they are at all interested, they will visit the con web site listed on the flyer. Bulletin board placements will benefit from tear-off tabs with "Gaming Con" and the web site URL.
3. Pick a memorable theme you can keep for years, just updating features as your con evolves.
4. If you can afford a designer or (lucky you!) have a talented volunteer, do what you can to persuade them to use a tool you can easily edit. If you aren't an Adobe Illustrator or Photoshop expert, beg them to design with something you can use, probably PowerPoint. Explain to the designer how the flyer will be used, that you will be frequently making minor edits, and that you will mostly be printing in black and white (which is much cheaper). Here's the design I use for Congress of Gamers. Note the local theme, large design elements, and PPT for easy edit of text. http://emsps.com/cog/downloads/flyer.ppt
And a version with tear-off tabs for posting on bulletin boards.
http://emsps.com/cog/downloads/flyer2017withhangtabs.pptx

Business cards
If you want to be able to hand out business cards for your con (very handy if you spend time at other boardgaming events), here's the design template I use for Congress of Gamers. Uses Avery compatible 8371 card stock. http://emsps.com/cog/downloads/bizcard.pptx

Calendar invite file
I added calendar invites to my cons in email, web site, etc. announcements for a while, then stopped. Just create an ICS file, place it on your web site, and share the link to it. For example, http://emsps.com/cog/summer/downloads/Congress_of_Gamers.ics

Photos
Make sure you get photos at your first con (and later ones) that you can use for marketing purposes. Ideally, you'd get a volunteer to do this. Impress upon them that you want lots of crowds of smiling faces playing fun looking games and engaged in each class of your con's events. Try to get shots featuring the specific demographics you will be marketing to.

Give them a list of shots you need to help ensure they don't forget one of them. For my conventions, a sample shot list includes:

Auction store - try to put some popular games in the shots foreground. Show lots of shoppers and lots of games.
BIG shot of the largest room showing lots of gamers at the con's peak density
Game design workshop - a shot of thoughtful players, with friendly teach pointing, at a table with a colorful but unfinished game is ideal
Literature table - show vendors and other cons that you are growing the hobby
Math trade with games piled up for exchange. Tallest pile up front, with popular games most visible
Open gaming (with shots of both serious games and light, social fare). Special effort to include both the demographics that attract a general public (that would be happy and attractive young adults) and gamers whose presence will reassure shy gamers (a heavy gamer, an older gamer, minorities, and some "edgy" gamers)
Registration desk with fast and friendly badge dispensing
PRG game shot
Shirts, etc. for sale
Snack bar with
Special events (each of them!)
Tournament desk
Tournament game shots (for sharing on Board Game Geek)
Tournament winner receiving prizes
Youth in games (our "Kids Corner")
Each of the room and table types
Parking areas
Twitter Facebook
2 Comments
Sun Mar 1, 2015 10:15 pm
Post Rolls
  • [+] Dice rolls
Recommend
18 
 Thumb up
6.00
 tip
 Hide

So you want to run a con...

Eric Engelmann
United States
Rockville
Maryland
flag msg tools
Congress of Gamers conventions
badge
Eric's actual photo!
Avatar
Microbadge: Citizenship Recognition - Level I - One small step for geek... One giant leap for geek-kind!Microbadge: I sell board games for moneyMicrobadge: EurogamerMicrobadge: "The mob is the mother of tyrants." —DiogenesMicrobadge: Congress of Gamers attendee
Why would you want to run a con?
Aspiring convention directors may be motivated to run a con by:
1. Riches - Not happening, but a very modest, supplemental income could be possible.
2. Glory - Nope, but perhaps the respect and appreciation of some portion of your gaming community.
3. Legacy - Building something you can feel good about.
4. Gaming benefits - You probably don't get to play much at your own con, but running a con could provide some useful benefits to a con owner who is also a gamer. "Conventioning" could even become your new favorite game.
5. Philanthropy - Creating a great opportunity for fellow gamers to do something you both love.

It's a lot of work to organize and execute even a very modest convention, especially your very first one, and new directors typically underestimate this. It may make sense to find a con director who would be willing to partner with you in building a con that doesn't directly compete with his. I'm open to proposals! info@emsps.com

There's always some risk.
There could be theft. Not much of this ever occurs in the board gaming community, assuming you avoid attracting collectible card games.

Facilities could be damaged. Board gamers aren't rowdy, but may be more enthusiastic than skillful when moving, setting up, and taking down equipment. Remind volunteers that equipment is fragile and expensive, and to call you if something doesn't operate easily. Having a couple of portable, super sturdy chairs for use by very large gamers will help ensure their comfort and safety.

Your con could lose money. I've seen a long-time veteran con director try a new con concept and get a couple thousand dollars in education on what doesn't work. You may want to start small and spread the risk among several clubs and individuals. You might be blessed with a financially comfortable local gamer who could largely fund or guarantee against some level of loss. Ask!

Someone might sue you. Very unlikely, but theoretically possible. Any facility you are likely to rent will already have a policy that covers everything but "introduced risk," which is risk YOU created, such as electrical cords in walking areas or unstable shelving you set up. If you can't shake the fear, ask your insurance agent to write a policy to cover the event. This company is a popular choice: https://www.theeventhelper.com/
Twitter Facebook
8 Comments
Tue Oct 7, 2014 7:29 pm
Post Rolls
  • [+] Dice rolls

Prev «  1 , 2 , 3 

Subscribe

Categories

Contributors