"Starting our own club" Topic
16 Posts
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Druzhina | 27 Jul 2016 10:48 p.m. PST |
6th-7th century Persian archers Archer in a wall hanging with figures in persian dress, late 6th–early 7th century, Benaki Museum, Athens Archer on 'Khusraw's Dial', a silver plate from Klimova with Sasanian enthronement scene, 7th century. Hermitage Museum S-43 These are perhaps houshold archers. The Sasanian reliefs of Taq-i-Bustan, has an Arrow Bearer in a Royal Boat at a Boar Hunt has very ornate dress. The headwear on 'Khusraw's Dial' may be a patterned textile hat with a cloth wrapped around it like the wall hanging or on the horse-archer on the left in a battle between Arabs, Persians and Ethiopians. Coptic textile fragment, Egypt, late 6th or early 7th century, Louvre, rather than a helmet. A similar cloth can be seen on the horse archer in a floor painting with hunting scene, Umayyad, Qasr al-Hayr al-Gharbi c.724-43AD Druzhina Ancient Illustrations of Costume & Soldiers |
VicCina | 27 Jul 2016 10:58 p.m. PST |
So a few of us here in the Portland, OR area are thinking of starting our own group. While we have a local shop to game at it can be difficult at times to schedule games and so on. So we are thinking about getting a place of our own, none of us have a place big enough to hold games. So we are looking for advice from some established groups on how to start one. For starters how much space does your group have and how many games can you run at one time? What are your dues like? How do you add members? For example: voting, length of time, know someone who is also a member. Election of officials? Thanks! |
Mako11 | 27 Jul 2016 11:37 p.m. PST |
Check local libraries to see if you can use activity rooms for free. We used to have to pay memberships annually to game, a decade or more ago. After doing a bit of searching, we found we could use their rooms for free, which helps save a lot of dough. Some libraries want groups to be insured before using them, but lately that requirement seems to have been dropped. Another option would be local town hall meeting rooms, but you usually have to pay to use those in a lot of cases. The gaming rooms we use will permit 4 – 6+ games to be run simultaneously. Used to do official elections, etc., but I recommend against that if you can swing it, since sometimes political issues just get in the way of gaming, and create unnecessary strife. |
Cold Steel | 28 Jul 2016 4:52 a.m. PST |
Also check the local YMCA, community rec centers, civic organizations like the VFW or American Legion, and churches. |
Syr Hobbs Wargames | 28 Jul 2016 6:32 a.m. PST |
Yea I agree about skipping the officer thing. Libraries are gray location but better yet get a teacher or student who is interested and use a school. We have several teachers ran a club and now a conversion at the same school. Look up recruits |
Sysiphus | 28 Jul 2016 6:33 a.m. PST |
Our club has on average 34 members. Our dues are presently $100 USD per year. With that cash flow we rent a function room, once a month, for an evening; and three times a year, for an entire day at a local hotel. This gives us room for 4-5 games, or one very large campaign style game. The hotel has food on premises as well as a bar. The executive board, elected from members each year, schedules games and arranges for an event calendar. All very smooth and worth the money. |
(Phil Dutre) | 28 Jul 2016 6:50 a.m. PST |
First get real activity going – i.e. playing games. Only when you have that structurally organized, and your regular number of club members exceeds 10, you might start to think about giving your club some more formal organization. Most clubs I know run with a single person taking care of things, with a bunch of volunteers willing to help out now and then. But in the end, no matter whether you elect a president, appoint courtiers, have several viceroys, etc., it comes down to "Who's willing to spend the time and effort to get the work done?". |
Winston Smith | 28 Jul 2016 7:06 a.m. PST |
I was once in a "club" where the officers selected the Board of Directors. The BOD elected the officers. They were brothers. When I questioned this unique Constitution, I was asked incredulously why I wanted to bring "politics" into it. We defenestrated ourselves shortly after. We have two members with gaming rooms, so that doesn't really address your main issue. |
Great War Ace | 28 Jul 2016 8:23 a.m. PST |
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BCantwell | 28 Jul 2016 8:30 a.m. PST |
My thoughts 1) if you get into a public space such as a library room, make your group active participants and not just users of their space. See if there are events you can contribute to, etc. E.g. a group I was in met at a library and we occasionally organized games to correspond to a theme the library was promoting. Working with the library staff earned us a little more flexibility and leeway in using the room. We also did things like purchase tables to donate to the meeting room. We used them for gaming and the library then had them available for general use. 2) Whether you have some sort of formal structure or not, immediately disabuse yourself of the idea that you'll get all of the club members to contribute equally, etc. The fact is that in almost all cases a small number of members will do almost all of the admin work and a large portion will not do anything but show up and play. Accept this as an OK thing, as having that pool of players is the reason for having a club in the first place. I personally have not seen that structure and officers add that much to a game club. The successful one we had going in Texas ran on a purely ad hoc basis and the HAWKS, who are one of the longest running and most successful game groups around, has never had officers – just a core of guys willing to do the admin to ensure they have gamers to play with. |
VicCina | 28 Jul 2016 11:46 a.m. PST |
Great suggestions. Keep them coming. We have a group of about 15 where 7 or 8 show up twice a month to game but there are others who game at the same shop but at different times. We are all friends so being able to tap into that resource would bolster the numbers. We've gone the library route once before but it made for weird gaming times depending on when you could get their conference rooms. As for the VFW or fire house, I will have to look into where they are and how to go about "renting" the space. I'm all for not having officers for the club. In my experience that allows someone who really wants to do something to do it. |
Herkybird | 28 Jul 2016 12:04 p.m. PST |
Good luck with the new club! |
Yellow Admiral | 28 Jul 2016 1:36 p.m. PST |
A club doesn't need rules, officers, elections, membership requirements, or anything else besides some buddies who keep in touch and have a place to play. Since 1992 I've been a member of the South Bay Gaming Club, which pretty much grew out of a situation like what Phil Dutre described. It has been running since the 80s, and the word "club" might be a bit of an overstatement. It's really just a loose association of like-minded miniatures gamers with a place to play. The room is scheduled by a volunteer, a schedule of games is organized by another volunteer, a web site and mailing list was set up by one volunteer and is managed by other volunteers, and every year the volunteer treasurer "calls for dues", which really means asking regular attendees to please donate $20 USD for the year so we can keep renting the space. This "club" has waxed and waned over the years, but as long as there is a place to play, a schedule of games, and a way for the members to keep in touch, it keeps going without officers, bylaws, elections, or politics. Right now it's pretty strong with about 30-40 people showing up each month and 200 email addresses on the mailing list. Nothing happens unless someone takes initiative to make it happen; when somebody pipes up with a suggestion that begins "I think we should…" the standard answer is "go ahead and do it then". Most of the time that shuts down the suggestions, but sometimes it fires up someone to actually make an effort, so every few years we get some T-shirts, a new web site, a Facebook page, a new mailing list, a barbecue, etc. The SBGC has always inhabited cheap or free spaces with sufficient room to run 4 or more simultaneous miniatures games – a library community room, a game store's gaming room, and currently the church community room of one member's church. All these spaces included tables, chairs, parking, and exclusive use for the scheduled period. The current space is probably large enough to have a dozen miniatures games going simultaneously, but there are usually 4-6 with lots of room in between. It really, really helps to have a regular schedule of meetings. About half your "membership" will be unable to make any given meeting, but there should usually be enough for a quorum if the meetings are scheduled well in advance and people can plan the rest of their lives around them. It's especially helpful if the meetings are on the same day of the week, fortnight, month, quarter, etc. but that's not always feasible with cheap or free spaces. - Ix |
Yellow Admiral | 28 Jul 2016 2:00 p.m. PST |
Some places that can provide cheap places to play:
- senior centers
- churches
- small town civic centers
- small town meeting halls (often scheduled through parks & recreation department)
- libraries
- gaming stores with big gaming areas
- indoor meeting spaces belonging to charities and non-profits like Goodwill, Salvation Army, St. Vincent de Paul, etc.
- Ix |
Bob in Edmonton | 31 Jul 2016 6:37 a.m. PST |
Our gaming group (www.edmontonwargamegroup.com) started 12 years ago and meets the first and third Tuesday of each month from 6:30ish to 9:30ish. Attendance is usually about 12 (but ranges from 4-23) and we have anywhere from 1-6 games running. A few basic thoughts: 1. A public space is more inviting to new members than a private space (i.e., someone's house). We have rented a variety of rooms at community halls and elsewhere. 2. Consistency matters: Gaming the same night and time helps build attendance. The two times we have moved location have set attendance back for awhile. 3. Form should follow function: We operate with volunteers and no real administrative structure. I handle the cash. Another guy signs the lease. Someone else does the Facebook group. Honestly, we make one decision per year (should we stay at this location or move?) and we can generally make that decision at a club night. There is no real need for a more complex structure. 4. Go ahead: It is up to the members to make the club viable. Suggestions that "what you guys should do is…" are best met with "go ahead and give it a try". Generally this results in no real action. Sometimes something really good happens. But the club is a forum for the members to game at; we don't provide an entertainment-on-demand service. 5. The club is just a starting point: There are periodically suggestions that we do a regular Saturday all day event. These almost never recoup their costs and turn out has been limited. But, those guys who can and want to game at other times do so—often in their own homes or at local stores. We have struggled over the years with making the club financially viable. We presently pay about $150 USD a month in dues (which is pretty much the going rate locally) for a nice space. We've always charged dues (historically $3 USD a night with your first time free). We have supplemented that with silent auctions and proceeds from our annual convention. That approach has worked less well over the years and this year we sold fifteen $100 USD subscriptions to cover the cost. Subscribers game free while everyone else continues to pay dues (now $4 USD per night). We'll see how that works. Bob |
VicCina | 01 Aug 2016 12:46 p.m. PST |
Thank you Bob for your guidance and suggestions. |
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