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So our local club has been going almost a year now, we have a healthy membership, a reasonably diverse game base and a decent sized venue.

I'm thinking of approaching the committee with the idea of trying to develop a regular show with an eye to trying to grow it into something significant and hell, maybe even profitable.

There are several other communities of both tabletop and CCG gamers all within fairly sensible travel times so I think getting good numbers for some tourneys is achievable.

My request from Dakka is what, if you were starting from scratch, would you look to offer or like to see from a new show and if anyone has any experience organising one, what advice would you offer?

If anyone has ideas of how to get retailers to show up that would be great, I'd be happy to offer free space as a startup thing but as we're based a long way from centrally it would be a long trip for some of the bigger names with no guarantee it would be worthwhile.

Going on the title of the thread, you might want to chat to some of the former owners of Maelstrom?

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You're British.. (at least looking at the flag!) - CONVENTION, less of the bloody needless abbreviations!

(Sorry, after that incredibly unhelpful post I'm going to go now.. )

You know what? I genuinely couldn't remember what Con was an abbreviation for!

Will change thread title.

I assume that thanks to this hugely unhelpful post I can count on your attendance as an apology?

 azreal13 wrote:
So our local club has been going almost a year now, we have a healthy membership, a reasonably diverse game base and a decent sized venue.

I'm thinking of approaching the committee with the idea of trying to develop a regular show with an eye to trying to grow it into something significant and hell, maybe even profitable.

There are several other communities of both tabletop and CCG gamers all within fairly sensible travel times so I think getting good numbers for some tourneys is achievable.

My request from Dakka is what, if you were starting from scratch, would you look to offer or like to see from a new show and if anyone has any experience organising one, what advice would you offer?

If anyone has ideas of how to get retailers to show up that would be great, I'd be happy to offer free space as a startup thing but as we're based a long way from centrally it would be a long trip for some of the bigger names with no guarantee it would be worthwhile.

Hmmm.....

Advice?

start small, build interest, and make sure you have a venue sorted out before you have the guest list.

Profits, but not for you.

Organization and planning is the key.

If you have a few inside tracks from store owners, industry, or game reps, they can help in a big way.

Depending on the games involved, you might start by contacting the representatives for customer relations.

For instance, If I wanted Mongoose, I'd get in contact with Matt, over there. Or if It was On the Lamb, I'd get in touch with thier reps here, If I was to try to get PP, I'd branch out to the local press ganger, and then thier boss in PP.

For the Venue, Your going to need one according to your needs, RSVP's from the reps, then you drum up intetrest at the local schools, hang outs, FLGS's, send a few of your own spokespersons around, drum up support, post flyers, keep in contact with your venue, your caterer, your reps, your security, drum up some prize support through your earnings, or from the companies themselves, and if you have never done one before, you go find someone else, or go to one and get pointers PRIOR to starting the endevor.

Just a few thoughts on one I worked with many moons ago...

LONG LONG HOURS, not a lot of profits, pays, or rewards, and alot of discussions and more long hours with a heck of alot more people then I ever expected.

I was a mite on the butt of the beast, so to speak.

LONG BEFORE THE CON, build up a play by play of what your doing. design the con and map it out several times in advance, and have room for manuver.

Be realistic in your plans and don't let the thing take off on its own, or it becomes a cat herding contest more then it already will be.

You seem to have a venue, already.

Do you have an established area/ community?
Have they already had? have a convention in the works, or already schedualed?
What games and venue are we talking about?

WHO exactly is the audience?

Do you have a guess at the numbers? HOW MUCH are we looking at for entery fee's/ table fee's? HOW MUCH will the guests cost to book? Are you ready for guests?

etc.etc.etc.....


deja vu all over again.

MY advice? Get help before you continue, and don't go it alone.

If you have an established D and D group/ following- get with them. Warhammer/ 40K- get with them, PP, etc... You go to the source, put together a discussion package and start getting feedback from people who either this is geared tword, or from past experiences.

What worked, what didn't, what are we doing, what are we looking to do, etc.etc.etc....

Adeptocon, Gencon, Salute.... are heavy hitters. Don't start out setting your sights that high, but you can be sure that there are things that you can emulate, and do on your own.

Small as in local area, and fill in the skeleton...

Digging into the old noodle is pretty fun between the dirty deeds and the mean thoughts in there.

You have 1 local club... how about others? Have you branched this idea out there?

What was the feedback?

Hardest thing too? Local law enforcement. Do you need any legal representation? None accountability statements, for when one of the gamers gets drunk and pukes all over the table.
Documentation for the size of the hall. fire code. legal ramifications. insurance. safety. security. ( how far is your goon going to go? is Mace involved? What sorts of crimes, incidents, accidents are we looking to have happen?)
We didn't think of a few of these, If I recall.

Is the venue insured? Are you going to have to pay for damages? Is there alcohol or drugs expected in or around the premisis?

How are your local cops on these sorts of past deals?

These are just a few musings, by the way. And.. not all including, either. Theres more stuff also that I forgot/ wasn't involved in.
Like I said.


Herding cats.....

 azreal13 wrote:
You know what? I genuinely couldn't remember what Con was an abbreviation for!

Will change thread title.

I assume that thanks to this hugely unhelpful post I can count on your attendance as an apology?

Haha yes definitely, depending on what part of the country you are in, and what games are being played of course!

@grot6 Thanks very much, very useful and I was expecting greased weasels, so cats is a slight improvement! Most safety and insurance things are covered as it's a public centre anyway and is included in cost of hire, several members have door licences for security in nightclubs which means they're trained and approved by the local authority and it will be a dry event, although if it was to grow to cover two days I'm sure that may change.

@pacific Well, we're in North Devon. Not that that will matter as there are plenty of hotels locally! In fact that reminds me that one of my friends works for a large local hotel, should be able to work out a discounted rate with her.

As for games, well tourney wise I expect we'll do 40k, Warmahordes and Magic. Possibly WHFB and L5R if demand is there. I expect we can get demo or participation games of Dystopian Wars and Historicals at least. I'm also looking to get into the FFG X Wing board game this year and perhaps the Knight Batman game as well, so can perhaps do something with those.

I'm hoping to attract retailers too, not just hobby stuff but also from the collectable and comic segments too.

It's all very much in the concept stage at the moment, but if the stars align correctly then it could be a goer.

I'd ask the questions posed over at the Miniatures page forums where some UK retailers hang out. Also on the warhammer forum.

I'd aim small and also realise that there are plenty of shows already in the UK calendar. Do it at a point where no other shows happen, otherwise you will see reduced numbers.

Our local club in St Helens has had their own convention for years now, and they started off pretty small. I'm pretty sure now they get well over 300-350 people through the door on the one day it's on per year. I'd say find a venue, speak to some stockists, talk about some demo games and display boards to put out, and who knows what you could achieve! I wish you the best of luck sir.

We just held the first ever Norwegian Nationals. 75 (81, but 6 drops) WHFB players, 39 (2 drops) WARMACHINE/HORDES players and 28 40k players - so 142 players, all told - showed up. We got price support from Privateer Press and the Outland store chain (Oslo branch). It was the biggest miniature gaming event Norway has ever seen.

In addition, enthusiasts ran demo tables for Neuroshima Tactics, Infinity, WM/H and Flames of War regularily over the con. 2 terrain making companies showed up showing of their goods, the Outland store had a sales stand and the local IPMS division had a stand. Our "fantastic pasttimes" umbrella organization Hyperion also held a stand. A special effects/makeup school had a stage where people could get dressed up as their favorite game character and also brought a gaggle of their own students dressed up as game characters.

In general, it was a great success. between 100 and 200 people showed up to watch, even after we had a last-week relocation of the event - the people we rented the venue from could not finish the construction and Norway in january is not well suited for holding events without central heating. So we moved to a less suitable site they provided.

This was made possible through co-operation between 3 different gaming clubs and the support of Hyperion. If you want to go big, I cannot stress the importance of co-operation. We have a good relationship with the Outland chain and got them on board early as well. Contact stores. Massage the relationship.

Get the dates in as early as possible. We ran the event alcohol-free (until the games closed and the bar opened) to prevent puking problems. Check in early with venues. Do a lot of PR (stores, internet, radio, local tv, etc).

Expect a lot of hours and a lot of work. Dragoon local participants into the set-up and cleaning up. Divide different game systems between organizing groups and set time limits for them. Contact any and all game companies you will run games for and ask them for price support, stands, demos, etc. Don't expect GW to give you any help, they have a fairly strict stance on not giving support to tournaments. Even the very casual, relaxed and story driven 40k tournament could not get any support from them.

Book it and they will come.

From a visitors standpoint, decent food and parking are pretty high up my list. If I'm there for the day, and have dragged people along with me then I'd hope there's more available than soggy breakfast rolls and I haven't spent the first half hour finding somewhere to park.

I'm not sure if it's a UK wide trend, but most of the Scottish shows are in Schools/Universities so usually have school catering (limited, but decent enough), reasonable enough car parks and large hall spaces.

There are probably plenty of hotels that might fit the bill too, but I'd imagine they cost a bit more.