by Greyfax
Here is the discussion for this week:
We use a group on Whatsapp to arrange games to play, typically in a “first-come-first-served” fashion. This works out great for us because we now no longer have that awkward dance at the start of the night when people are looking for games to play or butting heads trying to make their heavy game sound more appealing than the heavy game someone else has brought. The game night has become much more pleasant as people know what they’re going to play, who they’re playing with, and who at the table can give a good teach.
New people, however, aren’t part of this Whatsapp group. I’ve seen multiple times people arrive at the game night only to be greeted by tables that are already fully booked. Occasionally they’re shepherded to a group that has room for one more person, but often I see these new players sit together, play a game from the library, then silently leave and never return.
Is there a way for us to serve both of these goals? Is there a pleasant way for us to make sure that people know which games will be brought (so that they can make a selection), while also being more welcoming to new players? Thanks in advance!
When I was hosting my meetup, I had my teenager act as an introducer to find out which games the new folks might be interested in, making some suggestions if asked. This, I feel, made the new people much more comfortable, even if they saw others already engaged. At a meetup that I now attend, the leader of the meetup makes sure that all who attend have a game to play before they start playing. I believe this is core to maintaining a meetup.
Folks who are dedicated players one day may move, have kids, lose interest — a lot of things can happen to reduce the number of people coming — so you need to have the established group be willing to give up a little to help those who are new. I would suggest rotating folks, so maybe every four sessions a person would host, then it would be another set of people hosting after that. They can still play, of course, but maybe not their favorite game. This way you maintain continuity of the group from meetup to meetup.
Best,
Ms. Meeple (Jennifer Schlickbernd)
P.S. If there’s a situation in your board game group or at a meetup that you would like advice on, please send me a Geekmail with “Ms. Meeple” in the title.
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