Today I had this thought while in a webinar: "What if we had our own con?" It's been something I've been thinking of off-and-on for the past few years -- at least since my first Indy Gen Con, maybe before ...
Ken and Sarah at the Griffon used to run one for many years, they've told me -- with mixed results. The campus gaming group at IUSB used to run a mini-con called "Titanicon" until its members graduated. I'm not aware of there being anything else in our immediate area ...
Is it something worth trying again? What would be involved? What would it take to make it successful? Stay tuned.
I've wanted to have some sort of "game day" for a while. I think it could be successful and fun.
ReplyDeleteI have a line on a possible venue...
It's something that several of us has tossed around as an idea, before. Mark of Fantasy Games ran GameCon South Bend for several years. I believe he also had mixed results.
ReplyDeleteI think if you can line up a venue, proper advertising to acquire enough GMs for enough slots, and charge a reasonable price to get in, that you could potentially do it. I think the advertising part is the challenge. Can you get the word out to enough people to raise interest?
(For some weird reason, I've been having problems loading this comment session for the past week or so. My computer just gets stuck whenever it tries to load it. So I've not had a real chance to reply.)
DeleteYour replies have gotten me excited about the prospect of maybe doing something like this. I ran into Steve at the Griffon last Friday, and we talked.
Steve asks an interesting question about scope. Are we talking about only a one day mini-con (Like TSR used to have in Lake Geneva for Winter Fantasy)? Or something a more ambitious? Personally, I've a tendency to be grandiose in my thinking -- either my personality or the fact that I've BPD.
It might be helpful to explore why other local cons have had mixed results. I've been meaning to pick Ken & Sarah's brains on this point. What are the key dynamics? And is it just South Bend, the surrounding area (e.g., Elkhart, etc.), or Michiana as a whole?
Here's my off-the-top-of-my-head shopping list for a con:
1. Timetable
(When is the con? This year or next? Season, time of week? Length of con? etc.)
2. Venue
3. Volunteers
(Who is going to plan it? Who will help run it? What kind of help do we need, etc?)
4. Budget
(How do we finance it? Budget for expenses? Charge for it? etc.)
5. Advertising
(What media? How do we brand it and promote it? What do we call it?)
6. Enlistment
(How do we get GMs on board? What incentives? etc.)
7. Registration
8. Und so weiter?
Lots to consider ...
1. Plan out 6 months to a year. If you have to pay for a venue, this will get you a better price. Avoid football season. Avoid other regional conventions: http://derekas.blogspot.com/2012/01/rpg-con-listing-for-northern-indiana.html
Delete2. Once you have your scope (1 day, 2 day, 3 day, many events, few events), see what's available in the way of club rooms, universities, libraries, etc. for free or low cost. Talk to local business owners or civic organizations to see if they know folks that would cut you a deal.
3. Start with an Excel spreadsheet and list out everything you would need done and pencil in names of those you would like to help. Start askng and asking if they know anyone that could help. Don't forget to put someone in charge of advertising and another building a website.
4. Unless Kickstarter will let you go for funding that way (kickstarter.com), you will have to front the money or take out a loan. After you know your costs, you can figure out how much to charge for admission.
5. Build a website. They are easy. It can get difficult with #4 and #7, so keep those things in mind when you start planning out the site. Maybe you don't worry about those. And yes, I do mean something more than Facebook and Twitter, but those are both needed, as well.
Contact game shops within a ten hour radius and ask if they can put up a flyer if you mail it to them. You don't want to ask them to print it out. That's rude and you don't know how good of a printer they have.
I would avoid television media, as I don't have data to support using it is worth your time. Others may have that data, though.
Newsprint is dead, IMO.
Other websites: trade banner ads with other conventions, pay for banner ads at major hubs of rpg, board game, card game stuff on the web like RPGnet, E/N World, and the BoardGameGeek family of websites. Also go after any company who has product being played at the con.
Look at Youtube for related videos. Take reviewers for example. Some of them post Youtube videos of their reviews. Are any of them willing to talk about the con before and afterwards, mentioning it in their videos in trade for free attendance?
RPG Clubs in a ten hour radius. Will they spot you some advertising?
Talk it up on various websites when allowed by the website owners. RPGnet has an areas set aside for this.
6. Pressganging.
Seriously. "Dude, I'm running a convention and I need X, Y, Z done. I really need your help doing Y. Would you mind helping out?" Options make it seem like there is an option.
I would start with that Excel file list of what you need accomplished. Start penciling in names of folks you think might be interested in helping with specific topics. "Location - Steve; GM wrangling - Derek" and then branch out from them. Who does Steve know that can help set up the location? Who does Derek know that can run events? Start with folk you know and then go after folk they know.
7. I think this depends on how big you are going with. I've seen it done several different ways. I don't think we need anything as grandiose as GenCon (but it would be nice if we could figure out how to code it), but if we can tie it into prepaying to attend that would give you an idea of monies. You charge those credit card numbers/pay pall accounts before the event. (Add a task to your list about finding a way to charge for credit cards, it may be very important.) You can also goes as simple as potential attendees email their list of games they want to play to the events planner person and they track it.
Keep it organized and you'll be fine.
Write everything down.
Remember when speaking to folks that have run cons that their knowledge is directly related to their experiences. How long ago was their con? Was it here in town or someplace eles? What were the main events at the con? What was their scope?
Digesting this post. Have moved this discussion to a circle on Google+.
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