Help on setting up a Gameday - Business Plan needed!

[Crothian]

First find a place and a date. Those seem to the toughest obsticles. I organized the first two Ohio Gamedays. The place and date were tough to decide on. I'd just start with a NJ Gameday thread to see how many people come out of the woodwork. We had quite a few lurkers post who are from this area and I imagine the same will happen for you. Once the place and date are decided post it as a news item to the front page.

 

[Amal Shukup]

I would like to set up a Gameday in New Jersey. I've got the FLGS lined up, and I would like information to set up a business plan to present him.

From the sounds of it the FLGS owner has outstanding questions he wants answered. A 'Plan' that addresses those isn't too big of a deal to write. FYI, my background isn't setting up 'game days', but I DO consult on lots of business plans, and I have organized a number of business related 'events'.

The First Thing is finding out what questions he needs answered (or, for that matter, that you want answered). I'm guessing some of the following. This is by no means meant to be a complete list - just things coming off the top of my head

Uber Question: What's in it for ME?" (the FLGS owner)
(Cash, opportunity to introduce store to buncha new customers...)

'Marketing' Questions
- Who do we want to come? How many are likely to?
- How much can we/do we charge? Directly or collaterally?
- What 'value' do we provide?
- How/where do we Promote? (Create Awareness, impart knowledge, get people signed up et.)
- How do we 'leverage' the game day to promote the store? Publishers? ENWorld?
- Who can we involve in co-marketing? (industry sponsors, give-aways etc.)
​

'Operational' Questions
Facilities:
- Where/when will it be held? How much does that cost?
- Back of the Store? 1000 person room at the 'Ocean Place Conference Resort'?
- Is the proposed space suitable? Safety/Legal considerations?
- Insurance/Liability?
- Tables/Chairs/Supplies/Equipment? How many? Overflow?
- What do we do if more people want to come than the facility will hold?

People:
- Event Staffing? Who? What skills are required? CPR/First Aid?
- GM Recruitment - Who? How? Compensation?
- Food/Beverages? Catering/vending machines/involve a local vendor? Who cleans up?

Processes:
- How do Attendees 'sign up'?
- How is the day structured?
- Scheduling - who's in charge? How is it communicated?
- Do we/How do we handle transactions? (Merchant Accounts etc)
- Prizes/Give-Aways/Judging?
​

'Financial' Questions
- How much will this cost up front?
- How will it be Financed?
- How much will it earn? Immediately? Long -Term?
- Who gets paid what under what circumstances?
​

All of these - and many more - questions can be answered in just a few pages. Research needs to be conducted and decisions made - that's all. Answers can be simple or complex depending on the scope of the event: "5 guys who e-mailed me, getting together around a fold-up table in my basement, eating pizza and chugging Mountain Dew I bought with my laundry money" could legitimately answer about half of those questions...

Of course, as you're talking about an ENWorld centric event, almost all of your 'market research' can be done here online. Most of the rest is a matter of a few phone calls to the right people (store owner, various facilities, publishers etc...)

A'Mal

 

[Painfully]

I'm surprised not to see somebody else from the Chicago gamedays here yet.

The first Chicago gameday was really more of an EN World members gathering. It wasn't advertised. It was really a social opportunity for members first, and a gameday second.

I hang out in the chatroom sometimes if you want to talk more, but really this is more Mark's, Matty's, or Thalmin's territory. They can give you the bottom line as far as exact info, but it's not all that complicated.

 

[Mark]

The first one is the trickiest. guedo79 is right, in a way, butI have to lean toward what Crothian said about initial set up. It's hard to garner much interest if you can't set a date and it's hard to get a game store to commit to a date if you can't show there's enough interest. See if the game store will at least give you a few dates to use as possible gamedays. Then try to form a core group and have them choose the date (make sure they are all good for you, since you're doing the work!)

The first Chicago Gameday was somewhat on the order of what JoeM is interested in joining, but if you plan to have more than one, Rel's advice is spot on when it comes to not only the first but also second, third, and more gamedays over the long haul. I wouldn't worry so much about having a huge gathering for the first one. It might turn out that way but let it become whatever it does and try to concentrate on the quality. Whether you restrict it to just board members, require anyone signing up to sign on to the boards, or allow people to sign up by proxy there are some difficulties that can arrise, but don't let any of those things overshadow the fun. It's important to always keep in mind that you're doing this to meet new gamers and, perhaps especially for some, to meet those you already know through the boards. It's all good.

I haven't set one up as formally as you (MixM) and Amal are suggesting but I doubt it could hurt things if you have the time. In fact, I'd be very interested in watching as it develops. Keep me in the loop if it winds up off-board, please.

You might want to give a longer lead time for the first one but try to keep it active as you get it together to maintain a good level of interest. As Morpheus mentions, getting some prize support can help with the interest level.

Maybe thalmin, MattyHelms, and buzz will pop in with their thoughts on the matter. I'll ad some more thoughts and comments as I think of them and you can count on CMG for some electronic prizes.

 

[Piratecat]

1) Nobody elected me "King of the NC Game Days"

Err... actually, we did. I thought one of the other moderators told you.

 

[Rel]

Err... actually, we did. I thought one of the other moderators told you.

Oh, well in that case, I shall henceforth wield my regal powers with utter disregard for the feelings and desires of my subjects! Though I must say that with so many of my subjects being male, I'm not really getting much mileage out of that whole prima nocta (or however the hell you spell that bit of latin) thing.

Also, I shall begin to wear more purple.

 

[der_kluge]

We've done two Kansas City game days. The first was held at a FLGS, and the second we found a good deal on a hotel space. For the second, everyone chipped in $5 to cover the cost of the conference room ($75). We are looking at organizing the third game day now, and a friend of mine has found a recently acquired space next to another FLGS, which is bigger than the first space we had. This FLGS, like the first, is not interested in charging us anything for the use of this space, since it obviously will bring in significant (theoretically) revenues for him.

Ideally, we (I) would like to grow our little game day out into something big, so for this one, I want to try to be a little more organized with regards to who is running what, and who is playing what. I also want to have people fill out a survey so that I can collect some feedback and ideas, and I want to have nametags at this one (probably just those cheap "Hello, my name is" stickers).

Just some ideas. But no one has ever asked for a business case. I think this guy is being a little ridiculous.

 

[buzz]

Maybe thalmin, MattyHelms, and buzz will pop in with their thoughts on the matter. I'll ad some more thoughts and comments as I think of them and you can count on CMG for some electronic prizes.

I'm basically lurking on this thread, as the next Chicago GD will be the first one I've ever organized. I'm lucky, though, as the initial work establishing the event has all been done by MattyHelms, Mark, and thalmin.

The only point I feel I can address is jmucchiello's. While I agree that game days are first and foremost a gathering for ENWorlders, I think that, if a FLGS is being nice enough to host the event, it behooves organizers to try and bring in as many people as possible. The "payoff" for the FLGS is getting people into the store who will hopefully shop during the breaks, or at least enjoy the venue enough that they'll come back to shop in the future. The more "payoff" you can offer the FLGS, the more often they'll be willing to host the event, not to mention make it a priority on their event schedule... a schedule that can probably draw a lot more warm bodies by hosting CCG and minis events.

Not to mention, you never know how many people you'll be able to draw into the ENWorld community--not to mention possibly into the *gaming* community--by encouraging as many people as possible to come.

Otherwise, the impression I get is that you simply need to be gregarious and organized. These traits seem key to being a good organizer.

I do have a question though:

I've been thinking about creating a dedicated Chicgao Game Day Web site for a while now, even before MattyHelms handed me the reins. Of those who have done this, does it seem to help promote the game day? I keep wodnering if it's better to concentrate the Web presence here on ENworld, but I figure the more URLs hawking the event, the better.

Not to mention, what should the content of the site be? I was thinking of making a repository of photos from previous game days, links to all of the current and past planning and sign-up threads, maybe a FAQ, and of course content pimping our host Games Plus. Any more ideas?

 

[Rel]

Not to mention, what should the content of the site be? I was thinking of making a repository of photos from previous game days, links to all of the current and past planning and sign-up threads, maybe a FAQ, and of course content pimping our host Games Plus. Any more ideas?

If you'd care to check out the thread linked in my sig, buzz, you'll find a link to the NC Game Day website. We're breaking it in right now with NCGDIV and it has not been without a few minor problems, but I think it will be fantastic once we've worked the kinks out.