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Message: <blockquote data-quote="(un)reason" data-source="post: 9066041" data-attributes="member: 27780">Polyhedron Issue 143: August 2000part 2/5Member Spotlight: This column goes way yonder down under to interview Craig Anthony Walker. He’s been a gamer since 1979 and can give us plenty of insight on australian gaming and how it differs from the USA. Some things are the same - schools & universities are prime places to find other players. However, D&D is somewhat less dominant, with a lot more freeform and live action roleplaying filling the gaps. This even extends to the Living campaigns, with the Living Death in particular adapting to the mixed format adventures because they couldn’t get enough players otherwise. Another reminder that what works in one country may not work in another, so giving the regional branches leeway in what games they run and how is better for growing the RPGA than total standardisation. This is particularly true in australia, where the cities are even further apart than the USA and the countryside even more deserted, giving each one room to evolve it’s own culture because travel between them is so much more hassle. Of course, now everyone is just an email away and people are congregating to interest based websites this gulf will soon be decreasing again. I hope someone is keeping track of these little cultural differences before they get eroded. So you want to run a Convention?: Like the call for regional co-ordinators, trying to increase the number of conventions out there is a regular concern for them. It helps grow the hobby and get people connected to the network if there’s lots of little ones, preferably not all happening on the same weekend in the same region. So once again it’s time for a bit of general logistical advice for first time convention runners. Don’t set impossible ambitions that’ll only collapse under their own weight. Make sure you know how many people around you are likely to pitch in and just how helpful they’ll actually be. Remember that advertising costs a fair bit of money and also has diminishing returns so don’t over or underdo it. Make sure you decide how long it’s going to be and book the venue way in advance, as that will save you a tremendous amount of hassle. Official RPGA sanctioned events and demonstrations of new games are both big draws, so reaching out and getting those properly booked well in advance is also a very good idea. If you’re going to run again next year, say so, because at the event itself is one of the best times to promote the next one and get people signed up. Start packing up when things are winding down rather than waiting until the finishing time on the poster, it could well get you home several hours sooner. Don’t be so busy setting up and breaking down stuff that you don’t talk to people, get an idea of the general mood in the room, what’s working and what isn’t. The kind of advice you get from someone who’s done this a lot and learned by doing rather than just reading a book on event management then boiling it down to three pages for the newszine. Useful, particularly for the many new readers but nothing mind-blowing for me.</blockquote>

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