2018 Convention Report

Whew. That was awesome!

Thank you everyone for coming out! I think that it is fair to say that this was our best convention yet. We had about 80 people and whenever I looked around, almost everyone was playing or appeared to be having a good time. I met (and reconnected with) a bunch of great people.

Also, thank you to our volunteers: Brad, Candy, Darryl, James, Jeanne, Kenton, Rachel, and Zap. Without them the convention simply wouldn't have been possible (or at least would not have been nearly as much fun).

What worked well? What could be improved?

The big theme from feedback was that people liked the scheduled gaming track. On the other hand, the biggest issue that people had was that we didn't have enough scheduled gaming. Only having one track of scheduled gaming was a deliberate choice on our part, since we hadn't been very successful at doing scheduled gaming in past conventions. Now that we have it a bit more figured out our plan is to expand it in a big way next year. You'll hear more about this in the coming months.

There were also a bunch of little things that could be improved, such as doing a better job at welcoming new players, providing family-friendly activities, and providing food options. We have been going over ways of addressing these issues and think that we will be able to generally improve things next year.

Was it sustainable? What is the money going to be spent on?

Yes! We made enough to cover next year's convention, which was our primary goal.

Although we plan on putting most of the money towards the 2019 convention, we do have one big expense that will take a big chunk of it. We plan on forming an LLC this year. There are two primary reasons for this:

• It limits our personal liability. Although we don't anticipate running into legal problems, we live in a litigious culture and none of us wants to lose everything because someone started a fistfight over Monopoly house rules then sued us for it.
• It will allow us to get a bank account. This sounds boring, but it is actually pretty important, since we would like to be able to have pre-registration.

To be clear, none of us are making any money off of the convention at this point. At some point in the future that may change, but we want to focus on growing and improving the convention for now.

What are the plans for next year?

We're going to do it again, of course! We are looking at holding it at the end of February again, and are in the process of looking at venues. We would like to move to a bigger venue at some point, but due to the initial costs of forming an LLC, that might have to wait for another year. We will make the initial announcement as soon as we are able to.

One of the most frequent questions that we fielded at the convention was if we are considering doing it twice a year. We are not. We would rather do it consistently and long-term than risk burning out (which is what happened back when the convention was first started and was put on twice a year). We may consider doing smaller events throughout the year, but there are no plans for that currently and our first priority is to get things sorted out for the 2019 convention.

What is our vision for the convention in the long run?

We want to build this into a small, but robust, regional convention. There are plenty of large gaming events around us, and we don't want to attempt to compete with them. Our current thinking is that an attendance of about 150 would be nice (this year was about 80), and although that number might well change, it is probably in the right ballpark. We think that this size will balance the variety that comes from getting a bunch of people together with the friendly, relaxed vibe that we love.

There is also a good chance that we will be changing the name, provided that we can find something that we can agree on. We would like something a bit more fun, and we also want to draw people from adjacent areas (Centralia, Shelton, Aberdeen, etc.) that may not associate as strongly with the South Sound as Olympia, Lacey, and Tumwater do. If we do this, we want to do so as soon as possible so that the transition can be as smooth as possible. We'll keep you in the loop.

Thanks!

Again, thanks! The three of us had an awesome time and hope that you did, too. We'll see you again next year.

We Would Like to Hear What You Think

Thanks everyone, that was awesome! Whether or not you were able to make it to the convention, we want to know what you think. Below you will find a link to a brief survey about what worked, what didn't, and what you would like to see next year (or why you weren't able to make it this year). Without further ado, here's the link:
https://goo.gl/forms/ZGB5fe1biOiEderI2

See you all tomorrow!

I know it has been a bit quiet here recently. I've been focusing most of my attention on the Facebook page (in the long run I plan on putting up more content here while remaining at a lower volume than the Facebook stuff). That being said . . .

The convention is tomorrow!

The prep is all done (or at least, I think it is), now it is just a matter of waiting then doing the actual setup tomorrow.

2018 Event Schedule

Here's the event schedule for the 2018 South Sound Board Game Convention. See something that looks interesting but that you haven't played before? Excellent! Most of us haven't played them either and the schedule includes time for teaching as well as playing. We will be doing signups at the convention (since we aren't doing pre-registration we felt this makes the most sense).

If you don't see anything that jumps out at you, or if the game you want to play fills up, don't worry. Most of the gaming at the convention will be open gaming, so no matter what you'll be able to find something.

You can also find a calendar version of this information on our Event Schedule page.

Want to help out?

We're looking for a few volunteers. We are looking for 2-3 people to work the registration table, a couple of people to help out with setup on Saturday morning and cleanup Sunday night (mostly loading and unloading the game library and maybe rearranging the tables). Send us a facebook message if you're interested.

If you'd like to help out before the convention, we can always use more flyers out in the community (especially if you live outside of Olympia/Lacey/Tumwater): https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1FKMIDNtgTBvjtyPesemHIYcadvrDxQenuFmt9x4Ewx4/edit?usp=sharing

Input needed on scheduled gaming.

If there's something that you want to see on our gaming schedule, we have a poll up on our event page where you can let us know. The poll is running until Wednesday, at which point we will make a schedule based on popularity (and finding someone to run them).

Help us put up some flyers!

At this point, it looks like we have done a good job of reaching the coolest people in the area (you're the ones reading this), but what about people in the area who could be cool but just haven't had the chance? What about cool people who don't live in the area but are nearby? To reach those people, we need your help.

We have created a full sheet flyer and a quarter sheet flyer that we would like to post in places with a high concentration of cool people (board game stores, comic shops, book stores that sell board games, libraries, colleges, cafes, etc.) both in the Olympia/Lacey/Tumwater area and in nearby communities such as Centralia/Chehalis, Shelton, Yelm, and Aberdeen.

To avoid people driving all over only to find that someone has already posted a flyer at their destination, we have created a spreadsheet to track it. Anyone can edit it, so if you are going to put up a flyer at a place just put your name down. If you think of a good location that isn't on the list, add it (even if you won't be able to get there personally). There are instructions on the sheet along with links to hi-res PDFs that you can print out (you can also send us a message and we can work out a way to get a couple of flyers to you).

"What's in it for me?" you ask. Well, you will be able to look at yourself in the mirror and tell yourself that when it counts, you took up the torch of coolness (boardgames, maybe not the best metaphor, please don't burn your games) and set off, against all odds, to share the awesomeness that you have discovered. Also, the more people we have at the convention, the more awesome it will be. Finally, you will have our undying gratitude and perhaps a word of thanks posted on the social media site of record.

Here's the link to the spreadsheet again, in case you missed it:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1FKMIDNtgTBvjtyPesemHIYcadvrDxQenuFmt9x4Ewx4/edit?usp=sharing

Thank you!

UPDATE: The dates for the 2018 convention have changed.

Due to a scheduling issue outside of our control, we are pushing back the dates of the convention by one week. The convention will now be held on Saturday, February 24th and Sunday, February 25th. Here's the new flyer:

A 2018 Convention is happening!

Hi everyone, rumors of our demise are greatly exaggerated. We will indeed be having a convention this year:

You can find more information on our facebook event page.