Tips on managing a little community

[Cilibeo]

Hello everyone!

 

I don't know if I wrote in the right section of forum.

I open this thread for advice on how to increase the number of local players in a local community. However, I know that each geographical reality has its own particularities. Mine is characterized by small and sparsely populated towns. There are also no associations specifically dedicated to GW games and local independent stores don't know the game rules of AoS.

 

I started alone AoS in September 2018 and from that time to now I found 3 other players. In the past “golden age” (10 years ago), the local community managed to reach 16 players. Now we are all “old people”  (age 30+).

 

The tools I used were (I don’t have a store, i'm just an individual player):

-social media

-forums

- contact local stores

-contact local play associations

- contact old players

-organize introductory games

-teach basic painting techniques

-go play with the communities of nearby cities

 

Do you have any suggestions to help me? What do you do to help your community grow? A good thing would be to have the Mortal Realms series, but it is not currently distributed in my country.

[Nacnudllah]

What type of community are you looking to grow?  I've had some decent success (pre-COVID) by running small monthly events at my FLGS.  I would think that the strategies would be pretty different depending on whether you're trying to start a narrative community, a tournament group, or just find new players for some kitchen table warhammer.  Is there an existing group at any of the local stores or nearby cities you mentioned?  Because it also might work well to try to promote the type of gaming you're looking for in another existing nearby group.

[Overread]

Right now with Corona its very hard to grow communities - in fact its a near impossibility in most countries with lockdowns and the threat of infection spread - even with safety measures being taken. So its perhaps the worst time ever to try growing something. 

 

That said Corona will pass in time; we won't be living in a bubble of social fear forever so there is a light at the end of the tunnel - even if it might be a long way off at present. 

 

You've already identified several major good points on how you can hopefully start growing a community.

A few more thoughts

1) Persistence. You might have contacted all the local geeky shops to put an ad in the window to advertise your club - that's great. Some will have said yes, some no etc.... Don't be afraid in a few months time to try again with those who said no; or to go round and update the advertisement that you've got on show. Keep up with a polite level of pressure so that you can ensure you don't miss a trick. If somewhere is really hostile to the idea, of course don't go badgering them etc... Be sensible with it, but keep up with it. 

2) Updates. Update ads, present new posters, update times and scheduals etc.. Revamp things. A neat, clean clear ad that gets regularly updated shows that a group is active, engaging and putting energy into things. Something people want to get involved with. Tired dogeared ads that haven't been updated in 5 years and the email is no longer looked at and the club meeting times changed etc... - that doesn't benefit anyone. The information is out of date and the presentation is tired, worn and suggests a less active group. 

3) Delegate with an expectation of failure. Wait what? Yes within the group you get don't do everything yourself, delegate tasks within the group to those who are responsible, regular and reliable. This lowers the pressure on you, but also helps build active engagement with the rest of the group; you're making others feel valued and that increased the chance that they will promote the group and stick around.

However any voluntary position is likely to be met with failure at some stage. It's not work so "real life and work" can easily get in the way. Expecting others not to keep up their end from the outset means that you can prepare for things not to happen. A good one is to give tasks to teams not individuals. Instead of having one person hand out leaflets have two or more. This way if one person starts to fail or can't attend, the system is already there with a back-up individual. It increases the chance of things happening; increases the number of people you are now engaging with in a positive way. 

4) Schools, Colleges, Universities. There CAN BE legal elements here and in some nations dealing with the under 18s might require (or benefit greatly from) "staff" within your club to be compliant with some rules and regulations. I'm putting that out first to be aware of and to do some research on. Otherwise engaging with education groups can net you a huge amount of advertising potential to join your club. For schools you can even do just what GW does themselves - even suggesting the school might look into the GW schools programs if they operate in your country. Focus on the skill building - teamwork; sportsmanship; hand skills; artistic skills; creative skills; technical; mathematics etc... From hobby to game there's a load of good skill building involved. Who knows perhaps you don't get members, but you encourage them to start their own club and now there's the potential for local inter-club competitions or other events you can hold. 

5) Have a clear structure of organisation and duties within the group. Be clear about who is in charge; be clear about what money (if any is collected) is used for, when and where. Eg membership fees being used to pay for rent of the room you play in - what happens to excess etc... This helps a lot, it means people know who to turn too; it means people know their position, role and tasks. Again don't forget my points earlier about using teams not just individuals etc... - but in general be clear. Many a small garage club has hit problems when they've pushed to expand and not had a clear structural understanding of how their group is organised. 

6) Network. Networking is key and its important not to get a blinkered viewpoint. If you only ever locally network and market to other gamers; geeks; game groups; etc... Then you are already limiting your circle of influence. Plus because many of those interests overlap you are likely advertising to the same people. Now there is value in that of course, but at the same time you've got to be ready to reach out and network with a wider circle. 

Perhaps you talk to local clubs and painting groups; craft groups; etc... Basically think outside the geek box. 

This also extends to age groups - don't limit yourself unless that's your intention (there is nothing wrong in a group having an age focus or deciding that they won't focus/allow certain age brackets - esp when considering the line between kids and adults). 

7) Network with stores. Now there might not be any local stores to your area, but consider online stores instead. If you can have a chat with the managers you might well be able to arrange things like club-discounts. It might not be much or it might only happen if you make a group bulk purchase. But its a good way to help local (regional) stores and also help and encourage your fellow gamers. It's also something extra to add to the subscription of the club - join the club - pay your sub and get a place to pay and an additional 5% off at Bobs Really Good Toy Shop etc... 

8 Have peak marketing times paired with events. If you're going to have a big organised marketing drive it really helps to have a target to work toward. Advertising in lots of places and reaching out is great, but its better if you can do that within a small time frame and aim it all toward an introduction event. Perhaps a game-day on the weekend where you offer tutorials, demo games, etc.. Somewhere when you can put on a display of models from the group; where you've perhaps got a few local gamers to do painting demos; building demos; game demos - making sure you've got spare armies for the people coming. Heck if you're paired up with a store make sure they are there too in some capacity - perhaps offering discount for the event to encourage sales etc.... 
Basically have a target and focus every so often as well as your regular ads. These can be big hype events and whilst they might start small they can be a way to really help show the energy and fun in the game. 
Do make sure you try and get a good number of regular members to turn up on the day to create a sense of life. The last thing you want is a demo day where people turn up and there's just you and a few models on the table and a banner overhead. That suggests no life; instead if they turn up and there's one person painting; one person building; two or four having a game and someone there welcoming them - that's less than 10 people and yet already you're showing activity. And if no one turns up then you've had a good day hobbying for the club regardless. 

[amysrevenge]

I've been part of two different communities that have thrived in smaller markets. 

The main factor that was common to both was one incredibly dedicated, endlessly enthusiastic, loud, charismatic leader to keep the hype-train running.  If you want to grow a community but aren't this person, it might be very difficult to get anything going.  I know that certainly I'm not that person - I'm the person that can back up that person with solid advice and regular support and meticulous planning, but I don't have the mental/social energy to keep up a hype-train indefinitely.

The secondary factor in common with both successful groups is a consistent observable public presence.  In the lean times post-End Times/pre-points in AoS, the community I was in was down to 3-5 regular players, but those 3-5 of us were at the local store every Thursday having an obvious good time.  Over time the group got bigger and bigger.

 

[Baron Klatz]

7 hours ago, Cilibeo said:

A good thing would be to have the Mortal Realms series, but it is not currently distributed in my country.

What about the AoS boardgames?

With Covid keeping people apart those could come in handy as easy steps for new players to get into and for families in quarantine to enjoy so when they finally come back out they'll want to see what else there is.

Crypt Hunter, Dreadfane and Stormvault are the main ones while recommending people try hunting Gorechosen down is a good play too. Rise and Fall of Anvalor is the odd man out as it has no models but still offers a fun time with an AoS city which might spark interests in more content.