[Deptheads] As we grow...

[Victor B]

We used to have kids programming complete with staff. What happened? It became 
babysitting and like a daycare job and the staff and vols quit and no one else 
stepped up.
In the past 2 years we have mentioned getting someone to once again run kids 
programming(staffing, scheduling, etc) but no volunteers.. 

Lots of people (staff, volunteers, guests) suggest we have kids programming but 
no one is stepping up to do it. Why? Because it is not an easy task. 


But we do offer a few things for kids. The video game room is the kid's lounge 
and hangout. They do an excellent job with that room. I also see groups of kids 
for pokemon, yugioh, naruto, bakugan and other kid friendly ccgs . At night they 
are playing "are you a werewolf". Live-action Ca$h n guns is a big hit with the 
kids as are the interactive dance/sing/music/motion video games. Some will play 
boardgames and miniature games and we even have a few that do paint-and-take 
each convention and enter the painting competition. The kid's category alwyas 
has a nice number or entries. The library is full of family games and last 2 
cons we had a sunday larp that was tween themed.

Maybe we just need to make sure all the kid friendly events are marked in the 
program book so families looking for kid programming can easily find them (like 
they can find family and kid friendly games on the website).
And keep a sprinkling of "for kids" events each con like simon sez (which was 
very cool)...and maybe some more craft events for kids besides the paint-n-take.


V






________________________________
From: "fad23 at hotmail.com" <fad23 at hotmail.com>
To: deptheads at strategicon.net
Sent: Tue, June 7, 2011 8:34:04 PM
Subject: [Deptheads] As we grow...

One of my new volunteers approached me last weekend and had one item of 
conversation which she felt we (the convention) must consider as we grow: how we 
deal with our child guests. 


At the moment we have a "family Sunday" which seems like an attraction. At other 
times it appears that children are left by their parents in the video game room, 
or roam with no real direction. This is just an observation, but I imagine that 
means that we could implement some idea that could give these visitors some real 
content.

For the last convention, I brought in Bill Chott to do Simon Sez. I'm sure he'd 
come back to do it again, but I think we could do a lot more! 


I'm not suggesting a specific plan at the moment. I'm not a parent, so I can 
only guess the concerns of the gamer parents I know who attend. The aim of this 
message is to spark a discussion that might lead to ideas that eventually become 
a plan.

Obviously there are many issues that would be of concern: content, staffing, 
scheduling, and other practical matters. I suppose I'd like to read your 
thoughts on this notion, and consider them as much as I am able.

Then there's the idea of a short term plan and a long term plan - things I can 
add to the schedule for Gateway and what we imagine as the shape of the 
convention in the years to come. Just in the typing of this message I'm getting 
inspired. Any light bulbs popping over your heads?

I expect I'll be opening this discussion up to my friends in private. In the 
mean time, if you have opinions or ideas, I'd be interested in reading them. 


Thanks for your time. I look forward to reading your responses.

twenty-three-skidoo,

Neil Figuracion
Fad23

Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

-----Original Message-----
From: "Eric M. Aldrich" <ealdrich at mac.com>
Sender: deptheads-bounces at strategicon.net
Date: Mon, 06 Jun 2011 22:10:01 
To: <Deptheads at strategicon.net>
Reply-To: deptheads at strategicon.net
Subject: [Deptheads] A few new additions to the list

I've added three new people to the list -- one way overdue :-(

The overdue one is Fred Upton -- he's the second on the RPGA side. He's been 
actively helping us for years, and Mickey and Mike have frequently asked me to 
add him and I've flaked, so he's finally here.

The next person is Taralyn Frasqueri-Molina, or "TL" as she goes by. She's the 
person behind lining up the artwork and is working with marketing. Thanks to her 
we had the wonderful conbook cover art and TShirts this last show.

Finally, we have someone who is genuinely new, Frank Vassallo, who is taking 
over for Harmon Ward running the historical end of the miniatures team for at 
least this show. Harmon is still on the list as well. Things are a little 
complicated right now, but more on that later.

Glad to have the three of you here!

I still need to add some of Neil's board game assistants.

Hopefully we'll have final numbers from Gamex soon. They're looking pretty good.

Eric
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