[Deptheads] Demographics

[Tanya Aldrich]

On Sep 24, 2011, at 8:25 PM, mike fryer wrote:

> 
> 1. What do we what to learn from the data?
> Do people attend events hosted by different depts, if so what? (are there RPGers who also play Board Games)
> Once collected how could this information be used? 

If we have enough cross-pollination, it would validate the idea of things like a themed award that crosses depts.
Also, in moving an event's typical time, will it likely affect turnout do to conflicts in other depts. Yes, this may mostly affect boardgames, but the info would come from all depts. I for one play one game outside of boardgames, and it sometimes conflicts with another game or event I'm very interested in or obligated to. I'm only one person, but what if I"m not alone.

> What games people can't get into due to too much demand? I stopped by the RPG rooms at one point, there was a game that had so many people it split into two games. Good solution when there's room, which there was, so I think it was Monday.
> Not applicable to RPG since we can't find out how many people would have signed up for a six player game that is full. Board gaming already has this info as part of their payout sheets.

Also, see comment on alt sign ups.

> Are the same people playing in the same game when offered multiple times? May only apply to Board Games, but who knows?
> 
> What games compete for players?
> I don't see how you can come up with this data.

Two events run at two different times one con. Next con they run at the same time. Were the same people in one of the events that were in the events at the previous con? Did the event they didn't attend suffer for it? It's not perfect, but it would be nice to see if there are correlations when an event runs full one con and barely runs another.

> What games ran at one time and not at a different time? Also, if it runs at the same time across cons, what might have caused the decline? (ex. A competing game)
> 
> What games didn't happen? Was it no players, or not enough players? Again, has it run successfully in the past, if so, what might be the cause?
> 
> For RPGs and possibly other depts, What game system didn't run or needed more sections of? What GMs games didn't run or need more sections of? The latter does depend on the GM's willingness and ability to run more sections.
> This type of info is already discussed between me and the GMs.

However, it sounds like your data is only from the people the GMs were in contact with. How many never get to a game for one reason or another? I'm not knocking the work you do. We're trying to offer more ways for people to ask, if they don't use it, they are the ones who lose out.

> One use of this, to warn GMs that a particular event may not get approved or get revoked due too many being offered at time of submission, and may only be or remain scheduled as space permits. Or may get rescheduled to a different time slot as space permits. This is a challenging issue and I don't envy any dept who would be affected by this concept.
> My policy on this is that as long as a GM is on time and prepared, there are no penalties for a game not running. Changing this will have a drastic negative affect of the dept. I have spent a lot time reassuring GMs about this policy.  If there are problems or complaints with a GM, I handle those accordingly. I have asked a GM not to submit anymore games, I have also encouraged a GM not to submit at the peak times. Please remember almost all GMs spend much more than the 8 hours needed for a badge on creating the adventure and are very disappointed when their games don't run. Further penalties would not be helpful.

Sounds like you have this aspect in hand.

> Another is to justify reducing the number of the same event, particularly if there are multiple tournaments.
> 
> 2. What do we need on sign-up sheet?
> If we can have sign up sheets that are usable from the website, it would be the greatest help.  80% of my prep time is doing those !@#$% sign up sheets. If you can work with me to have useable sheets, I am will to collect any info you want and get my desk monkeys to enter the data.

Ok. Tell me off the list what you need and what information would help your dept. This goes for any dept. If you have a specific set of data that you want, let me know. I never claimed to understand every dept. I can only go by what little I see and hear. I'm not trying to make things worse for you. I'm trying to help improve things for everyone.

Mike also mentioned...
The choice of what game to sign up for is way more complicated than it is being made out to be. 
System, Genre, Storyline, GM, Who is signed up already, How many open seats a game has.  People do not choose RPG games they way they choose board games.

We can't cover everything, obviously, but there has to be some data that might help identify things that may not already be known. 

> Con name and date
> Game name
> Game Genre/Category (at minimum for annual awards) or System
> Day and Time starting
> Experience Level
> Event Type (payout type)
> List containing spaces for name, badge number, and a check box for who played.
> For games with limited space, alternates. Our current signup sheet handles 30 names. I would say that the alt list be at least as many as the main list, provided the main list is less than 15. After all, if you get enough alts for a whole separate game, you have a good argument for another section of it.
> 
> 3. What do we need on end-game sheet?
> For RPG, having everything on the sign up sheet would work best.

Sounds feasible, but if we do that, we are more limited on what we can put on the page, so again, off the list, what info do you see as significant to RPGs? Obviously, First, second and third round won't likely be of use, just the number of players.

> Con name and date
> Game name
> Game Genre/Category (at minimum for annual awards) or System
> Day and Time starting
> Event Type (payout type)
> List of First, Second, and Third place with separate columns for place, name, badge number, signature, and amount
> First Round # players
> First Round # games
> First Round Time played
> Second Round, repeat
> Third Round, repeat
> These 9 answers can be in a 3x3 grid to save space.
> Total Time played
> GM name, signature, date
> Notes.
> 
> Questions - All participants can be listed by badge #; their name and badge # should be on the signup sheet for any cross-referencing.
> # players who brought the game
> Who got turned away due to lack of space/game? Circle which.
> Were there other games that compete with this? (include games that pulled people away mid-event) List game and time scheduled, who left for it, if possible.
> Who were new to the game?
> 
> 4. Pre-reg suggestions
> Have the ability to be added to an alt list. This brings up a slew of issues. Assuming we can figure out the code behind this, my proposal would be. You can be an alt in as many games as you wish in the same time slot. Each time a person tries to add to an event in the same time slot as an event they are an alt in, they get a list to prioritize the events they've signed up for in that slot. This gives people the ability to  show their true interests. Enough people show the same interest, might be time for another section of the event. This also gives the dept head the opportunity to see if they can pre-emtively remedy the request. As soon as a person is approved for an event in a time slot, all alts below that event in their priority list become "interested in".
> Not something that I would want to use for RPG dept., we don't allow most game to fill up in pre-reg. 

All depts have a 2/3 pre-reg limit on limited slot events. So, an alt list wouldn't be of use, ok, how about the prioritized interest list? We're trying to offer ways for people to show their interest in something in the moment. If they pre-reg, and we know the RPG attendees are a big user of this ability, it's when they are most likely to express their interests. Could be why the request sheet mentioned below wasn't very effective?

Also, we could try adding checkboxes so that the person can clarify what about the event they are interested in. ex. From RPGs, do they want access to more the System, Genre, Storyline, and/or GM? We won't know until we ask.

> Have the ability to state that if there was room, I'd be in this game.
> 
> Alternatively, we could also add if it were at a different time, you never know, a game may get more traffic off peak.
> 
> Have the ability to request more games from this system.
> 
> Have the ability to request more games with this GM.
> We tried this and got nearly zero response.
>  
> 5. Post-con processing.
> 
> You do not have to be in LA to do the data entry, we will get the data to you somehow. :)
> A data entry page on the website would be a great way to have many people enter data. Having every dept sending in a spreadsheet would require someone to merge the documents.

I'll see what can be done, once we know what data we are entering.

> 6. Other suggestions
> Digital
> 
> Bar code
> 
> Have a questionnaire at the sign-in table in all depts. "Was there a game you wanted to play, but was full?  If so, which one and what time?" "What game would you like to see offered?" Badge number required to process.
> We tried this and got nearly zero response.

Nearly zero is reason enough to keep doing it. With all the other avenues we are trying to offer, the data might prove useful.

> More alt slots on limited space games.
>  I think RPG is the only dept to use alt spaces, and having more people being turned away from a game is not something we need. Very rarely do we every have a full game with alts have so many no shows that more alts would have helped. Also alts are not used much because people would rather have a definite seat in a game. Most often it is used by a group of people who want to play together and the game does not have enough opening for their group.

So, we adapt the signup sheet. Add a "Would play if it wasn't full" section. The point is to give people plenty of opportunities to show their interest. If they still don't, then we have no sympathy when they complain about something not happening often enough, or at all (the would like to play sheets). We aren't clairvoyant. Also, no offense, but I've seen the RPG signup sheets and there is plenty of space for more info. Now, we may take up that space with the questions as you suggested in item 2.

> 
> 7. Notes
> 
> The rule, no badge, no play will be enforced. This brings up the problem of friday night. Short of having the Reg Desk open until midnight, this is what I came up with; for events starting between 9pm Friday and 8am Saturday, names must be legibly taken for players with no badge. If any player with no badge places in an event, they must purchase a Friday or Full Con badge by end of Saturday to keep their placing and any payout claim. This means that the players placing below them must be informed of the possible adjustment and payout at end of game. This emphasizes that sheets must be complete. If a player has no badge number on the sheet for a Friday night event, they would forfeit possibly without knowing it by end of Saturday. This is also the only time that payouts may have to back enter player data.
> 
> We are also seriously considering incomplete forms will not count for GM hours. If they can be completed by the time reimbursements shuts down, they will be accepted. We have to get serious about this process.
> 
> While I was in the RPG rooms I got several comments on me trying to get the badge numbers of the players. Once they heard why, I got at least two "about time" and a couple of "good idea". Also, I heard there were a pile of GURPS games offered from the people I was talking to, but my understanding is that all or nearly all ran.
> Anyone who wants to do anything like this in the RPG dept. WILL contact me first.

I could be wrong, but I think you are responding to all three notes.

Note one, most of this should not affect your dept since you don't have payouts. We just want the names to hopefully connect them to a badge id later, and any other times there shouldn't be an issue with getting badge ids. Anyone in any dept ever had after reg desk no badge issues after Friday, let me know, now.

Note two, since you don't have the end-game sheets we realize that your dept will not be used to all the data collection and may need some time to get used to it. We do, however, need to implement something like this in all depts, so as not to single out any one dept and have this data be any were near complete. Right now we get about 20% of the end-game sheets filled out completely. We need some way to encourage completion. I'm open to suggestions, but the pocket book seems to be a strong motivator.

The players where happy to hear about the demographics data collection, not the suggested GM reimbursement policy. That was never discussed.

> We encourage anyone to look around the convention, you only need a badge to actively participate in our events, not watch. Security is not necessary at this point.
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Deptheads mailing list
> Deptheads at strategicon.net
> http://mordred.punk.net/mailman/listinfo/deptheads

Ok, it's 2 am. I hope my responses are coherent.

Tanya

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mordred.punk.net/pipermail/deptheads/attachments/20110926/cac1e23f/attachment-0001.htm