[Deptheads] Fw: Strategicon and a kids' track?

Tue Feb 18 09:52:56 PST 2020

Well...Kids on Bikes RPG, run in the family area, usually full, was
scheduled twice and only had 1 person show up each time...this was
definitely a tween-friendly event. There was probably one 12 year old who
even came into the play to win room. He had a blast. Lots of tween friendly
games and GMs in there. I think this woman isn't looking very hard, and
she's looking with a critical eye.
If groups of adult only were taking up family area table space, that needs
to be policed better, and is a viable concern.
That is all I have to (politely) say on the subject.
Karla

On Mon, Feb 17, 2020, 9:29 PM Strategicon Department Heads <
deptheads at strategicon.net> wrote:

> Message From: Eric Downing  luckyguyca at yahoo.com
> Great Con every body! I will send out a more marketing related follow up
> but wanted to forward this email now.
>
> I Ran in to Lili at the con again and she brought up the lack of tween
> events again. This is her follow up email to that conversation.
>
> If you remember she wrote us the original email immediately after the last
> con and is concerned about the lack of events/content for kids who are a
> little older than the kids events yet too young to play comfortably in the
> normal event schedule.
>
> Is this something that we want to address at this point?  What do you guys
> think?
>
> Eric
>
>
>
> ----- Forwarded Message -----
> *From:* Lili Yen <liliyen at gmail.com>
> *To:* "edowning at strategicon.net" <edowning at strategicon.net>
> *Sent:* Sunday, February 16, 2020, 10:38:25 PM PST
> *Subject:* Re: Strategicon and a kids' track?
>
> Hi Eric,
>
> It was good to see you again this weekend at Strategicon! What a great
> event! We brought so many friends, mostly with kids. At least 6 different
> families with kids joined us this time, and it was the first event for most
> of them. It was exhausting for us to manage the kids, most of whom were
> around age 10-11. This time, we did 101s (Tiny Towns, Azul, Ticket to Ride
> expansions), Artemis, MTG tournament, Love Letters tournament, Ultimate
> Werewolf, Cash n Guns live, Railroad Racoons, party games, dice masters,
> and checked out lots of games from the library. Some of these events were
> very friendly toward our gaggle of kids; Artemis, Dice Master volunteers,
> and party games were among the friendliest.   My kids were younger than the
> required age for MTG tournaments, but we were glad they were allowed to
> participate.  For the 101s, some GMs are friendlier toward kids.  We
> accidentally found out about the Kid-friendly RPG on Sunday 2pm, but it
> wasn't listed on the website schedule, so we totally missed it.
>
> Again, we noticed that it was difficult to find seating in the Family
> area- at least 1 table was usually taken up by a group of adults. For us,
> Family area was ideal so we could be near the kids playing at MTG
> tournaments or the kids playing party games. It was also an area where the
> noise and energy level of the kids couldn't negatively impact other
> people's games as much.  I've noticed the kid's tournaments that seem to
> attract kids ages 5-8, and I think those are great! Unfortunately, my kids
> are too old to want to play in the kiddie tournaments and yet too long to
> be left to play for many of the other events.  By the way, can MTG
> tournaments be dropped to age 11+ instead of 14+?
>
> Again, I'm wondering if there could be older kid-friendly tracks, that
> would include a variety of games, 101s, RPGs, MTG and other tournaments
> were GMs are aware that kids could participate. Perhaps with a special code
> that it's older kid/tween-friendly. Or a room dedicated to tween-friendly
> games with friendly moderators.  There are some really nice GMs/volunteers
> that understand kids, and we very much appreciated them. I believe that
> with a stronger track and focus on this age group, we will continue to see
> growth more families participating Strategicon.
>
> Thanks again!
> Lili
>
>
>
> On Fri, Sep 6, 2019 at 8:58 PM Lili Yen <liliyen at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Hi Eric!
>
> It was so nice to meet you at this year's most recent Strategicon! We've
> been attending for the past 2 years, and it's been a great family
> experience for us. My kids are now 8 & 10, and we've enjoyed the Board game
> 101s, Game Library, Artemis, and Party Games. And as you know, my kids
> entered their first tournament. What we've noticed in the past 2 years is
> what appears to be a huge growth in the amount of school aged kids
> participating, particularly in the age group of about 8-13. In this age
> group, these kids prefer to play more "adult" games than what is offered in
> the Kids' area, but we've found that it's not always easy to incorporate
> kids to the regular 101s. Additionally, some people do not prefer to play
> with kids. Also, when kids are playing a game, parents have to hover
> around, which does not allow the parents to play their own games.  I
> definitely love the Family area on the 2nd floor, and I would suggest that
> the rules be enforced better to be reserved for families with kids OR
> possibly allow parents who are hovering over kids in the nearby room.
>
> Here's another suggestion: to have a tween track for kids ages 8-13 (about
> 3rd - 8th graders) with or without participating parents. This could then
> be marketed toward families who would like to attend, who are interested in
> more board games, or perhaps they homeschool. If parents do not participate
> in the games, it would be ideal to have a nearby room or tables for parents
> to be able to play games quietly nearby. This is because of your signs and
> rule that Strategicon volunteers are not responsible for kids (nor should
> they be responsible for our kids).  There are already some events that
> might be already part of the track (like the LARP on Sundays at 2pm), or
> certain party games, Magic 101, some of the video game tournaments. It can
> all be listed in a section of the schedule (to make it easier to follow)
> with some additionally 101s and tournaments added. And it wouldn't need to
> all be necessarily in the same room all the time.  This would probably work
> well on Saturday and Sunday when the Family Day Pass is available. (By the
> way, I suggest age 13 as the upper end rather than age 12 that you have on
> your upper end of a kids' day pass because that is approximately the age
> for a older middle school aged child. In high school, kids become more
> independent, but I would probably supervise my own kids more closely until
> about the age of 13. )
>
> I believe that with a stronger track and focus on this age group, we will
> see a continued growth of families participating Strategicon.
>
> Thanks again for listening to my suggestion!
>
> Best,
> Lili
>
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