BOYL Organisation

weazil

Moderator
Afternoon all

As we start to warm up for BOYL 2015, I started to wonder about the organisation of the thing. Up until now, it has been quite anarchic. I mean anarchic in the good sense of the term, in that various members have just dovetailed into each other's activities without requiring any 'controlled' (as applied by a 'controller') organisation.

Now the only real reason I've brought this up is that BOYL 2015 will be the 3rd event of its kind, suggesting that the thing is considered broadly successful. Given that it is considered this way, it is quite likely to see a much larger attendance than we've seen before - i.e. there is enough evidence from the previous two that it is worth the money and the time (now its three days!) to attend.

As such, it is appropriate to expect 100+ attendees.

So, my question to this community is simply this: as a result, does anybody think it requires more formal organisation? I have some opinions on the matter, but I thought I'd check with everyone else before tabling my own.

If you do think it requires more formal organisation, what should we do?

Discuss!

N.B.
This is not a discussion where an answer MUST be reached or that we (whoever 'we' is) are looking to CHANGE anything - this is an abstracted discussion to get a feel from people about what kind of things that might require formalisation, the reasons as to why and the method as to how. Please (pleasepleasepleasepleaseplease) don't just respond with one liners saying something like 'yes, we should do something.' This is a DISCUSSION. I trust you all. No, really. Even you.

If, for whatever reason, no consensus is reached, I'm sure we'll just carry on as we do - I still trust our anarchic bent is entirely appropriate and so far has seemed to work. I just thought it was appropriate to ask. Also happy to ask the question this time next year (and every year thereafter).

EDIT - just thought I'd add that you are free to recommend something without becoming accountable for the thing you've recommended. Just because its something you want doesn't necessarily mean you have to do it - please make the recommendation anyway. Assuming anyone thinks we should do something different, I'll set up other threads to find interested parties.
 

Asslessman

Member
I think it workd just well at the size we were last year. Don't really know who many more people we should expect but the not too formal thing worked juts fine. People knew their games and tables and for the painting competition, just a good manly yell from Colin was enough to gather all the flock to the right place. Maybe all of this worked because the Foundry did an amazing job at providing everything we needed and that it was all thta was needed but I suppose more people will only need mores space (foo, drinks, tables, unreleased gift models) and not more organisation.

Thanks a lot for taking the reins once again by the way ;)
 

weazil

Moderator
optimus":1qahyquc said:
I agree, yes, we should do something.....what are we talking about again? :lol:

Sorry, couldn't help myself.

I knew as soon as I wrote the sentence that I'd be open to a torrent of these :lol:

I guess the only way out is through... :roll:
 

Blue in VT

Moderator
We are leaning toward a slightly more formal organization for the OHNW event this year....things seem to be growing and this year we will need to pay for a space so we are actually going to have to be a bit more organized this time.

Cheers,

Blue
 

Chico

Member
I feel going more formal would be a good idea but might cause a few problems/headaches. This year will be the first year where we have 2 large separate Communities Collectives (Facebook and Forum) while there is a large crossover between them there is of course still those which only use 1 format of Oldhammer love.

How it would work organising both I have no idea but would indeed need to be inclucive :)
 

Fimm McCool

Member
My only other experience of seeing something like this rise was the UK Steampunk Convivial in Lincoln. I was there the first year and it was small (still 300 or so but considering it was billed as a national event, small) but had a really good vibe. People who'd been talking on the forums meeting for the first time. Small bands playing and mingling with the public. It was great. The next year there were over 500 and it was still fun, a little more formalised but people were volunteering to run new things and it still felt fresh. The third year there were some changes, 800 plus attended and the thing was more structured but still felt like there was a good community vibe. The fourth and fifth years it grew to over 1000 attendees and the 'volunteer' events dropped away somewhat. leaving the event very 'samey'. It started to get a bit cliquey and it was difficult to mingle with people you didn't know. There was more emphasis on the trading and fewer fun activities being initiated. I'm not saying that the Asylum Convivial has gone wrong, just it has changed into something different from what it started as.

Now this is not to say that this is a pattern BOYL looks like following. It's not billed as a national event, it wouldn't suffer (I think) from people failing to volunteer to run games because that's what we go for. BUT I think there is a warning about being too formal and publicising too widely. Not least it becomes a real headache for all the organisers. The question is, do we want it to change in that way? Not least, would the Foundry host it if it were to increase any more? Facebook is a sure-fire way of spreading the word, but do we want the word spread too far?

Lots of questions, no solutions. Sorry! But keep up the good work organisers! BOYL has become my highlight of the year!
 
I suppose the issue is the numbers really. The way the Foundry is set up they can only handle so many cars for parking. The only other limit would be the space and number of tables. If everybody who is planning to organise and run a game gets the space and time to do so then it shouldn't be a hassle. We can handle loads of folk coming and going and looking at tables and games and standing around chatting but the difficulty comes when we are unsure of which table is booked for whcih game when. Last year I just rocked up and took over half a table but I'd imagine the more people that want to join in the harder that will be.
 
Personally i think it worked well last year so if it's a case of more of the same but bigger it's more of a logistics question for Foundry. I know they would appreciate some idea of numbers in order to determine catering needs etc so we should certainly try to keep a tally of bookings.

In terms of the logistics of the games played, again I think the "I'm putting this on who wants to play" approach seemed to work fine, but again I guess it helps if foundry have an idea of how many people need tables.
 

Leromides

Member
I think last year worked well. I certainly didn't encounter any problems other than signing myself up for too much. Speaking as someone who frequents the facebook group far more than the forum I still feel the forum should be the main site for organising things. Having the event details in two different places risks confusion.
 

antipixi

Member
I agree with others that last year's weekend ran smoothly and worked well.

The only organisation that I would like to see is the firming up of timings for each game a little earlier to avoid commitment clashes. I'm not saying that this was a major issue last time, but there was some last minute manoeuvring.

I don't see this as a massive undertaking. The proposed game thread can be easily up-dated and the visual schedule that Weazil did for last year was excellent. Getting these done a little earlier would ease a number of possible issues.

Chris
 

Golgfag1

Moderator
Apologies if I've stepped on any of the previous posts but I started this last night and didn't press the submit button! Anyway here's my initial two pennies worth. 8-)

Not sure what to say regarding how I'd like to see BOYL develop, as my experiences of the previous shows have been limited to either putting on a large game with the aid of Nico or attempting to take part in the large siege game organized by Erny, Thantsants & others with varying degrees of success due to a series of unfortunate events for others!
The first year was a small meeting of like-minded people with a passion for their past, present and future interests and I think most, if not, all those attending come away on a high and with a will to do something similar again. Last year was a pretty damp squib for me as I ended up withdrawing from the siege game to ferry my models to a safe place; so I could take Harry and the crew back home, following their car accident. But, there were highlights - Chico's Judge Dredd game, Saturday night in the Great Western & the drive home all good fun. :lol: :lol: :lol:
As previously said elsewhere - The Ansell's are great hosts and without their support I doubt very much whether this event would have even got off the ground; given their continuing support - Foundry's new venue is limited and I certainly wouldn't like to attend an event there with more than a couple of hundred wargamers as the event would loose some of its charms for me.
So to cut to the chase - without a lot more input from those taking part - I'd like to see BOYL turn into, not one big event but a number of small events spread throughout the year,giving those who can't attend the one in August another chance to meet up, what ya think?

Paul / Golgfag1
 

lenihan

Moderator
Leromides":3mjbotz0 said:
I think last year worked well. I certainly didn't encounter any problems other than signing myself up for too much. Speaking as someone who frequents the facebook group far more than the forum I still feel the forum should be the main site for organising things. Having the event details in two different places risks confusion.

Agreed; the advantage with the forum is that things don't simply appear and disappear - there's a record of what's planned that you can come back to. This is essential - you need people to be able to see what's being planned and discuss it over periods of weeks and months, not just days.
 

Fimm McCool

Member
antipixi":7526vfe8 said:
The only organisation that I would like to see is the firming up of timings for each game a little earlier to avoid commitment clashes. I'm not saying that this was a major issue last time, but there was some last minute manoeuvring.

Chris

Agreed. Last year I decided to just turn up and join in with stuff on the spot. This year I've already provisionally signed up for lots and I need to know soon which models to devote my limited spare time to!
 

Zhu Bajie

Member
Everything looked great last time, but if we're creating growth:

1) What is the event even called!?! We've got people here calling it BOYL and the hosts calling it Oldhammer Weekend. Pick a name, use it consistently. Branding works ;)
2) Broaden the reach. Set a date, define what facilities (tables) are available and invite more people to run games. Don't limit it to people who've already found the forum, open it up to warseer, rpg.net, wherever people might be interested (or not), but give more people a chance to get involved.
3) Use one single, central, publicly accessible point for event information. One place for people to pitch their game ideas, set a cut-off date for pitches so the games can be organised. The forum is ideal, but the much neglected old-hammer blog could also work? Communicate clearly what kind of games are expected and what facilities are available. Decide how over / under-subscription and drop-outs are to be handled, so nobody gets all butt-hurt when their game doesn't get an allocated table.
4) One does not simply walk into Mordor.
 

Leromides

Member
I don't think we should be creating growth I think it is more a question of managing it. With that in mind I would suggest we deliberately don't broaden the reach I suspect numbers will be up anyway and although I do think last year worked very well I feel there wouldn't need to be too many more attendees for Foundry to struggle as a comfortable venue. Paul's suggestion of multiple weekends has its merits and I would only start advertising more widely if we were going down that road.

Yes we should settle on a name. I vote to go with BOYL. I do think the forum is the best place to keep all the info together.

Actually one does simply walk into Mordor it's when you try and steal the ring for yourself and run off to Gondor that the trouble starts :)
 

Zhu Bajie

Member
That's really just managing the status quo rather than managing growth.

The nature of the event will be largely self-limiting, how many additional games would one expect from posting on Warseer or RPG.net? 1? 5? certainly I don't imagine large enough numbers to substantively overburden Foundry's facilities or the organisational skills of the volunteers. And if there is an unprecedented level of demand, then other options such as a bigger marquee or multiple dates could be organised - all parties willing. Without firstly generating and secondly qualifying that additional demand, then such things, which are surely beneficial to all parties - more choice, more games, more fun - won't occur.

Walking into Mordor requires gifts from the elves,a guide who knows the secret paths, and a full scale Gondorian army to act as a diversion - and that takes planning. But yes, we should be wary of those who wish to claim the Ring as their own, be they noble in intent as Boromir, or small minded as Gollum ;)
 

Leromides

Member
I think that the event is likely to be bigger than last time. You are right that it will be self limiting eventually but I wouldn't want to see one of the limiting factors in that process being people having a poor experience because of feeling overcrowded. I have no concerns about the skills of the organisers but from what I saw last year I'm not sure I share your optimism on what Foundry can do unless they have opened more space in the meantime. We need to get a good idea of numbers already coming before we go looking for more. Yes, more people may bring more fun but there is a sweet spot beyond which greater numbers makes the fun diminish.

They should just have used the bloody eagles anyway :)
 

weazil

Moderator
Hi guys

Apologies for creating a thread and then just going dark. February hasn't been a great month and, the way things are going, it seems things will be getting worse until I retire in 2030 or thereabouts...

Nevertheless, today is BOYL day, so I'm catching up on all the things I need to do, including this thread.

So, I get the impression that we're pretty happy with the constructive anarchy we currently have (I am - my recommendation would have been to change nothing) so really, I guess nothing much changes. I do agree, however, that BOYL now needs its own brand and therefore its own website (chiefly to allow for the facebook/forum split, really). This will also make it easier to 'market' to other communities who may not be 'oldhammer' but are still interested.

Its an interesting point being raised about growth and whether or not we should encourage it. It sounds like we're feeling Foundry might not be able to grow much more? I'd certainly expect them to have much more space this year once their venue upgrades are complete. I'll be talking to them about that shortly, but for now it sounds like we'll leave BOYL 2015 to market itself 'organically' and consider whether or not a drive for growth should take place at the next one?

Am I reading the communal mindset correctly?
 
Back
Top