So you want to run a Wargame Convention? Go cool your heels, sip a long cold drink. Still want to try? Well, OK. Here are my suggestions for keeping you out of the funny farm. First let me tell you why you should at least listen to me. Because I'm as nuts as you are. I have run Little Wars with several friends since it's inception. Now all kidding aside; running a Con is a series of choices; which way you go is up to you. But don't go into this venture with the wrong ideas. You should know first and foremost that it will work if done right; and you will most likely not get the amount of credit or praise that you deserve. You must do this because you love the hobby and want to advance it. Now that my admonitions are out of the way, down to the nuts and belts. Remember these are my observations and by no means Gospel. With that disclaimer I will talk as if they are. Games Your first choice is what you want in your convention. Let's talk about choices: Miniatures: Pros: Very colorful side of our hobby; the judge self-polices the game and acts as an adhoc helper in keeping order in the con. Cons: Requires a lot of space vs. player's ratio. It can run into time problems easier than some things. And it does not generally lend itself well to tournaments. Board games: Pros: Least space requirements. Lends itself well to tournaments; lower noise level. Cons: For a player to play in a tournament generally requires the entire weekend. With the judge having so little to do, there is greater tendency for him to wander off at a critical time. Generally not as good for getting new players into the hobby. Roleplaying: Pros: Easy entry level for beginners; easy to adapt to time constraints; quick set up-take down times. Cons: Possibility of high noise level which would require separation into isolated groups. The high complexity of some role playing games requires high level of competence for the game to be successful. Now realize that this is in no way passing judgement on which is better or more fun. That is a matter of taste. If you are going to have more than one type of game, it is best to separate geographically the groups. Beside the noise factor, it will help organize the con both for you and your attendees. Site The next question is one of the site. If you have on already, you know how much space you have. If not, decide the scale and go out to find one which fits your needs. This should be at least nine months before you plan to hold the con. Remember to leave enough room for 6' aisles. While I would suggest you start small with a VFW Mall or such, if you are going for something running two or mere days with over 80 events, then a hotel might give you the room, for a guarantee of a number of hotel rooms booked. This move up, however, is a quantum leap in terms of organization and up front money needed. Another possibility site is a local college. This has the advantage of being able to grow with you as you expand; but you may run foul of weird scheduling requirements. Another factor which may determine hew big a con you desire to run, is the size of your staff. A rule of thumb is one person needed per every 75 attendees with a minimum of two. Warning: Be sure of the caliber of help. They have got to follow through or you will end up trying to do the work yourself. The next thing is finding your judges. Ask other cons for their judge's lists. Put notices in local hobby shops requesting judges. Use newsletters such as MWAN to do the same. Then, do a mailing at least three months in advance to them, to get the vital information. This is: (1) table space required, (2) estimated length of game, (3) name of game with description, (4) rules used, (5) # of players, (6) scale, (7) what time he is able to run the game, (8) special requirements. When the information comes in, compile it as soon as possible, check your space-time considerations and write it up. Depending on your level of sophistication you can type it out, or type set it. The latter is more expensive but looks a lot better. Possibly you know someone with a computer with a laser printer. In that case, something coming very close to type set can be done. The flyer can then be assembled and printed. This should be at least 45 days before the convention. Now depending on size, you should place them in local hobby stores or for bigger cons; obtain attendance lists of other conventions, magazine mailing lists, and club lists for a general mailing. Warning: This is expensive!! You better be sure that your convention is large enough to warrant the cost. Tables Next, establish how many tables are needed to accomodate your games. Then, add several more. Check to make sure that your site has enough tables to cover you. If not, you should go to a rental outfit and rent the needed tables. Publicity If you want coverage on T.V. or newspapers, it is best to contact them one month before the event. Ask for the features department and present your case. Your best luck will come in smaller towns and in these cases, are a valuable source of attendees. Please don't forget you are representing the hobby and want to put it in the best light. Dealers The question of whether or not you want dealers at your con is not as easy as you might at first imagine. From their standpoint they want attendance. If your convention is going to be very large then out of town manufacturing concerns may want to come in. You will have to have at least an attendance of 300 to attract the out of town manufacturing. If your convention is going to be smaller, you may want to invite the local hobby stores to display. The problems comes in the competition. If both carry the same product, then price slashing may develop; which, while this is great for attendees, virtually guarantees no dealers next year. The way around this is two-fold. One solution is to have only manufacturers which of course will carry only their own lines. The other answer is to invite two or three hobby shops only and by keeping it small enough, lessens the chance of problems. As to what to charge dealers, there are two philosophies here. Mine is to keep the price low enough to ensure that we get the maximum variety. There are a lot of marginal dealers who might be encouraged to attend with a low table cost. This is good for the attendees and these smaller manufacturers. The other is to charge what the market will bear. This may help a Shaky cash flow and will almost guarantee no loss to you. If your convention is small enough, it might be best to avoid dealers altogether. Its one less thing to worry about. If you do have dealers, however, and the convention goes over one day, you will have to have security arranged for. The best way to do this is to be able to close off and lock the dealer area. Many rooms have curtains that do this well. Speaking of liability, be sure to have this spelled out. There are ways to avoid you personally being liable. The site may be insured. You can run the convention under the protection of a licensed organization; or you can form your own corporation in the state. While most of the time the site is fully insured, it is best to be safe. When planning your convention, please plan for set up-take down times, as well as the policing of the area. Be sure there is enough garbage cans available. Conventions generate a lot of trash; If your convention is of the large variety, you should scout out hotels in the area. You might be able to negotiate a lower rate if you anticipate a lot of out-of-towners. The next thing is to find out the locality of restaurants and make a map of the area showing the spots. This should be placed at the front desk during the con. Tickets and Admission Now you come down to the question of how to handle tickets and admissions. I prefer a general admission with generic tickets which will get people into any event. Other methods are to leave sign up sheets for each event and charge for each event you sign up for. Lastly, there is pre-registration. This requires tremendous amounts of man hours. Unless you are planning to put en Origins, or have so many workers that they don't know what to do with themselves, I suggest you avoid this option. The pros of having generic tickets are that it is easier for your front desk; it leaves space that would be taken up by sign-up sheets; and avoids the problems of people signing up for events they don't play in and thereby closing out people who would. The disadvantage is that you must have enough games scheduled to give choices. The pro of the sign-up sheet is that people will knew that they are in a game hours before it takes place. The disadvantage is that if games run long or if people sleep late, the judge may have a full sheet and an empty game. Two more things to consider, first have a good security at the front desk. Be sure all people pay their fair share. I was lax our first year and ended up losing money. We tightened up the next year and the result was that we were able to pay off the first years debt. I'm afraid we have too many people who think if the organizers don't watch, then it's OK to get a free ride. But let me ask you, what's fair about an attendee getting off paying five or ten dollars and have the people organizing the con, those who put in the work, getting a one or two hundred dollar bill for their troubles. The second point is awards. Many dealers are only too happy to give gift certificates to help you along. We give medals for first prize that we had made up. I have seen certificates suitable for framing given. Plus, there are many other good ideas. However, I do think small prizes add a lot if you can afford them. We also give special prizes to the best looking terrain, best painted miniatures and best over-all looking game of the show. This leads me to my first point and certainly the most important. That is managing your people. As far as I'm concerned, you can't do enought for those people who make your convention go. There are, in no particular order, the judges, the dealers, and your staff. Remember that the judges are doing this for the same reasons you are. Thank them once, twice and thrice. Bend over backwards to ensure they have as easy of a time as possible. We have a judges get-together after the con so they can unwind. Remember, if they have a problem, it's the most important problem in the world to them at the moment. Please treat them to the respect they deserve. Next, the dealers. These men are here to sell their wares. Make it as easy as possible for then to do it. They are the ones sticking out their necks so we can have supplies for our hobby. If they appear short-tempered, it may be that he just got another in a series of stupid questions. Work with them and I've found they will work with you. Finally, your staff. They are doing this work for the same reasons as you. Be patient. Virtually nothing is so important that you can't, as them, do it in a calm, rational voice. Stress to them that they are hosts. Their job is to put on as enjoyable a convention as possible, not to survive it. While the latter may seem a good enough goal at times, good pleasant manners will reap their rewards tenfold. If now, you are still ready to put on a convention, good luck and good gaming. (Editor's Notes Todd was kind enough to put this article together at my request. When I think of convention organizers who do a great job, I think of Todd and Pat Condray at the head of the list. Todd's comments regarding appreciating those who assist you with your convention are especially important to remember and I can attest to the fact that Todd follows what he preaches. We need more of this in our hobby.) Back to MWAN # 20 Table of Contents Back to MWAN List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 1986 Hal Thinglum This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com