Potential new session in Sheffield North

Hey - I think most of you know now that I will be leaving the University of Sheffield to work at the University of York in January. I will commuting from Deepcar - and for my own selfish reasons don't want to commit to another 30 minute drive into the city centre to play games regularly.

My idea is to start a gaming meet up in the Deepcar/Stocksbridge region, serving the north end of the city, and use that as my primary gaming session. I'm still planning to come to the Tuesday meets once a month to continue whatever campaign games we have going - IA, Xwing, Pandemic, Seafall.

So I guess I'm really putting the feelers out on whether people would like this new meet to be part of Sheffield Board Gamers... or that it becomes a separate thing entirely...

I would prefer the former as it would seem silly to setup another club. I would still collect dues at this new location which would be used across the different sessions (Tuesday, Firsty, Sunday and this) - with leftovers going towards the Xmas party which would still be on a main Tuesday evening at the Uni Arms. It also might help further dilute the attendance on a Tuesday - as many people have commented on how busy/noisy it is becoming. Will more choice on events help?

I have already identified a good location - a new games shop in Stocksbridge (Castle gaming) which is due to open in mid-November. I would organise a session there on a Wednesday as to not clash with the main meet for SBGC. As this is a shop - players would probably need to play to pay at the venue - but then there would be no pressure to buy drinks at a bar - it would be a bring your own food and drinks - with tea and coffee available for a small donation. I know this is something that some members have always seemed to prefer and therefore this could be a good option for them. The other interesting part is that having a good relationship with the owner could mean cheaper access to games and tournament materials for us to run our own tournaments...

What do be people think? All I can say is that I will be setting up this meet so should we keep it as part of SBGC or use it as an opportunity to finally see the back of me

I should add that the owner of said new shop - would also prefer the meet be part of SBGC and that we are just using his venue...

The venue will have around 9 tables - and be part shop part gaming centre... Jon is setting up an account with Esdevium soon... We spoke last night - each session would cost £2 to £3. There was talk of him having a separate shop membership scheme - so pay an amount for the year and get access to all sessions - there will be RPG and Xwing/Armada nights (separate from SBGC) and such as his business moves forwards.

I'm a little biased, after all it's just round the corner for me but I'd much rather it was kept in the SBGC family than spun off as its own thing - after all, we already have sessions at a different location already every month so don't really see this as any different.

You mentioned the Castle gamers - are you talking about doing a "patchover" and bringing them into the fold? Have you asked them how they feel about that?

I don't have any objection really to a play per session model but I know some will, regardless of there being no expectation to buy food etc. Might find some resistance to the idea of paying subs and per-session as well, even if it is only a quid...

I'm not sure how often I'd patronise this session rather than the central one - would depend on a number of factors I suppose - if I still worked at home it would be something of a no-brainer but since I work on the south side of the city it doesn't really make much difference whether I go to the University or back to Stocksbridge after work. Although I suspect my wife would prefer me do the latter since she can have a lift home then rather than having to use public transport as she currently does on Tuesdays

I know at least a couple of other people in Stocky area that might be more interested in this as well, shall be sure to mention it to them.

DaveB wrote:
You mentioned the Castle gamers - are you talking about doing a "patchover" and bringing them into the fold? Have you asked them how they feel about that?

I don't have any objection really to a play per session model but I know some will, regardless of there being no expectation to buy food etc. Might find some resistance to the idea of paying subs and per-session as well, even if it is only a quid...

I know at least a couple of other people in Stocky area that might be more interested in this as well, shall be sure to mention it to them.

It would involve the castle gaming guys... of which there is about 4/5 - they seem happy to let me lead on all things board gaming for them... as they came from a wargame/RPG background - which they will still continue in the shop.

As our 'SBGC' subs are only £2 per year and primarily used to keep the website going I don't see that being a problem. More communication between Karl and myself to make sure that all the dues are recorded across the sites. Out of interest is there anyone that collects at the sunday sessions? Are there separate members that don't come to the Tuesday meets?

Yes let them know - they probably already do know about the shop... more details will follow in the coming months.

Splitter!

PaulC wrote:Splitter!

I prefer diffractor...

Aneurin wrote:It would involve the castle gaming guys... of which there is about 4/5 - they seem happy to let me lead on all things board gaming for them... as they came from a wargame/RPG background - which they will still continue in the shop.

Cool, out of interest is Alex Garbett still involved with them? He's a former colleague...

Aneurin wrote:As our 'SBGC' subs are only £2 per year and primarily used to keep the website going I don't see that being a problem. More communication between Karl and myself to make sure that all the dues are recorded across the sites. Out of interest is there anyone that collects at the sunday sessions? Are there separate members that don't come to the Tuesday meets?

I hope you're right, it's certainly not something I have a problem with

Aneurin wrote:Yes let them know - they probably already do know about the shop... more details will follow in the coming months.

The do indeed already know about the store, in fact one of them is how I found out about it a few weeks back

From my point of view, keeping it as the same club makes sense, its another opportunity to game during the week, so its all good. Not sure how often I'd get that far out, but another option is always welcome.

Im also not especially bothered by the couple of quid per session charge.. its not like most hobbies have something similar, I think we're quite fortunate with the university arms, in that they are happy to give us the space in return for spending at the bar.

PaulC wrote:Splitter!

Says the founder of the stillwaitingforthefirstsession Ridgeway BGC!

I'm 100% for this being part of SBGC Aneurin and think it's a great idea. London on Board, whilst admittedly having a much larger catchment area, has multiple meets/events all under it's banner and, having attended some, find it works well.

karl_b wrote:

PaulC wrote:Splitter!

Says the founder of the stillwaitingforthefirstsession Ridgeway BGC!

I'm 100% for this being part of SBGC Aneurin and think it's a great idea. London on Board, whilst admittedly having a much larger catchment area, has multiple meets/events all under it's banner and, having attended some, find it works well.

I'm waiting for Kes to design me a funky logo!

With my enforced SBGC hiatus, I suspect the RBGC will become a reality over the next few months...

For the sake of argument, what might be the cons of starting it under the SBGC banner? I can't think of any strong objections, but to start a brainstorm:

- Aneurin, left to his own devices, could ruin the club's good reputation!

- If you're asking for people to pay a fee to the shop, is it still fair to ask them to pay a subscription to the club?

- Is there going to be much crossover in attendees? If not, is it fair to ask Stocksbridge players to pay a sub that could go towards, for examples, games stored at the Uni Arms?

- If there isn't going to be much crossover in attendees, is there any particular reason it should be the same club?

- It's a change to the mechanics of the current meet-ups. It's a pay-to-play meeting at a games shop, rather than a free meeting in a pub. Maybe there is something to be said for consistency.

- I think the biggest problems is that, as we all know, Deepcar doesn't actually exist and is entirely a figment of Aneurin's imagination, and that brings up some logistical questions.

It would be closer to me and easier to get to, I'm over that way.

Yes - sounds good to me! Although i will probably never attend on a wednesday as i have too many kids taxi responsibilities! I hope there will be good communication about what is going on over there and the games sessions will be flagged up on this forum.... The more the merrier!