At ALA, the GGMIG did two activities.
There was Open Gaming Night, which brought together about 150 attendees to explore a variety of games. Because there was no funding, there was only one video game station (we had to get sponsors to afford that, and thankfully, Information Today and Neal-Schuman helped out). Instead, we focused on game experiences that didn't require us to rent a $1000 projector and audio setup! North Star Games came and helped run a Wits & Wagers Game show, there was a popular handheld station, and the cries of Action Castle filled the room.
We did a survey of attendees, and Beth Gallaway will report on that. In addition, we started collecting surveys so that we could apply to become a Round Table.
The next day was a panel on Partnerships. We had about 90 people attend and had a discussion on how libraries could partner with different organizations to help with gaming. One interesting observation was that few of the people attending the panel were at the open gaming night.
After the panel, we had a meeting of people interested in talking about the future of the GGMIG. There were a handful of people who stayed, and the general tone was that at this point, we don't have the infrastructure of officers to handle the responsibilities required for a round table. The other round tables have a wide variety of programs and meetings, and gaming currently isn't at that point. We can stay as an interest group for the current time.
We do have a new volunteer to get the podcast up and going - Don Dennis has volunteered to make it happen.
Observations and questions:
- From anecdotal evidence, Open Gaming Night is perceived as a night for Gamers, as compared to the programs, which are perceived as being more appropriate for non-Gamers. Is this a problem? We talked about doing away with the program, and focusing on making our Friday night activity have events for gamers and for those who want an exploratory experience.
- Are there folks out there who would want to step up and get significantly involved in the group to move it toward a Round Table? Take a minute and look at some of the other Round Tables to see the scope of what they do: http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/rts/godort/index.cfm or http://fleetwood.baylor.edu/lirt/ or http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/rts/glbtrt/initiatives/index.cfm
- Where should the GGMIG focus its efforts? Should it engage with other types of programs? Should it try to partner with other organizations? And by "it," I mean You! I am ready to have other people step up and get engaged.