Over 150 people attended Opening Gaming Night on Friday June 25, 2010 at the Renaissance Ballroom in the Renaissance DC hotel; 63 completed evaluations. Thanks to all who did the short evaluation, and congrats to the raffle winners:
- Deborah W. recieved a copy of Gaming in Libraries by Kelly Czarnecki
- Jake W. recieved a copy of Game On! Gaming at the Library by Beth Gallaway
- Rose F. recieved a copy of Everyone Plays at the Library by Scott Nicholson
- Ellen S. received a Flying Buffalo games
Evaluation results follow!
Favorite Experience
The Gameshow (also noted as Trivia/Wits & Wagers) topped the list of favorite experiences, with 14 mentions. Meeting friendly librarians / camaraderie came in second, (11 mentions), and checking out new/different games got 8 mentions.
Other experiences included specific games and activities
6 participants wrote, “Rock Band”
5 participants wrote “[the] icebreaker”
4 participants wrote, “Action Castle”
3 participants wrote, “Tellaphone” or “Tellastration”
3 participants wrote, playing games”
2 participants wrote, “Dixit”
1 participant wrote, “Blokus”
1 participant wrote, “board games”
Other responses:
beating our friends/winning
playing/listening to RPG Games
atmosphere
new ideas
“Awesome!”
Preferences for OGN
Meet new people/See existing friends
50 participants prefer OGN as a time to meet new people, as opposed to 11 who prefer OGN as a time to meet up with existing friends (11).
Learn new games/Play known games
50 participants prefer learning new games at OGN, as opposed to 11 who prefer to play games already known.
Open gaming/Structured events
43 prefer open gaming, as opposed to 14 who prefer larger structured events.
Board games/Video games
34 prefer board and card games as opposed 19 who prefer to video games.
Vendors/No vendors
24 would like more vendors with gaming products, while 27 prefer OGN without a heavy vendor presence.
Play/Learn
45 agree that OGN is just a time to relax and play (and learn! added one participant), while 13 would like more educational components, such as a poster session or tutorials.
Impact
6 participants reported no change
OGN was “not applicable to my (university/museum) library.”
13 participants reported a change in knowledge:
8 participants wrote, “gives me new games to introduce”
5 participants wrote, “new ideas”
12 participants anticipate a change in behavior
3 participants wrote, “ I would like to try to introduce/integrate gaming in my school/library”
3 participants wrote,” will do gaming with kids/teens”
2 participants wrote, “[will] bring in more games!”
1 participant wrote, “[will] integrate into current programming
1 participant wrote, “[will] add new program”
1 participant wrote, “will do gaming with 20-30+”
7 participants reported a change in attitude:
4 participants wrote, “I'm now more into gaming in libraries”
1 participant wrote, “more likely to try new games”
1 participant wrote, "It supports our mission of the teen libraries"
1 participant wrote, “made me happy”
2 participants reported a change in skill:
1 participant wrote, “better able to advocate/promote”
1 participant wrote, “helped me network”
Suggestions for Next Year
GAMES
7 participants request "More video games!" / other consoles
Specific games requested: Nintendo Wii, Ticket To Ride, Settlers of Catan, Domaine, Memoir 44, and Munchkin each received 1 request
"have fewer totally spread out games."
"I like simple games for the library"
"provide more games"
"[have] easier board games”
"liked handheld forum! No one else mentioned in the evals, but that table was full most of the night.”
please have a list of games demonstrated so you can check off games you liked!" (note: games are listed on the OGN wiki page :)
MARKETING
5 participants request "More people"
2 participants request "marketing/advertising" of the event
put in prelim schedule
more game designers
SCHEDULING
4 participants request "more time"
3 participants reported missing “the beginning!"
Other comments on timing include:
"time slot that does not compete with comic book panel"
"werewolf was during Action Castle - similar demographic for both"
"The chance to play more of the board games'
"Missed playing Rock Band"
REFRESHMENTS
4 participants request food/serve pizza
2 participants request “More alcohol!" / "Put a bar down here"
1 participant requests “more water”
EDUCATIONAL COMPONENTS
3 participants request more educational components
2 participants request "Poster sessions would be nice, but just for ... the first 45 min"
1 participant requests "[a] lecture on how games can be incorporated into programming"
Other comments:
"This is my first time attending. It was full of win."
"I loved it"
"video games were too loud'
"enthusiasm was not there, as in the past'
How to Fund in the Future
33 participants suggest using more space for sponsors/vendors.
28 support the idea of becoming a round table and charging dues.
Suggested fee for dues range from $5-$40 per year:
3 participants would pay $5
8 participants would pay $10
4 participants would pay $15
10 participants would pay $20
2 participants would pay $25
2 participants would pay $40
2 participants would pay $30
11 participants support the idea of charging at the door for Open Gaming Night. Suggested admission fee range from $2-$20:
1 participant would pay $2
4 participants would pay $5
1 participant would pay $20
Ways to Pay
5 participants suggest charging for food and drinks ("Bake sale! Gamers love goodies")
4 participants suggest asking for donations/pass the hat
3 participants suggest "sponsorship" from game making companies/vendor
3 participants suggest "sell games," including 1 idea for a "Tupperware parties - for games"
2 participants suggest "sell shirts"
2 participants suggest holding a "raffle"
1 participant suggests, "sell a book of games"
1 participant suggests, “fundraisers - local gaming events to raise money”
1 participant suggests, “contact a gaming convention/anime con and
find out how they do it”
1 participant suggests, "bring your own AV (don't rent)"
1 participant suggests, "50/50 tournament"
1 participant suggests, "maybe MIG RT members could get a ticket to OGN & charge [nonmembers] a small fee at door ($5) with option to join RT (for $10-$15) night of event?"
Marketing
WORD OF MOUTH
15 participants heard about the event through “word of mouth” from a friend, colleague, or overheard somewhere at the conference;
3 heard about the event from Scott Nicholson
1 heard about the event from Brian Mayer
1 heard about the event from JP
PROXIMITY
6 participants were in the hotel and happened upon the event:
4 heard the noise while walking by
2 saw it on the hotel billboard
ELECTRONIC
7 participants saw the event on Twitter
6 participants saw the event on Facebook
6 participants saw the event ALA Website
4 participants saw the event on the LibGaming Google group
4 participants saw the event somewhere online
3 participants saw the event on Event Planner
2 participants saw the even on ALA Connect
1 participant saw the event on the Phone App
1 participant saw an email from Jenny/Scott
PRINT
8 participants saw the event in the ALA Program Booklet
1 participant saw the Poster in Exhibit Hall
OTHER
Other responses included:
"intuition"
"went last year"
"looked for it”
PLease feel free to comment further, or share your thoughts if you attended but did NOT complete an evaluation. If you were at ALA and did NOT attend, why not?