UKGE25 and CoG Games

[panzerkaput 33935xp 3]

Okay calling all CoGs, Otters and BoWers

@jamescutts and myself, well mainly James, have come up with an idea for UKGE25 and that is around the OTT stand that they have CoGs putting on the games they love, wargames, board games, anything, but games that we love and love to show off. This will show off the community that OTT has built and the wide church we are.

So to that end I am asking on a quick straw poll, I do know how to set up a proper poll but

Say Yeah, if you think this is a sick idea and we should badger the OTT crew with this idea

or

Say Dumb Idea if you think this sucks the big one and I should get feck away into the distance.

So over to you guys Yeah or Dumb?

[cptaqua 2361xp 1]

Yeah

[jamescutts 6878xp 1]

I suppose i have to say Yeah 😀

[limburger 21591xp 1]

IT would be kind of cool if a few OTTers could show the community side of OTT.

Might be planning to visit next year, but no commitment on that yet.

[angelicdespot 4687xp 1]

I think it’s a good idea. I won’t be able to help this year, but would be happy to do so next year.

I do feel that it would be a good idea if the tech behind the forum / projects could be sorted first as it’s the way the community interact with each other and the slowness of it make that quite hard these days. When it works though, it’s one of the things that makes this community different and special.

I think for the UKGE participation to work it would need to be more than just community members playing games, it would have to showcase what we do and have beyond just being people who play games. So there would need to be some way of showing off painting competitions, spring clean challenges, etc. If there was a desire / the capacity to host some weekends like in the old days again (I’m gutted I never made it to one), UKGE would be the perfect place to trail that one or more of them were coming up.

[maldroth 12xp 1]

If this becomes a thing I’d love to try and make it to next year’s expo. I’ve been wanting to visit and taking in the convention as well would be fun

[limburger 21591xp 2]

Do other gaming clubs have a booth at the UKGE ?
Maybe those can be a source of information/inspiration.

And of course we’ve got OTTers who have done conventions for their own local clubs so expertise is available.
Biggest challenge will be to try and herd a bunch of cats, unless the OTT team can assist with that aspect.
(OTOH … they’re likely very busy at the Expo themselves.)

[jamescutts 6878xp 3]

So having now had a bit more time to think about it I thought it would probably be wise to capture my thoughts and ideas for this. My ideas here where very much start with the smallest and simplest thing we as a community could contribute and keep the already huge workload on the OTT team as small as possible. This would be an experiment so I my mind it would be better to make something happen and see how it goes than try and make something perfect that might not happen.

My assumption here would be OTT could lean on a bit of generosity from the UKGE team to sort out getting a space to make it possible and that we’d work with that space and any requirements from OTT and UKGE to see what’s achievable. We’d also drive and organise this as much as we can through the community to reduce the workload on the OTT team. To that end here’s my quick list of points for the idea:

• Ideally something close, next to or part of the existing OTT stage (assuming this isn’t super prime real estate, which is probably is) failing that pretty much whenever we could get!
• A handful to tables to showcase games from our community members, all of which would be open to participation by anyone interested, and with the aim of “snagging a normie” along with a bunch of CoGs and Cultist to spread the word!
• I’d imagine tables would be smallish say 3×3 and probably the bar height standing ones rather than the vast showcases at a “wargames show”.
• Games would be something quick and fun that can be demoed by eager volunteers, anything goes including board games, ideally, we’d want some awesome eye candy too, and may space depending, a larger game as a proper visual feast, something like we see in a awesome table set up from HQ! The main thing is whatever is show off is both friendly, quick and most importantly shows off the passion of our community. For some examples, I was thinking the likes of Barons War, Blood & Plunder, Quar and Saga… for example 😀
• To reduce the workload and demand on the community members volunteering rather than the same games every day we would have them change out every day or two as needed on a schedule (as needed). That way we wouldn’t require everyone go to the expense of staying over for the full show and they could also take time out to go explore it themselves.
• It would act as a great meeting point for OTT members in addition to showcasing the community to the rest of the show, and perhaps also be great for some footage on the days.
• FLEGS and Banners, we’d probably want some form of branding on display, hopefully with as much being existing stuff reused as possible, though i think Gerry would approve of a GIANT FLEG!
• T-Shirt, for the volunteers who I assume would be more than happy to buy them anyway would probably be a neat addition, we’d probably also need some flyers to give out showcasing OTT and with QR codes quick links on them to get people to the site!
• As a nice to have, I think any freebies or giveaways we could organise might be a nice addition, this could be anything from a company throwing in some freebies for people who play one of the games we demo (such as a free mini), to having OTT draw something on the stage you can only get by picking up a entry ticket by attending the OTT Stand.
• A similar nice addition would perhaps be to have some sort of “exclusive” to pickup by attending if you’re in the community already, something as simple as a CoG sticker perhaps?

I think while it would be amazing to show off things like the spring clean challenge, and painting competitions the logistical burden of doing something for those would probably be far too great, especially in any initial attempt at this. I do love the idea of some sort of “challenge” inspired participation though, I noticed there’s been a rise in “paint a mini in X min” at smaller shows, but this needs a lot of logistical effort and sponsors to make happen. We could potentially have a “showcase” cabinet or the like showing of things like peoples painting but i think it would be too demanding to hold a full on painting competition, though i love the idea!

In short the idea is, put a bunch of cool games on that showcases both how welcoming, awesome and diverse our community is, in as simple as way as possible, and if that works then maybe it’s a format we could expand or even bring to other shows too!

On a smaller scale we could try this out in some of the later UK shows this year early next, perhaps organising a OTT/CoG table and just practicing the format on a smaller scale, The Other Partizan and even Salute might be good places to just have a table with a game from the community going.

• This reply was modified 2 months ago by  jamescutts.
• This reply was modified 2 months ago by  jamescutts.

[panzerkaput 33935xp 1]

Thank you very much @jamescutts and I couldnt put it better.

I know a few have said Yeah on here and also Discord, hashtag besthouse, and I am going to give it until after UKGE24 and see what the views are them and then float the idea with @warzan and co.

 

[pagan8thParticipant 9858xp 0]

When I saw the subject title I thought… it can’t have been going for 25 years… didn’t realise the meaning was 2025 show.

Saying that… it started in 2007 and although I had to miss a few over the years due to covid and family health issues, I have been to most and will be there again this year.

Not sure which was my first expo, but I do know it was at a small conference centre maybe a mile from Birmingham New Street. Can’t remember the name of the place though… and it’s bugging me.

[redscopeParticipant 2708xp 1]

I think something like this would be more suited to Salute than UKGE. Not sure I have seen these type of demo games events from clubs at UKGE. UKGE feels more like a trade show for vendors rather than for wargaming community. For UKGE to give up prime locations on the floor that they could sell might be difficult ask.

Ways around this might be to do a charity game. Partner with the known charity and do like a raffle for some ontabletop goodies along with the demo game.

The other thought is to partner with a vendor. OntableTop store is owned by Wayland Games that would seem a possible choice to ask them for space in return to demo some of the games they sell.

The other aspect to keep in mind is Salute is just one day UKGE is 3 day event plus setup will be a day so that is quite a staff commitment for run over 4 days. That is a lot of ask people to cover as you have pointed out. You will need I guess 3 people each day for a small community that might be a tricky.

I feel like UKGE might be difficult unless Warren can pull some of his connections into this and expand OntableTop current footprint at the event so that what you did had the support from the UKGE team.

I certainly think Salute would be a much easier choice as an event to do.

[kiranamida 5785xp 1]

Sounds like a nifty idea if enough people can be found at the same show.

I think I concur that getting the space could be a challenge, at least without significant sponsorship. I thought to have a look at a show happening in my neck of the woods this September and it looks like for the basic spaces your looking at around £200 for the smallest plot and some tables/chairs (6 square meters) and it only goes up from there and that’s without electricity .

I can only imagine that bigger shows have a higher footprint cost to filter some of the demand they’ll have.

I do wonder if it would take a bigger show to attract enough potential CoGs to one place to pull it off even though a bigger show takes more to get space at. Bit of a Catch 22.

 

Maybe a charity/business-looking-to-do-some-good sponsor with some sort of tie in fundraiser as @redscope suggested could overcome that hurdle.

[limburger 21591xp 2]

Keeping things nice and simple would be the way to go.
It may be true that other events may be cheaper, but those might be even more expensive for those of us coming from outside of the UK (and the OTTer community is global, if mostly euro/uk-centric).

#BestHouse already had the best FLEG ever … not sure if the other houses have their fleg 😉

Perhaps the first iteration could simply be some sort of photo montage of golden button winning projects and the winners of various challenges ?

Space will be at a premium, so we got to think small and practical.
The volunteer issue will be tricky as any OTTers’ volunteering will want to see the show itself as well.

 

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