Get out there! 3 ways to grow your very own Gaming Community

It’s a question we get asked a lot. How did Vault build its community so quickly? Well, the truth is, we didn’t. We’ve been building this community since 2014 and, through some hard work and a little luck, it’s grown to where it is. So now, we want to help you build your community.

Choose Your Venues Wisely

Sometimes, a venue for an event can be like scraping the bottom of the barrel, you take what you can get. But the truth is, your community can die by your choice of venue. Firstly, look for somewhere central. If you already have a small group of people looking to get together for some gaming, it’s a good idea to find somewhere central. Transportation is important too. Make sure your venue at least on a public transport line and, if your meeting up outside of a capital city’s CBD, it should be pretty easy to find a venue with parking available too.

Next, look at what the venue offers. We’ve had a lot of success running events out of food venues like Grill’d Burgers or local bars. There’s nothing better than a good burger and a good game, so talk to your local burger joint and see if you can run your gaming nights out of there.

Finally, keep an eye on the space. You want to ensure you’re at a venue that can handle your expected traffic. We’ve been burnt by this before. It’s ultimately what killed one of our own events. We had one night that was so busy, people were waiting for tables to play a game. The next event saw us way under attended, and every following event just dwindled, all because we had a night that was so successful, it hurt the event’s reputation.

Promote, Promote, Promote

This is one thing I see many gaming communities have problems with. The point of the community is to bring new people in right? New people means new gamers and new games. But, new people aren’t going to find your gaming nights if they don’t know it’s on.

Get your event up on Facebook. Make sure you have a decent cover photo and all the correct details available. Once you have it up, invite everyone who is interested amongst your friendship group, and encourage them to do the same. If you’re familiar with the Facebook Advertising tool, you may want to throw $10 or $20 behind the event to get some outside interest if you wanted to step up your attendance.

If you’re interested in promoting further, websites like Meetup.com are a great way to put your event out there for the world to find.Get your event up there too and share it around as well.

Be Prepared

This one goes without saying. You need to make sure your event is ready for those coming along. This means having some games ready to go for people to play, be versed-enough in the games to teach them to any newcomers, and understand that if someone new arrives, someone needs to welcome them, otherwise they probably won’t come back. It’s simple to be prepared and the results for your event are astounding.