Home

What can I do to help?

The SWA would not exist without people willing to help get things done. This web page tries to list a whole lot of things you can do to help us succeed.   The Basics - Just show up The first step of helping is to just be there. No extra responsibility - just show up, pay a few bucks, play some games, and have fun. The more active players we have at our events, the stronger the organization will be.
  • When we have regular gaming on Saturdays, show up and play. Check the News on the web site and the Forums to see what's going on.
  • When we have a Game-a-thon every other month, show up and play. Aren't interested in the games we've got scheduled? Make a suggestion as to what you'd like to see.
  • When we have Council each year, show up and play. Aren't interested in the games we've got scheduled? Make a suggestion as to what you'd like to see.
  • Be open minded. Try new games. This is one of the biggest benefits of attending an organized event - the ability to try lots of new games that your group doesn't own / doesn't play. We'd like to see more people take the opportunity to stretch their boundaries and learn new games.     Level Two - Share Information It is our goal that this web site be the hub of a "virtual community". For this to work, we need a good flow of new content. You can help by contributing now and then. We also want to foster a sense of community, which requires cooperation and communication.
    • Submit News stories to appear on the home page.
    • Announce when your gaming group is getting together, and invite new people. Write-up a formal announcement about your game for publication on our Ongoing Games page.
    • Write-up what's going on in your game, and post it. The GM or players can use their personal Journal page. Or, if you've got a lot of material, we'll even set up a series of unique pages for you. You write it, we'll publish it.
    • Contribute ideas and opinions on the Forums. Be nice, and civil, while you're at it.
    • Help us add to our Convention Listings, Club Listings, and Game Retailer lists. If you know of one not on our list, submit the information. The more complete the info you give us, the less work for us (much appreciated). If you see incomplete or incorrect info on what we've got, send us the corrections.
    • Write Reviews of games you've played, movies you've seen; whatever you think would be of interest to the gaming commumity.
    • Submit Web Links to cool sites you think other SWA community members would find interesting.
        Level Three- Be an Ambassador We want to get more people at our events. You can help us. Here are some suggestions:
    • When you show up to play, don't come alone. Bring some friends. Introduce new people to our web site, our club, and the good things we do. Please note we offer group discounts when several people pre-register for Council together.
    • When you're going to attend a convention, help us spread the word. Tell us you're going, and we'll give you some fliers for the freebie table.
    • If you meet people who run good games, try to recruit them for our events. Pass along their contact info to us, and we'll put them on our list of potential GMs to contact in the future.
    Just like there's no gaming without GMs, there's no point if people don't show up to play the games we organize. Take the extra step to help us fill the seats.     Level Four - Run Games We all know about the classic "everybody wants to play, nobody wants to run" dilemma. If you really want to help, consider stepping up to the plate. Organize and run a game. It can be a one-off game at the Studio, or your house, or wherever. It can be a game that takes several sessions to play. It can be a long-term campaign. Whatever you're inspired to do. Once you make this commitment, use our resources to help you get the word out and get players. Submit your info to us and we'll publicize it appropriately. If you run a game at a Game-a-thon, you get in free the whole day. If you run a game at Council, you get a significant discount. Run two games and the whole weekend is free for you.     Level Five - Be an Organizer OK, so you want to go all the way, in deep, up to your neck. You want to be an SWA decision maker. Everyone who wants to contribute at this level is welcome. We don't have elections, because petty politics have crippled us (and many other gaming clubs) in the past. But that doesn't mean your opinion doesn't count. We have organizational meetings on an "as needed" basis. That means whenever we feel we need a meeting, we have one. A bunch of us show up, we talk, and we make decisions. We'll publicize all meetings on the web site. If you're interested in contributing, be there. Sometimes we don't meet in person. We have an email list established, and sometimes we'll just discuss/debate something via email, and that's how the decision gets made. If you want to get on this list, contact Dave. Don't ask if you're not really interested; you'll be expected to demonstrate commitment, and our expectations will be higher of you than of the rest of the general membership. Organizers are also the people who do the grunt work: stuffing envelopes, putting together registration packets for Council, that kind of stuff. Organziers get discounts toward Council, just like GMs.     Level Six (?) - Financial Considerations The SWA gets nothing from the weekly Saturday gaming session fees at Studio. If we're lucky, we cover the costs of Council and the Game-a-thons from their event fees. Now that this web site is up and running, we will be pursuing advertising opportunities to generate revenue. Since the SWA is a Not-for-Profit organization, this money will go toward helping keep the event fees at Game-a-thon and Council lower. The SWA has run at a deficit for many years, funded from the donations of a handful of officers and organizers. If you really want to go the extra mile, we will warmly accept your donation too. Contact Dave Cheng if you're interested and able to contribute a little something ($20 has been a common donation in the past). Another thing you can do is support our local retailers. Tell them you found out about them from our web site. If you saw a sponsored advertisement on our site, be sure to tell them that too. The more paid advertisers we get, the lower the costs will be for our events. Support the people that support us!   To wrap this up Get involved. Help any way you can. We all benefit by having a good, healthy gaming community here in the Capital District and beyond.

    • (
    • 1463 reads
    )