RTR leadership had a meeting on August 18, 2023. During the meeting, we discussed our finances, event meeting locations, the recent Semi-Organized Play (SOP) Showrunner meeting, the status of SOPs that are currently running and under development, and planned shifts in how we focus our efforts going forward.
Finances
We currently have just over $600, $100 less than this time last year, up from a low-point of $300 dollars.
Expenses
Our biggest expense is still in-person space rental. Our upcoming Dark Carnival event will cost about $80 to host. Online resources cost $320 per year ($27/mo). This goes to Kanka and Meetup fees.
Fundraising
We are looking into stickers and other types of swag as potential fundraising tools. These might be sold or used as tokens of our appreciation for people who donate to RTR. Dark Carnival will include a fundraising auction that will include donated items such as books and dice.
Event locations
We currently have a couple of spots where we hold public events, but we are on the lookout for more. Having more options would allow us to have more geographically diverse meeting locations, and would also help us meet specific criteria events might have. We will be gathering a list of options and calling on our core volunteers to help us with scouting out these options.
Review of the Semi-Organized Play (SOP) Showrunner meeting
There was a meeting of the Semi-Organized Play showrunners. During that meeting, there was a discussion of general best practices such as what makes a good setting, how to set expectations and communicate with players, and how to manage the knowledge-drain that comes with GM turnover.
Guidelines and best practices for SOPs
Show-runners expressed a need for clearer guidelines about how SOPs work by default, what RTR can do for them, and what they are responsible for. There was some confusion about how much flexibility there is in practices such as when games are played. In response to this, we are creating a set of guidelines and best practices that will serve as the “default settings” for SOPs going forward.
Status of the Semi-Organized Play program
The status of various Semi-Organized Play games was discussed:
- A Dream, Awakened (Dungeons and Dragons)
Due to a shortage of volunteers, in the coming year, this SOP will become a community campaign with one table. - Truetopia
The number of volunteers have remained stable for this campaign, and planning is moving along. - Beam Saber campaign
Planning for a campaign is moving along, and test games are planned. - Ravenscrest Academy
Volunteer recruitment is still underway for this campaign. - Old Gods of Appalachia
Volunteer recruitment is still underway for this campaign. There are tentative plans to run try-it-outs, which could serve to drive interest.
RTR’s vision going forward
RTR has evolved over the years, and one issue that we are thinking about is what our vision should be going forward.
Current status
Currently, we have our events and social activities break down into four main areas: Semi-Organized Play, special events, workshops, and social events and activities. In recent years, the majority of our events have centered around organized play.
Changes going forward
Going forward, we would like to have an events that are more evenly distributed between all four areas. This would provide more events that are inviting to people who haven’t participated in RTR before, which could help to drive participation.
Additionally, we will be describing what we have referred to as “Semi-Organized Play (SOP)” as “Club Play” (this name may change). The acronym SOP has always been confusion to anyone who is new to RTR, and we hope this will make things clearer. Additionally, we have been running more informal games and mini-campaigns, and this will better describe those games.
Shifting responsibilities
There will be some shifts in organizer responsibilities.
- Byerly will be shifting from being the SOP organizer to being the Workshop Organizer.
- JC will be the new Club Event organizer, and will organized club-based games, including the games that we have historically referred to as SOPs.
The goal in making these shifts is to structure RTR in a way that allows us to continue to provide fun, inclusive opportunities for gaming without overburdening our volunteers.
