I attended the UKGE in June in this year, and I had a great time. The event is brilliant in every respect, and I would be the first to congratulate and thank all involved in its organisation and implementation.
A recent discussion in the UK Tabletop Kickstarters Facebook group brought up the Wyvern’s Lair event, and I realised that 500 words in a reply justifiably earns a tl;dr….so I thought it might be better to repost them here, along with my follow up thoughts to how I might consider improving the same event if I was responsible for it.
Start of Facebook post…
I’m glad the discussion has moved on to improving the Wyvern’s Lair event as whole, because from the perspective of the audience it left a lot to be desired.
This is not a reflection on the panel as much as the MC who gave the panel the opportunity to ask questions, but not to provide any real critique or feedback. This was like watching Dragons Den without hearing anything from the Dragons, or watching Britain’s Got Talent without the judges. Therefore, there were 80 people in the room who got very little from the experience, other than watch the pitches—we didn’t even learn which pitches were successful, as the follow up all took place after the fact behind closed doors.
I can understand the reticence to offer too harsh a critique, for fear of dashing the hopes of those pitching, but in reality (as is so often the case with Dragons Den or Britains Got Talent) this is exactly what they will most benefit from, and considering the fact that the event was significantly oversubscribed (was it about 50 applicants for the 12 slots?) I don’t think it unreasonable to expect that those making it through the selection process should be prepared to roll with the punches.
The quality of the pitches was very mixed. Some (as is clear from this story) were very credible, but some were very poor indeed – the fact that so many of them didn’t remember to include number of players or win conditions even after the first couple had been asked these questions highlights this. There are no sour grapes here….I didn’t submit a game, though would like to do so next year…but I would feel extremely disappointed if I had missed out in favour of some of those which had won (and wasted) the opportunity.
I understand that any selection process can be a challenge, but this is not an insignificant opportunity and everyone benefits from having stronger pitches, so I think additional effort might be justified. First it would be helpful for all successful submissions from last year, to be publicised, as the selection is a bit of a black box…there are no published selection criteria. Secondly, finding a way to ensure that those pitching could actually present their ideas clearly and hold the attention of the audience. Two options I can think of would be; a ‘speed-dating’ type preselection event at the Expo itself; or to encourage submissions to make use of a short video rather than just a written document. I have developed these thought further in a follow up post.
I spoke to one of the panel later that evening and in about 3 minutes he gave me very perceptive and useful feedback on my own game….When I commented that his feedback had been missing from the Wyvern’s Lair, he agreed and said he would be making the same point to the organisers himself. I obviously don’t know if he did so, but the interest of membrs of the UKGE staff in the original discussion on FB and some of the general agreement with the points I raised has encouraged me that posting within my blog might be justified.
The follow up blog post with suggestions as to how I might improve the overall process is here.