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- In Person Siminar -- would you be interested?
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| In Person Siminar -- would you be interested? | |
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| Topic Started: Sep 15 2010, 03:51 PM (865 Views) | |
| Frivi | Sep 15 2010, 03:51 PM Post #1 |
 
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So for waaaay down the road (like..2015 or so we're talking), Mama T and Paige and I have been mulling over the idea of having an "in person" Siminar. There are all kinds of pros and cons to this idea. On the positive side, it would be fun for people to get to meet each other in person, and it would launch sim games into a status they have never been before, akin to the RP and gaming console conferences that exist. It would be an excellent way to get exposure. However, on the negative side, it would not be nearly as accessible to all players. It costs money for people to fly to a certain location, especially our poor UK people, and given that a very large majority of our player base consists of minors, it may be difficult to get enough participants to make it worth it. Some baseline information we know already: - the conference would have to be held in Arizona. There's simply no way I can plan a conference if I'm not in the physical location way in advance xD I also have many more connections locally that may allow me to find deals and sponsorships - It would cost at least $10,000 to do. And that's like...the bare, bare minimum. It's not a totally unreachable goal by any means. If we had 150 attendees, $50 registration fee each, that's 7.5k, to give you an idea. That's also looking at a very large space, with five rooms added on. So if we had a smaller crowd, it would cost less...but then is it worth it for the smaller crowd? that's the catch 22 XD SO, the reason I am bringing this up now is because IF we wanted to attempt something like this, we'd like to start trying to budget/save funds right now, obviously. I honestly cannot decide if it would be worth it or not. I think it really depends on how many of you would be both interested, and think that realistically you would be willing/able to fly to Arizona for it. Any opinions/thoughts are greatly welcome ^^ Edited by Frivi, Sep 15 2010, 03:53 PM.
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| Soldis | Sep 15 2010, 04:23 PM Post #2 |
Goddess of Socks
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I think it would be a fun thing to do. My mother and my aunt would go to Dragon Con and a convention for their forum and they loved it. Of course, it was a more mature audience, I'll grant you that, but they had a fantastic time and came back with wonderful memories. It'd also allow a more hands-on approach for any workshops we may like to do... -will add more to this later- |
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| Paige | Sep 15 2010, 05:53 PM Post #3 |
fish ponies??!
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At first glance, yes, an in person Siminar sounds AMAZING  Too bad there's so many complications and logistics to figure out  But hey... we can always make steps in that direction.I know personally, that even if it was in AZ I would still attend if my budget allowed and I would do everything I could to make sure that it would. It's kind of a once in a lifetime chance that would be ridiculous to pass up, and in my point of view, would be well worth whatever cost it would include when I'd be getting wonderful memories, advice, and a memorable trip. As Custard kind've touched on, I think the maturity thing is a key factor; whereas some genres of games attract a college age and over crowd, sim games definitely have a large number of 10-20 players, mainly in their teens. There's certainly a lot of us college kids, adults, etc. but having a big usergroup be teens is a challenge when they obviously can't come on their own. |
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| Myztacia | Sep 15 2010, 06:34 PM Post #4 |
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I think it would depend a little bit on what your focus for the IPS would be. If your focus is business and on the owners of the games, you're going to have the more mature audience by default. However, if you're looking to focus more on the /players/ of the games...IPS would be quite a bit more difficult. There are WAY too many legalities when it comes to having people under 18 years of age. You can be sued SO easy! I think if you figured out your focus, then went from there, you may be able to work out solutions a bit easier 
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| Mama T | Sep 15 2010, 09:03 PM Post #5 |
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Myztacia makes a good point. I think the focus of IPS would need to be clarified as an adult audience. At this time, there is a much larger majority of youngsters then adults. Nothing against our young crowds in any manner, I am a mother myself and began playing sim games very young. I just have no desire to be sued.  Yet my other voice mentions though, that come the time to raise the funding for actual registration fees to be paid and/or purchase there is a growing number of up n comers who will join the adult ages, have had psu possibly for guidance, and may have a lot they want to contribute.  This may again weigh into the fact that we all don't know if the cost is worth the effort and time and frustrations we may face. I think our community is small and growing, but strong and intelligent. The only way to find out if this is really worth doing is giving it a shot just once. If its a smash we try it again. If not we chalk it up to a really great attempt and decide again if we want to try it. Only the economy and the right timing and community interest is going to tell us if it was worth the time and effort involved. I thought all these things when friv first mentioned siminar in chat and mic format, and I cannot imagined having not been involved now. It was a blast and such a great outpouring of interest. It really showed what we as a community can achieve.  I think it goes with out saying that I would drop anything to fly to AZ for an in person Siminar. I also wouldn't be against planning a road trip out there and picking up a few other site owners to help save airline costs, etc. 
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| Avalon | Sep 16 2010, 08:04 AM Post #6 |
MysticalEquine.com - Whats Your Colour?
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I DO like this idea but my one bug is that yes, for us UK people it would cost ALOT and there are alot of Sim Owners who are from the UK I did think of trying to organise for next Siminar for any UK people wanting to attend Simiar Online and also have a little 'get together' of holding a 2 day meeting at my hotel. We have a nice meeting room with a Projector we could have up Nehoos, im am just out of the dorr to work so might add a more intelligent post later! |
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| entaie | Sep 30 2010, 06:48 AM Post #7 |
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I live in the UK, and as a sim owner I would love to come along. But it'll depend what life has thrown at me by the time IPS comes around. I agree at least the first IPS should be more adult based, but if the first one is a hit or proves it could be a bit hit. We could make it a more common meeting (once a year, every other year?) and invite parents to acompany their kids? Av - I like your idea though, could be cool
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| Zorte | Sep 30 2010, 08:59 AM Post #8 |
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Staff Writer
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Perhaps to solve the UK vs US issue we could coordinate the days of the Siminar and, somehow, have a podcast or at least Skype-time where we could "say hi" to the others meeting from across the pond. It wouldn't suffice for a meeting between AZ and UK, but it would be a cute idea that could "bring together" two different meetings. I'd like to see my SIM friends on a big projector having fun across the world. The reason for having the UK and US Siminar on the same day would be, of course, to show that the Siminars are an organized event (like comicon or what have you) and not a sporadic, fleeting fad. If Frivi, Paige, or Mama T could, perhaps coordinate this day and times with our buddies in the UK and secure a familiar speaker who would uphold the integrity of what a Siminar is supposed to be as well as bring coordinated talking points, it could work just fine. |
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| Frivi | Oct 8 2010, 12:36 PM Post #9 |
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Okay finally getting all of my thoughts together. Like the rest of you, I do love the idea of it, but you all have also pointed out my two fears: traveling, and minors. Eliminating minors removes a huge number of our constituents, but I also do not want to be potentially responsible for that many under-18-year-olds. The logistics of that bit is rather frightening xD Additionally, one of the things I personally like about Siminar is that it is free. Traveling costs really impact who is able to attend the event, and I'm not sure that is in line with our goals. However, I think meeting people in person adds a new dimension to it, and could be a really fun event. I love love Avalon's idea of doing a meet up and "watching" Siminar together, and I'm wondering if meet ups in different areas would be the best way to go. Everything would still be done online, but there would be the chance to do meet and greet sort of activities as well. Perhaps eventually we could travel to each others' area meet ups xD I'm not really sure where our demographics are as far as location. I know I could hold one for the U.S. Southwest area, and Paige is on the east coast-ish, but beyond that I'm not sure. How do you all feel about simultaneous meetups? |
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| Halloumi | Dec 10 2010, 11:23 AM Post #10 |
the rainbow
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I'm pretty late to this party, but I love the idea of Siminar meet ups. A while ago it wouldn't have been possible for me but my friends and family now take my involvement in the sim game world a lot more seriously because I have made myself actual money drawing for sims, so I don't think they'd have a problem with me attending! It'd be amazing to meet everyone and attend Siminar together. Definitely the next best thing to having an in person Siminar, and may work much better! |
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