AGA Membership Pt.2

hailthorn011 · #1

So, I've been thinking about it, and I've decided that instead of moping about the fact that there's not much Go related activity going on in my local area, I'm going to lead the way for getting a Go community here in my area

My current plan of action involves:

1. Putting an ad in the AGA E-Journal.
2. Posting physical fliers at the mall.
3. Going to quiet locations and bringing out my go board to replay games I've played on KGS.
4. Playing games with Crystal at the same quiet locations.
5. Posting ads on igolocal.com.

My hope is that one day there will be a strong following here as well as in other locations. I suppose I've been looking at it the wrong way: Instead of trying to be led, I should take the lead. And hopefully one day, we can become an official AGA club.

Anyway, how does this plan of attack sound?

Edit: Whoops, I had about a thousand errors in this post. -_-

snorri · #2

This is the brave plan. I admire it. Good luck!

hailthorn011 · #3

snorri wrote:

:clap:

This is the brave plan. I admire it. Good luck!

Thank you!

xed_over · #4

this is even harder than the "giving up plan" that you mentioned earlier, but it'll be much more rewarding.

best of luck to you.

daniel_the_smith · #5

Best of luck to you

hailthorn011 · #6

Well, it's better than doing nothing. I can't honestly complain if I don't give an honest effort. Besides, SOMEONE originally had to popularize it here. Why can't I? Plus I'll have the advantage of being able to say it's already decently well situated in the USA. According to the AGA, some 400 people are attending the US Go Congress.

My question is: Any of you want to help? Any way would be great.

Horibe · #7

All of your ideas are great.

Talk to your local teen librarian. Does it have any manga books? Does it have Hikaru?

Check the American Go Federation Website - if it does not - talk to the librarian about ordering a set - they just have to pay postage I believe.

A tear off ad with your email at the library, particularly if you can get it near the manga - would be best.

Also, if the have the manga, and a conference room, offer to do a "how to play" demo - I am sure you want players not beginners, but got to start somewhere.

PeterHB · #8

Good luck. It sounds like a good plan.

Rather than replaying your own games, it might be possible to get a book like 'The 1971 Honinbo tournament' http://senseis.xmp.net/?The1971HoninboTournament and replay games from that in your chosen public location. I think you might find those pro games more engrossing for you, and educational too.

Experimenting to find the right location seems crucial. Library, coffee shop, community centre, youth club. Keep thinking of possible variations and trying them out. I doubt that the first thing you try will work out, but keep at it.

hailthorn011 · #9

PeterHB wrote:

Good luck. It sounds like a good plan.

Rather than replaying your own games, it might be possible to get a book like 'The 1971 Honinbo tournament' http://senseis.xmp.net/?The1971HoninboTournament and replay games from that in your chosen public location. I think you might find those pro games more engrossing for you, and educational too.

Experimenting to find the right location seems crucial. Library, coffee shop, community centre, youth club. Keep thinking of possible variations and trying them out. I doubt that the first thing you try will work out, but keep at it.

Awesome idea! I can't believe I didn't think of reviewing professional games. Thank you. And I plan on trying several different locations over the course of the next few weeks.

My goal is to get someone to ask themselves: "Why does that guy keep sitting at the same place every day putting those stones on a grid? Maybe I should go find out."

And a pro game could serve two benefits: 1. It would keep me interested. 2. It'd make newbies interested as well.

Maybe I'll replay Lee Sedol's games. He's an awesome player, afterall. And I have 50,000+ total games on my computer to choose from. Not all are his games, obviously.

lindentree · **#10**

Good luck, Hailthorn. I remember doing much the same thing while I was in college. (sitting in a cafe, replaying games by myself and hoping someone would be interested). I printed quarter flyers with my contact info and pamphlets about Go to hand out to people, but I think the main thing is to be really enthusiastic when people ask you about the game. I think you could also try replaying some of the cool historical games once in a while, like the Atomic Bomb game, to have more talking points. Hope your efforts bear more fruit than mine did. :salute:

hailthorn011 · **#11**

lindentree wrote:

Good luck, Hailthorn. I remember doing much the same thing while I was in college. (sitting in a cafe, replaying games by myself and hoping someone would be interested). I printed quarter flyers with my contact info and pamphlets about Go to hand out to people, but I think the main thing is to be really enthusiastic when people ask you about the game. I think you could also try replaying some of the cool historical games once in a while, like the Atomic Bomb game, to have more talking points. Hope your efforts bear more fruit than mine did. :salute:

Thanks. I hope it works too. And as much as I'd like to tell myself it'd be a failure, I won't. I KNOW this will succeed. Someone originally popularized it in the USA, after all. All it takes for something to be a success is exposure. You have that and you're set.

shimari · **#12**

You probably need to do more than just play and hope people will ask you about it. You should make an active effort to get them interested. Look up frequently and see who is watching, when you catch their eye, smile and say "you are probably wondering what I am doing, aren't you?" Tell them you are playing a 4,000 year old Chinese board game, and that the rules are so simple you can teach them how to play in a couple of minutes, if they are interested. Have a 9x9 board with you, and be ready to teach. The method I use is here: http://tigersmouth.org/viewpage.php?page_id=8 But don't teach eyes or ko until after the first game.

As someone mentioned, Hikaru is a great lead in to the game, and we will give any school or public library a free set for just the cost of shipping. More info on our website at http://agfgo.org/hikaru.html

You need to be dedicated and patient if you want to build a club. My club drew no more than a handful of kids each week for the first year, often times it was just one or two kids. 7 years later, I get 20-30 every week. That doesn't happen by chance, you have to put a lot of effort in. You will be rewarded if you do though, I think a club can be built almost anywhere, it is the dedication of the organizer that is key.

hailthorn011 · **#13**

shimari wrote:

You probably need to do more than just play and hope people will ask you about it. You should make an active effort to get them interested. Look up frequently and see who is watching, when you catch their eye, smile and say "you are probably wondering what I am doing, aren't you?" Tell them you are playing a 4,000 year old Chinese board game, and that the rules are so simple you can teach them how to play in a couple of minutes, if they are interested. Have a 9x9 board with you, and be ready to teach. The method I use is here: http://tigersmouth.org/viewpage.php?page_id=8 But don't teach eyes or ko until after the first game.

As someone mentioned, Hikaru is a great lead in to the game, and we will give any school or public library a free set for just the cost of shipping. More info on our website at http://agfgo.org/hikaru.html

You need to be dedicated and patient if you want to build a club. My club drew no more than a handful of kids each week for the first year, often times it was just one or two kids. 7 years later, I get 20-30 every week. That doesn't happen by chance, you have to put a lot of effort in. You will be rewarded if you do though, I think a club can be built almost anywhere, it is the dedication of the organizer that is key.

Thank you for the ideas. I'll go over this and plan more extensively. I guess I really need to think hard about how I'm going to approach this.

AGA Membership Pt.2

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