Location, location, location.

[LocoRon]

In terms of long-term budgetary considerations, a club at someone's home might be the best.

In terms of budget and convenience, sure.

In terms of recruiting new players, this is the absolute worst.

[schultz]

Thanks for the great answers.

If anyone could help me out, the folks in comic/gaming stores, are these 90% teen Go clubs? I'm 40 and, though I am something of a gamer, and there is such a venue in town, it would feel a bit awkward to start a club up amongst a group that consisted entirely of teens.

I wouldn't worry about it. Go is a small enough demographic that they'll be happy to welcome another player...especially in the Yukon.

I agree with pwaldron. Either way, though, I'd recommend stopping in and just seeing what it is like, and talk to the owners - you could even ask them some questions about the general demographic. You might be surprised by the answers!

At the one here in town, I think it tends more to a <40 crowd, but a lot of the people that go there, hang out and play games are probably mid 20's into their 30's. And I know there are a few older people that do go there as well. So check it out!

[Bonobo]

In terms of long-term budgetary considerations, a club at someone's home might be the best.

In terms of budget and convenience, sure.

In terms of recruiting new players, this is the absolute worst.

But why? Isn’t this just a matter of how it’s being propagated?

[LocoRon]

In terms of long-term budgetary considerations, a club at someone's home might be the best.

In terms of budget and convenience, sure.

In terms of recruiting new players, this is the absolute worst.

But why? Isn’t this just a matter of how it’s being propagated?

Because it can be absolutely terrifying to just go in and insert yourself into an existing social structure.

If it's in a cafe, for example, a prospective player can use the excuse of buying a drink to casually survey the situation before diving in.

[lemmata]

In terms of long-term budgetary considerations, a club at someone's home might be the best.

In terms of budget and convenience, sure.

In terms of recruiting new players, this is the absolute worst.

I would agree with this sentiment. However, I would also argue that being the best in this dimension among the places mentioned is somewhat like being the tallest smurf.

It's certainly easier to get others to notice the game if you play in a public place, but the process of getting strangers to sit down and invest time in learning the rules and playing their first game is not all that easy. It's even more difficult to get them to sustain their interest. The yield rate will not be very high.

In the beginning, one-on-one recruiting of acquaintances and friends is probably the most effective strategy for building a solid core membership group. College clubs will be vastly different because college students live in a weird proto-society that differs somewhat from real life.

I don't have anything against playing in cafes though. They are wonderful places to play go. There's no reason for the shopkeeper to complain as long as you buy a drink. There are plenty of people who sit in cafes for hours with their laptop and one shot of espresso. Magnetic boards are recommended as the tables can be wobbly.

[LocoRon]

I would also argue that being the best in this dimension among the places mentioned is somewhat like being the tallest smurf.

Haha, yeah.

[Bonobo]

OK, I understand.

But perhaps … the situation in this here village may be somewhat different: Our local weekly group is growing slowly, albeit steadily … the senior citizens of age 40 and above (I’m 55) often are a bit lonely and happily grasp an opportunity for something social, and the new young members currently come from the regular Go workshop that I initiated and instruct at the local school. The latter are seem to be somewhat excited to sit around with people who could be their grandparents, but apparently this contact is easier than with the generation of their parents. Plus, most of us olden ones are kinda aged hippies and we welcome the new air the youngsters and we show them respect … and the youngsters will soon experience the satisfaction of winning against older people, another thing that will keep them hanging around, I guess

[EdLee]

Our little club has been around for a long time before I was even born.
For a few years, we would meet once a week, weekday evening, at Borders, until it (like other bookstores) was no more (end of 2009?).
Since then, we are meeting at a Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf (a Starbucks competitor), every Wednesday evening 6 - 10 pm (closing time of that store).

It's certainly easier to get others to notice the game if you play in a public place,
but the process of getting strangers to sit down and invest time in learning the rules and playing their first game is not all that easy.
It's even more difficult to get them to sustain their interest. The yield rate will not be very high.

This has also been our experience;
in fact, lemmata seems to be very generous -- our yield rate is less than 1%.

Does Starbucks welcome Go players...?

We've found coffee shops like Coffee Bean, Seattle's Best, and Starbucks to be very welcoming
and accommodating to Go players, as long as everyone exercises "common sense" --
buys a drink and/or a snack, is courteous, etc.

...and are those tables as teeny to play Go on as they seem to me?

Yes, this indeed is an issue with the tables at certain coffee shops.
Some Starbucks have the tiny round tables that are not good for Go.
But there is one Starbucks, 3-minute walking distance from my home, with excellent square tables.
The Coffee Bean where we currently meet has nice square tables -- we still need to join
two side-by-side for both the board and bowls, plus the coffee cups, etc. to all sit comfortably together.
Here's from a recent club evening:

2012_07July_11-2s.jpg (99.79 KiB) Viewed 5539 times

I also share some of Gowan's location experience:

* Tables in a coffee shop
* Private homes, alternating week to week
* Tables in a pub or bar
* Room in a church social area

For the promotion of Go, I prefer the coffee shop 100% over private homes (what LocoRon said ).

[Tofu]

About 6 months ago I walked into that coffee bean and randomly spotted Ed's club. They were very welcoming, and I played a couple games. Thanks for that!

[Inkwolf]

My club is at the local library. Not only do libraries generally have a meeting room, but they usually are happy to let you promote your club, either through having you schedule teaching nights as library programs or letting you advertise on their bulletin board. We started with four teaching nights over last summer, and then started the club with me and three other people interested enough to stay on.

I see that the Whitehorse Public Library has a public meeting room.
http://www.ypl.gov.yk.ca/wpl.html

Meeting Rooms

Whitehorse Public Library has one meeting room available for use by community groups and government. The room accommodates a maximum of 44 people (seated) or 50 (standing).

The meeting room is available on a first come, first served basis during library hours with priority to library programs. Community not-for-profit groups and government organisations are welcome to book the room. Groups can book two events at a time and up to two months in advance. To request a booking, contact the Reference Desk at 667-3668 or e-mail whitehorse.library@gov.yk.ca . In order to book the room, the group's representative needs to sign the use agreement and follow the meeting room policy.

Use of the meetings room is free. No commercial activity is permissable including soliciting funds (e.g. selling a product or service), charging admission or requiring a registration fee to attend a meeting or event. Public Libraries Branch reserves the right to refuse or cancel bookings.

For more information, please contact the Reference Desk at 667-3668.

The big challenge is getting it for your club regularly when you want it. My club meets every week on Thursday, but if someone else's meeting is scheduled in the room, the club gives way and breaks up to play in the library itself. Not too much of a problem when it's only a few of us playing quietly, but when 8 or more turn up, we end up being shushed a lot. Fortunately, I work there so they give us a little leeway.

[Phelan]

There haven't been many Go club meetings recently here, but we used to hold them in a Bridge club.

You could also try joining a boardgame club and play there, if you have one close. I couldn't find any info on one in Yukon, but maybe you can try posting here: http://boardgamegeek.com/forum/125/boardgamegeek/yukon

If/When you do start a club, don't forget to notify the CGA, and post it on senseis: http://senseis.xmp.net/?GoPlacesInCanada