The Amsterdam Game Borrel is going to change, and I asked for input to know how to move forward. Below are the questionnaire results, the takeaways, the plan.

QUESTIONNAIRE RESULTS

Some general numbers:

• 66 people filled out the questionnaire
• 85% of them attended one or more Amsterdam Game Borrels in 2018
• All of the respondents want to attend at least one Amsterdam Game Borrel in 2019.

 

Ideal frequency

Willingness to pay

Are you ok with hosting the Amsterdam Game Borrel at a bar and pay for your own drinks

(Financial) Support

• 24 people have offered their help in some way (and I will follow up with them via email)
• 8 people offered to be a €250 sponsor (but I’m not sure if everyone understood that question correctly, so I will double-check with them to make sure)

Other suggestions

A few people suggested to add something like talks or presentations. Since this is something that would add to my workload I will not follow up on it, sorry. Moreover, I do like the idea of meetups, short presentations etc. but I don’t think that the Amsterdam Game Borrel would be the right event for it.

 

TAKEAWAYS

• As expected, money is not the biggest problem. Even without funding from the local government we should be able to continue hosting the Amsterdam Game Borrel.
• Hosting the event at a more public location is an option, even if people have to pay for (part of) their own drinks.
• Finding a hosting company every 3 months is a challenge

 

THE PLAN

Based on all the above I came up with the following:

• I will try to stick to an Amsterdam Game Borrel every quarter.
• Two of those events will be hosted at the office of a company. The other ones will be hosted at a bar.
• I will also start experimenting with paid events, but I still have to figure out whether this will be via Eventbrite or via some other channel. This would also reduce the number of no-shows for the event.

What I need help with to move things along:

• Companies that want to host (any suggestions are welcome).
• Locations/bars that have a separate room in which we can host an Amsterdam Game Borrel. I have already found De Brakke Grond. Locations that don’t charge rent would be best (minimum spend is ok when not too high).
• Ways of accepting donations/payment that are not labor-intensive (something like Eventbrite) without fees that break the bank. Are there perhaps options that enable long term donations (something similar to Patreon or something like GoFundMe, but for more commercial projects).

On my to-do list:

• Follow up with people who offered help (via email)
• Follow up with people who offered donations (via email)
• Follow up with people who offered to host (via email)