Guild Night Events:Planning
From my brain
-- Lloydpaltini of Alexstrasza < Zeal >
Contents |
Introduction
As I read through the list, I think there's probably one thing missing - the planning aspect of these things.
While I'm knowlegable of my class, and reasonably knowlegable of other classes, I don't know every aspect in and out of every class like the people that play those classes. I've done a number of events, and every time, there are things that I wouldn't have remotely thought of that are brought up and typically need to be addressed 'on the fly'. Just make a best guess effort on the question and try to be as fair as possible.
Brainstorming & Dry Runs
Usually, I go through a process of talking to other people in the guild about an idea I might have, and find out what their comments/suggestions are. Next, I'll bring it up with the GM and see if he has any comments. There may be other people in your guild, such as Officers or Class Leaders that have input as well. Depending on the event, or the scale of the event, I'll try it out myself or try portions of it out to see how it goes. Sometimes, I'll get others to help, as well.
Material Collection
If people are expected to bring something that they may not have on them, it's worthwhile to pick up some extras if you can afford to. A little extra preperation goes a long way to make a smooth guild event.
Voice Chat
Having Vent or Teamspeak and the event organizer being able to talk on them is VERY helpful. I don't particularly like to talk on Vent, and organizing an event via gchat/raid chat is very difficult to do.
Chaos at Event Time
Once the event starts, be aware you're probably going to get a ton of questions about things that you hadn't thought of while explaining the rules/goal of whatever the event is. It's probably worthwhile to have a piece of paper and pencil nearby to take notes of various things. Many of the events I do, I end up having eveyone join a big raid group, I put people in groups to equal the groups out, then they get into their groups. Nobody will remember which group they were in, so take a screenshot of the grouping, or write it down, so you can assist to put people back into those groups.
Backup Plans
It's also worthwhile to have some sort of a 'plan b' in case the event ends up taking a lot less time than you'd expected. The last event I did I expected to take over an hour, but It ended up taking about 30 minutes. It wasn't something I was able to really do by myself, and the players came up with much more novel ways of accomplishing the goals than I could while thinking the event through. Depending on your guild, it could be something as simple as finding a world boss that is up or doing world pvp.
Videography
While not nessecary, it's nice to have someone that can fraps or make a video of an event. Host it on youtube or google video and share it on your website. It helps to market your guild a little when recruiting, but also shows other people on your realm that you do, indeed, do fun things.
Prizes?
We don't always give rewards/awards for guild events. A lot has to do with how much money the guild has and what the event is. The next event I'm doing, I'm just going to do an optional pool. You put in 2g to enter, 1st place get's 2/3 the g, 2nd gets 1/3, if you get first place, and didn't put into the pool, you don't win anything and it goes to the next in line.
Conclusion
Finally, try to schedule events on a somewhat frequent basis. If you're a raiding guild, it can really help break things up a bit and add some variety to the game.
