Great White Games/Pinnacle Entertainment Group

[Ogma]

Where can I go to find out how to organize a Savage Saturday Night at a convention?

I kicked the idea to the RPG organizer of one of my favorite cons and he is all for it.
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DAVROS: ‘Tar Lubek Ka’leed, Uth Ricta Dal’ek.’ Roughly translated, it means: ‘And on that day, men will become like gods.’ (I, DAVROS: GUILT)

[Ogma]

Fascinating...

So not one person here can offer any advice on how to organize a "Savage Saturday Night" at a con? I know of at least a few smaller cons that have made this happen and I kinda' assumed the folks behind them frequented this forum.
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DAVROS: ‘Tar Lubek Ka’leed, Uth Ricta Dal’ek.’ Roughly translated, it means: ‘And on that day, men will become like gods.’ (I, DAVROS: GUILT)

[Cutter XXIII]

Although unofficial "Savage Saturday Nights" have been popping up all over, it's an official Pinnacle Thing™ (albeit one I'm not really involved with), started by us and set up by us at the big cons.

I think it has more to do with the organizers of a given con and their willingness to dedicate a room to one game, than with any "process" for setting it up. But, I'd I suggest Hey Pinnacle! so Joel or Shane will see this.
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Matthew Cutter
Deadlands Big Bug (Brand Manager)
Pinnacle Entertainment Group, Inc.

[Clint]

[TheLoremaster]

[Ogma]

Didn't Ron organize one in Colorado? Ron??? Are ye' there...?
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DAVROS: ‘Tar Lubek Ka’leed, Uth Ricta Dal’ek.’ Roughly translated, it means: ‘And on that day, men will become like gods.’ (I, DAVROS: GUILT)

[Neal5x5]

The Rocky Mountain Savages have been successful organizing Savage Saturday Nights for Tacticons and Genghis Cons in Denver. Chris Fuchs (Beldar1215 on the forums, also known as "Savage Mommy") has done a fantastic job, and we've had the benefit of having a tremendous convention organization that is supportive of Savage Worlds and Savages in general.

The first thing I'd ask is what are you bringing to the table? Convention organization is a difficult and thankless task and anything you can do to help out will be appreciated. The more you give, the more you get. If you can tell your RPG coordinator that you'll put together a full night's program of games, including GMs, descriptions for the booklets, some promotion on the forums and around town, and maybe even getting freebies for players, and they'll love you and work with you.

Get a group together several months ahead of time and get some commitments from people to run adventures. If possible, get some ideas of what they'll run. Make sure you've got their contact information and keep in touch as the con gets closer. Find out exactly how the convention organizer wants to have the game descriptions for their booklet or promotions and the deadlines for them. Then, get the descriptions from your GMs and to the organizer on deadline.

If possible, ask the RPG Coordinator or whoever puts together the registration promotion to put the Savage Saturday Night info on a special page, in a text box, or otherwise laid out together so it's convenient for potentiall players to see. Getting the descriptions to the coordinator on time helps with this.

For the convention, if you're just going to do a Savage Saturday Night, ask the RPG Coordinator if you can have a room or area to yourselves, but be sure you will fill the room/area. You have to prove that it's worthwhile for the convention to give you the space you want. Also, if you're doing more than just one night's worth of games, see if you can get the same spot the whole time so people are used to seeing you there.

For the mechanics of a Savage Saturday Night, it depends on the convention you're going to work with and how they do registration. If the convention does generic tickets for every slot, then just do the normal thing and have people show up at the right place and time. If the convention sells tickes for specific games or slots, you have a little more freedom. You can either have people register for specific games as per usual or, if the convention will work with you, do an amount of generic tickets equal to the number of seats you will have available and make them first-come-first-served.

Promote the heck out of your games. Put posts on the forums here, there, and everywhere. Photocopy flyers and put them up (with permission) in area game stores. Remember to promote the convention with the promotion.

At the convention, make yourself available to the RPG coordinator and do your best to resolve problems that come up. Be understanding and remember that coordinators are volunteers trying to do their best with limited resources in an often frustrating and chaotic situation. Find out where the coordinator wants you ahead of time and make highly visible signs to tell people where to go.



If the convention has a muster area, be there before it begins and make sure people know that you're the Savage Mommy (sorry Chris) and be ready to answer questions. Make sure as many people as possible have a place and the opportunity to have fun.

Finally, after the convention, make sure to say thanks to the RPG Coordinator and the people to volunteered to GM. People will have fun and will want to do it again, so don't be surprised if you get offers from players to GM at the next convention. With a little luck and work, your next Savage Saturday Night will be even bigger and better.

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"Neal, Your cock game is AWESOME!" - Clint Black, Genghis Con '12

[vickeya]

On a related note, when there are SSNs, I'm trying to highlight those in Savage Insider (see the website or Facebook page).

It's quarterly, so Convention Connection covers the quarter's month, plus one so folks don't get an issue too late to plan.

So, if you do get one up and running, shoot me a PM here or contact us at one of the Savage Insider sites.

Have a great day!

Vickey
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