Gamers With Jobs Community by Scott Benson

UPDATE: International Gamers With Jobs Day October 19th, 2019!

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International Gamers With Jobs Day October 19th, 2019

***NEW Update***

Streaming on Twitch:
If you are interested in being a hosted streamer on the GWJ Twitch channel, please contact me at [email protected], and take a look at the schedule so far to request a time slot! We have two RPG's already scheduled, so we're hoping to see more video games.

Chimalli's IGWJ's Day 2019 - Tabletop Simulator sign-up thread **NEW**

Planning Threads for the following in-person locations!
If you would like to start a meetup in your area, create a forum thread and link it in the comments below and we'll add it to the original post.

Portland, Oregon
Minneapolis/st Paul, Minnesota
Dallas/Ft. Worth, Texas
LA/Orange County, California
Indianapolis Area, Indiana
Chicago, Illinois
Vancouver, British Columbia **NEW**
London, United Kingdom**NEW**
Toronto, Ontario**NEW**
Washington, DC/Metro Area**NEW**
Boston, Massachusetts**NEW**

Areas of Interest:
Many of you noted cities or areas you'd be interested in attending. If anyone from these areas is encouraged to start a meetup of your own, there are folks hoping to hear from you!

Canburra
Seattle
Mazatlan
Germany

Update: Thank you so much for taking the survey! October 19th was noticeably in the lead. I was also informed that EGX (EuroGamer Expo) is happening the weekend of the 19th, so it seems like an excellent opportunity if folks decide they want to meet up that day.

Regarding international time zones: We'll be hosting and playing games throughout the entire day and night of the 19th to give people some flexibility with planning and allowing for time zones. I'm going to -try- for a 18-hour stream that will likely be 12am to 11:59pm PST, with an assortment of folks at the helm so we can plan events in shifts.

Please feel free to start breaking off into your own planning threads. If folks are coordinating live meets, please have the contact person reach out to me if you're interested in having a phone chat with the GWJ twitch stream stream via Discord!

International Gamers With Jobs Day 2019 Survey

What is International Gamers With Jobs Day? It started with a Slap & Tickle! Two, actually.

Inspired by Rabbit-cons of years past, two gatherings of GWJers sprung forth in California and Ohio in 2010 to hang out and play games. More quickly followed and it snowballed into a worldwide celebration! Thus, International Gamers With Jobs day was born.

There were gatherings in multiple continents in October celebrating the members of this wonderful community. Some folks traveled long distances and spent many nights so they could hunker down to play games together!

It eventually grew out of practice and fell by the wayside as life came at us. We all got a little more busy, and little less connected on the forums. Things changed.

If you’ve looked at previous threads for IGWJD (International Gamers With Jobs Day), you may notice that there seems to be folks who had spent several months planning and organizing. You may also have noticed that I just proposed IGWJD this August about a date during the following October.

Revivals can sometimes be risky, and fraught with the shade of former expectations. It’s often trying to bring back lightning in a bottle. This isn’t an attempt to try and chase what it used to be. That seems a difficult road to travel.

I want to leave expectations at the door and take this opportunity to get together and celebrate the fellow GWJers we spend time with. Just a special moment on a special day that we can share in our appreciation of one another.

I’m fond of small things and new beginnings, and this is no exception! It could just be two people, getting together briefly on that day to snap a picture together to share with us on Twitter or Instagram. It could be a dozen or so people hanging out in the comfort of their own homes for 30 minutes in the Gamers With Jobs Twitch Channel that I'll be hosting! It could be several folks who manage to wrangle together some snacks and games for an evening. It could even be a slumber party in an airBnB!

I’d like a little feedback to help facilitate this process.

Here's a link to a survey that I hope can help in organizing and planning this year. If you're so inclined, please feel free to give it a spin and let me know what you think.

International Gamers With Jobs Day 2019 Survey

If you're interested in being a local GWJ organizer or host in your area, please say something in this thread to gauge interest. If one or more people answer - you’ve got a chance for a meetup! From there, create a forum thread with “IGWJD2019: City name Here” in it, and see if there’s something you can come up with together!

A few ideas if you would like to organize IGWJD activities:

-Geeky Boardgame Restaurants/Pubs
-Arcades, Barcades, Carnivals, Amusement Parks in the area
-Escape Rooms
-attend a movie or live event
-picnic in a local park (bonus points if someone busts out a hackey sack at some point)
-meet someone for tea or coffee in a public place, bring your handhelds or a quick little card game!

And PLEASE take lots of pictures! I want to see all your beautiful faces!

Comments

*does the happy dance*

Posted an update to the original post! I'm putting the last call for the survey out on social media for any further feedback before I start talking about the results in a few days. I won't share specific details out of respect for privacy, but the general gist of plans, locations, and ideas put forth is valuable to everyone

Baltimore, MD here. I know there's a few GWjers out my way and would love to meet up for dinner or some such =)

Well I saw one other Floridian haha... But we are like 7 hours away from each other. Digital fun it is!

raevenote wrote:

Posting from the LAX area of Los Angeles I'd be down for digital or in-person meets - there are a handful of comic shop/board gaming spaces across the LA basin that could be good potential meet-up areas.

Hold on. LAX? Wait, El Segundo? Are you my evil twin? Am I your evil twin?

I'm totally down for some games. If board games are on the agenda, I'd suggest the Game Hub in Manhattan Beach. My board game club at work has held the finale for our annual tournament there two years running, and the owners and employees are super friendly and chill.

Yes! 19th October it is! All we in London, UK will have to do is stand outside the Left Field Collection at EGX and take a selfie! This is most excellent.

dejanzie wrote:

Are there enough Goodjers in Central Europe (Brussels here) to get something going? To be brutally honest though, with two small kids it might prove difficult to organize something. Even attending might be a challenge.

Central Bavaria here. In an identical situation with a 3 year and a 3 month old...

LastSurprise wrote:

If only I were still traveling to Utah on the regular!

I'd be interested in some Goodjer activities in the D.C. metro area, though October will be kind of crazy for me (new job will have started by then, hopefully, plus a side gig too).

Also interested, but can't host.

I feel I have only seen GWJers who have mentioned that they used to live in Vermont, but if anyone else is currently in or near Burlington, I would at least be interested in exploring whether my children can be escaped long enough for some sort of meetup (The Archives seems like a prime candidate for a location, though I have never actually made it there myself).

gmulert wrote:
raevenote wrote:

Posting from the LAX area of Los Angeles I'd be down for digital or in-person meets - there are a handful of comic shop/board gaming spaces across the LA basin that could be good potential meet-up areas.

Hold on. LAX? Wait, El Segundo? Are you my evil twin? Am I your evil twin?

I'm totally down for some games. If board games are on the agenda, I'd suggest the Game Hub in Manhattan Beach. My board game club at work has held the finale for our annual tournament there two years running, and the owners and employees are super friendly and chill.

Hello neighbor!

The Comic Bug/Game Hub is amazing! It's been a few years since I played during one of the South Bay Gaming Meetups, but I have a small comic pull list so I'm there every other month or so and I'll always take a look at what new small games/minis/widgets are available on the game side.

I've got my kids on that day with an unknown number of soccer games, so I haven't sent out a thread on coordination yet. Sadly, if the games are spread out, I may be limited to joining-in on virtual/computer shenanigans, or having a chill evening hangout.

I’ll be traveling with my family that day, so unlikely I’ll be able to participate this year. But excited to read all the cool events and then for next time!

Blisters wrote:
gorilla wrote:

I live in the Minneapolis/St. Paul metro area and volunteer to coordinate a regional gathering. Anyone in neighboring cities, states, or provinces that have an interest chime in and we'll get started.

I am in the southwest metro area of Minnesota. If the date works out I would be up for something.

Ditto, including the SW metro part.
I should be good for that day.

jrralls wrote:

I live in Greensboro, NC and would love to host something.

I'm not far!! I'm in Charlotte. I'll probably be with the wife and kid but I hope it's a fun time!!! I'll try and post something online

There was a Map post by Serengeti a while back... here it is. MAP POST
I don't know how accurate it still is, but might help setting up groups.

Karnak wrote:

Baltimore, MD here. I know there's a few GWjers out my way and would love to meet up for dinner or some such =)

NOVA over here, DC metro area represent. Anyone else in the area, let's make this happen.

LastSurprise wrote:

If only I were still traveling to Utah on the regular!

I'd be interested in some Goodjer activities in the D.C. metro area, though October will be kind of crazy for me (new job will have started by then, hopefully, plus a side gig too).

NOVA over here, DC metro area represent. Anyone else in the area, let's make this happen.

I don't think there are that many other people in Tokyo (if any), but if there are I'd be happy to meet up on IGWJD!

raevenote wrote:
gmulert wrote:
raevenote wrote:

Posting from the LAX area of Los Angeles I'd be down for digital or in-person meets - there are a handful of comic shop/board gaming spaces across the LA basin that could be good potential meet-up areas.

Hold on. LAX? Wait, El Segundo? Are you my evil twin? Am I your evil twin?

I'm totally down for some games. If board games are on the agenda, I'd suggest the Game Hub in Manhattan Beach. My board game club at work has held the finale for our annual tournament there two years running, and the owners and employees are super friendly and chill.

Hello neighbor!

The Comic Bug/Game Hub is amazing! It's been a few years since I played during one of the South Bay Gaming Meetups, but I have a small comic pull list so I'm there every other month or so and I'll always take a look at what new small games/minis/widgets are available on the game side.

It seems like there are two or three in Orange County (including myself) who are interested. Would you Los Angeles folks be open to meeting us halfway? Like maybe near Long Beach or Cerritos? Or just somewhere in that range?

lunchbox12682 wrote:
Blisters wrote:
gorilla wrote:

I live in the Minneapolis/St. Paul metro area and volunteer to coordinate a regional gathering. Anyone in neighboring cities, states, or provinces that have an interest chime in and we'll get started.

I am in the southwest metro area of Minnesota. If the date works out I would be up for something.

Ditto, including the SW metro part.
I should be good for that day.

Great! Thanks for responding!

Here's a dedicated thread for us to make a plan: IGWJD2019: Minneapolis/St. Paul Regional Gathering

So is the London meet still on at EGX ?

Belleville Ontario gwj'r here.

mrlogical wrote:

I feel I have only seen GWJers who have mentioned that they used to live in Vermont, but if anyone else is currently in or near Burlington, I would at least be interested in exploring whether my children can be escaped long enough for some sort of meetup (The Archives seems like a prime candidate for a location, though I have never actually made it there myself).

I'm in Western Mass--that's within my drive range for sure

Are there any meetup discussion threads for East Coast so far? I'm having trouble to find them threads

On the off chance that there are any other Dublin-based-goodjers out there, I'd be happy to at least try and figure something out. All the usual caveats about having young children apply though!

I'm going to be in Halifax, Nova Scotia on the 19th of October, anything happening for #IGWJD2019 there?

Portland, OR IGWJD planning is in our meetups thread. Come take a look if you're in Oregon or Southwest WA.

edit: Also seems like on previous years, different groups have recorded messages for the Conference Call? Organizers, any interest in continuing that?

I love the idea of this, but the trick would be getting them to the live show same-day. I was hoping to coordinate something of a party line during the day throughout the twitch stream channel, but if folks are able to shoot off a quick voice recording at a meet up prior to show recording, I can see about how I can find a way to work that in.

WOOHOOO!!

I have secured a venue for the Los Angeles and Orange County Area IGWJ Day Board Game Celebration. The venue is 12 Sixty Modern Pub. The address is 14299 Firestone Blvd in the beautiful city of La Mirada 90638. We will have a section of the pub reserved for us with enough space for up to 10 people to play board games, and order food and drink. In case more than 10 choose to attend, I was assured that they are flexible and have more than enough room to accommodate us. I chose to block out 4 hours from 12:00 noon to 4:00 pm. Part of my reasoning for choosing this time slot is that the pub has low traffic during this time, and allows for more privacy for our party, as well as more flexibility in case more than 10 people want to participate. The location is roughly halfway between Los Angeles and Orange County and is conveniently close to the I5 freeway.

IGWJ Day is Saturday 10/19/2019. This party starts at 12:00 noon and goes to 4:00 pm. Bring your favorite board games or join in with the games that others have brought. There is a dedicated thread for this event that you can link to here:

IGWJ Day Los Angeles and Orange County Area Board Game Celebration 2019

I'm giddy with excitement for you!