In 2023 I was the Secretary of the Massey Wellington Gaming Club. The club’s aim was to facilitate gaming events for students around Massey university. As a club we wanted to create a social atmosphere for those who played video games at the university.
A large part of running the club has been the Discord which has been a great place to communicate with club members, let them know what events are upcoming and facilitate a place for them to meet new people to play games with. Now with more than 100 members the Discord has become a lively place where people can chat and engage with the club. Running a discord of this size has definitely taught me quite a lot about how to foster a community in and around the gaming space.
Secondly, when it comes to online spaces the running of our website has also been a big part of how we get information out to our members. The website is mainly used to sell tickets to our events. This allows us to see how many people are coming as well as what people are interested in getting involved in within the club. It has become a great way to bridge the gap between letting people know what events were going on and us understanding if people actually wanted to come.
The largest and my personal favourite part of running the club has been running events. They have been a great way to meet new people around uni and facilitate a community around a shared interest. We have had a variety of events that I help run such as.
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Pizza evenings
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Switch nights
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Board game events
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Jackbox party pack nights
These have been a great way to help people be social around uni but they have also taught me alot. Firstly the running of schedules, documentation and communication it takes to get events sorted. I have learned a lot about not only how to communicate my own ideas but also how to get others involved and engage in sharing how they would do things.
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I think the club has done a fantastic job creating a social atmosphere for people to experience but when I joined as a secretary I felt that there was something missing that could definitely add a lot to our community. So I set up events centred around game design.
The main two have been:
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Game Jam’s.
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Industry lectures.
I thought that for a group of people who are taking a degree in making games, events surrounding that would be the most useful.
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The Game Jam was set up so that we could get those who felt like they didn’t have much experience and those who had a bit more together and all learn something. As part of this I got our game design lecturer onboard so that I could participate without it being biassed. It has become a fun event where people get together and learn a bit about a thing they love and I couldn’t really ask for much else.
The Game Jam was set up so that we could get those who felt like they didn’t have much experience and those who had a bit more together and all learn something. As part of this I got our game design lecturer onboard so that I could participate without it being biassed. It has become a fun event where people get together and learn a bit about a thing they love and I couldn’t really ask for much else.
Secondly the industry lectures have been a way for me to bring in people in the industry to talk to uni students about their field and hopefully give a little bit of insight. This has meant a great deal to the students as it is a great step towards understanding the industry. It has also been fantastic for me, being able to network with some very cool people and see exactly what the industry is like.
All and all I have tried to create a space that I would like to see at uni and find an audience of people who might be interested. Personally I think I have done a great job and learned a lot. Gaining myself a contribution award from the student association for my work.
