PDX Gaymers
I started getting involved with the PDX Gaymers meetup group either early last year or the end of 2014. It’s mostly a tabletop gaming group which holds events at different places around town. I’ve met a lot of people through this group. I “met” Kysen at one of my first meetups with them last years. I have “met” in quotes because we just recently realized that we met each other briefly a few years ago at a going away brunch for someone I knew.
I became an event organizer and hosted a few events in the western suburbs where I live. Those events didn’t have a high attendance. I think most members live in the city and prefer events there. I also hosted a an event at a video gaming place in Milwaukie. They were very welcoming and wanted to be inclusive of the entire Portland community. They have since gone out of business. I wish I had hosted more events there, but it was so far out of my way that I had trouble finding the time or motivation to go there. Now it wouldn’t be a problem. I went to that part of town a lot when Kysen lived there, so it doesn’t seem like a big deal now.
A few months ago, the owner of PDX Gaymers sent a message to members explaining that he was too busy to run the group because he had recently become a business owner. I didn’t hear anything update after a while, do I talked to Kysen about it. Kysen has been hosting a monthly game night at the Q Center since last year. It’s the only monthly meeting of this group that I attend on a regular basis. Kysen and I decided that we would take over leadership of the group. We thought the group served a great purpose of maintaining a safe space for gaymers to get together and it would be a shame if it went away. The previous owner was okay with it, so Kysen and I officially took over on October 1. Since one person has to be listed as owner/organizer, we decided that would be me. I made Kysen c0-organizer.
Running the group is easy. I don’t think the previous owner really did anything except pay the twice annual fees to Meetup. I hadn’t seen him at an event in a long time.The people who host the events do most of the work, which is still very little. Kysen and I did have to deal with one conflict before we took over, but since then it has been quiet.
I think the group is pretty good. We have 2 monthly events that take place in public places. Occasionally one of our event hosts will host a game night in his home. I do want to find a replacement for one of our monthly events that dropped off because the host was too busy to continue it. Also, I want some more video game based events since we haven’t had anything like that in over a year and I see that a lot our members like video games as well. We have about 850 members and membership has been slowly increasing since we took over. Hopefully, things will continue to run smoothly and people continue to have fun gaming together.
[I just had an idea to send out a survey to get an idea of what people want.]
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