With the exception of BixCON Away, these events are all at our house. That certainly limits attendance levels. (We do live in a modest home).
That said, we strive very very hard to maintain a positive, fun, social vibe for all of our BixCON events. The atmosphere for these gatherings is an important reason they are successful and such a highlight in our lives. With that in mind, we have to be careful to protect and nurture these events with the right mix of attendees. Attendance is largely tied to people who share a similar codified set of values we hold dear…
Things we value:
- Positive attitudes.
- Caring & compassionate people.
- Generosity.
- Volunteerism.
- People who do not take themselves too seriously.
- Willingness to help and get involved at our events.
- Punctuality.
- Fun.
- Kindness.
- Respect.
- Humility & Humbleness.
Things we do not care for:
- Alpha competitive behaviour.
- Cheaters.
- Self-centered people.
- Misogyny.
- Braggarts.
- Sore losers.
- Sore winners.
- Drama.
- Negativity.
- Racism.
- Drinking & driving.
- Agendas. Looking at these gatherings as a marketing opportunity.
- Narcissism.
This may all sound really simple & silly, but it is amazing how much an errant behaviour can be toxic to a group setting. We guard our values vigilantly. We cherish these gatherings and hope to see them flourish for many years / decades.
That means these events are ALL on an invite only basis. All of the events are a little bit different so we add a person here or there to certain event invite lists and occasionally remove a person as well. Most of our invitees tend to be people we also socialize with outside the hobby of boardgames. You know; friends.
I often get questions like” “How can I get invited?” The answer is really quite simple: Be an awesome person.
Perhaps if you want to be invited into our home, you should maybe invest some time cultivating a friendship. Maybe you could invite us into your home, or take some initiative in nurturing a friendship that exists outside of boardgames. We host so many events that in the past some people started to treat our home as a public venue and began to treat us like entertainment providers. We really do not appreciate people feeling entitled to attend everything we host. Yep; it happens. This is our home. One of the risks of being as open and public as Kathy & I are is that some of our friends and acquaintances feel hurt when they are not invited. Don’t be; please don’t be.
Instead of dwelling on FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) for events you do not attend, please focus on Gratitude for the things you do attend. We really do enjoy hanging out with cool peeps and sharing in our home; but the reality of running things at our residence is that we have to impose limits.
“Life is Short; Play Games”, and be Awesome and Loving to others…