Go Play NW Online 2022: It’s a Wrap!
Well the season ran away with us, here we are in a new year, and it’s well past time we post some thoughts and thanks for 2022!
Bots, website, and mascots!
Following our success in 2021 with holding an online event, we came into 2022 knowing that we could do it again, and that with some hard work we could do it better.
The first order was developing some new Discord bots to automate some processes like check-in, getting help, and running the Donut, so that we could spend more time helping you get into games. Star took the lead on that work.
The second order was giving our website a big overhaul so we could integrate the processes of registering for the events, for our Discord, and for games, once again to help you get ready for games more quickly and easily. Jerry took the lead on that project, adapting a lot of work he and others had already done for our friends at Big Bad Con—special thanks to BBC for their generosity in letting us build on that work!
Star and Jerry also formed our new Technology Committee, recruiting Kona and Travis so far to help further expand this work.
In addition to overhauling the website so we could do more with it, we also knew it was well past time to refresh it with a new look—and a new mascot. We talked about various concepts, Star made a lot of adorable sketches, we debated whether a donut mascot would make us look like a pastry festival, and finally we settled on our new mascot, Go!
With all that work in the background, we never lost sight of our purpose: holding events to bring old friends and new together to play games! And thanks to that work, we were able to hold two online events, in June and October, which also gave us the tools and experience to continue in the future.
Featured Facilitators
In 2022 we founded our Featured Facilitators program, part of our commitment to better supporting marginalized players and creators in our TTRPG spaces. For our two events, we invited a few BIPOC professional GMs to share their games, work, and storytelling styles by hosting games for attendees.
Many thanks to Kaleb Wade, J.R. Zambrano, and Rue Dickey at the June event, and Kevin Thien Vu Long Nguyen, Mo, and Connie Chang at the October event! We had a great time with them, and we’re looking forward to welcoming more Featured Facilitators at the next event!
Many thanks!
We want to send out thanks to our stellar crew of staff and volunteers who helped make our two online events in 2022 possible. Our organizing staff included:
- E.T., our project manager and Donut MC in Chief
- Star, our Discord administrator and Technology Committee member
- Jerry, our webmaster and Technology Committee member
- Kona, our Discord bot developer and Technology Committee member
- Travis, our quality engineer and Technology Committee member
- Angela, our diversity, equity, and inclusion consultant
- Philip, the Board liaison and Organizing Committee chair
Our volunteer staff included:
- Travis, Moss, Kona, and Hugh on tech management during the events
- Yoshi, Linden, Tomer, Sean, and E.T. as Donut MCs
- Brigid, E.T., and Philip on Donut chat moderation
- Red and Angela on the Safety Team
Also let’s have a special shout-out to Luke Cartner, our Discord server founder! He gave us a home on Discord well before we understood we should have one, and that made a big difference when we turned to hosting events online.
Finally, thanks to all of you returning and new Go Play NW members! Go Play NW only exists because you keep coming back to make it happen, and we appreciate you!
Coming up…
We’re planning to hold an in-person event this year, and we’re currently investigating our options for venues and dates. And with all the work we’ve done for our website and Discord server, we plan to continue holding online events as well! Whether in-person or online, we’re looking forward to seeing you again at our next event. Keep an eye here on our website and our Discord server for news!
