How to Create or Find a D&D Club
Networking in Local Hobby Circles
I get asked a lot, “How do I start a gaming club if there isn’t one already local to me”, and, after a couple of years doing it myself, I think I have decent advice for doing just that. Unfortunately for most, it involves research and posting on social media. In fact, I didn’t really have the knack for it when I started and had to learn a lot of it as I went.
The first step is always first, and that is to define a goal; for me, that goal was “Playing more D&D.” Your goal might be “Building a club to learn more games”, or “Creating a club that can organize more youth programs.” But, whatever your goal is, you need to write it down and keep track of it so you can celebrate when you’ve reached it, as well as use it to realign and calibrate your efforts occasionally - it’s easy to be the victim of a creeping project scope.
Second, make an earnest attempt to find out if the club you want to organize already exists. You’ll be surprised what you can unearth by researching Facebook Groups in your area, asking clerks at your Local Game Store, looking on your local town’s Subreddit, Craigslist, Nextdoor, Instagram, X, Meetup, local Discord servers, or even on your local Library’s events calendar. Any groups, even if they don’t fit your desire quite right, catalog them somewhere, this will come in handy later.
After you’ve exhausted those avenues, or determined that a suitable club doesn’t exist, pick a platform to organize your club around. For me, that is usually Discord, but for you, it might be a Subreddit, a Meetup group, or a Facebook Group. If you can hack it, pursue at least two of these options, and adopt whichever one works best partway through the process. Start by creating the space where you want members to be able to communicate, there are a lot of guides online about how to customize your space for each of the options above. Make your space easy to join, don’t bog new members down with too many survey questions or make your space feel uninviting, and communicate the geographic location of your club - call it something like “Santa Barbara Battletech” or “Santa Ynez Valley Magic the Gathering”.
Once you’ve done all that, it’s time to share your club with the world. Create a QR code, the easiest way to do so is to locate your share/invite link, copy the URL of it, put it into Google Chrome, and then navigate to the Cast, save, and share option on Google Chrome, choose Create QR Code (Download the image). Make a simple flyer with your new QR, the simpler the better you’re not a graphic designer (maybe you are?), and ask your Local Game Store if you can put it on the counter. Explain that you’re trying to build a club; local game stores are typically very inviting places for things like this. After all, if you build a Magic The Gathering club chances are you’ll all be there every month stocking up on new releases.
Next, share your club’s share/invite URL in all of the spaces we cataloged earlier, future gamers are likely looking there for clubs too and you want to be visible enough for them to find you. Write an inviting message that can be easily copied/pasted (with light tweaking for each social platform). Post your message, make sure it includes your link, on your local town’s Subreddit (r/springfield, r/salem, etc), Facebook Groups that share community events or gossip, ask permission to share it in other gaming groups you might have uncovered before, make a Craigslist posting, post it on Instagram too. If your social platform indexes hashtags make sure to use your local town’s hashtags (#springfield, #salem), and use other relevant hashtags like #battletech or #mtg (or whatever your club is about). The hashtags help get your posts in front of relevant users. Reach out to me as well, I’m happy to help with this process.
Be ready to organize; when members start joining your new club, engage with them, make your intentions clear, share your availability for meetups, and be willing to do things that might be a little out of your comfort zone like calling venues to ask permission to play in their establishment. If your Local Game Store doesn’t support your club or doesn’t have enough space or availability to fit your schedule, Pizza Parlors, Cafes, Community Centers, and Libraries might all be places where your new club can call home.
If you choose Discord as your home, I have server templates you can use, which will help with the setup process. If you hit a speed bump and you’re not sure how to overcome it, reach out to me. I’m very passionate about organizing in-person gaming clubs, and I’m more than happy to help anyone anywhere who is pursuing that as a goal.
Happy Gaming!