Last year, we asked you to respond to a short survey regarding your Go Play NW 2018 experience. 72 of you responded, and you gave us some great feedback to think about as we start planning for Go Play NW 2019. Thank you for feedback! It has been incredibly helpful to us.
Here’s what we learned:
1. Satisfaction with Go Play NW is high
The first thing we learned is that Go Play NW has a huge amount of good will with the community. On average, you rated Go Play NW 9.8 out of 10. That’s huge! And we’re humbled that people are so happy with Go Play NW.

2. But newcomers have higher expectations
However, we also noticed that first-time attendees were less likely to recommend Go Play NW than any other category, at 8.75 out of 10. We take this as a serious call to action. We are working hard to figure out how we need to change so that we can grow without losing what makes Go Play NW unique.
3. And we have a lot of areas we can improve on
Even though you rated Go Play NW highly, we also got a lot of feedback on what you thought could be better. A large number of people who responded gave us clear, actionable feedback relating to one or more areas we can improve on.
We identified 6 main areas we can improve, based on your feedback:

• Challenges finding and getting into games through sign-ups or the donut
• Poor communications from the con or difficulty finding information
• A need for more quiet gaming spaces
• The price of the convention
• The feast and refreshments
• The desire for a more diverse convention and leadership

As you can imagine, a lot of our discussion and plans for 2019 revolve around these topics. We think that we can improve on every one of these for 2019. But total improvement is going to take a little time. So, we’ve identified a few topics we’re going to concentrate on this year. Expect another post soon on this topic!

Our community is what makes Go Play NW great!

Our volunteers are community members who have chosen to take a special role in our yearly gathering, and we truly appreciate that! that’s why it gives us great pleasure to introduce this year’s volunteer coordinator, Joe England.

Joe is from Bonney Lake, Washington, and he started playing tabletop RPGs with Holmes Basic D&D and then moved on to Gamma World 1st Edition. His favorite RPG is Hollowpoint. Joe has been involved in multiple gaming meetups as an organizer and volunteer mostly in the Tacoma area and at Go Play NW. Go Play is where Joe ran his first giant donut!

Welcome, Joe!

Here’s your Event Guide for 2018. Print a copy and toss it in with your game stuff, and you’ll always have your map, schedule, and event information handy!

Download here: GPNW 2018 Event Guide

Thank you so much for every facilitator who posted a game in the forums! Go Play NW thrives on the contributions of people like you who offer to run and facilitate games. If you haven’t posted a game, but you are thinking of doing so, now is the time!
We are printing final schedule sheets this weekend. Please check your forum posts and make a note in your top post of who has signed up to be in the game.
The forums will stay active until Go Play NW. This means people can still offer games, discuss them, sign up, and so on. However, we can’t guarantee that anything added to forum posts after Friday will be reflected on the final printed sheet.
See you in 8 days!

We are fortunate to have an amazing community of people who work together to make Go Play NW great. We’ve worked hard to craft a code of conduct that helps us foster that community and ensure a great gaming environment for all. We know that no policy is perfect, and we’re always happy to get feedback. You can contact us at info@goplaynw.org.
Go Play NW Code of Conduct and Policies.
The purpose of Go Play NW is to create a space where people can gather together, play games, meet friends, and have fun.
1. Treat those around you with respect and maturity.
It’s you, the Go Play NW community, who make Go Play NW successful. Go Play NW works best when we all show respect for the people around us, strive to communicate clearly inside and outside of games, and act with maturity.
Do not engage in any of the following behaviors at Go Play NW:

• Harassment
• Discrimination on any basis including gender preference, sexual orientation, race, color, national origin, ethnicity, religion, and/or disability
• Drunkenness or intoxication
• Physical violence
• Theft
• Damage to personal or campus property

2. Always remember that Go Play NW is an inclusive event. We do not allow harassment or discrimination on any grounds.

We do not allow any pattern of behavior which intimidates, alarms, or threatens any person, or which puts them in fear of their safety. This is the opposite of mature, respectful behavior.
Failure to follow this code of conduct may result in:

• Mediation
• A verbal warning
• Ejection from Go Play NW
• Intervention by Campus Public Safety
• Contacting local law enforcement

Go Play NW reserves the right to eject any attendee for any reason without refund.
3. If you have a problem at the event, please approach a staff member or volunteer. We are here to support you.
The Go Play NW volunteers and staff are here to support you. Please approach us if you witness or experience any issues at the convention.
Go Play NW volunteers can be identified by their green badges. If you cannot find a staff member or volunteer, you may contact Go Play NW Staff at any time by texting or calling one of the numbers in the event guide.
You may also contact Seattle University Campus Public Safety with any concerns you have regarding facilities, safety, or crime on Seattle University grounds, 24-hours a day at: (206) 296-5990.

Go Play NW is about meeting friends and playing games. To help make that happen, we have a mixture of scheduled games and pick-up gaming in every slot. Since our focus is on gaming, we don’t have any panels or vendor rooms, though if you want to organize a formal meetup or panel, you’re welcome to do so.
Scheduled gaming occurs through our forums. If you’re wondering what games to bring, or if there’s a particular game you want to play, head over the Brainstorming forum. The Brainstorming forum is a good place for people who want to play the same games to meet.
Scheduled gaming is also organized through the forums. If you have a game you want to run or facilitate, consider posting it in the scheduling forum.
Pickup gaming occurs in every slot with an informal organizing session at the beginning of the slot. This is a time to offer games, find out what people are facilitating, and get involved.
Go Play NW runs on attendee participation. If you come ready to have fun and possibly offer to run or teach a game or two yourself, it makes the event better for everyone.
See you in July!

Game scheduling is now open for Go Play NW 2018!
To start scheduling your games, go to the Game Scheduling Forum. Be sure to read the How to Schedule a Game post.
At Go Play NW, we have pre-scheduled games, pickup gaming scheduled throughout the con, and a pitch session before each slot. Gamemasters and facilitators really help make Go Play NW successful, so consider scheduling an open game through the forums, or brining a game with you that you can share with others!
Edit: We’ve made a slight change to make the FRI01 slot a full four-hour slot.
==FRIDAY JULY 6==
Registration Opens: 1pm
FRI-01: 2pm – 6pm (4 hours)
Dinner time: 6pm – 8pm
FRI-02:8pm – midnight (4 hours)
==SATURDAY JULY 7==
SAT-01: 9am – noon (3 hours)
Lunch: noon – 1pm (cafeteria is open 11:30-1pm)
SAT-02: 1:30pm – 5:30pm (4 hours)
Feast: 6pm – 8pm
SAT-03: 8pm – midnight (4 hours)
==SUNDAY JULY 8==
SUN-01: 9am – noon (3 hours)
Lunch: noon – 1pm (cafeteria is open 11:30-1pm)
SUN-02: 1:30pm – 5:30 pm (4 hours)
Dinner: 5:30pm – 7pm
SUN-03: 7pm – 10pm (3 hours)

Well, look what the Sasquatch brought back from orbit—it’s the 2018 shirt design straight from John Harper! Featuring the ever-popular Monkey King Sasquatch, who apparently is continuing a career in outer space.

How do you get this great shirt? As always, shirts are only available for pickup at the event, so go register for Go Play NW 2018 and add a shirt while you’re doing that. Shirts are available from XS to XXL in men’s or women’s cut. To make sure we have them ready in time, shirts must be ordered by the end of Thursday, June 14.

Dear friends,
You may have noticed that prices for this year’s Go Play NW are higher than past years. In fact, this year is the largest price increase that Go Play NW has ever had.
Go Play NW is a non-profit organization. The organizers and staff are not paid. Every year we work hard to keep prices low so that more people can enjoy the convention without it being a financial burden. But over the past several years, our costs have gone up significantly. Unfortunately, our prices have not kept pace, and last year Go Play NW operated at a loss. This is not a practice we can continue.
Our new prices represent a level that makes Go Play NW sustainable, and ensures we have funds to cover unexpected expenses and our down payment for next year’s convention. We think our new prices are still a great value with meals included and inexpensive options for overnight rooms.
In order to help make Go Play NW an option for more people, we’ve also added a donation option to the Go Play NW tickets page. Funds collected this way will help defray our venue costs for next year, which will help us keep the ticket costs down.
We’re looking forward to a great Go Play NW this year. See you in July!
Sincerely,
The Go Play NW Team

Great news, everybody! Registration for Go Play NW 2018 is now open at our Eventbee page.
Like last year, we are opening the event on Friday afternoon, with check-in and rooms available starting at 1 PM, and an afternoon game slot at 2 PM. And we are again holding the Go Play NW Feast, an informal catered meal gathering, on Saturday night.
Dorm rooms are available for overnight stays on the Seattle U campus for a very reasonable price, with options for an additional evening’s stay if you’re traveling out on Monday. An important note: Seattle U has informed us they have limited rooms available: 42 double-occupancy rooms and just 9 single-occupancy rooms. Of course we can and will use double-occupancy rooms for single occupancy reservations, but this would be a good year to consider finding a roommate if you want to be sure of a bed on site.
All ticket options include a meal card for lunch in the campus cafeteria; overnight stays include breakfast as well as lunch.
You can also order the official Go Play NW 2018 shirt, designed as always by John Harper, on the registration page. All shirts must be picked up at the event; we do not ship shirts.
So go register now! We’ll see you in July!