2012 BPA Survey Results—Junior and Teen Programs
Jan. 12, 2013

About the only area of WBC that seems without criticism of some sort, is the Juniors program.

What You’d Like to See... What You Want Not to Change How I See It...
Emphasize Family 2: I don’t think enough is done to advertise the fact that WBC is so family-friendly. I am not aware of other cons that compare in this department. Indeed, certain conventions specifically exclude young attendees. Status Quo 18: Children’s gaming is very well run and my kids appreciate it a lot. I missed seeing kids playing games when I was at other cons. While I can’t get my sons away from video games, I really appreciate the way the WBC encourages kids to enter and stay in this hobby. / Mine are starting to age out of the junior events, but we have really enjoyed that aspect. / Juniors Room really make WBC stand out as a family friendy con. / Our children can’t wait to come back to the juniors room. We appreciate the range of family friendly amenities at Lancaster Host (simple though they may be... e.g., pool, activities, mini golf etc) / My son has become an avid gamer due to his exposure to the convention. / From our experience, it helps to teach sportsmanship, focuses the kids on the games (rather than TV) and also gives the parents peace of mind that they can game and their kids are safe. The Juniors program has been successful in “graduating” many of our top flight competitors today while giving youngsters a chance to socialize and enjoy boardgames with their peers. Our hats off to all the volunteers who lend a hand in the Junior’s Room teaching games to the young ’uns.
Teen Events 2: I know it takes volunteers, but why aren’t there “Teen Events” any more? / Something for the teens to get them more involved. It is disturbing seeing them hang all over each other, in every area making it inconvenient to move through hallways at times. Also the messes that they leave behind. The concentration of attendees in one hotel helps to foster the sense of shared community, particularly evident in the behavior of the teens. While I’m sure many people gripe about how the teenagers take over an area and turn it into a pit of sprawling adolescent funk, it is in fact a really important part of the experience for these nerdlings who will one day (we hope) be future Board Members and GMs. The teen program was less successful and was discontinued after a brief trial period. Part of the problem was that there was no consensus that encouraging teens to gather together rather than be assimilated among the adult community was all that good an idea to begin with. There were also problems with age differentiation and how exclusive the groups should be. When older and younger folks started joining in, friction as to who belonged in the group made it more of a problem than a solution.
Day Care 1: It’s selfish, but I would be more likely to come if there was an opportunity to leave my 8-9 year old children at an event without my supervision.   Free day care would certainly be appreciated but it is beyond our ability to provide. Our monitors and volunteers can only do so much. Parents are encouraged to spend at least some time in the room monitoring their children until they become comfortable with their childs adaptation to the room and the amount of supervision present before heading off to do their own thing.
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Boardgame Players Association Last updated 1/12/13 by kae.
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