Results // Community Survey 004
Howdy folks,
Stefan, Garrett, and I recently sat down as a team to look through each and every response to the club's most recent Community Survey, and it’s already set in motion some new developments.
If you’re new around here, Community Surveys are how we ensure that the club keeps evolving with the interests and needs of our members. Most of the options are generated by members ahead of time, then voted on to determine where we direct our efforts.
Here’s what we learned:
Takeaway #1 —
Members continue to cherish the community and the space (and yet there’s always work to do)
Making sure that we’re a welcoming, comfortable place for people to connect over games is a thread we never want to lose in the midst of other forward-thinking initiatives. We’ve done a lot in the last six months, so it was heartening to see that feedback in this area was still overwhelmingly positive:
I could not be more surprised, validated, and welcomed by the Waystone community. The members of this community are truly special. All credit goes to the founders for facilitating our community goals.
I've mentioned this to people outside the club but I am so impressed with how inclusive and kind the space is… as a woman I feel so welcome here.
Still, it has to be stated that even if a vast majority of folks think we’re knocking it out of the park, this isn’t the kind of work that you can ever call finished and done.
The constructive responses we received (even from folks who rated us well) were incredibly helpful. A theme we noticed is that while our mission statement is clear, we aren’t always communicating about the tangible action we’re taking in pursuit of those goals:
Everyone at the club seems nice, I've not seen much about honoring community goals. Would it be worth having a discord channel or a newsletter to let people know what's going on?
We’ve tried to remain conscious of the balance between advertising our pursuit of equity and belonging with the basic need to be transparent, but we’re realizing that maybe we’ve been too shy. This is the sort of thing that deserve a more in-depth exploration though, so I think I’m going to devote my next blog post to explaining our philosophy for creating a “welcoming community”, including detailing the tangible actions we continue to take in that pursuit.
Takeaway #2 —
We’ve grown a lot (and it’s important for our hours and booking system to keep up)
The most prevalent feedback had to do with the club’s growth. In the midst of all the new connections being made, ensuring that our hours of operation, booking system, and more are keeping up is of paramount importance.
About a third of members expressed concerns about table availability. In response, we’ve given the booking system a much needed revamp, increasing the games we can accommodate by about 40%.
We remain committed to adjusting hours and the booking system as needed to make sure that members can get in for games when they want. We’re even talking as a team about how we can temporarily expand hours to meet additional demand when 40k 10th edition releases later this month.
These colorful space marines were produced during our most recent hobby workshop on color theory, hosted by MIKEATRON.
Takeaway #3—
We’re pining for new games and social events.
In our first year, Warhammer 40,000 and Kill Team were the club’s bread and butter, but recently folks have been championing systems such as Age of Sigmar, Warcry, Battletech, and Horus Heresy—as well as requesting opportunities to connect over more than just games.
Let’s start with the games though:
The spread of games at the club is much more diverse than it was when we first opened (see above) and we’ve been working hard to keep up by investing in new reference materials, updating the booking system, acquiring additional game mats, and preparing appropriate terrain.
This process is always going to be gradual, so if you’re out there playing Age of Sigmar and still wondering where the new objective markers are, we appreciate your patience. Adding resources for new games always involves researching the best options, waiting for shipping (often from overseas), and occasionally even taking on whole other projects such as creating new storage space in the club (something we’re currently engaging contractors on).
In terms of events, good ol’ club staples like Sunday Open Hobby Time and Warhammer 40,000 Tournaments remain overwhelmingly popular, with over 60% of members asking that we continue to support them.
Stefan is also in the beginning stages of concocting new narrative-driven Kill Team events based on club feedback, and requests for bingo, karaoke, and trivia have me really excited. Who knows, maybe we can recreate some of the magic of February’s anniversary party with some fun social opportunities?
Takeaway #4—
Our community will support Extra Life this Spring/Summer.
Since its inception, we’ve leveraged our community for collective impact.
In our first 6 months—while still scrabbling to get our feet under us—we contributed $500 to both the Trevor Project and the Ballard Food Bank. After Community Survey 003, we upped our game and raised over $1,700 for Planned Parenthood in support of access to reproductive healthcare.
Now, members have identified Extra Life as the organization we’d like to support, which means we’ll be raising funds for critical life-saving treatments and healthcare services for children.
These have traditionally been funded via club promotions and proceeds from Community Amplifier memberships, but we’re also talking about new possibilities. For example, what if we were to raffle a highly sought after Kill Team box set and donate all the proceeds to our organization of choice? Could be fun.
Takeaway #6—
GIVE US GINGER BEER
We had a number of suggestions for new soft drink options, but there was one clear winner. 65% of respondents said they wanted to see ginger beer offered at the club.
Myself and some impromptu taste testers were excited by Werewolf Howling Ginger Beer, made in Mukilteo, WA—the extra kick this drink gets from a little hot pepper extract takes it to a really tasty place. And while it’s great on its own, it has also inspired a new cocktail—the Shelter & Squall. This is a low-ABV riff on a Dark & Stormy that pairs the ginger beer with white port, sherry, bitters, lime, and mint
Both the ginger beer on its own and the new cocktail are available on the new summer drink menu!
We also saw requests for beer from Holy Mountain and Metier Brewing, so we’ll be trying to connect with them in order stock some new tasty brews.
Final Thoughts
Before wrapping up this hefty post, I wanted to highlight one response from the open comment section of the survey.
Honestly, you folks are doing a great job. The community is growing so fast and you are doing everything in your power to hold true to what Waystone stands for. That's no easy feat when faced with success. I'm proud of you both(and now Garrett too) for not only sticking to your beliefs, but still being humble… We all love you and consider Waystone our family.
This comment captures so much.
Waystone is such a massive part of our lives now that it’s difficult to stop and gauge just how fast everything continues to move. We went from being a pair of friends with nothing but a dream and a Kickstarter video, to a thriving community of 100+ members in a little over a year. And while I think we imagined running this thing would get simpler and easier with time, we’re finding that there are a lot of forces pushing it towards growth and complexity.
No one warned us it would be this way, but I’m beginning to wonder if this is just how businesses work.
Our vision for Waystone has always been simple, though: A comfortable, safe reprieve where friendly folks of all stripes can escape together into games. Staying true to that vision (and pushing back against the pressure to infinitely grow) is going to be an important part of our next chapter.
Memberships are far and away the top thing allowing us to keep our club alive, improving, and true to its original vision, so thank you to all of our members—especially those that took the time to share their perspective in Community Survey 004.
Till next time.
-Dustin
