Blastoff // Kickstarter Overview & Survey 002
Isaac’s Black Templar smothered under Alex’s greentide in an all-melee matchup last week.
Hey all, it’s been nearly one month of play and getting to know each other. With opening behind us and the cadence of the club’s operation feeling more and more familiar, Stefan and I are looking ahead, particularly about how we can continue to dial in the essentials—facilitating community in person and via the Discord, sourcing awesome drinks, and most of all providing a great place to play. That being said, there’s so much more that we have in mind for the club, and we’re hoping that our members can guide some of those priorities as we move ahead.
Survey 002
In order to do that, we’re going to be unleashing Waystone Survey 002. If you’ve been with us since the very beginning, you may remember how Survey 001 helped us define some of our community values. Survey 002 will be about how things are going so far, what we could be reinvesting club funds into, both to benefit the club and the community outside of our walls.
If you’re a current member please keep an eye out for an email with your link to Survey 002.
Kickstarter Funds
Until this past Monday, the club was entirely funded by our savings accounts, as well as a little bit of help that we scrabbled together from family. It took everything we had to get the tables, terrain, bar, retail display, and all the other doodads in the club. Things were starting to get a little tight, but on Monday the money from Waystone’s Kickstarter came through. The Kickstarter campaign totally blew us away, raising over $16,000 and setting the club up for a healthy financial future. If you’ve been curious about where all of that money is going, here’s a little breakdown:
Wow. Those fees suck.
Yeah. Yeah, they do.
Where is “owner’s pay”?
It’s not on the graph because we aren’t paying ourselves yet! We’ll keep working our day jobs until the club turns a genuine monthly profit. While it’s tempting to take a slice of that pie because of all the work we’ve already put in, it makes the most sense to set this money aside for the long-term health of the club. If you want to help us out, keep enjoying drinks and ordering models through Waystone, and talk to folks about your experience as a member!
What are ‘Community Amplifier Funds’?
When we started the club, we knew we wanted it to be more than a cloistered group of gamers locked away in a fancy den. We wanted Waystone to be accessible, vibrant, and impactful in ways that are new and unexpected for a wargaming community. Hence, the existence of the Community Amplifier membership. This upgraded membership is meant to be compelling in its own right because of the significant discounts that come with it, and the storage locker you gain access to, but these memberships also allow us to set aside money specifically for contributing to good work both inside and outside the club. Even though Stefan and I always need to make the final call, as much input as possible should come from our members about how this money is allocated, so you’ll see a question in Survey 002 specifically to do with this. We hope there will be some good conversation both in-person and within the Discord about how we can use this money to best effect.
What will the ‘Club Improvements’ money go towards?
Some top priorities are a fifth table in the studio room, which will let us increase the number of bookings that can be made each day, artwork for our sparse walls, and some glassware we’ve been pining after that will be more appropriate for the drinks we plan to serve. Continuing to make these sorts of incremental improvements in perpetuity is a huge priority. Aka, Waystone is just going to keep getting cooler and cooler.
Graham walked Janis through a small game of 40k last weekend. An upcoming champagne cocktail made an appearance as well.
Renewal Season
As great as Kickstarter has been for us, we’ve also been bracing for the end of this first month—this glorious honeymoon phase where most of our members had prepaid on a wave of excitement. In my opinion, we’re already the coolest place in the world to play Warhammer. Waystone is truly unique, with tons of beautiful, uncharted territory yet to tread—and we want to take you with us for the long haul. Stefan and I will be reaching out to check in about membership renewals soon. Until then, don’t worry—we won’t let any prepaid Kickstarter memberships expire unless we’ve had a chance to reach out first.
Reduced Cost Membership Policy
Last, but not least, we’ve put a lot of thought into how we can begin disbursing all of the generous membership & day-pass sponsorships that community-members purchased during the Kickstarter campaign. Most folks bought these without anyone in mind—they literally just wanted to help welcome others into Waystone. Meanwhile, we knew we couldn’t simply hand these out to our friends or ask people to prove they were in financial need.
So began my month-long journey involving consulting with clubs from New York to London, looking for inspiration from schools and churches, and eventually landing somewhere close to the model used in the mental-health world. I think we arrived at something radical, sustainable, and completely non-judgmental. The goal was to make sure our club lives up to its values around inclusion, with the bonus of ensuring that members can remain a full part of the community even if they find themselves in an adverse financial situation. This policy helps us accomplish that—you can learn more by following the link on the Membership page.
I think that’s enough for today. Time to finish painting this squad of Howling Banshees.
All the best,
Dustin
