Gathering and Games: Opinions and Volunteers Wanted

[Prof. Sky Alton]

Gathering and Games is a regular event on the HOL chat. The idea behind it is to give members from all over the school the chance to come together, relax and have some fun. We chat about weird and wonderful things and play a wide range of games.

One of the challenges when trying to set up a live HOL event is picking a time that will work for as many people as possible all over the world. We’ve been using the same slot for years now, 5-8 PM HOL-time on Sundays. It’s worked very well so far but I’m always looking for ways to make things better, if possible.

With that in mind, I’d like to hear your thoughts on which days and times would work best for you. Make sure you convert the times into HOL-time (you can see the current HOL time here) and include your time-zone as well. Also, if you'd like to give an opinion on whether the sessions should be once a month, once every two months or something else, go ahead.

I’m also looking for volunteers to help me plan and run the sessions this year, as my amazing co-creator (Prof. Amy Lupin) has stepped away from HOL for the time being. If you’d like to volunteer, please drop me a line. Ideally you should have attended Gathering and Games events before, be enthusiastic and be able to reliably commit to being on IRC for an extended period at a set time (though you don’t need to commit to being at every session).

Thank you all!

[Prof. Tarma Amelia Black]

The regular time of 5-8 PM HOL-time on Sundays worked pretty well (although something to consider is 6-9 PM HOL time, an hour later).

[Adaleine Shuster]

5-8 HOL Time works well for me, though something an hour or two later would also work. Either Saturday or Sunday are fine.

[Prof. Will Lestrange]

The current timeslot is workable for me, but a little too early to be comfortable for me (my time zone is only 5 hours behind HOL, but I'm definitely on the nocturnal end).

I think that any weekend time after 5 PM HOL (including into the AM hours, though I likely wouldn't be available much after 6 AM HOL) would work pretty well for me; weekdays would be very difficult before midnight HOL, though - because of my own work schedule.

Another thought: would we get better turnout if our game sessions weren't as long: maybe 1 to 2 hours once a month or so (or even more frequently) instead of 3 hours every other month? While the traditional 3 hour timeslot allows people to go in and out, it also might mean that fewer people will be online for any specific game... and there are definitely games that become harder to play with fewer than four or five people in the chat. Maybe this might make it harder to play as many games in a given session (but if the specific games were announced in advance, then people wouldn't need to look them up during the session themselves, which might allow us to switch games faster).

[Prof. Sindor Aloyarc]

I like the idea of 90min-2hr Gatherings (whether monthly is possible or bi-monthly stays necessary), as I agree with Will that keeping it shorter might be beneficial for the number of people playing various games at any given time, yet I also appreciate the social element so a single hour may feel a bit rushed.

The usual day works for me (though Saturdays are doable), and the time frame is typically fine, though I also could do a bit later if that was preferable for more people. Here on Eastern Time, 1ish to 3 or 4pm is a bit of a sweet spot in our home on the weekends as that's when my partner goes down for a nap and leaves me to my own devices >:) *muahahahha*

Happy to potentially get involved with any organization/hosting here and there if that might be helpful or of interest.