I set up a public game night for a non profit organization. The event space has a bar on one side and Pizza and snacks are available. All ages are welcome as the bar side is segregated from where the gaming area is. We posted it in some FB local groups and I found some local subreddits and discord servers. I even made an Instagram account but it flagged my flyer as spam. It’s a smallish town with about 14k people but near a much bigger college town by about 30 minutes. I’m at a loss as what to do since I’m going to give it a go this week too. We discussed having a vintage video game competition such as an old arcade game. Am I missing something or are game nights just not that popular?
At least the first few times, you need a core group that you are sure will show up, and everyone needs to try to bring at least a friend. If you manage to pick up momentum then the core group becomes less critical.
Agreed. You need word of mouth. You have to speak to people you have a connection with and ask them to come. Otherwise you have no way of knowing that your advertisements will be effective.