Demo
n. Slang for Demonstration.
Anytime and Amtgard group presents themselves to the public to display their wears, fighting and themselves as an effort to educate the public and aquire Newbies. One of the most successful yearly demos is the Dragon Con Demo.
Demo checklist (by Kane)
- Location
- Permission
- Charismatic, and attractive volunteers who have nice garb and armor
- Flyers - bonus if you have cards, posters, and a promo video
Demos work well when you have a fighting area sectioned off with fighters fighitng at a slower than normal speed, and a informational table set up manned by hotties. These hotties should be armed with flyers and cards. It sounds cheeky, but it's true.
You should also have a reeve (not for the fighters, but to explain to the interested people) who is well spoken, has great garb, and can easily flow between the fighters and the table.
Here are some links to posters and flyers we use.
- http://amtgard-wl.com/Amtgard%20Poster.pdf
- http://amtgard-wl.com/Dice%20Poster.pdf
- http://kanekoite.com/Documents/brochure.pdf
Once you have these, it's all up to you! You will need to tailor your demo to your audience. Got some guys who are acting like jocks - promote the fighting. Got some pale-skinned role-players - push the active role-play aspect. Got some parents - push the safe, supervised outdoor activity that kids love and parents approve of aspect...etc.
Don't try to force it on anyone. Don't be a nazi and feel you have to correct people when they connect to Amtgard in a weird way. Use it as an in to get them out and see for themselves. Like...
"Hey, this is like 300, wow! Hey Timmy, do you wanna play 300 and beat people with shields?!"
We know that this is nto what we do, but man, is this an in if ever there was one.
