Making Walls and Gates

Tonight we did some work on the gates and walls of the Vale Realm of www.wilarp.com. We built a section of wall using railroad ties, 2x4's and other wood along with timber that is generally unused / chopped up (the bark from tree milling). This combo made a great start to the rustic and medieval look of village gates while also using recycled materials to keep the costs really low. 

The posts are up and level, 2x4 backing done... now for the face pieces. 

A 4' stand will be built behind the wall for archers and surveillance. 

That start of the gate.

A finished section of wall.

One section of wall with a finished hinging gate.

It didn't take but a few hours to make this section of wall with only a handful of people. 

As you can see the project looks really authentic and was not super hard to do. Adding real props to your games can make a big difference in attendance, immersion and game play.   

Spreading the news about your larp

LarpCraft is working on many ideas to help game promoters use effective advertising to increase game attendance. We are making videos, diagrams and a larp organizers book that gives great ideas on how you can better your game activity. This book will cover everything from economics to sample plot lines and making the jump from "whack a stick" to real larp games. 

One such thing I would like to post is now the US postal service is ramping up some cost effective marketing that can help games get the word out. Lets face it, some of the best role players can't be reached by traditional ads, flyers etc. They game at home and that's about it. 

I ordered a sample of the new USPS direct mail pieces that allows game organizers to target in on low cost effective marketing. You don't have to buy expensive lists, can target your demographics and make campaigns like this extremely simple. 

The whole shebang is at - https://www.usps.com/business/every-door-direct-mail.htm

and a nice detailed video is presented after you sign up for your free kit. This video is at https://eddmkit.com/ThankYou.aspx

Also keep in mind that when a realm signs up under LarpCraft, they get about $600 worth of marketing material for free to help them out. Fliers, tri-folds, pictures, social marketing setup, business cards... things like that. Simply put you have to market your larp in order to get the word out. The best free advertising you can get it from current players spreading word of mouth joy about your game. Not only is it free, it can't be matched by other marketing tools.

I have 2 degrees in Marketing and this is something I know a lot about. I'm here to help groups get organized and growing so ask questions in this new section that targets game organizers (whether in LarpCraft or not).

Game promoters need to know how to effectively use social media, video networks, google ads and many other things to help spread free or low cost knowledge that their larp group is in fact active and expanding. 

At LarpCraft, we are here to help with this. 

From the post at - http://www.larpcraft.com/forums/index.php?threads/getting-the-word-out.1982/