Claus Raasted will be co-presenting #EMEC17 closing general session
Claus Raasted, closing general session speaker at MPI’s European Meetings & Events Conference (EMEC)—March 5-7 in Granada, Spain—is an author, producer and community builder who has been organizing live action role-playing (larps) for more than 20 years.
He recently wrote a blog post titled “If you went to my larp and didn’t like it, here’s what I’d like you to do.” Noting that some of his larps have been smash hits while some have been a bit disastrous, he goes on to offer some tips about feedback that could be helpful for any meeting planner.
Let’s take a look at some of the highlights:
| • | Don't universalize your own taste. Just because you didn't like something doesn't mean others had the same experience, and just because your tradition/preference/style/norm says something is wrong doesn't mean it necessarily is. You may have disliked the weird dream scene in the middle of the larp, but that doesn't make it objectively bad. | |
| • | Don’t assume that nothing can be changed. Telling your friends that, “The characters suck. Don’t play this” is different from saying, “There were problems with the characters, and I wouldn’t recommend going unless they fix them.” In the first case, there’s no room for improvement. In the second, there’s plenty. This is true for all larps, and especially for larps that are run more than once. | |
| • | Don’t ignore opportunities to make things better and then complain later. If I tell you, “Come talk to me if you’re bored; I’ll try to help” and you don’t, it’s annoying to hear complaints about it afterwards. I can’t even try to fix problems I’m unaware of. I’m not omniscient. Not even close. | |
| • | Don’t think your words don’t matter. This is perhaps the most important. Your praise matters to me. So do your critical words. You are the one who chooses if you want to help and motivate me, or if you want me to think, “Never again. I’m done with larp organizing.” | |
Raasted says he usually divides his comments into three categories—things he liked; things he thinks were objectively problematic; and things he personally didn’t like, but which were choices—when writing to larp organizers.
Visit Raasted’s blog at medium.com/@clausraasted (the one excerpt here is No. 33). He will be co-presenting at the EMEC closing general session with fellow College of Extraordinary Experiences co-founder Paul Bulencea, author of Gamification in Tourism.
Curation from MPI Blog - Written by Blair Potter Managing Editor at Meeting Professionals International
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