GUWS sep '23 - post-fair update

Cel Beatt

23-24guwsnewslettersep 23

this is an email from the gu worldbuilding & storytelling society (guws). you are getting this email because you signed up for membership on the src site during 2023-24

TL;DR (?)

please answer this strawpoll for whether or not you're coming to our social on thursday 14th. no worries and no pressure if you aren't; we just need to know a rough estimate of numbers
^ more information on that below

hi folks!

this is cel (pres) from guws. it was great to see so many of you at the fair! it truly warms my heart to hear folks tell me the society sounds cool or that they've been excited to join ??

i have a few quick points to get to, mostly regarding our collaborative worldbuilding social on thursday 14th, 14:30-16:30. whether or not you're planning to attend, please answer this strawpoll. we were expecting a maximum of 30 for the event but with how many of you i've met over the past days, i have no idea if that's accurate or too low. absolutely no pressure if you can't attend or simply don't want to; we do an array of events catering to different folks and you can come to whatever you like

what is it?

the social is all about building a fictional world with your fellow members! i've outlined the process here, and i'll run you through the plan in person. please note that we haven't done this kind of event before and it is therefore quite experimental, but we're very excited about it! it will be silly, it will be weird, the world will be incongruous, but we will have fun. i recommend bringing a pen & paper if you'd like to take notes (though i'll be able to provide some). most importantly, bring some creativity and some weirdness!

where is it?

my beloved linguistics department has been incredibly kind in providing us use of the STELLA lab, a nice big room in 13 university gardens, accessible via the two doors to the right as you enter. there is one slight problem in this room: around a quarter of it is currently filled with boxes containing various computer parts related to the room's renovation. this is fine though, as we should have enough room regardless, i will just ask that you all be VERY careful around the boxes for obvious reasons.

the room has around 25 chairs so it's likely that some folks will need to stand or sit on the floor. if you are disabled or need a chair for some other reason, please let me know and i will make sure you get one. the chairs have wheels and groups will be moving around the room throughout the event.

additionally, there are 4 steps on the way to the room. if you're mobility impaired and struggle with steps, shoot me an email and i'll try to find a solution.

rules?

there are obvious dangers to an event that allows for the depths of human creativity, so we've got a few ground rules & suggestions that i'll go over again tomorrow

RULE: blanket ban on hateful, bigoted, & upsetting creations; the world we live in may suck sometimes but that doesn't mean our fantasies need to as well
RULE: blanket ban on overtly sexual creations; while these can be fun for some, they have the potential for creating a lot of discomfort
RULE: be nice to one another; i trust you all to do this anyway. we're all here for the same reason. sometimes, putting an idea into the world is a difficult act that puts you in an emotionally delicate position; please be nice to one another and never simply shut someone's idea down (unless it breaks the former two rules)
SUGGESTION: be silly; an idea that is funny, strange, or entertaining will be a lot easier to work with creatively than trying to come up with something touching or profound.
SUGGESTION: not everything needs to make perfect sense; if you have an idea that you think is cool but don't think it's realistic, go for it! we will be playing in the space of Weirdness, all coming up with ideas that fit into slightly different genres and bringing them into a single world later. there is plenty of room for the unexplained

you will need to follow the the codes of conduct of GUWS & the SRC.

closing remarks

cool! thank you for your enthusiasm and i will see you there! very very quickly, i'm going to go into a few other things happening around campus in the next little while:

the GU Environmental Sustainability Team will be running a student2student essentials swap-shop tomorrow in the qmu games bar!
our good friends in the boardgame/rpg society, GUGS, are doing a oneshot night next tuesday if that's your thing. i'm hoping to run some kind of weird indie narrative rpg if i have the energy