Recently came across an article about 10 Steps to Building and Sustaining a Game Group. The recommendations were:
1. Have a regular schedule.
2. Have an assigned host(s) to welcome new members.
3. Decide the spotlight games beforehand.
4. Have a designated game master present.
5. Recommend newbies to play light or gateway games.
6. Spice up the sessions, add some flavor to how game sessions normally work.
7. Make the RSVPs matter. Make session notifications a commitment to host and RSVPs a commitment to attend
8. Get to know members personally. Members are more likely to regularly attend game sessions which they view as a gathering of friends.
9. Engage regularly with non-regularly attending members. Don’t let a member’s physical absence become a reason for not engaging them.
10. Curate the game collection over time. You will want to have a wide variety of games suitable for different player counts, gaming experience, and play time duration. Keep a log of which games have been played, how many times, and general reception of the group to the game so that you can make more informed decisions when buying future games. Procure only new games that you think the group will enjoy and sell those that aren’t likely to get played again.