Earlier this month, my regular Tuesday night board gaming group, Madison Board Games & Beer, participated in a board game charity event held at Wisconsin Brewing Company. The event was organized by my friend Scott Bogen, a Madison-area gamer and host of The Board Game Show Podcast. This gaming event was a benefit for Verona Area Needs Network’s Move the Food campaign. It was well attended and by all accounts a great success!

The turnout was impressive and the event was a ton of fun. The kind folks at WBC were incredibly patient and accommodating of this larger-than-anticipated event, which was open to the general public. They quite happily set up additional tables for us out in the brewery space when the taproom tables filled up. I’d estimate there were close to 150 people playing games that Tuesday evening.

Games are a great tool for community building and outreach. I plan to look into organizing a similar benefit event for The Goodman Center, an amazing community center and food pantry doing vital work in my own neighborhood. Have you ever organized a charity gaming event for the general public? What challenges did you face?