The Tenkar's Tavern Facebook Community has Surpassed 2,500 Members! Huzzah!

As of this morning, the Tenkar's Tavern Facebook Community has over 2,500 members. I am truly amazed and humbled.

Thank you all :)

Not a member, join us!

Three Years Ago Today, The Tavern's Facebook Group was Formed

Three years ago today I created the Tenkar's Tavern Facebook Group. I had just started digging into the Gygax Memorial Fund and was getting heavy pushback from Gail Gygax because of such. I thought it might be nice to have a place to discuss blog posts (from all gaming sources) and events that related to tabletop gaming and geekdom that was directly tied to a blog post. I also wanted to give the community that had formed around the Tenkar's Tavern blog a place to hang out and communicate with others. 

I was gratified to see "Taverners" embrace the new group as quickly as they did. I am floored to see how much it has grown over those three years. Over 2,200 members, with more joining every week.

Over the years, The Tavern has seen a strong, vibrant community grow around it. Our Facebook Group is a huge part of that.

Thank you.

Tenkar's Tavern - a Neutral Ground Closed group · 2,239 members Join Group A place for Old School Gamers to hang out and have a good time

The Tavern's Facebook Community is Two Years Old Today - 1974 Members

I remember creating The Tavern's Facebook Community 2 years ago today. I don't know why I hadn't thought of it earlier. When the thought did finally occur, it was literally a "duh!" moment ;)

1974 members at the moment. Not bad for two years. Hopefully we will surpass 2k before the year is out.

Of those 1974 members, 1745 are considered active in the community by Facebook. Build it and they will come :)

The community is yours. Enjoy it. Post. Comment. Discuss. Most of all - do.

Here's to an amazing first two years and many more to come!

The Tavern Goes Live in June - Facebook Live That Is

After yesterday's comment about how a certain Kickstarter was charging 500 bucks to converse with the project's creator, I quipped that folks could talk with me for free.

Which got me thinking. Now that Facebook has finally added it's "Live" feature to my account, why couldn't I go live and talk with people?

Now, besides the chat box, I was wondering if a Google Number (Google Voice) would allow for live call ins. I really need to test this before North Texas but this could be an awesome thing.

I figure one day a week at different times to accommodate the Taverners around the world. I'd post the schedule for the current and coming month in The Tavern's FB community. I'll probably kick this off in about a month.

Why not Hangouts? Because Google is doing a fine job killing it and from what I've seen, Facebook Live runs with few issues.

What do the Numbers 825 and 910 have in Significance?

Lets see. What do the numbers 825 and 910 have in significance?

Well, we currently have over 825 downloads of Swords & Wizardry Light. That is with a non-optimized PDF and before we get the Word file ready for prime time. Add in 250 copies distributed in print over the last 2 weekends at GameHole Con and U-Con and we are nearing 1,100 copies. Hot damn.

910 is the current number of members of the Tenkar's Tavern Facebook Community. I was hoping to have 900 before the end of November, and here we are with over 2 weeks left and we are 90 members away from 1k.

Someone suggested I get a Tenkar's Tavern tattoo if we get to 1k members before the month is out. +James Spahn had a less painful idea. A one day Swords & Wizardry Online Gaming Convention if The Tavern's Facebook Community hits 1k members before the end of November. I'm more forgiving. If we hit 1k members before the end of the year, we'll do a 1 day Online S&W Gaming Con. If we hit it before the end of November, it will be 2 days and I'll run a session of S&W Light on both days (and I'll see what other folks from the OSR I can round up to run other sessions)

Let's see where we can get this. Ballpark for the Online S&W Con os March / April.

The Tavern's Facebook Community has hit 888 Members in Less than a Year

Last November it occurred to me that there wasn't any Facebook Community for The Tavern. With the encouragement of +Zach Glazar , I rectified that. That was on November 29th, 2015. I was in the middle of the initial Gygax Memorial Fund drama. Fun times ;)

Here we are, approximately 2 1/2 weeks short of a year from that date and we have 888 members. We should easily surpass 900 before the end of November and there is an outside chance, however small, we may hit 1,000 before the end of the year.

Simply amazing.

It truly is a community, with discussions and shares by various members throughout the day. All of The Tavern's posts get shared via The Tavern's Facebook Community, so if you don't want to miss any (as well as posts from others) its a great place to be a part of.

I'm trying to think of a way to celebrate when we hit 1,000 members. No worries. I'm sure something will occur to me :)

It's a Sign! Cthulhu for President!

Yep. We had a few new members at The Tavern's Facebook Community today.

We hit a new milestone.

I think i need to break out some Iron Maiden ;)

Tenkar's Tavern Facebook Community - 603 Members and Growing

I realized yesterday that The Tavern's Facebook Community just broke the 600 mark. I'm in awe. Thank you all.

Remember, don't just be a member but be an active one. Post and comment. It is YOUR community after all. I just serve the drinks.

Tenkar's Tavern Membership cards have SLOWLY been going out. Much slower than I anticipated. Not only has work on Swords & Wizardry: Light been a bit time consuming, but wrapping up before my actual retirement date on the 17th has been a distracting time sink. A significant time sink. Not just with last minute paperwork either.

As of the 18th I am a free man. I expect to be able to focus on the various projects in the works and speed up the processing of The Tavern Membership Cards. This weekend will be a total wash though ;)

State of The Tavern - Updates and Notes - July 10th, 2016

Just a few quick notes.

Tavern Cards are going out, but much slower than I had hoped. It is a time consuming activity, and one that my cat likes to interrupt by lying on lop of cards, pens, keyboard - whatever she can do to stop the process. Patience. They will get to you.

The Tavern, just like the associated G+ and Facebook Communities, is a place for gaming talk. Does the real world intrude at times? Sure, events like the assassination of 5 cops in Dallas the other night might intrude on that. 20 years as a cop will do that. That does NOT mean that politics, social justice and other assorted distractions have a place at The Tavern or it's associated communities. I never knew Facebook had a report function that went to a community owner until yesterday afternoon. Apparently a number of people knew how to use it and the offending post (which I assume was mis-posted in the first place) was removed by me. Don't take it personally if I do so.

Do we need a place to talk politics? I don't know. Practically all the political discussions I've seen take place on Facebook have led to friends defriending other. In any case, The Tavern is not the place for such discussions.

Work continues on Swords & Wizardry: Light. For now, the temporary heading / logo for it is as follows:

The Saturday Knight Special blog will come back to life next week. It will be stories from my 20 year career and observations of current events from a law enforcement perspective. Probably next Monday. Fore reasons ;)

Tavern Membership Will Have Benefits, And it's Free :)

Last night I announced that Tenkar's Tavern will be mailing membership cards anywhere in the world - for free. They will have the owner's name (or online handle) as well as a membership number on the back.

I was asked if I would be forming a mailing list and at first I thought "why?" but then I had a thought. What better way to get word of new OSR releases with a membership only discount. Basically, the idea is that publishers would send me info and a link to buy their new release along with a Tenkar's Tavern Member discount.

Of course, this thought occurred to me as I laid in bed last night, so nothing in the works yet. Still, I think it's viable and an excellent way to both get some eyes on new OSR releases and save Tenkar's Tavern Members a few coppers.

How do you get your free card?

You'll need to email me your mailing address and the name you want on the card. Send the info to tenkarstavernDOTcommunityAT that gmail thing. Yep, brand new email for a brand new way to share our community.

The Tenkar's Tavern Facebook Community has Hit the 453 Members Mark

It was just over 2 weeks ago that we had hit 400 members for The Tavern's Facebook Community - I just approved the 453rd member of the community a few minutes ago.

It's beyond humbling.

The transition from sworn public servant and part time tavern keeper to retired and devoting more time to what had been, up until recently, simply a hobby, hasn't been the easiest, if only because life likes to keep one on their toes. I suspect things will calm down once I get back from NTRPG Con.

Check that. Things will probably get busier, but less of that will involve the old job and more of that will involve the thing that I truly enjoy - old school gaming. Oh, and beer.

Thanks to everyone that has pulled up a stool or chair in this virtual tavern we all share.

I've mentioned this before but it's about time I remind folks - The Tavern may bear my name and I may be the barkeep, but it's your community. I welcome guest posts and guest posters. One of the many ways to contact me is on the right side of this page, but you can use Hangout Chat, Facebook IM, email - whatever you need. Email might be the slowest to get a response as it doesn't get read on a daily basis, but it does get read.

Alright, need to pack. Tomorrow I head to the Poconos for the first time since late July of last year. When we return, Rach and I will need to pack for NTRPG Con. Fun times :)

For those interested, the link to The Tavern's Facebook Community is here. If you are an old school blogger, feel free to link your posts in the community. It belongs to all of us after all.

The Tenkar's Tavern Facebook Community has Hit the 400 Members Mark

Yep, The Tavern's Facebook Community has hit 400 members. Not too shabby for 5 months or so of existence.

Now I need to think of something special to celebrate.

Give me time - I'll think of something ;)

Thanks to everyone that's joined and everyone that reads The Tavern. I couldn't do this without you.