Hosting regular events is crucial to building a strong gaming community for your store. However, not all your players may feel comfortable visiting your store in-person or may be unable to visit when you've got an in-store event going on.

Virtual events are a great way to keep your community engaged while supporting all interested players; plus, At-Home and Webcam event attendance counts toward your metrics. Running an At Home or Webcam event can also help you manage a full roster of events for your store.

Today, we'll walk through the steps for setting up and running your own At Home or Webcam event.

1. Set Up a Discord Server for Your Store

Discord is a powerful tool for building and maintaining an online community: players can chat, connect with each other, and game together. Having your very own server for your store gives you more opportunities to connect with your players and keep them in-the-know about the latest events happening at your location.

Once you make a Discord server for your store, you can set up a Discord Channel Following from the WPN Discord so your players can also receive updates posted to the MTG channel by Wizards of the Coast directly in the channel of your choosing.

2. Pick a Date and Time for the Event

Getting set up in Discord is the beginning—next, you'll need to pick a date and time for your event. There are a few key tips to keep top of mind as you're selecting a date:

Make sure the time window for the event is small to help ensure all players arrive on time.

Try to avoid running multiple Webcam events in one week until you've successfully run your first one.

Advertise your selected date on your Discord server as early as possible and set up reminders as the event draws closer.

Each of these best practices helps ensure you have enough players to run a successful Webcam event. In order to turn this initiative into a regular part of your event schedule, you want to be sure the demand is present in your community.

3. Schedule a Casual, Player-List Only Event in Wizards EventLink

As soon as you've selected a date, head over to Wizards EventLink and get your Webcam event on the calendar. Use an event structure that doesn't require rounds or pairings to streamline the gameplay process for your players. We recommend using Commander, casual Prereleases, or even deck testing a format.

If you opt to run an event with rounds, keep in mind that you’ll need to inform players of their match assignments and receive round results throughout the event. This can be done directly in your Discord server.

We encourage you to keep the events as casual as possible, with flat prizing structures. That way, there is less pressure on you to keep track of wins and losses, and play can remain more casual throughout the event. Plus, it can be challenging to have a Judge weigh in on any disputes that may arise between players.

4. Get Your Players Familiar with SpellTable

Ahead of the event, you'll want to be sure your players are familiar with SpellTable, the tool they'll be using to play remotely. If your players have a Wizards account, they're already most of the way there.

You can post instructions for setting up SpellTable in your Discord server. Remind your players that they'll need a top-down camera setup so they can show off their battlefield—and they can use their phone, if they're able to set it up for use as a Webcam.

As players figure out at-home setups, be sure you (or a member of your staff) are available on your Discord server to answer questions, if needed. Remember, though, the goal of your Discord is to encourage players to talk to one another and ultimately foster a self-sufficient community.

5. Send Materials to Players (If Needed)

Deck testing and Commander events won't require you to send players additional product ahead of the event; they can simply bring their own. However, if you're running a SpellTable Prerelease event, you'll need to find the best method to get the Prerelease Packs in players' hands. You may consider having them stop by your store for pick-up or shipping the materials directly to them.

While you're in this phase, consider how you'll be sending prizes, too, and what those prizes entail. Whether you choose to ship prizes out, have players pick them up in-store, or simply use store credit as the prize, make sure it's clearly communicated in your event details.

6. Cross-Promote In-Store Play Whenever Possible

Every event is an opportunity to encourage repeat play, and this is especially true for virtual events and community spaces such as Discord. Announce upcoming events in-store—depending on the Webcam event you're running, you can coordinate your schedule to have your virtual events coincide with Prerelease or Launch Party events. You may even offer an in-store event entry as a prize for your Webcam event.

Are you prepared to get your online community off the ground with some virtual events? Start thinking about what event may work well virtually for your players, and head over to Wizards EventLink once you're ready to schedule.

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