As we approach the end of the year, it may be easy to get swept away in the bustling day-to-day that accompanies the late-year shopping season. However, now is the perfect time to get ahead on scheduling your events so you can hit the ground running in 2023.

Between the Dominaria Remastered Launch Party starting January 13 and Phyrexia: All Will Be One Prerelease kicking off February 3, there's no shortage of events you can schedule right now; as more keep rolling in, there are a few strategies you can implement to maintain your event schedule with minimal stress.

Use the WPN Events Calendar

The WPN Events Calendar is a visual representation of events currently available for scheduling. The calendar displays the full duration of time when the event is open—this doesn't necessarily mean you need to run that event every day it's available. The main purpose of the tool is to help you keep track of what's coming in advance, giving you a clear visual to make your scheduling easier when you pull up your own store calendar in Wizards EventLink.

Whenever possible, schedule events in advance. The earlier you schedule, the greater your advertising window is, leaving you more opportunities to get players preregistered and take an early pulse of the event's popularity.

Create a Consistent Schedule

Wizards EventLink allows you to schedule repeat events, which makes it even easier for you to schedule weekly events over the course of a few months. Use repeat events to schedule Commander Nights, Friday Night Magic, or any other format that you want to host in your store on a regularly scheduled basis.

Whenever you schedule an event on EventLink, make it a habit to do two things: update your website calendar and notify your players. Keeping your calendar consistent across platforms helps to improve ease of communication.

Notify your players of the new event posting through your social media channels or on a community space like Discord. Communicate all relevant event details as soon as you can, including pricing, number of seats available, and format, even if this information is reiterated on the Wizards EventLink details.

Follow Your Community's Preferences

As you plan your events, always consider your community's preferences. If your events are always packed, schedule that format weekly so you turn away fewer players. That way you're able to deliver your community's favorite events with consistency, and they may feel encouraged to invite their friends along to play.

Monitoring your event attendance can give you a strong blueprint that allows you to match players to their favorite events, and by using that blueprint to schedule events, you can grow your community further. If your store is part of a larger game store community, you might even consider coordinating with your fellow WPN stores to maximize attendance at each of your events.

Even as your player base begins to thrive, always make sure you're welcoming new players to your store with new player-focused events, whether that's a Jumpstart event or a beginner-friendly Booster Draft.

Finally, when you're event planning for 2023 and beyond, consider your events' prize structure. You'll want to fill out these details as early as you can so you can be sure the right players show up for the level of event you expect to run. Top-heavy prize structures will attract more competitive players, and a flat prize structure is more suitable for casual play.

Don't put off scheduling your store's events: set aside a few minutes to review the Events Calendar and open Wizards EventLink to get your events on the books!