"Looking for players" standees?

Had this idea at the meet-up last night; to minimise the uncertain havering between games that may or may not have free seats and may or may not have started, how's about "looking for players" standees to put on the desk and take down as appropriate? Or, getting fancy now, "Looking for X number of players"? Would make it more friendly for newbies, too.

I wouldn't mind knocking them up if people would use them. It's not fun arriving at five past seven...

Richeh wrote:Had this idea at the meet-up last night; to minimise the uncertain havering between games that may or may not have free seats and may or may not have started, how's about "looking for players" standees to put on the desk and take down as appropriate?  Or, getting fancy now, "Looking for X number of players"?  Would make it more friendly for newbies, too.

I wouldn't mind knocking them up if people would use them.  It's not fun arriving at five past seven...

Good idea, you could colour code them for example green - anyone welcome, amber, might take a few hours, red experienced players only? Or is that going too far?

I think we are usually pretty good at spotting people and getting them into a game, however sometimes it's not possible if everyone has already started. Is there a way around this?

I think this is a good idea, but I'd suggest just keep it as simple as possible. I've seen this tried at a couple of conventions, on a cruise, etc. and the hurdle really is getting people to remember to use them at all. I wouldn't worry about number of free spots or colour coding - just something that shows that additional players would be welcome should be fine. At that point the people can talk to each other and figure out if the game is of interest and how long it will take. So it's more or less an invitation to come talk to the group and maybe join the game (which should be something that people feel they can do anyway, but I agree it's sometimes rather intimidating / I don't feel I want to bother people).

I think it's a great idea. Doesn't have to be anything fancy, but would definitely be useful.

If you had them, could be an idea to somehow incorporate the club logo on them, just for a bit of branding...

Something like this?

Solid thoughts all.  Rik, that's what I was originally thinking but all things considered I'm wondering if chalkboards aren't a simpler solution.  I've got some chalkboard paint (turn plain surfaces into blackboards, not suggesting wet paint around precious game hardware!) somewhere, and that could accommodate as much, or as little, information as needed.