Running Go Demonstrations

There are often opportunities to demonstrate Go as part of a convention, festival or exhibition. In the past Go has been demonstrated at anime and games conventions, Japanese and Chinese festivals, exhibitions of oriental art and culture, and so on.

The type of demonstration to be considered is the kind where a stall is manned on a continuous basis over several hours, with members of the public stopping by to learn about the game.

Though it might seem obvious what is needed to carry out these demonstrations, we have collected here various useful pieces of advice collected from experience of these events over twenty years.

Areas to be considered are:

• location
• furniture
• equipment
• presentation
• supporting materials
• teaching method
• sales of sets and books

Also ensure you have enough volunteer teachers to man the stall, with a chance for each teacher to have some time off for refreshments or a chance to see what the rest of the event has to offer. It is worth keeping, say, bottled watered behind the stand in case you are too busy to get away.