Board Gaming Geeks

Hi Gamers!
Board Gaming Geeks (BGG) is a Pittsburgh + Virtual gaming community that is a safe, friendly, and fun place to learn and play board games of all sorts. We want every member of our community to focus their attention playing fun games and on being a better gamer, both at BGG events and in our larger online and real-world Pittsburgh communities.

Want to hang out with a group of like-minded adult board game players for fun and relaxation? Board Gaming Geeks herein refers to people, often of an intellectual bent, who are enthusiasts of board game activities. Prior Board Game experience is not required.

Want to game regularly on Friday nights? BOARD GAMING GEEKS meets on FRIDAYS at 6PM. We look forward to your RSVP

We are playing on-line games for now, until the COVID-19 pandemic is over.

Want to play games like:
[ ] 7 Wonders (w/ expansions)
[ ] Avalon
[ ] Century: Spice Road
[ ] Hornet
[ ] Mint Delivery
[ ] Nile
[ ] Pandemic Fall of Rome
[ ] Splendor
[ ] The Captain is Dead
[ ] Villages of Valeria (w exp'ns)
[ ] or any others?

Interested in learning the difference between cooperative strategy Board Games and competitive Worker Placement / Resource Management Board Games? Any game at a BGG event will be explained prior to play.
We've got you covered for all of these!

To become a member of BOARD GAMING GEEKS, you need to acknowledge and agree to our Code of Conduct (see below).

We ask for courtesy if your plans change. Please inform an Organizer if you cannot attend a Gaming Event to which you RSVP'd "yes". This group is cross-posted on Facebook and Twitter but is managed on Meetup. Please use the Meetup App to join and RSVP. Consistently being a No Show or not attending any of our Meetup Events for 8 months will make us perceive the group is no longer of interest to you. We reserve the right to delete your membership

Happy Gaming!
Your Organizers
Janet, Matthew, Ron, and Terry

CODE OF CONDUCT

Our goal is to create a great Pittsburgh community that is a safe, friendly, and fun place to learn and play board games of all sorts. We want every member of the Board Gaming Geeks (BGG) community to be able to focus their full attention on becoming a better gamer, both at BGG events and in our larger online and real-world Pittsburgh communities. This is impossible to do if one is being harassed, stalked, intimidated, or discriminated against.

Please note that Geeks herein refers to persons, often of an intellectual bent, who are enthusiasts of board game activities. Prior Board Game experience is not required. Any game at a BGG event will be explained prior to play.

Accordingly, all Board Gaming Geeks members, as well as guests and visitors, are expected to show respect and courtesy to each other in all interactions, whether at BGG, in our online community, or in other contexts.

We ask for courtesy if your plans change. Please inform an Organizer if you cannot attend a Gaming Event to which you RSVP'd "yes". This group is cross-posted on Facebook and Twitter but is managed on Meetup. Please use the Meetup App to RSVP. Consistently being a No Show or not attending any of our Meetup Events for 8 months will make us perceive the group is no longer of interest to you. We reserve the right to delete your membership.

Costs to run this Meetup are currently being covered by the organizers. We may charge a nominal $5 fee in the future. Any change in our membership fees will be announced 6 months in advance and will then require annual registration. Any excess fees collected will be used to pay for snacks at a future Event.

Further, please respect the commercial establishment that is allowing us the space to game. If you want food or drink, buy it from them and do not bring items from elsewhere. Also, dispose of your refuse before you leave.

To make sure that everyone has a common understanding of “show respect and courtesy to each other,” and to prevent undesirable harassment or behavior of participants in our Board Gaming Geeks (BGG) Meetup Events, we have adopted the following code of conduct. The code of conduct is enforced by the BGG Administrators.
• All members are expected to signal they have read, understand, and agree to this code.

The Code
The following are unacceptable at BGG, both online and in-person, and constitute code of conduct violations.

Harassment — including offensive verbal comments related to gender, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, political affiliation, race, or religion, as well as sexual images in public spaces, deliberate intimidation, stalking, following, harassing photography or recording, inappropriate physical contact, and unwelcome sexual or romantic attention.

Threats — threatening someone physically or verbally. For example, threatening to publicize sensitive information about someone’s personal life.

Flagrant Anti Social Behavior — saying things that are explicitly racist, sexist, homophobic, etc. For example, arguing that some people are less intelligent because of their gender, race or religion. Small mistakes made in conversation are not considered overt code of conduct violations. However, repeating something after it has been pointed out to you that you broke a social rule, or antagonizing or arguing with someone who has pointed out your anti-social language is considered unwelcoming behavior, and is not allowed at BGG.

Maliciousness towards other members — deliberately attempting to make others feel bad, name-calling, singling out others for derision or exclusion. For example, telling someone they’re not a real gamer or that they don’t belong at BGG.

Being especially unpleasant — for example, if we’ve received reports from multiple gamers of annoying, rude, or especially distracting behavior.

Other Unacceptable Social Behavior is also prohibited and includes but is not limited to:
• Sustained disruption of games or other events.
• Using membership information for your or your company's gain. You agree not to Spam other members.
• Microaggressions - that is subtle verbal expressions or subtle actions of racism, sexism, ageism, body shaming, homophobia, transphobia, or other kinds of bias and prejudice are not allowed. Microaggressions can be present in ways that might be hard to recognize by those to whom they are not directed. Microaggressions make people feel uncomfortable and unwelcome; like they don’t belong at BGG. Since microaggressions are likely unintentional, making one doesn’t make anyone a bad person. However, if someone says, "hey, that’s subtly sexist," don’t worry; just acknowledge, reflect, apologize, and move on. Please be aware of others' feelings and act in a way to be inclusive, not exclusive. We want an environment where everyone is having fun while gaming.
• Advocating for, or encouraging, any of the above unwanted behaviors.

Enforcement
Participants asked to stop any unwanted or harassing behavior are expected to comply immediately. If a participant engages in Unacceptable Behavior, Board Gaming Geeks MeetUp organizers retain the right to take any actions to keep their event a welcoming environment for all participants. This includes warning the offender or expulsion from the MeetUp [with no refund]. Event organizers may take action to redress anything designed to, or with the clear impact of, disrupting the event or making the environment hostile for any participants. We expect participants to follow these rules at all event venues and event-related social activities. We think people should follow these rules outside event activities too!

Reporting
If someone makes you or anyone else feel unsafe or unwelcome, please report it as soon as possible to an Event Organizer.
Instead of reporting a code of conduct violation, please contact law enforcement (call 911) directly to report criminal activity (e.g. physical assault, sexual assault, theft, or fear that someone will hurt themselves or someone else) or contact store personnel to report a dangerous physical situation (e.g. flood, fire or serious injury or damage).

Confidentiality
We will keep all reports confidential, except if we've discussed with you and agreed otherwise. When we discuss incidents with people who are reported, we will anonymize details as much as we can to protect reporter privacy.

If the violation happened online, please link to or send us the relevant text.

If the violation happened in person, please detail what exactly the other person said or did. In order to take action, we need to know the concrete actions that someone took.