Your first evening: a guide for the unhurried
A first evening at a new table can be daunting, and this guide is meant to soften it. It follows a newcomer from the front door to the closing round, one stage at a time.
What does a first evening involve?
I arrived at OCE Guild with a list of nineteen questions on the back of an envelope. By the end of the first evening I had answered eleven of them myself, been given answers to five more and acquired three further questions, which I regard as an excellent rate of exchange. This guide is the one I should have liked to read beforehand.
It is deliberately unhurried. Nothing in the guild is a test, and nothing is timed. The only thing a newcomer must do on a first evening is to turn up, and everything else can wait until the second.
From the door to the closing round
At the door
Ask for the Warden on duty, who wears a green lanyard. You will be introduced to a Guide, shown the tea corner and asked, without any pressure, what you are curious about. A shy answer is as good as a bold one.
The welcome round
At six o'clock everyone gathers for five minutes. Names are given, announcements are made and the tables for the evening are announced. You will not be asked to speak, though you may if you wish.
Your first session
A newcomer usually begins at a table that is learning something new, so that you are not the only one asking questions. The game master or host will explain the essentials, and your Guide sits beside you to answer anything else.
The tea break
Halfway through the evening there is a pause for tea. This is the best moment for asking what you missed, for browsing the library corner and for finding out who is playing what next week.
Before you go
Help to repack a box, if you are willing, and tell your Guide what you enjoyed. They will remember it when the next evening is planned, and they will certainly be pleased to see you again.