Advice for getting people interested in a school tabletop club?

[Varulfr 72]

So I teach at a high school in a mountain valley and, gods help us, there is absolutely no tabletop anything within a 4 hour drive.  It's a travesty, really. I used to teach in the UK and had a pretty successful tabletop gaming club going for a while, but I feel like the tabletop... culture(?) is stronger there and I've been having trouble getting the same kind of interest going here in the US.

We've got over 500 students and I managed to only get about 10 interested last year, and even then not consistently... I had imagined all these grandiose plans like tournements with rewards and prizes, but I just couldn't get people into it. I initially had over 25 people sign up, but most just never showed. I mean, there's no real monetary requirement to get going... my proble...*CAUGH* hobby, yes my HOBBY has resulted in my amassing a fair collection of games and whatnot, so there is plenty to choose from.

I'm going to try again this year and see what I can do. Anybody have any advice on how to advertise, showcase, or otherwise generate interest in this sort of thing?  How do FLGS's do it?  How do you do it? How would you get a teenager to do something like this?  Should I dress up like a stormtrooper while I teach a medieval history class?  'Cause I will do that if it works! I mean, it snows here all winter... what else are these people going to do with their time? 

Edited July 1, 2017 by Varulfr

[Madaghmire 7,274]

Tell them you'll have punch and pie. More people will come if there is punch and pie.

 

[BrobaFett 4,209]

On 6/30/2017 at 7:50 PM, Varulfr said:

  Should I dress up like a stormtrooper while I teach a medieval history class?  'Cause I will do that if it works!

Yes, solely on principle. Best of luck. When I was in college we had a club for tabletop RPG's that was insanely successful despite the fact that college kids are typically allergic to anything that could make them seem less cool. It got started because one charismatic guy who like RPG's got his group of friends to buy in to the concept, and with a critical mass of like 5-6 people who got really excited about it, it suddenly because weirdly cool, and people from all walks of life jumped on it like it was cake. We had basketball players and cheerleaders playing tabletop RPG's by the time we graduated and handed it off to the next generation. 

But if it wasn't for that critical mass of people willing to put themselves out there, it wouldn't have gone anywhere. You gotta find that critical mass.

[Darth Sanguis 6,324]

On 7/3/2017 at 11:54 AM, Madaghmire said:

Tell them you'll have punch and pie. More people will come if there is punch and pie.