I come from a place where miniature gaming is seen as childish and boyish. Whenever I speak of tabletop back home, I always get the “Isn’t that, like… a boy thing?”, followed by weird looks, an awkward smile and a change of topic. Things in Berlin are much less judgemental, thankfully. Here, I was free to pursue the hobby and chat and play and get carried away by little plastic fantasy soldiers along fellow enthusiasts.
Still, a good measure of that stereotype prevails. Playing with little soldiers is “not feminine”. Social pressure led to a hobby community composed mainly of straight cis men. I have been to geek events where women are rare creatures, and most often companions to the actual players or hobbyists who convinced them along. Some of them seem to have interest and look longingly into the miniatures on the shelf, but never take the step.
A great deal of women and diverse people get daunted and put off by the community. I have been in environments where men get overly comfortable and behave in disregard of their surroundings because they feel in their bubble. And such impressions lead to another person missing out on something that could be their next big thing – a hobby for life.
The ITGCB has always put a lot of effort into providing a safe and welcoming environment for Berlin-based hobbyists who are looking to have a good time and geek excitedly over their latest hobby achievement, and we are pretty proud of this amazing ambience each and every one of our members upkeeps.
We have our demo day events for us to attract fellow hobbyists into a system, but we’ve been meaning to go even more basic for a while – an event for absolute beginners to get in touch with what it means to have a hobby as part of your life, and get a little taste of what that could be. Together with that, we also are quite aware that cis men remain the prevalent group in the world of tabletop, so we decided we could bring things together and host a full beginners event that also aims to foster more diversity in the community! Which brings us to our very first…
FLINTA beginners hobby event!
On the 8th of April 2023 myself and Maya will host the ITGCB’s first full beginner event, focused on women and diverse people, to increase the diversity in our hobby community.
Wait, what does FLINTA mean?
FLINTA stands for Female, Lesbian, Intersex, Nonbinary, Trans, and Agender. Our first beginner hobby event is aimed at people that identify under these groups, so we kindly ask cis men to not register this time around. We aim at doing broader beginner days in the future though, so please stay tuned!
The event itself
Purpose
This event aims to provide a cozy and inviting atmostphere to absolute beginners with a special focus on FLINTA people. We will provide all materials and give you tips from ground zero – so that you can finally take the step into the amazing world of miniature hobbying and wargaming!
When and where?
The event will take place on the 8th of April 2023, at Battlefield Berlin, at the Gneisenaustraße 43, 10961. Once you arrive there, please go to the back of the store to the gaming area. While we cannot control the inflow of visitors, we have all tables at the back booked so our event is a little more private and welcoming.
The schedule
- 10:30-12:30 – Hobbying 101: building, priming, and painting your first minis
- 12:30-13:30 – Lunch hour (we will go somewhere or order together, lunch is not provided in the premises)
- 13:30-15:00 – Game demos, namely Warhammer Age of Sigmar and One Page Rules: Age of Fantasy
- 15:00+ – Wrap up and chatter
What we need from you
Your presence! No payments are necessary, and everything will be provided for you in terms of material and resources. In addition, whichever models you assemble during the workshop are yours to keep – a little memento and your kickstart into this amazing world. Please make sure to be on time so you can get the most out of it!
How can I join the event?
Given the space constraints of our host, slots are limited, so if you want to participate please make sure reserve a spot on our Calendly link.
! While the slots have different times than announced in the schedule, that is only due to a limitation from Calendly. The event starts at 10:30 !
To sum it up
The FLINTA beginners hobby event will happen on the 8th of April 2023, at 10:30am, on Battlefield Berlin at Gneisenaustraße 43, 10961.
If you have questions about the event, feel free to reach out to the event hosts on Discord, Solpine and myself, Opala, or to any other Council member.
If you’re not yet a member, go ahead and join our (rather awesome) Discord server! While the ITGCB is a Verein, presence or activity in our Discord is not mandatory, so you can happily lurk for a while until you feel ready to interact with the community and get excited about little plastic models with others!
We are excited to have you along this event with us, so buckle up and let yourself get carried away by this amazing world!
International Tabletop Gaming Club Berlin e.V. 
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