I'm considering running a small monthly club for local 3ds Pokemon players.

Hello everyone of OKC! I come to you today for some advice. It's been a decade since I was in high-school, so I barely remember what being in a club is like anymore. Let alone starting/running one!

Many of you are, I assume, clicking off. Either for the "3ds" or "Pokemon" portion, but I hope you'll stay for a moment. Particularly those of you who run any events or local clubs.

Club Goal: Having a monthly in-person meet up for trades/generally helping other Pokémon players, specifically for the 3DS. Our severs were shut down back in April, so a major source of the game's post game content is now nearly impossible to complete. Also people just starting their journies in these older games would likely enjoy some commradarie with old and other new players.

The world of older generation games has gotten smaller, and even our gaming devices are obsolete. This would be a fantastic little oasis for many local players who also still enjoy the charm of Streetpass and Pokémon.

Potential Growth: At some point I'd certainly be open and happy for the club to have other smaller groups for other games with shut off servers who can still do local things. However I think it would be better as organic growth. I'd also certainly consider opening it up to newer switch games as well, particularly for trades. However, that's certainly much better covered these days by other ways. But right now I don't particularly feel comfortable with organizing all of that.

Potential Meeting: I have considered a couple of potential options. Libraries and a few local game shops. See, I told you I had a couple ideas. I would sincerely appreciate any advice you could give me in regards to best types of meeting places locally. How do I go about setting that up? Where are the best places? Free places vs fee places? Also, should I make it a thing with snacks, if it's allowed by the place? Is that even important in the grand scheme of this?

What the heck am I doing: I do know several ways to "advertise" the group, but I don't know what's best. Do I have some sort of online sign up thing, particularly so I can be prepped just in case there is some wild influx of people attending one evening? What are the core essential foundations for a club to have longevity and positive impacts on the members and those we will inevitably come in to contact with? Should I have some sort of established code of conduct? Am I thinking way too hard about all of this?

Finally: Event organizers, this is for you specifically. I would greatly, greatly appreciate a peice of advice from you. What is something you wish you knew when you first started out hosting and creating events?

Many thanks in advance for anyone's help. :)