SOGC: Who, What, Why and How?
Who we are
The Sydney Online Gaming Community (better known as the SOGC) is a community organisation best known for organising LAN party and social events for computing enthusiasts around NSW, Australia. We're based in Mosman, with more than 10 years of public LAN experience, we're the hottest new LAN in Australia!
Experiencing rapid growth (we're now 5 times the size from when we started) since September 2008, the SOGC is the most active group in NSW for LAN parties, holding an event every 5 to 8 weeks.
What we do
We hold LAN Party events (link goes to wikipedia) and general social events that helps build up our community into a thriving, close-knit one. Our members are all very friendly, and hilarious to hang out with - and we aim to keep it that way. The SOGC holds a regular LAN Party event, occuring every 5 to 8 weeks, with a hiatus period every December and January to allow for planning for the rest of the year.
Our LAN Party events are always family friendly and our social events are most of the time - perfectly fine for the under 18s to attend as well! We tend to have a slightly more mature age bracket to our gamers, ranging from 18 to about 60 years of age. This means the quality of our events are of a much higher standard when it comes to making new friends, and enjoying the company of like minded gamers.
Why we do it
We love games. We're gamers at heart; and for everyone on the staff team, Games take up a lion's share of our interests. When the SOGC first started, we saw a gap in the market where there was a need for an enjoyable, casual styled event - that could ease off on the hardcore gaming, and be a gentle introduction to making things fun through a simple love of games. We've since grown, and we like to think; that's our goal right there - bringing together a great gaming community in a celebration of video games and technology that has given us so much enjoyment and satisfaction over the years.
We do it to bring back something that's missing from the cold separation of the internet, where gamers can talk to each other, and really see the community themselves, first hand. We do it because we want to, because we must for the gaming scene in Australia, and not just because it's cool or awesome. Join our community and help us bring social LAN gaming to the masses.
How do we do it
Quite simply, a mystery! Actually - it's not so much a mystery but rather the fantastic, generous and strong support of our community. The SOGC is special in the sense that the staff that run the events come from the community on a volunteer basis. We don't recruit our team or do things purely on the basis of technical merit, but also on the willingness to learn, to help and to love the community that they're a part of.
The SOGC could not be where it is today, without the constant support our community members provide, nor without their generosity and assistance. We use gear that is entirely funded for by the staff, and supported by the community, we source our information, resources, knowledge, skills and ideas directly from our community.
From the SOGC Staff, a big thank you to all of you out there that support us!