Baduk is the greatest game in the world, hands-down! Over 2000 years old, it's one of the oldest games still played today. And on top of all that, it's probably the most challenging mind-sport of all time. To give you an example: as checkers is to chess, chess is to baduk. But for me, it's more akin to a philosophy and lifestyle than merely a game. Would you like to try it? —My standard “pitch” to new people

Clear and Concise

We all have our personal favorite way to tell the story of Go to others. But there is a constraint few of us realize. Humans judge books by their cover. Once that judgement is made it can take a lot of time and effort to change it.

Big companies know the importance of a good tagline. The Entrepreneur knows that that he or she will have 30 seconds max to explain their idea. The teacher knows to start each lesson with a “hook.” The podcaster knows to give a brief overview of the episode before the show starts. The list goes on...

The reality is that no matter what you share, you have to be concise and attention catching. Once people have agreed to give you more of their time and attention, only then you can poetically wax on about the mysteries of Go and it's underlying connections to our lives. Only then can you teach them the nuances of Ko's, life and death, ladders, and so on.

The Pyramid of Attention

Attention expires relative to how people feel you valued their time. Most people will give you 30 seconds. If you used those seconds well people might give you 2 minutes. If they enjoyed those two minutes they'll invest another 10 in learning from you. If that goes well, people can stay engaged for an additional 2 hours depending upon the situation.

So if you want to grow your Go community, practice your 30 seconds pitch. Refine your 2 minutes explanation of the rules. Hone your 10 minute interactive teaching game. And most important, build a community of connection that keep people coming back time and time again.

How to get people engaged

New people aren't going to spend much time trying to figure out where they can play this game. If they encounter enough roadblocks in trying to find information, they'll stop trying and give up.

That's why I made wheretoplaygo.com! I want to give organizers a concise, beautiful, and easy way to share information about their club and events.

Please consider asking clubs you care about to list their meetups on the map. That way, we can all benefit by making Go more easily accessible to new and current players!