Ways to show your love!

It's a beautiful fall morning and soon the crisp cool air will turn frigid here in Sheboygan.  Before that happens and we loose sight of all the cool summer activities we enjoyed.  Let's raise a glass to summer and everything special about Sheboygan.  Cool breeze off the Lake, sand in our toes, biking everywhere around town, shopping at the farmers market, and playing games at The GameBoard--especially outside!

Winter takes us indoors and often we forget that The GameBoard can come too!  Rent a game for the holidays, saves you money and space! Stop in on a Tuesday night for a date night 7-11pm (don't forget dinner out first!).  Pop in and write a WishList of all the great games you have been wanting all season long.  Then give a WishList shopping card to family and friends, we will remove any purchase made in store and keep your list current (and secret)! 

Just because summer is over doesn't mean game night ends!  

So when you get a chance, share us with friends.  The GameBoard is like a fine wine better if 'open and shared'!  

On our Page you will see on the right side a recommendation spot, you can write a recommendation for us as a holiday gift! We would love it!  

Or Surprise us and give us the BEST GIFT EVER and write a quick review and post them on:

Yelp    http://www.yelp.com/biz/the-gameboard-llc-sheboygan

Merchant circle   http://www.merchantcircle.com/business/Gameboard.The.LLC.920-453-4263

Yahoo local  http://local.yahoo.com/info-38271579-gameboard-llc-sheboygan

Manta  http://www.manta.com/c/mtmyp2q/the-gameboard-llc

Never hurts to share ones love!    

Thanks and Happy Halloween!!!!!

In the beginning....

We opened our doors on October 6th, 2006...after 5 months of hard labor to get the place in tip top condition.  Tearing down the inside to the bare brick, scrubbing all surfaces, pulling the old heating system and adding air conditioning. New doors and windows, brand new bath fixtures, plus we built the desk and had the patio and backyard finished.

We had two giant setbacks, 3 weeks before we were to open the city tore up 8th and Lincoln to replace the sewers.  The workers were amazing and worked quickly to help us out!  The second setback was in August we had met in a phone conference with Dusty from ACD he was to be my sales rep. Dusty knew everything we had been through and all the info on our research of what games to sell, it was a 2 hour conference.   4 Days later on the way home, his wife is in the car behind his motorcycle.  She watches as he is killed in a car accident. It was a horrible way to start.  But ACD in their grief jumped to get us a new rep and get us back on our feet. To this day Dusty is still missed.

Then October 6th came, we unlocked the doors and let people in and we haven't been lonely since!  Thanks to all of you, our great customers who encourage and research and suggest and build and are loyal and believe in our mission.  THANKS!

Just had to share this great quote from an article:

Gaming is awesome.

Gamers are awesome.

Gamers are, for the most part, smart, motivated, articulate people with powerful imaginations, deep strategic thinking, a love simultaneously of order and structure and yet stretching those structures to breaking point. Gamers are inventive, challenging, unconventional souls, often with a dry sense of humor borne out of seeing the world through gaming eyes. Want to see a game in action? Try the NFL or NBA lockouts. There's more gaming going on in those labor disputes than in multiple seasons of football and basketball combined.

Profanity! What's Profanity????

Profanity is the act of using rude words. The adjective is profane. Profanities can also be called swear words, curse ("cuss") words, dirty words, bad words, foul language, obscenity or obscene language, or expletives. 

Religious profanity is called blasphemy. The verb is to blaspheme and the adjective is blasphemous. Saying “God!” or “Jesus Christ!” as an expression of surprise or annoyance is considered by many people to be blasphemy

A profanity usually refers to religion, sex, or bodily functions. These are things that people feel very strongly about.

A profanity can be a word or gesture or some other form of behaviour. Different words can be profanity to different people, and what words are thought of as profanity in English can change over time.

At The GameBoard, we chose to take a stand on profanity to build a happy community.  The choice to create a 'profanity free environment', met with much unhappiness.  We have had to fight the fight many a day. To encourage through humor and out right crankiness that we are chosing the high road!  Often suggesting that word choice be changed, or ask "what are we praying about?" .  The customers have grown used to our request for a civil environment.  Many have embraced the change and enjoy it!  Over the years we have overheard many a customer deny a friends word selection. Encouraging them to change it and along the way threatening to let "Kevin or Lynn know" if they don't.  It brings a smile to my face.  Knowing that even a mom and tot can come in safely and not be afraid of what they might hear!

What were we thinking???

I opened The GameBoard in 2006.  It was my goal to have a family fun game store, that focused on building brain strength.  Learning through multiple intelligences and creating an environment that nurtured community growth.  I have a son who struggled with speech early in his life, he needed a new way to learn and express himself.  Little did I know that our gaming community would reach out in 3 years and help us find the answer to the problem he was having.  

1 year after graduating from speech therapy, my son, realized he was losing his speech again. He asked to be retested.  During this time, I met a customer, who was researching games. She was looking to buy games to help her son in school, he was Dysgraphic.  In our conversation I recognized my son. The next week my son was tested and diagnosed with Dysgraphia.    http://www.as.wvu.edu/~scidis/dysgraphia.html

We found out that through games, laptops, and many concerned teachers we could create a program that helped him enjoy writing and being creative. My 2nd son was diagnosed this past Spring. I am so glad that we have been proactive in helping them.

One of the programs that I created at The GameBoard was called a GameExperiment. This past year I was honored to have my program recognized by GAMA, the Game and Manufacturing Association. I was asked to create a business model that would work for retailers to host a program based off my successes. I have since certified retailers in Ohio at the Origins Trade Day in June.

So here we are 5 years later after succeeding with our first business plan.  I am now looking to the future here in Sheboygan. Where I have encouraged a team backed by the Sheboygan Area School District, Mead Public Library, Above and Beyond Children's Museum and the wonderful gaming community we have created.   Game to Live, Live to Game was our first motto....and we have done just that!