AROUND CAMPUS
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SOCIETY OF MANGA, ANIME AND GAMING Written by Dawn Henderson, Secretary of SoMAG
Active and sociable, not usually what you would imagine when you first hear the name Society of Manga, Anime and Gaming. However, to those who have attended any of our weekly social screenings on Wednesdays or been deafened by our Monthly Games Nights, it is not a surprise that many view them as innate SoMAG qualities. SoMAG’s purpose has always been to create a safe space for the stereotypically unsocial to be social. To give the creative an audience to show their passions and connect individuals across disciplines. Every Wednesday we have a Screening Night, where we show a range of anime and outside the theatre often chat or play card games. The first Saturday of every month is our Games Night, ranging from a casual smorgasbord of console or PC games to a tournament that anyone can join. Once a semester, we have our very popular Cosplay Night filled with a heap of mini-games and competitions, often attracting close to 80 attendees. For those that like to attend in-costume, we have professional photographers attending. They also make appearances at other photo shoots throughout the year. On top of this, we have a few themed nights such as Cluedo or a Tavern Night which encourage attendees to engross themselves with the world and solve mysteries. We still kept up with our weekly screenings and games nights during the 2020 lockdown – they held on our Discord server. The server managers even organised a digital Easter Egg hunt between the events. During the second semester, with a lot of dedication to enforcing social distancing and hygiene; we got all of our events back inperson with the same spirit we had before.
As one of the longest-running JCU clubs, SoMAG will celebrate its 18th anniversary this year. Our secret to our long lifespan is how entrenched the broader community of Townsville is in our events. We are well-known in the local high schools for our Cosplay Nights. In fact a few of our committee members joined in their first year at JCU, helping plan events they have loved for years prior. We are sponsored from numerous Townsville businesses, expanding our range to outside university events. We have hosted the Townsville region Japanese Film Festival for the last three years at various cinemas and presented at the iFuture conference discussing community engagement. SoMAG also attracted the attention of international sponsors such as Madman and Redbull. On top of the extensive list of events run over the year, SoMAG was also heavily involved in JCU Esports. Passionate committee members spearheaded the JCU esports team and were directly involved with the Esports room’s planning that was unveiled last year. So if you are interested in either casual or competitive gaming, make sure to keep an eye on us. If you are intrigued by any of the above, find us at market day or on our various social media outlets. We hope to see you at our future events!
