Board Game with a Purpose
Couple designs dinner party game
- By Melissa Barnes (Florida Times Union) You're invited to a dinner party and don't know anyone but the host. You make small talk, visit the restroom, check your watch a few times and wonder if the host will ever get dinner on the table. If you're lucky, you'll find something in common with someone and the evening will pick up. If not, the next time you are invited, you start looking for excuses not to attend.
Sound familiar?
For many, the solution is simple: Either have dinner parties with people you know well or start thinking of reasons to turn down invitations.
For one Jacksonville couple, however, the solution went much further-- all the way to the U.S. Patent Office and eventually to homes across the country.
When John and Amy Franks were married in 1997, they were invited to a number of dinner parties. John, who claims to be the shyer of the two in social settings, came up with the concept of a game to ease the social pressure for the host and guests.
"I thought it would be nice if there was a board game that stimulated conversation, ensured a good meal and guaranteed a good time for all," he said.
Over the next several years, John Franks' idea evolved, and the result was Convivium Cooking Entertainment, a board game designed for individuals or couples to play that results in a delicious meal prepared and enjoyed by all. The name Convivium is derived from the adjective convivial, which means "festive; fond of eating, drinking and good company."
The development of Convivium Cooking took place over a number of years. John Franks worked on the game cards, and Amy prepared the menus. The pair created a mock-up of the game and began piloting it with friends.
"First we played it with old college friends and family members," Amy Franks said. " Then we started asking our friends to bring people we didn't know with them. We wanted to see what people who didn't know us really thought of the game."
The Franks' friends loved the game, declaring there was nothing available like it. They began calling to borrow it for their own dinner parties. At that point, Amy and John had a decision to make. "John said to me, 'Do you want a new car or do you want to produce the game?'" Amy recalled. "I said, 'I want a new car,' so we produced the game."
In 2001, the couple invested in the production of their game. They designed everything themselves, from the game board to the box, which is made to look like a cookbook sitting on the shelf. By December 2002, it was ready to sell. They initially focused on Internet sales, establishing a Web site and contracting with a warehouse to store and ship the product. The Franks are beginning to work with large media retail outlets like the Food Network, as well as marketing the game nationally through a broker. The game has received mention in Southern Living magazine, and in September, Convivium Cooking was awarded the blue ribbon award for Best New Innovative Product at the Atlanta Gourmet Market Show.
Despite the success of the game thus far and their plans for future distribution, John and Amy Franks are quick to acknowledge this is a hobby for them.
"I'm not leaving my day job," joked John Franks, who works as administrative director of the Shands Jacksonville Neuroscience Institute. "I'm really proud that we followed through on something. Whether it becomes a huge success or not, we gave it a shot."
Though Amy Franks has already given up her day job, also in health administration, to care for the couple's two young children, she, too, sees the value of the game outside of its success.
"It's been great for our marriage," she said. "We don't really have a hobby that we share, so working on the game has been something that we can do together. It's really been fun."
