I saw the recent youtube video at the AGA Congress about promoting Go in the West (and the US in specific). I’m all for general speculation on how to get more visibility for the game, but I’m also curious if anybody has done more thorough, systematic work about the game’s status and promotion. I’m thinking about perhaps a communication or sociology journal that discusses different attitudes, or which quantifies the different promotional strategies that got current players involved. I’m especially curious because none of the “normal” suggested approaches have gotten any peers to start playing. I’m thinking that perhaps our tactics lack focus due to a lack of serious research in the area.
I’d love to collaborate on a couple of surveys to give out at Go clubs, and also to give to a broader pool of participants. Something along the lines of one’s attitude toward several mental sports, cross-referenced to other common cultural artifacts (football, basketball, politics, television). It might also ask what sorts of words are interesting or uninteresting (such as “challenging,” “competitive,” “playful,” “complex,” “elegant,” etc).