Sponsor Interaction Considerations

While you interview your sponsor, consider these key questions:

1.What is this Sponsors’ Objective?

• This is “the Bumper Sticker of the game.” The ultimate goal.

2. What Issues does the sponsor hope you discover?

• Typically sponsors have key topics they want to learn about, often subordinate to the Objective.

3. What is the purpose of developing the game?

• The purpose may be closely related to, but different from the objective.
• Is the game being developed for export?
• Are we developing a game that the sponsor will take and use ‘as is,’ or build upon for a particular purpose/audience?
• Are we playing the game at NPS in order to provide insight/analysis? If so, will we recruit players or will the sponsor be providing players to play the game at NPS?

4. What Scenario is the game based on?

• Is the scenario provided by the sponsor or developed by students?

5. What about Data?

• Is the data provided by the sponsor or developed by students, or some of each?

6. What Models is the game based on?

• Are the models provided by the sponsor or developed by students or found by students?

7. What rules do you need to develop?

• Developing the rules for the wargame is the responsibility of the students.

8. Who are the Players?

• See “Purpose” above—The intended use of the game will impact who the players will be.
• Has the sponsor specified who the players should be or what qualifications they should have?

9. What Analysis do you need to produce for the sponsor?

• An analysis product from us
• A game that they can re-use to conduct their own analysis,
• A game that can be used for other than analysis purposes (e.g. Training, education, planning)
• All or many of the above