Hi there. I thought I would share my thoughts on community building and how to get a player group up and running in your local game store or gaming club. I - and a few other enthusiast - have built up my WM/H scene in my country from 0 players and no awareness of the game (except a small player group in Trondheim that had died out) in 2009 to 40 player national tournaments in January 2013 and a healthy 100-150+ player scene in Norway in general. I'm also working - again with help - on getting an Infinity scene up and running in Oslo, the same place I started the WM/H wave. I sin against a few of these tips myself, now and then, but consider it a general guide.
General advice:
1) Demeanour
Be positive. Don't skimp on the smiles. Be "warm" toward people you give demos to. Don't swear a lot when building community. Show your excitement about Infinity, because enthusiasm is contagious. Do not act like a hyperactive fanboy, but a friendly demanour goes a long way to create a good and positive image of both you and the game long before players try it out. You can be a bit shameless when it comes to getting people to try demonstration games, as long as you do it in a friendly manner.
2) Appearance
It is pretty important to look and act like a "nice guy". This doesn't mean you have to hold demonstrations wearing a tuxedo, but personal appearance does matter. Wear clean clothes, mind your cleanliness and body odour (seriously...I have seen a few bad examples of this giving game demonstrations, and it seldom works out). If you are big into alternative lifestyle fashion, consider dressing like you would for a job interview: don't hide your style, but don't show up with enough piercings to levitate you into an MR machine if you walk past it.
3) Organize events and build community
As soon as you have a community up - even if it is only four guys - start running events. Organize terrain building days, painting nights, 1-day campaigns and "starter box" tournaments. Try to do this publicly - preferably stores, as there is a lot of traffic in them of people who are not already into playing miniatures games in a semi-organized manner - but clubs work as well. I am not a big fan of the cellar communities of friends - if this is your ambition, go ahead, but the resulting community will often stay small.
4) Cultivate a relationship with stores/clubs
Again, especially stores. Do the work with early demonstration games yourself, so the store/club doesn't have to put a lot of effort into it; if all they lose is a 4x4 table for 4 hours and you bring most of the terrain, they are more likely to allow you to promote the game than if you take one of their tables and stuff all the store's terrain onto the tabletop. Eventually, as the community grows and they see they can make a buck of it - not to mention being inspired by the excitement of the new players.
5) Don't rag on other games and do not promote exclusivity
Seriously. I came into the club I initially demoed in with an intent to play WHFB (although that cooled with 8th edition) and brought my Blood Bowl teams. Even after we got a WM/H community up and running, I dabbled in Malifaux, Firestorm Armada, Dystopian Wars and Infinity. A sour attitude to other game systems is not a good recruitment attitude. Many of your potential Infinity players are going to either play other games and/or have fond memories of them. Start spouting venom about balance issues or shallow gameplay and watch your recruitment pool get smaller quick. Develop a reputation for slamming other games and watch that reputation get transferred to your burgeoning Infinity community...if you ever get one going. I am happy to get in a game of any system I have models for, although I prioritize WM/H and Infinity.
6) Get the word out
Advertise demos 2 weeks in advance. Be active on local forums. Advertise other events and tournaments at least 3 weeks in advance. Make posters - CB will send the store posters if they ask for them, and I think you can get hold of them as a private individual if you explain the situation. If you have a local store/club/community forum, start making threads and posting pictures of games or demos. Even make a little "introduction to Infinity" thread.
7) This takes time. For you and others.
Yep. It will be considerably more work for you than just showing up at the LGS for a game as a "regular" gamer. Also, getting into a miniature game system can be slow thing for many people - I have held demos for some individuals who expressed enthusiasm for playing and who subsequently did not show up for over a year. But when they did, they had a small army ready.
How to start building?
1) Find any locals already playing or interested in playing to the extent that they already bought some miniatures.
And befriend them (if possible). There won't always be any, but if there are, they are a great resource. Play against them in the store/club so people can see the game being played. Have them accompany you during demonstration games (see below). See if you can get them interested in helping with terrain.
2) Make, buy or borrow terrain
This is an "extra step" for Infinity as opposed to other games. Most miniature games do not have the terrain demands we need, and if you eat up terrain belonging to others for your games and demos, you'll see backlash. It doesn't need to be of supremely high quality (although it sure doesn't hurt!) When I started up, I quickly understood that this:
would only work for so long (both for the store and the game itself). After a year of following some of the advice here, we are currently at this stage:
...which is hardly perfect, but none too shabby either. It really helps to have a full terrain set yourself; it means you can pack it together and go hold demonstration games somewhere.
3) Play in the store/club
Show face if you have opponents. Play in the store. Be ready to answer questions from other gamers about the system...and then...
4) Start holding demos.
Coleslaw's demos at the Norwegian Nationals (http://infinitythegame.com/forum/index. ... nationals/) are a good example of demos done right at a convention. Unless you feel you have a better alternative, use the CB QSR pack for rules (http://www.infinitythegame.com/infinity/en/downloads/) ...damn, it is a shame CB don't make starter packs with those model loadouts. Remember to demo with painted models! They don't need to be perfect, but painted models greatly add to the game experience. People like to "look with their hands" so let them...demo models are subjected to far more wear & tear than other models.
The more different factions you can demo with, the better. Show up early to set up and set aside time to clean up afterwards. It can also be a good idea to have a friend play semi-demo games with you to draw players in. Bring books (and posters, if you have them) for people to read and look at.
Not all prospective players will show this amount of commitment
Actually doing demos are an art in themselves, so they get a set of sub-points:
a) Know the rules well enough to demo them. If you have not tried the game properly yourself - say, if you want to build a community from scratch - then try a few solitaire games to get all the rules and interactions of the QSR pack. Simplify as needed. Infinity can have pretty complex rules and the first game is, contrary to popular opinion, not about learning those in and out. It is to get an impression, and to develop enthusiasm.
b) Keep it simple and fast. Half an hour to finish the game, for you against someone who wants to try, unless he or she expresses a desire to get more into the meat of the game, is usually more than enough. Running two people against each other will take more time, but always remember to egg them on and keep them from getting bogged down in analysis paralysis.
c) Introduce yourself to the player and use his or her name during the demo. Feel free to banter with them about other subjects if they want to. Also engage watchers in the game, explain to them what is happening, and so on.
d) Try to get the store owner/employees to try a round, either alone if things are slow or as the opponent of a prospect.
e) Create some sort of storyline (see Coleslaw's demos above for an example) for added excitement and immersion.
f) Remember the general advise, especially point 1, 2 (appearance and demeanour) and 5 (don't rag on other games. or stores).
g) Have fun yourself. If you need a break, take one between games and tell everybody you start again in 15 minutes.
5) Eventually, you have enough players to get events up and running.
Still haven't said which side of the question you're on. Pro or con. 
No, instead focus on promoting the positive and unique aspects of Infinity, without comparing 
I agree, you should focus on what you're demoing, when you demo it. But inevitably, people are going to ask for comparisons, or make them themselves. When that happens, you have to be prepared to stay positive on the matter. All I was doing was giving examples on how to do that. Your delivery will certainly influence whether people read negativity in your statements.