Games on Demand / Booth integration

[Ben Lehman]

Hi all --

Thomas Robertson and I were just discussing ways to better integrate the Games on Demand / Indie Games Explosion event cluster with the Forge Booth.  What I'm totally hoping is that someone is going to post and say "Ben, this is already totally worked out, so stop worrying and relax."  However, if that doesn't happen, this is me stepping up to volunteer to organize this business.

Stage One: Absolute No Brainers

We have stacks of Games on Demand / Indie Games Explosion flyers at the booth.  One or more get given to every single customer with every single purchase.

We, the people working at the Forge booth, need to mention Games on Demand all the time, specifically to customers who just purchased something and also to this guys who come in, buy a bunch of stuff on Thursday, and keep coming back for the whole con.

Stage Two: Communications and Travel

For the Games on Demand table to work, it needs to be able to communicate well with the booth, to be able to say "okay, we need someone to run Sorcerer here, stat" or whatever.

Cell phones don't work inside the dealer's hall, and internet is prohibitively expensive (is this wrong?  Different this year?  Please advise.)  The most efficient means of communication may very well be running back and forth.

This has the upside of allowing these folks to escort customers over the the games on demand table, which will help them from wandering away, getting lost, what have you, and then coming back to crowd up the booth.

I imagine that a staff of two or three people on communication duty would be plenty.  Perhaps these folks could be added to the monkey allotment, or simply drawn from other interested attendees?

Stage Three: Cultural

This is going to be the hardest part, I think.  We need to get into the heads of publishers that the Games on Demand table is the place to go when you're taking a break or when you've been told to get out of the booth for a bit.

Any other thoughts?  Slams?  Etc.

yrs--
--Ben

[Troy_Costisick]

Heya,

For the Games on Demand table to work, it needs to be able to communicate well with the booth, to be able to say "okay, we need someone to run Sorcerer here, stat" or whatever.

Cell phones don't work inside the dealer's hall, and internet is prohibitively expensive (is this wrong?  Different this year?  Please advise.)  The most efficient means of communication may very well be running back and forth.

Would a set of walkie-talkies work?  Or will there be so much of that inside the dealer's hall that no one will be able to get through?

Peace,

-Troy

[Ron Edwards]

1. Thanks for volunteering, Ben! Your work in this regard is subject to the oversight and revisions of Capt. Kat Miller.

2. My concern with the suggestion so far is the "summon booth person to Games on Demand" concept. Bluntly, I hate it. When I'm working the booth, I'm workin' it, and I cannot imagine traipsing across the corridors through massed gamers to find whomever might be waiting for me to run Sorcerer. If they want a Sorcerer demo, I am on it - at the booth. If they want me for a two-hour gaming Sorcerer experience, then I'm losing sales and others who I'm pitching & demoing for are too. It's flatly not worth it.

So I'd prefer that someone simply be at the Games on Demand area who can play a game or two of mine, among others, and that person is the

3. All of the above is subordinate to the concept that, yes, if I want to be away from the booth for less bucks-oriented play, and to get out of others' hair, then I may well go to the Games on Demand booth to be such a person, for my games and others'.

But I'll also say that when I'm away from the booth, usually I'm cruising the hall looking for new independent publishers, or dealing with one of the at-least-eight people who want to bug me. And real downtime is valuable. Don't forget that! You guys work yourselves up into this hyperkinetic state, wear yourselves out, and often end up making poor judgment calls - we saw a lot of that last year, and I plan to knock that shit down hard this time.

So this culture-thing about "go to Games on Demand when you're not at the booth" is very dubious, as an obligation. It shouldn't be an obligation. The real obligation is to keep yourself rested, fed, watered, clean, and professional. Real downtime during the day is a priority.

Best, Ron

[Kat Miller]

Hi Ben,

I appreciate the concern here.

My concern is how the Games on Demand can be utilized by the Booth without becoming a headache for the overworked Designers selling their games.

about the No brainers-

While I like the flyers idea, I als have issues with it as a practical
1. Flyers cost money.
2. Boxes of Flyers take up space.
3. Its a pain to have to shove flyers into bags, or hand them out.
4. Poor dead trees.

Number 2- Space, is a big issue.  In order to have enough flyers to hand out the box of flyers will need to be somewhere that might be bettered used by a box of game book.

I think either a poster or a White board that can be pointed at might better serve this.

About Comunications and Travel-

I do not want there to be any summoning of Game Designers.
I do not want anyone buzzing the booth "I need a Gm! I need a Gm!"
There is enough going on at the booth without adding this kind of choas.
I'm not sure how to provide a better means of communication between table and booth,
but I'd rather none at all than this.

Cultural-
This I don't get.  Maybe its my Hippie Parent upbringing.
I'm still all about the If I build it they will come.
Pushing, Selling, Forcing the idea that the GoD tables are "the place to be" isn't going to help.
That the Tables are there, and fun things happen at the tables will be enough.

I expect it will be small this year, If its helpful to the Booth it will grow on its own.

-kat

[Justin D. Jacobson]

The culture thing for GoD (and for the Forge booth and for IPR for that matter) might be well served by marketing as well. Random thoughts:

1) Flyers as mentioned are a great idea.

2) Paraphenalia for sale/giveaway. Maybe the Nerd NYC guys could come up with a cool t-shirt to sell, e.g., a screaming kid and the tagline "I want games ... on demand!" or some such. These could be sold but also given away as loss leader, e.g., everyone who participates in a GoD gets a chance to win a free t-shirt (rolling a 20 on a d20 perhaps). If the Nerd NYC folks can't commit, I'd be happy to head up something on this front. I gave away BDG t-shirts last year, and they were a huge hit--lots of people wearing them around the con. People working at the GoD could wear them as well. In short, GoD should be treated as a brand.

3) Marketing both ways. For example, people who participate in a GoD could be given a coupon for discount to purchase related books at the booth. E.g., someone participates in a Passages GoD gets a coupon for 10% off our Passages book.

GoD can and should serve as a marketing event for the booth.

[TonyLB]

Would a set of walkie-talkies work?  Or will there be so much of that inside the dealer's hall that no one will be able to get through?

My understanding (from overheard conversations, so take with a grain of salt) is that the construction of the dealers hall is such that it is essentially a Faraday cage lined with acoustic tiles.  If that's the case then walky-talkies are not going to punch through.

On the more general issues.

Flyers are nice, but I'd recommend the types of postcards that Luke has for Burning Wheel (and that I will have for Capes).  They're reasonably cheap (I think I paid around $90 for 1000) and they are tres chique.  Plus, they don't get crumpled up and thrown in trash-cans so much.  They tend, instead, to get left somewhere prominent when people are done with them.  The pretty, she is hard to throw in the trash ... the mind resists the thought.

Yes, I realize that I have just volunteered to design these, deal with the printers, fund them and bring them to the convention.  That's cool.  I want to start giving the IGE a presence at this convention.  It'll pay off in years to come.  Ben, Kat, shoot me some PM ideas about what you think should be on them.

I totally agree with Ron that people at the booth are at the booth, and that's their only priority.

But I also think that what you labelled the "culture" thing is vitally important.  It's more (to my mind) of a "critical mass" thing.  The GoD area will be the place to go if people are there.  People will be there if it's the place to go.  We're trying to bootstrap this thing into existence from nothingness, and if anyone can think of ways to help, it could be the difference between it taking off and fading away.

Personally, I intend to take more time off from the booth this year.  Last year I clung limpet-like from opening to close, which meant (a) more bodies at the booth and (b) nobody felt obliged to learn the Capes demo.  This year I'm gonna step away, at least occasionally, and see whether people demo Capes in my absence.  See, I'm selfless and selfish at the same time!  And, on that same note, I intend to spend much (though not all) of my off-booth time hanging around at the GoD area, playing games, shooting the shit, and all that jazz.

I totally want other people to do the same.  I totally can't force it.  But I think we should make people very much aware of the fact that they can have a positive impact (on both the Booth and the GoD) by splitting their time in that way.

Also ... where is this thing?  What are our limits?  Will we have a permanent location, or are we nomadic?  Can we hang banners?  Should participants wear obvious T-Shirts and serve as landmarks?  How do we help people find GoD?

[Justin D. Jacobson]

Cultural-
This I don't get.  Maybe its my Hippie Parent upbringing.
I'm still all about the If I build it they will come.
Pushing, Selling, Forcing the idea that the GoD tables are "the place to be" isn't going to help.
That the Tables are there, and fun things happen at the tables will be enough.

I expect it will be small this year, If its helpful to the Booth it will grow on its own.

-kat

Gen Con is nothing but tables of fun things happening. We should effort to "shout above the din" if we want people to come to our tables as opposed to the others.

I will probably be spending a good deal of my down time there as well--see you there, Tony.

[Michael S. Miller]

Just so nobody misses it, please see my response in the Re: Games On Demand - Whats it all about anyway? thread.

[Ben Lehman]

Michael -- my apologies.

I'd like this thread to be closed.

yrs--
--Ben