GenCon booth accessories?

[btrc]

In the interest of continual upgrading of the Forge presence, I've been scouring the web for good looking and just as important, portable and storable booth accessories. Anyone have any feelings about the items/services below. Some are duplicates, different sources for same item, while other items are not much good by themselves, but several of them together could generate a very nice effect. In particular, I'm thinking of something to add to the capacity of the large triangular rack, which is great, but seems to generate foot traffic problems. Having another literature display site might help.

http://www.siegeldisplay.com/productDetail.aspx?id=105S-55401

http://www.siegeldisplay.com/Catalog.aspx?catid=WoodenDisplayUnits

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=9511148035&ssPageName=MERC_VI_ReBay_Pr4_PcY_BIN_Stores_IT

http://cgi.ebay.com/3-NEW-36-BANNER-STAND-TRADE-SHOW-DISPLAY_W0QQitemZ9510757755QQcategoryZ1304QQcmdZViewItem

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=5620218210&ssPageName=MERC_VI_ReBay_Pr4_PcY_BIN_Stores_IT

http://cgi.ebay.com/Digital-banner-printing-1440dpi-2-85-Sq-Feet_W0QQitemZ9509682800QQcategoryZ71484QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

http://cgi.ebay.com/New-2006-folding-Literature-brochure-stand-holder-rack_W0QQitemZ9509800729QQcategoryZ71484QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

http://cgi.ebay.com/Aluminum-Literature-brochure-stand-holder-rack-w-CASE_W0QQitemZ9509800447QQcategoryZ71487QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

http://www.displays2go.com/product.asp?ID=1460

http://www.displays2go.com/product.asp?ID=4440

http://www.displays2go.com/product.asp?ID=5454

http://www.keysan.com/ksu1114.htm

http://www.keysan.com/big/pic31484000.html

Most of these items I'd be more than happy to pony up a share for, and for the collapsible ones, be willing to store and transport.

Thoughts?

Greg Porter
BTRC

[Ron Edwards]

Great links.

Given the expanded and division-of-labor booth we're using this year, the point man for all such issues is now Brennan Taylor. Stock storage and display will all be in his 10x10 sector, and although I'm sure there's going to be some debate among us about the details, Brennan's pretty much the guy who will have to live with the decisions, so he gets a big vote.

Best, Ron

[Brennan Taylor]

Thanks for posting the links, Greg. I have one medium-sized wire display rack, but we will be needing more. Much more!

Here are my thoughts on the matter. I prefer wire racks for both ease of transport and low cost. I'd like to get two or three free-standing floor racks to go with the table-top rack I have now.

Some of the ones you posted have a nice display format, so you can see all of the books, but I am definitely concerned about getting everything out there. I also don't want all the pretty covers to be covered up, so there is some compromise there.

I will look at some sites and make suggestions before the con.

[btrc]

If you want to find some spare cash for other booth accessories, this link is actually useful:

http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/dc_furniture_other/article/0,1793,HGTV_3445_1386041,00.html

How to build round tables (up to 4' high and 4' across) out of discarded cardboard from appliance and mattress boxes. Disposable, easy to transport, all they need is a weight to make them a little more stable and a drape to make them attractive. Beats the heck out of rent-to-never-own...

Greg
BTRC

[btrc]

Other semi-disposable booth options include stuff like this:

http://www.cardboarddisplays.com/eight_tier_floor_display.htm

A quick calc shows that it would hold 16 products, though not with full-cover exposure. Two of those back-to-back is 32 separate (8.5 x 11) titles that could be displayed. I suspect a separate solution would be needed for smaller titles like MLwM, DitV and such, but there could be a separate rack with smaller pockets just for that sort of thing.

Trying to think creative/cheap,

Greg
BTRC

[Paul Czege]

I suspect a separate solution would be needed for smaller titles like MLwM, DitV and such, but there could be a separate rack with smaller pockets just for that sort of thing.

There's only a 1 7/8 lip on the front of those shelves. My Life with Master, DItV, Universalis, etc. would be fine, as long as they were't behind taller game books.

Paul

[btrc]

There's only a 1 7/8 lip on the front of those shelves. My Life with Master, DItV, Universalis, etc. would be fine, as long as they were't behind taller game books.

Actually, since there are a lot of 8.5 x 11 titles, and a lot of the smaller titles, I was thinking that a rack sized appropriately for the smaller format titles might help them stand out a little more, since they would be grouped with "their own kind". It might also help with demoing, if smaller format titles just happened to have a stand with those titles near the tables where those demos just happened to be going on... Also, the smaller titles can have something like a 2- or 4-rack PoP display near the register, while the larger titles might take up too much space for that.

Greg
BTRC

[Brennan Taylor]

I've been browsing for display racks, and in terms of both economy and space, this one looks pretty good:
http://www.displays2go.com/product.asp?ID=2071

We would need several of them, since it will hold about 20 titles.

For the larger format books, the 8-1/2x11 size, we'll need something more like this:
http://www.displays2go.com/product.asp?ID=1882

I'd like to find a floor standing version of this one, rather than a countertop.

Wire is definitely the cheapest of the reusable displays.

[Paul Czege]

Hey Brennan,

Do you recall the three-sided display unit we've had at the Forge Booth the past three years? I built it prior to GenCon 2003 and have been bringing it to the con each year for the booth. It is sized to disassemble and lay flat in the bed of my truck. It has been criticized in recent years for being too small for the number of titles we've been selling at the booth. And certainly it isn't as transportable as some of the wire ones you've been looking at. But I think it has awesome indie aesthetics and if you want to own it, and you have the means of transporting it home and for future conventions, I'll bring it again this year and it's yours going forward.

Paul

[Brennan Taylor]

Paul,

Bring it! I'd be happy to have it, and we can fit it into our display strategy, I'm sure.

[btrc]

The three sided thingy is great. Holds a lot of stuff, at the right height. It just seems that with the booth layout there are always traffic problems around it. I think this is a function of the shape. Theoretically, people can be all around it, but practically you want to be in front of a "face", which means you have "spikes" of people sticking out in front of each face, something that would be reduced with a flat or round display. A question: Is there a way to set it up "unfolded", say with two 45 degree bends so it could stand in a corner, or perhaps as a flat zig-zag? This might reduce any traffic problems around it.

Greg Porter
BTRC

[Paul Czege]

Hey Greg,

I'd have to rearrange the hinges to make it zig zag. It's do-able. But I think it would be a mistake. We'd be trying to force customers into a smaller space. There would have to be a line for getting access to the shelf. The best display structure for maximizing customers is one that allows them to spread out around it. Which is what the existing three-sided structure does. But if that's your goal, you have to allow for surrounding floorspace where they can stand.

I could probably come up with spacer bars that would allow the display to stand in the corner. But that arrangement would require just as much surrounding floorspace for customers as the triangular arrangement, with the downside of the unit itself leaving a larger footprint on our floorspace.

Paul

[Brennan Taylor]

I'm going to have to go in with Greg, here. We are going to have a lot of product to display. I think being able to spread the shelves out will probably be more valuable in the long run, and I'm pretty sure we won't be able to use all three sides of this shelf as it's currently configured and still maintain access to the other shelving we're going to need (I just don't think we will have room for a 360-degree display in the small section of the booth I am running).

[Paul Czege]

Brennan, let's have an email conversation about logistics. I'll try to rework the shelf to meet your needs.

Paul

[btrc]

We'd be trying to force customers into a smaller space. There would have to be a line for getting access to the shelf.

I was looking at it from a purely geometric standpoint. If you take 6 linear feet of shelf, stand/prop it against a side of the booth and give say 4 feet of room in front of it to stand, that's 24 square feet of floor space. If you make a triangle with three sides 2 feet long, and draw a circle 4 feet in radius from the center, that's 50 square feet of floor space.

That's why I was asking about other possible configurations. If we could put the triangle out at an open booth corner so we were stealing aisle space, it would require 12.5 square feet of "our" space, but placing it there has other problems. A flat side facing an aisle and loaded with promo material people could pick up would leave two sides inside the booth area, and require 25 square feet of our space, but only have 2/3 the shelf capacity.

It's just a question of how we get most bang for buck.

Greg Porter
BTRC