GenCon booth accessories?

[btrc]

Looking at other booth investments, someone on the GPA list mentioned these:

http://www.softtiles.com/usingsofttiles.html

There was a sale that just ended, but I suspect if we asked nice we could probably still get the discount. Is something like this a better long-term investment than renting carpet? And if so, how much would we need?

Greg Porter

[Luke]

Greg,

They are indeed cheaper than renting a carpet. We'd need 400 sq feet of soft tiles. About $420 at the regular price. Carpet, without padding, at its CHEAPEST is $481.50 plus tax. And I'm not even certain that covers the whole booth.

-L

[Thor Olavsrud]

Greg,

They are indeed cheaper than renting a carpet. We'd need 400 sq feet of soft tiles. About $420 at the regular price. Carpet, without padding, at its CHEAPEST is $481.50 plus tax. And I'm not even certain that covers the whole booth.

-L

You'd want the borders too. The borders are 1 ft. long and 75 cents each.

[btrc]

Okay,
The questions are:

1) Were we planning on getting carpet?
1a) If so, then are the softtiles a useful and semi-permanent alternative?
2) Do we need 400 square feet? (four 10 x 10 booth's worth) That is, do we need the stuff for behind any sales tables and whatnot?
3) Since I brought it up, should I be the one responsible for getting it?
3a) If so, are the booth organizers going to reimburse me the cost?
Note: The volume involved is not that great, so I can transport them and store them, or someone else can take possession between shows if they want.
4) What color or colors should we get? I think black and yellow is rather striking as a checkerboard, but black and gray checkerboard is also nice, and a little more understated. Or, should we go with a solid color?

I figure the chance of getting an extension of the sale price is better if I call them sooner, so discussion and/or decision on this should be done pretty quickly.

Greg Porter
BTRC

[Ron Edwards]

Hi there,

Luke, you're the point man on this one. We can stick with the original plan of ordering the carpet, or you and Greg can figure something out about the tiles. Since the main booth guys (the ones whose names are on the applications) are already committed to paying for the carpet when you order it, I can't imagine anyone objecting if you get the tiles, which seem to be both better and cheaper.

Best, Ron

[Luke]

Hi Greg,

Yes, we need carpet or some sort of flooring. Honestly, this is preferable to carpet. I think having the whole floor covered uniformly is worth the marginal extra expense. I will reimburse you for the cost if you can handle the order and the transportation. I cannot transport them (ever). I vote for black and red!

Anything else?

-Luke

[btrc]

Okay then,
I'll call them monday and arrange for 400 sq. feet of them and hopefully the right amount of edging, etc. I'll be taking color requests until I call them up tomorrow. So far we have black & yellow, black & gray and black & red as suggestions. I think I'll just find some sturdy cardboard boxes for moving them around rather than springing for the custom carrying cases.

In other booth news, ebay item:

http://cgi.ebay.com/BRETFORD-9-POCKET-METAL-LITERATURE-MAGAZINE-RACK_W0QQitemZ150006178906QQihZ005QQcategoryZ302QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

(BRETFORD 9-POCKET METAL LITERATURE/MAGAZINE RACK)

is very nice and cheap, but for pickup only in the Plainfield, IL area. Bidding ends in about 7 hours from when I am posting this. So, if anyone has an interest in something like this, right now is the time to check it out.

Greg

[btrc]

Another exceptionally sweet deal:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Revolving-WOOD-20-Slot-MAGAZINE-PAPER-BOOK-RACK-Atlanta_W0QQitemZ330004076699QQihZ014QQcategoryZ121277QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

(20 pocket, wood, rotating, dismantlable, magazine display stand)
The catch: Pickup only, Liburn GA 30047

Auction has 1 day to go.

Greg

[btrc]

(This is also cc'd to Luke as a direct message)
Just got off the phone with Softtiles and sweet-talking would not get them to give me the sale price. Normal price is $4.80 per 2 x 2 tile (instead of $4.30). If we want 400 sq. ft, and say three sides worth of edging (60 feet of edging), the price would be:

100 tiles = $480.00
60 edging pieces = $45.00
Total: $520.00 plus shipping

This is about $50 more than before because of the non-sale price. If this is still in budget, let me know and I'll place the order.

Greg

[btrc]

While comparison shopping to see if I could find a better price (negative thus far), I came across this site:

http://www.softnsafefloors.com/specials.html

If you scroll down to the bottom of the page, these folks sell custom tiles (compatible with softtiles) with a removable inlay in which you can put your own visuals. So, I suppose like we had chair sponsors, people could have a permanent chunk of floor with their own message on it, to be stepped on repeatedly by uncaring gamers. Sort of a metaphor for the industry...;)

Greg

[Paul Czege]

Hey Greg,

Have you tried eBay? Danielle found similar interlocking flooring tiles for good "buy it now" prices on eBay when we had this same booth flooring conversation a couple of years ago.

Paul

[btrc]

Yes, I've found some stuff on ebay that is approximately the same and in fact I'm investigating it further right now.

Greg

[btrc]

The order for flooring has been placed. 400 square feet, plus beveled edging, half black, half red in 24" x 24" squares. Total (including shipping) is $415.95. The fun part is I just remembered I stage up to a friend's house before making the trip to Indy in his land yacht, so I'll have to somehow cram these suckers into my Mini Cooper and still find room for the games I want to sell...

Greg Porter

[Luke]

Rock and roll!

Strap 'em to the roof.

In other news, I completed our GenCon furniture order today. We've got 8 tables (up from 5 last year) and a big ass pole/stand thing (bigger than last year's) for the booth.

-L

[Paul Czege]

Hey Luke,

We've got 8 tables (up from 5 last year)...

No worries about having only 2.5 chairs per table? My own turnover on demos of My Life with Master is about one sale per three players.

Paul