IndieAid at Other Cons

[Nathan]

Hey, had a brainstorm idea...

Would you guys pay a small fee to get your games represented at other cons?

Reason why - I am going to Uncommoncon at Dallas, TX (www.uncommoncon.com), and it appears to be a fairly large con. I was thinking of getting a booth to promote MysticAges stuff, but to defray the cost, for about $25, I would also represent your company's stuff. This isn't a scam to make money, it's just I alone could not fill two tables with MysticAges' stuff. On the other hand, with a variety of other publishers and their flyers, demos, games, etc, I could easily fill that up and do a good deed at the same time. Plus, I could afford it.

What say any of you?

Thanks,
Nathan

[ This Message was edited by: Nathan on 2001-07-02 20:28 ]

[GreatWolf]

I'm there...with bells on.  Contact me via email and we'll chat.

[Dav]

Nathan:

This is no slight toward you, but I am always leery of having others rep my stuff at cons.  I have no way of knowing whether or not that person has any idea what my stuff is, or if they can in any way accurately represent my stuff.

That said, I am also a heavy gambler.  Life isn't sparkly fun unless you are taking a risk.  

What services, exactly, are you offering?  Flyers only, or merchandise as well?  If you want merchandise, would you accept a cut of what you sell rather than a flat fee?  

Sorry to turn this into a mild interrogation, just getting my feel.

Dav

[Nathan]

Hey Dav,

I totally agree with you on that. As I was thinking about it, those sorts of thoughts crossed my mind - say, a gamer comes up and says.. what sort of system does this company's game have? I probably couldn't answer that question and a sale is lost right there. I probably could fake my way through it though, heh, but I still don't know how successful I would be.

So - I would love to demo games or assemble a crew to help demo games. For that, I probably need the material pretty early, so I can have everyone look at it, get familiar, and run three or four games. There is nothing that sucks as worse as a GM trying to teach you a game he/she doesn't know.

This is all new to me - but it is an interesting idea..

What would you like to see? What would make you feel the most comfortable?

At the easiest, I could pass out flyers, give away some freebies, and put a big sign with your company's name and website address on it. I know most of you folks and your sites, so I can usually answer some general questions about the games and everything... I don't think that alone would be worth $25 though (but maybe it is)... Demoing games would be sweet to do, because then, I could be in the dealer hall the whole time and STILL game. :smile:

Demoing games adds some trouble though - gotta have dice, space, chairs, etc... So maybe I should charge more??

Gosh, this is wild.

Shoot me with your ideas... If I do this, I want to do it right...

BTW, check this out:
http://www.uncommoncon.com/UC2001/ucinfo.txt">http://www.uncommoncon.com/UC2001/ucinfo.txt

Thanx,
Nathan

[Nathan]

Also, I forgot...

I can do merchandise - but I won't have a credit card machine or anything like that, mind you. So I don't know how successful that would be. I guess if it was even dollars most of the time - $5 for this, $10 for that, etc.. I could handle the change on that.

Let me think about it.

Thanx,
Nathan

[Dav]

The demoing is a great idea, and one that I would support in a major way.  In terms of merchandise, I am thinking that it may be easiest to not worry about moving product as much as demoing games and passing out material.  Most of us have direct sales via the net, and that is good enough.  For $25, having you demo a game and offer word-of-mouth suppost in addition to flyers and such seems worth it to me.

I am thinking that this is something I would be interested in joining (hiring you for?).  Once you get everything wroked-out on your end, in terms of how much, when, and all that, I am thinking Apophis will be a big supporter... Hell, we even have modules/scenarios available free on our site, so creating a game wouldn't be a problem.

Once we get our new book (Legends) back from the printer, I will shove a copy or so your way, along with the rest of our library, and you can take a look and let me know if you are still interested.  Sound good?

Dav

[Nathan]

Sounds great...

We can test this thing out with Uncommoncon.. I am not going to Gencon or Origins - other commitments have me swamped at the moment.

Merchandise would be a big mess. What might also be cool would be little plastic sacks to give away - including flyers from all the supporting game companies -n- stuff. Gosh, all of that costs money.

Well, this is a different idea. If anyone else has any ideas, comments, or input, let me know. I may need to look at this from another angle...

Thanx,
Nathan

[Misguided Games]

All I have is flyers at this point...but they are really sweet flyers.  No actual product for us until next year, but I'm trying to start building some interest at the big cons this year.  My hope is we can get a little snowball going and then point it downhill.

[Ron Edwards]

Hi Nathan,

I strongly suggest you work from a two-layered plan.

Layer #1 = no payment. These are services that are done in free-trade form, as in, "I'll be at this con, so send me some flyers and I'll stack'em on the table and pass them along in the bag when someone buys something." And the guy you're helping will do the same for you, as well as any other good things like plugging you at their site or putting an ad or mention in with their game.

This layer is regulated only by mutual recognition. If you help some guy, and he doesn't make good, then cut off the support. The key to defining this layer is that your personal effort is fairly low - just flyers, for instance.

Layer #2 = paid services. These would include more concrete effort, like printing flyers that someone sends you electronically. (I'm doing this now with people at Origins, who are to be paid for the time they put in printing the flyer files I sent them.) They would also include more of the stuff you mention above.

One final point: I suggest that actually demo'ing another person's game is a HUGE time and effort commitment, and it works against the primary goal of your table. This would be a service that I, for instance, would be reluctant to have performed for me by another company or designer. That's not because I think that Sorcerer can only be demo'd by me (which I know is not true), but because I think that the PRIMARY goal of your table is to get YOUR game promoted. Mention and advertising of other people's stuff is great, but actually marketing and demonstrating it seems like WAY too much effort on your part, at the expense of your primary goal.

Best,
Ron

[Misguided Games]

I have emailed the GPA and enquired about the purchase of a spinner rack that could be used to promote products of members.  I haven't had much response from the list thus far, but I think it is a god idea.  They were kind of enough to make space for my flyers, as was jason Blair, who I can't thank enough.  I'm trying to design my booth for next year, and want to set aside space for info on other folks products.

[Nathan]

Well, Ron, thank you for your comments.

See part of the reason why I was doing this was not to MAKE money at all. I want to get a booth at a local con, but I probably cannot afford it by myself. So, even doing the two-layered plan, if a bunch of people send me flyers, that is not going to pay for my booth. So its pointless - I have flyers but no booth.

I am still wrestling with this, and I still want to do it, but it just looks difficult.

Demoing is a huge ordeal - I agree. I would find it quite fun, but certainly, you would be taking a risk. If I don't "get" your game and run it poorly, then it wasn't really worth it, right? Actually, they say bad press is better than no press.... I don't know - maybe I don't need a booth to run demos, right? What about a mobile booth?

Heh, Anymore ideas are very welcome...

Thanks,
Nathan