GENCON 2003 - FINAL ORGANIZATION

[Ron Edwards]

Hello,

I've consulted with the GenCon people, and those little boxes on the exhibit hall diagram show where a "power drop" would go if you have one. We don't have one; it costs money to set that up.

So laptop people, fire up your batteries. I suppose if a bunch of you want to come up with the money, you can, but (a) realize that it'll be at last-minute prices, and (b) I will not organize it, someone else has to; I'll just be the last step in the process.

As for signs, I have my cool little Adept Press sign from last year, and will bring it along. Everyone else, get in touch with Danielle immediately if you want one. It's pretty harsh to mail someone stuff like that two days before a con. Danielle, you've posted your desired format before, right?

Best,
Ron

[Ron Edwards]

Hello again,

I recommend that everyone review last year's thread GenCon 2002 - VERY IMPORTANT, from last year. Some of the concerns discussed in there were dealt with effectively last year, but I'm now pointing to my first post in the thread and its statement of the primary goal at the booth.

In other words, everyone promotes everyone else. You do that by talking to con attendees in a nice way, to find out what they like and might be interested in. You do it by being friendly and by having fun. You do it by being willing to sit in on a demo session for someone else's game, if they need another person.

What we're trying to avoid is a flea-market situation, in which someone comes by and gets instantly buttonholed by one of a dozen eager merchants to check out his and only his game, now now now. No. I want people to feel fine with hanging out at the booth, and playing stuff.

And then for my next point ....

Sales. The other goal is to sell tons and tons of our games. How is this done? My answer is based on these points.

1. That friendly hang-out atmosphere should include, as a second stage of the interaction, a recommendation toward a given game at the booth. This goes for every single person who drops by - evaluate them regarding games that might be a good match for them, and then either sell'em your game (if applicable), or send'em to someone else.

2. Sell your game through actual play. Spend half an hour playing? If you sell no copies, then you wasted half an hour and lost money for yourself or for the person whose game you played. If you run a session of Sorcerer, for instance, then send those players to me. Listen to no excuses ("Oh, my brother has a copy"). Send them to me. If you run a session of your own game, then brook no excuses - finish up the demo, then fan copies out in one hand and say, "OK, $5 apiece." (or whatever)

If interacting like this embarasses you, then work hard to get over it. Remember, people want to spend their money at the booth, but they also want to see your commitment to the product as well. Your enthusiasm, for both play and sales, is inspiring to them. Without that inspiration, they'll wander on.

3. Keep demos short. I said this last year, and I saw tons of hour-and-a-half demos getting run that resulted in no sales. This is a bad thing, especially since space is more limited this year. "How can I run a forty-minute demo?" Put your minds to it - what you're showing off is how much fun your game is to play, after the ninjas come through the windows, not how clever your PC creation system is, or how many options there are. Consider demo-ing situations, not scenarios.

OK, enough sternness for now.

Best,
Ron

[Paul's Girl]

ok, the banner is 3'x 6' which is a standard banner size.

The mini-posters were created from suggestions to have a game menu, poloroid photos of the game designers and a message board. My previous post has examples of the sign as well as the banner and sticker jpg. The mini-poster are 11x17 sheets of paper with the game logo across majority of the page, with a sub title or slogan below it. In an upper corner the author’s photo and name. Below this could be a list of other people who could run a demo game. (The game designers have the option of putting this together themselves or I will be happy to put it together if they send me the info.)  I will still be happy to print out signs or put them together.

300 dpi minimum images or like Michael, the game cover. I will be printing them out using Microsoft Publisher on a color lazer printer. Nathan has also volunteered to print out these signs. I will have to put a new deadline on this, I don't want to be doing these the day that we are leaving, so let's say Friday the 18th.

[Paul's Girl]

Ladies and Gentlemen,

the banner:
http://www.halfmeme.com/bannerdisplayed.jpg

So, that means that I am now accepting donations for the cost through paypal under danicow@hotmail.com. The banner, stickers and current office supplies are $290. If there are supplies that you think are needed, please post them by the end of this week.  

Also note that the deadline for mini-posters is this Friday, the 18th.  I can accept them as .pdf, zip files or microsoft publisher.

-D

[Matt Gwinn]

When do we get to see a pic of Pauls cool creation?

[Jürgen Mayer]

I now have a reservation for a hotel room on tuesday, so if anyone wants to get into Indy early, you're welcome to crash in my room. Also, if anyone is there on tuesday and wants to get a game going that evening, PM me or open a new thread.

[Luke]

Hi Ron et omnes,

I have a very practical question: How do I get my badge and stuff from you when I arrive? Since I won't get to the hall until 10 amFriday, I figure you all will already be over there.

Does anyone have a cell phone that I could call? Is there a place I could meet someone? Can the badges be left at the info or registration desk?

Also, what's our booth number?

(I just got my banner back today, it is very cool! I'm very excited.)

Lastly, if I wanted to ship packages to the hotel does anyone have any advice? Has anyone actually done this before?

thanks,
-Luke

[Mario]

Greetings all,

I'm back from LA and I will be at the con although I won't be working at the booth, but I'm willing do any little things that you all need.

See you there,
Mario

[Jürgen Mayer]

One thing to consider might be customers who bought a non-working Violence Future CD at the indie booth last year. Will Dav be there with working CDs for replacement? What are we going to do if not?