[Deptheads] Re: Computer Room Tourneys

Mon Feb 11 08:43:34 PST 2008

Anyone under the age of 13 should be required to be with a parent for any
event.  Anyone coming in over the age of 13 will need to be "signed in" by a
parent, with the understanding that we are NOT a child care service, and
that the adults will be liable for any damage done to the computers.

For all of Patrick's Junior boardgames events, (like Kids of Catan)  it  is
a  "parent particpation/monitoring" required, event.  Parents must remain
with their kids.

If males with no kids has been our demographic it's because wemon did not
care to attend (for the most part).  Now with the revolution of boardgaming,
wemon, wives, mothers, are MUCH more inclinded to attend, but are stunted
for child care and child entertainment issues.

Look and Devi and I,  and Eric Burgess and his wife Christina, and their
children and many others are limited of an hour or so of play time because
with no, alternative, we have to take the kids home.   So why would we buy
a  bagde?!?

We brought friends with kids to the conventions a few years ago.  They paid
for a room for at the hotel for a whole weekend, they both bough badges, and
then when it came time to play, they traded off watching the kids, one
played while the other stayed with the children, for a few hours.  However,
the kids began to hate being there, becuase, other than the "Junior's Games"
and one trip to the computer room, there was nothing to do but watch tv in
the hotel room.  Eventually, the wife LEFT the convention with kids to take
them to a movie locally.    You can BET, neither of them have ever come back
(even though BOTH play games) becuase there was nothing for the kids to
do.

Families usually have more  money than single young men.  They can afford
the rooms, the badges, and buy games in the dealer room for both them and
their kids.

I AM this demographic guys.

Heather

On 2/7/08, Robert Lionheart <spinachcat at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> If you truly want to tap the family market, you need a fully funded kids
> room with babysitting / kids play volunteers.   Kubla has this and its a
> huge resource drain, but they are betting on the long term idea of a family
> oriented convention.
>
> An enhanced video game room is a double-edged situation.   While should
> bring the attention of the younger audience, you run the distinct risk of
> such an area becoming a "kids' area" when the convention is not set up with
> personnel to deal with such an area.
>
> The security issues alone are quite daunting as are equipment
> liabilities.   One time a kid goes missing due to completely innocent
> wandering and you can bet the crap will hit the fan at high speed.   While
> this may not have been an issue when only a handful of kids are present, try
> to juggle this problem with five times the number of young children.  Also,
> is ANYONE on our staff trained and licensed to monitor children in a
> commercial space?
>
> Also, I do not believe we have to aim that young at all.  The high school
> / college crowd / young adult market is very good and the older / returning
> gamer is another choice target.   If the convention wants to focus on family
> entertainment that is quite possible  BUT there would need to be significant
> changes to make that happen.
>
> To make that happen, the convention would need a much more mundane family
> game track.  Stuff that people recognize.   I don't mean members of BBG.   I
> mean people who shop at ToysRus and never heard of Catan.  I am taking
> Chutes & Ladders and games where families can play as a whole with other
> families.   You would have to Disneyesque things to a great degree.   There
> would have to be MUCH more focus aimed at entertaining the 6-10 year old and
> their parents at the same event.
>
> If you look at family marketing, you will see that the family focused
> event marketing has a major keystone - they market the idea that only people
> there are other families.  Families view this as an important factor in the
> assumption of fun and safety.   Go view advertisements for zoos, Legoland,
> Whatever on Ice and other family focused events.  They do NOT include
> single males in their marketing.   In fact, these people do not exist in
> Family Marketing World.   Last time I checked, males attending without kids
> is our main demographic.
>
> Otherwise, just saying "sure, bring your kids" is not enough to draw
> anyone.  Currently, there is NO reason to bring your family to the
> convention if you have 6-11 year old children.   We have ZERO focus on their
> needs and we do NOT have a child secure atmosphere.
>
> - Robert
>
>
>
> *Patrick Havert <patrickhavert at sbcglobal.net>* wrote:
>
> Robert,
>
> As head of marketing do you think Teen parents may look at the website?
> Come on and grow up, unless we do something that younger kids can attend
> they have no reason to go to the con and *neither do their families*.  If
> we eliminate that group for a few years, do you think they'll really come
> back?  The con is getting older, and we need it to get younger or our con is
> dying a slow death.
> I admit that teens are better, but we want people to be able to bring
> their families, if we don't let's just put up signs on the website that say
> 12+ years old only so we can eliminate any family groups with younger kids.
>
> If you can explain why lounge is better than Zone for teens, I'd love to
> hear it.  You seem pretty jaded for someone trying to get people to attend
> the con, maybe we should call it one of your names to really lower
> expectations.
>
> -Patrick
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> *From:* Robert Lionheart <spinachcat at yahoo.com>
> *To:* deptheads at strategicon.net
> *Sent:* Thursday, February 07, 2008 5:14 PM
> *Subject:* Re: [Deptheads] Re: Computer Room Tourneys
>
>
> Oh gods Patrick, are we doing it "for the children"?
>
> That's it!  We're going with Video Game Bordello!  Halo Orgy starts at
> noon!
>
> I like the non-family connotation of Lounge because we do not want the
> Video Game Space become the Babysitter Zone.   We do not want parents using
> the con as a dump zone for their rugrats.   I am quite sure Janice isn't
> signing up for Strategicon Day Care, aka Dungeons & Diapers.
>
> We want teens, not kids, as attendees.  Kids are walking liabilities.
> Teens are walking wallets and awesome impule buyers for the dealer's
> room.  Kids are a resource drain while Teens are networking gold.   The 12+
> crowd is far far far more desirable than the 6-11 range.
>
> - Robert
>
>
>
>
> *Patrick Havert <patrickhavert at sbcglobal.net>* wrote:
>
> I agree with Janice in that Lounge has a kind of non-family connotation
> associated with it, that we do not want to foster.
>
> How about Video Game Zone, Video Games Live, or Interactive Gaming?
>
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