[Deptheads] Child Care at the Convention
DB
noldor at gmail.com
Mon Feb 11 10:33:38 PST 2008
If we¹re truly serious about aiming for families, long term plans might be
to move the con to family-friendly Orange County. I¹m just saying that
having the con at a hotel near crummy-neighborhood LAX on a street full of
strip clubs isn¹t exactly a family environment. Plus, since real estate in
Los Angeles urban area is so high, the middle-class family audience that
would show up at the con doesn¹t live anywhere close. Plus, if we were in
Orange County, we¹d be that much more accessible to bedroom communities in
san diego, riverside and san bernardino counties. When the con started in
the L.A. Area all those years ago, it was a very different demographic that
lived in the city. We might need to reconsider our location in the coming
years and make the jump to where our intended attendees actually live.
- Denys
On 2/11/08 8:24 AM, "Heather Hughes" <heather at gibsongirl.net> wrote:
> I have all the information she (Lisa) aquired on that . I still have the
> company info. In 2007 it was too much of a cost with a new convention
> management for us to afford, so we put it on the back burner. We can revisit
> it again at the next meeting if you like. I will call the service again in
> anticpation of a more detailed discussion on their services and cost for May.
>
> Heather
>
>
> On 2/8/08, Norman Carlson <carlsonnorm at yahoo.com> wrote:
>> We need to attract the family to the con, as Patrick stated "The con is
>> getting older, and we need it to get younger or our con is dying a slow
>> death", we started working on this in 2005, by acquiring a licensed bonded
>> company to run a kids room. Lisa was handling this for us and has a lot of
>> information that we could probably get from her. If i remember correctly she
>> had a company that we where considering in right before the con was sold.
>>
>> Norm
>>
>> ----- Original Message ----
>> From: DB <noldor at gmail.com>
>> To: deptheads at strategicon.net
>> Sent: Friday, February 8, 2008 7:54:57 AM
>> Subject: Re: [Deptheads] Re: Computer Room Tourneys
>>
>> I think we should put Rob in charge of day care. I imagine pursuits
>> throughout the con like something out of Logan's Run. Carousel! Carousel!
>>
>> - Den
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: "Karl Kreder" <zeotter at gmail.com>
>>
>> Date: Fri, 8 Feb 2008 07:51:32
>> To:deptheads at strategicon.net
>> Subject: Re: [Deptheads] Re: Computer Room Tourneys
>>
>>
>> We have a large family group of 3 families worth of kids (about 8-10 of them,
>> ages from around 6 to 13) and 4 adults. They have come to the last 3 cons
>> and say that they bring the kids to get them off the video games for a
>> weekend. Just an FYI
>>
>> On Feb 7, 2008 10:30 PM, Robert Lionheart <spinachcat at yahoo.com
>> <mailto: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 maj!
>> or keystone - they market the idea that only people there are other fa
>> milies. 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
>> <mailto: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 ----- F!
>> rom: Robert Lionheart <mailto:spinachcat at yahoo.com> To:
>> deptheads at strategicon.net <mailto: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
>> <mailto: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
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>> -- Karl (zeotter at gmail.com <mailto:zeotter at gmail.com> )
>> The wages of sin are death, but by the time taxes are taken out, it's just
>> sort of a tired feeling. - Paula Poundstone
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