[Deptheads] Child Care at the Convention
Michael Russell
mikeinva8 at mac.com
Mon Feb 11 10:40:33 PST 2008
How funny you say that, many do not know that Orccon stood for Orang
County Convention, that is where it started at way back in 1980 I
think it was, moved to LAX to be more central to everyone for LA and
OC and for people flying in. Just an FYI.
On Feb 11, 2008, at 6:33 PM, DB wrote:
> If we’re truly serious about aiming for families, long term plans
> might be to move the con to family-friendly Orange County. I’m
> just saying that having the con at a hotel near crummy-neighborhood
> LAX on a street full of strip clubs isn’t 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 doesn’t live anywhere close. Plus, if we were in Orange County,
> we’d 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
>>> Interactive Gaming?
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