[Deptheads] Renaming the Cons

[Eric Burgess]

One note on this: seasonal names could cause confusion, too...

Winter Orccon - no problem, as everyone agrees that February is in the
middle of Winter and thus Orccon is a Winter con.

Spring Orccon - What is now Gamex happens in late Spring but people often
associate Memorial Day Weekend with the start of Summer (thank the movie
industry for that)
Fall Orccon - Gateway is actually in the Summer but people associate Labor
Day with the start of Fall.

Since perception IS reality, I suppose going with what people assume is
probably better than what is technically correct but I guess you could argue
that point if you are so inclined. I don't have a solution but I do think
that the seasonal names could lead to confusion, too.

-- 
...ERB

Boardgame Babylon - 2007 Board Game Internet Award winner for Best
Podcast/Videocast


On Fri, Feb 22, 2008 at 1:05 PM, Robert Lionheart <spinachcat at yahoo.com>
wrote:

> Would you have Winner OrcCon, Spring OrcCon and Fall OrcCon?
>
> I am not sure about this, but it does use our strongest brand name.   I am
> concerned that our Special Guests have been confused about the name of the
> con they are attending.   That causes a problem with them promoting the con
> in the future.
>
> GameCon was a weak name.   ManaCon was good during the Magic days and
> ConQuest's smartest move was to brand their events with the same name so
> they have ConQuest San Francisco, ConQuest Sacramento, ConQuest
> Northwest...except for their odd CruiseCon.
>
> Speaking about ConQuest, things are odd there.   They have moved CQSF to
> Santa Clara which is far far away from SFO and their core audience.  It
> might as well be CQ San Jose at this point.  Also, they are launching
> ConQuest Las Vegas for April 18-20 of this year at Ballys.
>
> BTW, we might want to offer a full page ad trade.   If they give Gamex a
> full page in their Vegas con book, we trade for a full page to promote their
> Alaska CruiseCon which happens in July.
>
> - R
>
>
>
>
> *DB <noldor at gmail.com>* wrote:
>
>  Janice's suggestion is EXCELLENT.
>
> OrcCon is our most popular con.  We're best known for that.  *If* we
> really do want to change the name of the cons, capitalizing on our most
> recognizable name, most fun and best experience would be best.  Re-branding
> the three cons under the OrcCon banner makes the most sense.  It unifies the
> conventions in a way that they haven't before and gives the impression that
> all three conventions reflect the fun and robust crowds that OrcCon
> provides.  (and who cares if it came from "Orange County Convention", this
> is the gaming hobby — everyone thinks we're talking about a green-skinned
> monster)
>
> As Eric B. said, changing a name will make little difference to the local
> folk who show up for a game con at the same hotel 3 times a year, no matter
> the name.  I can only see positives for non-local folk who have probably
> heard of OrcCon over any of the other names and others who only attend our
> biggest con of the year.
>
> Strategicon, Gamex, Gateway... All those names aren't worth preserving.
>
> But I'll be honest, Rob, I too never thought of gay mexicans when I heard
> Gamex.
>
>  - Denys
>
>
> On 2/22/08 11:39 AM, "Eric Burgess" <erburgess at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> While don't necessarily agree that a name change is in order either, I do
> think there are a couple of factors here:
>
> 1. Locals - A name change won't affect the local attendees one bit. The
> SoCal folks that attend the cons know the names and it isn't going to matter
> to them. I would wager that you wouldn't lose a single regular attendee by
> changing Gamex to KoboldCon or Strategicon Spring or whatever.
>
> 2. Non-locals - Changing the name COULD affect non-locals. The confusion
> comes from people that are not familiar with the cons. In this area, there
> IS something broken - our own Special Guests are unclear of what we call the
> cons. Many people at a distances are puzzled by a convention series because
> they are accustomed to Origins once a year, Kublacon once a year, GenCon
> Indy once a year, and so on.
>
> If we are aiming at this crowd - and that means attendees, VIP Special
> Guests, manufacturers, retailers, and other dealers (not to even mention
> media to help promote the cons), a more unified (and, perhaps, 'cooler')
> nomenclature could benefit the cons.
>
>
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