[Deptheads] RE: Deptheads Digest, Vol 23, Issue 14

Fri Oct 16 11:54:13 PDT 2009

Agreed.

We need to be manufacturer and publisher friendly. 
Manufacturers provide stuff for grab bags at registration, run their tourneys and provide prizes and giveaways, they use our convention for major national tourneys they sponsor and run, and they get people to attend because they sell pre-release product at the convention.
Win win for everyone.

V

--- On Fri, 10/16/09, Norman Carlson <carlsonnorm at yahoo.com> wrote:

From: Norman Carlson <carlsonnorm at yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [Deptheads] RE: Deptheads Digest, Vol 23, Issue 14
To: deptheads at strategicon.net
Date: Friday, October 16, 2009, 12:56 PM

>From what I am seeing here, you all missed the point, except for Chris and John. The point being, bringing AEG back will be a big step in the right direction in regards to attracting manufactures too attend our conventions again. We will never reach our full potential with out them.

Norm 

From: Chris Carlson <ccarlson101 at hotmail.com>
To: deptheads at strategicon.net
Sent: Fri, October 16, 2009 7:11:06 AM
Subject: [Deptheads] RE: Deptheads Digest, Vol 23, Issue 14

Burgess,

I agree with virtually everything you laid out below. However, I would like to address point #7. In my opinion, AEG is an opportunity to start reaching out to manufacturers again and start getting them back.

I think we need to be mindful (even at this stage in our re-development) of how we treat manufacturers and publishers. Sure, AEG is "local" and may be looking to have us help them grow back up. Sure, we have other things on our plate as well. 

Don't we want to start getting manufacturers back to our show? They are invariably going to see and hear how we treat our local companies. That may influence their decisions down the road on whether to attend themselves.

Of course, we need to make sure getting AEG in is a win/win. We don't want to make any bad business decisions. But we also want to show them the respect and consideration we should be showing any successful publisher. 

YMMV,
Chris

> Date: Thu, 15 Oct 2009 22:40:33 -0700
> From: Eric Burgess <erburgess at gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: [Deptheads] Meeting notes
> To: deptheads at strategicon.net
> Message-ID:
> <b443eb610910152240u5c92bbabj18b4dd34c2099a66 at mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
> 
> A whole bunch of comments to respond to:
> 
> 1) On whether the board game guests are a draw: Someone can check the
> numbers if they like but if you look back at the data, I think you'll see a
> bump when we brought in someone big (like Knizia, Jay Tummelson, Steve
> Jackson and Schacht) and you'll see not much when we punted (Dan Verssen,
> Tom Jolly). Dan and Tom are friends of mine but local draws are just not big
> draws.
> 
> 2) I don't think doing what Mondo did makes any sense. Alan has been to our
> conventions many times in recent years - incidentally - he came out to meet
> Knizia and Schacht. I don't think scheduling a guest to tamp down an
> old rumor makes fiscal sense.
> 
> 3) Bringing in well-known guests is a marketing bonanza for us. We get
> picked up by the national board game media and that's a lot more exposure
> for our brand. It shows this convention is a serious contender against
> Kublacon and other competitors.
> 
> 4) I have no issue with multiple guests - in fact, I think it makes sense
> but we should get a good list and market it effectively. Kublacon always has
> a list of guests and although regulars are always there (they have about ten
> regular 'special guests'), they also get a marquee name. Put Alan and many
> of these other guys on the list, fine. But let's keep a real guest.
> 
> 5) I have yet to hear a guest that will draw in the crowds for the RPG,
> minis, or other parts.
> 
> 6) CCGs were flash in the pan. They were a fad. I think it is silly to
> compare them to board games or RPGs or minis. 15 years on from Magic, they
> are a blip for the con. Board Games were a big part of the convention when I
> started attending in 1986 and they are big now - even bigger. And - sorry to
> the rest - but they are the most approachable games to bring in families and
> casual gamers to build attendance. No other type of games will ever grow
> like that. I think we should just get over that idea.
> 
> There are ways to grow attendees from the other departments. I don't think
> this is one of them particularly and I'll, ask Tim suggested, share some
> ideas with him offline. I've shared them with Aldrich before.
> 
> 7) I'd love to see AEG grow back to where they were. But hopefully we'll
> draw publishers on their own by being a successful convention rather than
> covering their costs to come. I'd be happy to run a major event for them to
> help promote their big line of new board games releases. However, Orccon
> will already be busy with the Settlers qualifier, the Ticket to Ride World
> Championship qualifier and events for Matt Leacock. I'm sure we can do
> something but hopefully they can run it.
> 
> ...ERB
> www.boardgamebabylon.com
> www.strategicon.net
> 
> 
> On Thu, Oct 15, 2009 at 9:50 PM, <Evil5757 at aol.com> wrote:
> 
> > Eric,
> >
> > Actually, I remember AEG being a HUGE draw during the L5R days, with both
> > the card tournaments and the LARPs they used to run. I believe that if
> > Zinzer is serious about reviving AEG, part of that would include a
> > commitment from AEG to publicize their events at Strategicon in an attempt
> > to bring more local gamers (most of which do NOT come) to the convention.
> >
> > While I appreciate the fact that most of the big names in the industry
> > right now are associated with boardgames, our Special Guests should be
> > targeted towards areas we need attention drawn to so they can be improved
> > upon. Right now we are being seen as a "Boardgaming Convention" just as we
> > were seen as a "Cardgaming Convention" a few years ago. Boardgaming is
> > fine...we need to protect against getting complacent, and you have done a
> > good job to ensure we are always trying to improve the department. For the
> > convention as a whole to improve, the other departments must be the ones
> > looked at to catch up to boardgames.
> >
> > One such department is Seminars, of which Guests make a huge contribution
> > (as an example). That is one reason I asked Lonnie Gill if he would be
> > willing to come back to Strategicon. He is not only a game designer of a
> > game that has lasted over 30 years, he is a navel historian and is preparing
> > a 2 hour workshop seminar for Orccon. This will also be a good draw for
> > historical miniatures and boardgame players (which our 2 "bootcamps" are
> > geared toward).
> >
> > Bringing in Guests from boardgames is needed to make the boardgaming
> > participants of our convention (over half the attendees I believe) happy and
> > give them something new, but if we want to use guests as a attendee draw, we
> > need to focus on the departments we want to draw people into.
> >
> > John
> >
> >
> > In a message dated 10/14/2009 10:44:16 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time,
> > erburgess at gmail.com writes:
> >
> > Janice,
> >
> > Your lack of knowledge about those folks doesn't mean they are
> > insignificant - it means that you don't know the best known designers in the
> > largest and fastest-growing segment of our attendees. If you don't know
> > award-winning games like Pandemic or Agricola or Galaxy Trucker/Space
> > Alert/Through The Ages, it is quite natural that you wouldn't see the logic
> > in having these folks in to drive attendance.
> >
> > Furthermore, no other segment focuses on designers like Board Games. We'd
> > discussed ad nauseum the fact that there are no 'rock star' designers in the
> > RPG world, nor particularly the miniatures world. We have a ton in the Board
> > Games space. Designers' names on the box is a big deal in board gaming and
> > so people know them. Board Game designers are also natural fits, as a larger
> > number of people play their games than RPGs (a far more splintered market
> > these days for designers) or minis or CCGs. And someone can just walk up and
> > try the game out with the designer and go buy it in the dealer room - an
> > easier sell than RPGs/minis/CCGs. It's just natural synergy.
> >
> > Alan and AEG are here in SoCal. Having them as the special guests will
> > draw no additional attendees. Simple fact - why would they when you can meet
> > them all over the place around here? I like AEG and Alan, too, but there is
> > zero value monetary value in showcasing them other than championing local
> > talent. No problem there and having them as guest as well is cool. But if we
> > want to draw people, we should stick with names that (most) people know.
> >
> > I can understand wanting to spread the love around but I think there are
> > far better ways to help develop RPGs, minis, and other departments than
> > changing a winning formula for Board Games and losing attendees as a
> > result.
> >
> > ...ERB
> > www.boardgamebabylon.com
> > www.strategicon.net
> >
> >
> > On Wed, Oct 14, 2009 at 10:21 PM, Janice Sellers <janicemsj at gmail.com>wrote:
> >
> >> On 10/14/09, Eric Burgess <erburgess at gmail.com> wrote:
> >> >
> >> > On Tue, Oct 13, 2009 at 10:45 PM, Eric M. Aldrich I <
> >> ealdrich at apple.com>
> >> > wrote:
> >> > > b. Special Guests and Events: Trying for Alan Emrich for
> >> Gateway,
> >> > trying for Richard Borg for Gamex. AEG maybe at Orccon. Lonnie Gill at
> >> > Orccon
> >> >
> >> > I think people are forgetting that we already have Matt Leacock of
> >> Pandemic
> >> > and Roll Through The Ages fame coming for Orccon 2010. He's just up in
> >> the
> >> > Bay Area so it's not even costly and he doesn't really do Kublacon so
> >> this
> >> > is a nice coup for us (I happen to be sharing a room with him in Essen
> >> so it
> >> > was easy to get). Plus, Uwe Rosenberg (Agricola, Le Havre, Bohnanza and
> >> the
> >> > new At The Gates of Loyang) already told me he'd come out in 2010 (I'll
> >> > confirm in Essen) so please don't fill up the dance card with - frankly
> >> -
> >> > small draws. Borg's great but he's at Pacificon a lot and been here
> >> plenty.
> >> > If he comes, it should be along with asking DoW to come and perhaps
> >> promote
> >> > a big Memoir '44 event.
> >> > Alan's a friend but I'd only seek him out if he truly have zero budget
> >> for a
> >> > guest. Lonnie would fall into the same category. If that's the case, no
> >> > problem - but tell me now before I ask big draws like Wolfgang Kramer,
> >> > Vlaada Chvatl, or even Reiner to come back.
> >>
> >> I think we need to keep in mind that focusing on guests from only one
> >> segment of the industry, i.e., board games, can make us look like only
> >> a board game convention from a marketing perspective. I've never
> >> heard of Leacock, Rosenberg, Chvati, or Borg. I also don't think that
> >> Emrich and AEG are quite that insignificant. And we can have more
> >> than one guest, especially if we focus on West Coast people.
> >>
> >> > f. We need an art director! Janice, see bottom of page for art
> >> > details.
> >> >
> >> > Seth Halbeisen? If you are specific with what you need, my wife might be
> >> > able to help with concepting but she's no digital artist.
> >>
> >> I have a good list of artists I'm talking to already. But who is Seth
> >> Halbeisen? Is he the one I found who goes by jstr4hire?
> >>
> >> > Need artists for
> >> > Revamped logo: up to $200 offered
> >> >
> >> > What do you want on it? Again, my wife might be able to help.
> >>
> >> I am already talking to artists.
> >>
> >> Janice
> >> _______________________________________________
> >> Deptheads mailing list
> >> Deptheads at strategicon.net
> >> http://mordred.punk.net/mailman/listinfo/deptheads
> >>
> >
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
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> >
> >
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> >
> >
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