[Deptheads] Meeting notes

[Eric Burgess]

More comments...

...ERB
www.boardgamebabylon.com
www.strategicon.net


On Fri, Oct 16, 2009 at 8:51 AM, Janice Sellers <janicemsj at gmail.com> wrote:

> Eric,
>
> On 10/15/09, Eric Burgess <erburgess at gmail.com> wrote:
> > 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).
>
> Steve Jackson is not considered a board game publisher in the
> indsutry.  He is still primarily an RPG publisher.  That said, he does
> consistently bring people in.
>
>
That's far from true. Steve prints money with Munchkin, Chez and he's trying
to get into euro games. RPGs? I love GURPS but it is an afterthought
compared to his board games material. Steve has always been very much both
of them and that is why he was a particularly good guest - he hit both of
these markets but I can guarantee you that the packed house of people at his
Q&A session was full of people asking about his board game fans with few RPG
folks.


> Jay Tummelson is not a big name.  He isn't even a publisher.  He's an
> importer.  I still can't believe we not only featured him as a guest
> of honor, but fell over him to the degree we did.
>
>
Again, you seem to have decidedly outdated and just wrong information. Jay
Tummelson is not a big name? The man who brought Settlers of Catan to the US
and broke euro games? The man who has sold 50 million dollars worth of board
games in the twelve years he's been in business? The co-designer of Stone
Age and St. Petersburg (under a pseudonym known by all euro game fans). He
is most certainly a publisher - he only imported perhaps a dozen games early
on. He's been a co-publisher for more than ten years and has developed many
games on his own (notably, the SDJ-winning hot game Dominion and Race For
The Galaxy) that european publishers have picked up as co-publishers. He's
even publishing a game later this year that he saw for the first time at
Gamex when he was our guest. It was good publicity for us, put us back on
the map for publishers and he's supported us with great contributions to our
library. Furthemore, the podcast with him on it was downloaded heavily and
got the word that our convention was back out to the board game world big
time. Talk about win-win-win.


> > 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.
>
> Alan has attended our conventions.  We have not had him come as a
> guest.  Whether or not we should is a separate issue.
>
> > 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.
>
> Yes, it does garner us excellent publicity -- as a board game
> convention.  If that's all we want to be and all we want people to
> come for, that's great.  But if we want more than that, we should
> promote other areas of gaming with guests also.
>
>
If that's the way to help make sure we make some money, sure, let's keep at
it.



> > 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.
>
> KublaCon does excellent marketing, and we should definitely learn from
> them.  They're also very cost-effective, because most of their regular
> guests are either local to the Bay Area or attend on their own dime,
> and it doesn't cost them anyhing to promote all of them on the Web
> site.  I floated using that concept for our cons a while ago, but
> nothing has come of it so far.
>
>
I don't disagree with this at all. Bring in those local guests as often as
they will come.



> > 5) I have yet to hear a guest that will draw in the crowds for the RPG,
> > minis, or other parts.
>
> Games Workshop has that kind of draw, and we have discussed bringing
> in one of the big names from the company, but it hasn't happened.
>
>
If people really think that will do something, give it a go. I would be
happy to be wrong that it would do zilch.


> > 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.
>
> I don't know what your experience in the industry is, but I have been
> working in it for almost 20 years.  The bulk of my experience has been
> in manufacturing and publishing, but I also have worked retail and
> distribution.  RPG's used to be what drove the industry, then it was
> cards.  Now it's Euro games.  I remember when family/board games were
> moribund and companies were dropping like flies.  They were revived
> when Tummelson's former employer took a risk and started importing
> family games from Germany, where they were huge.  (Coincidentally,
> that same company was the one that took the biggest risk on Magic and
> helped it spread and become popular.)  I don't know how long the
> current state of affairs will maintain itself or if a new craze will
> come along.  But board games have not always been the draw they are
> now.
>
>

I've been in board gaming for more than twenty years and have always had my
finger on the pulse. Board Game tournaments were big in 1986 and they are
big now. They quieted down a bit during the CCGs but I think we all know
what was going on at the cons then. I haven't found the experience to be all
that much help - the playbook's changed and most of the old stories I've
heard at the convention meetings seem to be pretty useless in the modern
day. Marketing is different, the audience is different, and the things that
will help us grow are different. The long experience is only useful if you
can understand what information is no longer valid. I haven't seen that yet.

My hope is that the conventions will make money and be successful, not just
that they will evenly grow in all areas to some semblance of what they were
in the 'glory years' (whenever you might think that was). Maybe my
perception of what the staff here wants is wrong.
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