Suggestion : promoting VtES at regional conventions

On the one hand, with organized VtES play, we're pursuing a "circle the wagons" approach - sticking with just a couple of events (Origins) annually, cutting out the ones (GenCon) that aren't working as well.

Meanwhile casual and organized play continues amongst the die-hard fans of the game, the ones who know about vekn.net and bgg and rec.games.trading-cards; games happening in homes, game stores, cafes and pubs for those who already know where to look.

And that's all fine, but it's not very effective for bringing in new blood. And I'm surprised at how many people I speak to who are, or once were, gamers who
(a) have played the game 10 years ago, and might still even have cards, but
(b) have no idea that the game has had many expansions since then and still has a dedicated fanbase

So, finally to my point : I think regional conventions that include gaming should be an important part of organized play.

When I discuss this with active players, their reaction is usually "I can already go to [venue X] every [week or month] for a game for free, why should I pay to go to a con?" And it's a fair question to ask - there's really not much in it for them in the short term, and the benefits are more intangible (chance of new players to counterbalance the inevitable attrition of current players, more variety of decks and styles of play).

So, part of my experiment with Dragonflight here in Seattle this year is to see whether I can lure enough of the faithful in, by coming up with good prize support and creative ways to perhaps subsidize registration fees for people who are low on cash. I'm hoping that this, combined with getting some regular convention attendees to drop in for a game or two, or to pick up a flier on when and where we play when they see us there, will be worthwhile. Maybe it will work out, maybe it will be a bust, I'm willing to take the chance.

What do you think? Is organizing events at regional gaming / sf&f conventions worth it? How do you answer the "what's in it for me" question for the current die-hard player, especially someone for whom a $50 convention registration fee is a real hardship?

prunesquallor wrote:

What do you think? Is organizing events at regional gaming / sf&f conventions worth it? How do you answer the "what's in it for me" question for the current die-hard player, especially someone for whom a $50 convention registration fee is a real hardship?

We've talked about the convention issue a fair amount in our little group. For my part, paying a bunch of money for a convention or slightly less for part of the convention usually isn't worth it. Why is that?

-Money is tight. Look at how the economy is doing. I'm doing slightly better than a lot of people in my area, but that could change any minute. The $50 isn't really the real cost of the convention. How about travel, food and lodging? Depending on how far you have to go, the cost can be ten times the entry fee or more.

-I'm not 16 anymore. I generally can't blow an entire weekend on an event. For those older and with kids, it must be even harder.

How would I address these issues?

Having local conventions cuts down on travel costs, you can even bring some food or stay at home or with a friend. Local conventions are good because it spreads a wider net to try and build up the base. If people play VTES in Ohio, that's great. What I'm more interested in recruiting people I might see a few times.

Local conventions can also try to do a better job catering to people who play CCGs or have a life outside of gaming. A few quick ideas:

-Concentrate events of one type to be mostly on one day. It may seem like bad business sense, but having two tournaments in one day is a lot more compelling than one tournament each day. If you can't do the whole convention, doing part of it still helps promote the game and should, in theory, be less expensive.

-Sell day passes for a more reasonable rate. Dragonflight is $40 for 2 days or $50 at the door, where one day is $30-35, depending on the day. If I can come on Saturday (because I work m-f), I end up paying almost as much as the whole con for that one day.

In my limited experience dealing with convention administrators, they seem to be stuck in their ways. This reminds me of a lot of defunct or soon to be defunct game stores. Is this where the former owners went?

One final point: Paying at the door and paying for the product is too much. I'm not quite sure how you get around it, but it would help a lot if there was true "prize support." With WW/CCP getting out of the business of VTES, this will be even harder.

I do think that we need to "circle the wagons" as you said, so some creative solutions and putting forth effort are called for. There are too many players who won't put in any effort to even do tournaments, and that has to change.