Would there be any interest in a small CE/indie games stall/demo programme at the next Concrete Cow in September?
We had a trader at Concrete Cow on Saturday, selling second-hand stuff, and they made a bit of money. Not a vast amount, but enough to make it worth their while coming. They also said that there would be room for another, complementary seller at the next Concrete Cow. Would the CE be interested in having such a presence?
I think Concrete Cow would only support a small stall. During the standard game slots, someone could make sure that whatever game they're in was next to the stall, to keep an eye on stock. Demos could be offered during the cracks between the game sessions.
Any thoughts?
Neil.
I'd think it was worth a shot...
Submitted by Graham W on Mon, 10/03/2008 - 12:10.
...focussing on long games rather than demos, I'd imagine, and selling games off the back of those games.
How much would you charge, Neil?
Graham
I suggested short demos
Submitted by Neil Smith on Mon, 10/03/2008 - 13:30.
I suggested short demos simply because I'd like to be the subject of a few of them! I could also perhaps run one or two. I think they'd grab people's interest.
As for charging, I'm open for negotiation. I was thinking that I wouldn't charge for stall space. If people will be playing/running games all day, same as usual, then I think the standard entry fee would apply.
What do people think?
Neil
Well...
Submitted by Graham W on Tue, 11/03/2008 - 17:55.
Let's break this down. As I understand it, your proposal is:
How about I give you guys a free table to sell your games, together with free advertising by mentioning the Collective Endeavour as traders on the website? In return, I would like you to run your games, which will sell more of your games.
This sounds like a fairly good idea to me.
What do the various Collective Endeavour types who tend to be at Concrete Cow think? Rich, Andrew, Matt, others I've forgotten?
Graham
My 2p
Submitted by Andrew Kenrick on Wed, 12/03/2008 - 09:37.
My take on it is that there are cons where we sell games (Dragonmeet), and cons where we run lots of games (Conception). There are some cons that meet in the middle and we can do both at. I'm not sure Concrete Cow is one of them. I think it'd be a fair amount of effort for little return - if we're going to be at Concrete Cow (which one or more of us almost always is), I think our time and effort would be better spent running games and talking to people.
Plus, from a purely selfish point of view, when I go to CC I like to play games too! If I was meant to be on the stall I might feel guilty for doing so ...
I see your point
Submitted by Graham W on Wed, 12/03/2008 - 10:57.
I was wondering if a low-key, Furnace-like approach might work. Have a stall, run the games we'd usually run in front of the stall.
Essentially, just giving people a place to buy the game they just played. In a similar way as I bought Dead of Night from Scott after playing it: I think we could have sold 3 or 4 copies.
If not a stall, I think we could at least have a box of books there for people to buy if they liked the game.
Graham
Well it might be worth a go
Submitted by Andrew Kenrick on Wed, 12/03/2008 - 14:05.
Well it might be worth a go next time, if there are enough of us there!
(as an aside - I'd love to hear about the DoN game!)
Small is beautiful
Submitted by Neil Smith on Wed, 12/03/2008 - 14:20.
I was wondering if a low-key, Furnace-like approach might work. Have a stall, run the games we'd usually run in front of the stall.
Essentially, just giving people a place to buy the game they just played.
That's pretty much what I was thinking. Concrete Cow doesn't have the 'passing trade' to make it worth having someone exclusively on a stall. But there are people who are willing to part with some money for game books.
A demo guy from Pinnacle did something similar last year. He grabbed a table, put some Savage Worlds books on it, and ran games of SW all day. (Don't ask me how many he sold: I'm afraid I have no idea.)
Neil.