Back in June, just after Sumeria came out, I did a demo day at Inner Sanctum Collectibles in Cambridge. I turned up with my demo copies of each game and a couple of cases of each game and sat and played my games throughout the day in the store. As I said at the time, the day was a great success, and I was definitely interested in doing more of these events.
What with moving house and starting a new treatment, things have been pretty hectic for the last couple of months, so I didn't get to do a second Demo Day until yesterday at Eclectic Games in Reading.
This time, I put a bit more effort into publicising my visit, mentioning it on Twitter and BoardGameGeek.
Although Eclectic Games have a massive games room at the back of the store with loads of tables for playing games, they had kindly set me up on a table in the main store, just behind the till, so I was much more prominent as a result. There was less interest than last time (at ISC a whole bunch of customers had come in specifically to see me and my games, whereas yesterday I think all the interest was from people who just happened to come in). I think next time I should get the store to publicise it as much as possible among their regular board games customers to help boost interest.
I still think the demo days are a good use of my time, and I've just contacted six games shop owners I know to see if they are interested in hosting a games day. I've also asked on BGG for recommendations for other stores that might be interested.
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2 comments:
Don't forget Jackson, you don't have to be the only one who Demos your games. You could appoint reps to Demo your games in places you can't attend (like, say, the USA). You set it up and your rep shows and convinces folks why Sumeria, et al are "must buys."
Hiya Todd,
It's a good point, there's no way I can sensibly get to stores in the US just for a day's demoing. I guess the logistics of arranging one in the US are more complicated for a number of reasons:
I need reps I can trust - both to turn up and do a good job, but also to represent the company in a good light.
I need to find stores that would be a good fit.
I need to reward the rep somehow for their effort.
Finding good answers to those questions would have to be a pre-requisite for getting demo days organised in the US.
Cheers,
Jack
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