[IGDA_indies] GDC indie-gathering

[Brandon J. Van Every]

Ben Sawyer wrote:
>
> What I would do is maybe we could design a simple half page
> flyer everyone
> could take and print out at a their local Kinkos and take 50
> of them with
> them to GDC.  Then what you do is just hand them out to
> people you meet who
> might be interested.  I'm not saying hand them out at random
> just as you meet people have something to give them.

At GDC 2002, Team Yellow won Leviathan precisely because we had a bold
French woman who would simply grab random people, slap a yellow sticker
on 'em, drag them over to the gameboard, and then explain how
recruitment works and what's going on.  They could renege at that time I
suppose, but I don't remember anyone doing so.  What guy doesn't want to
be dragged around by a French woman?

And, I was pretty aggressive about recruitment in my own way as well.
Aggressive recruitment + correct opening strategy is how we won the
game.  Oh, and that *dollar* I spent at the right moment, eh Jason?  :-)

Don't be a sheep about promotion.  If you want to promote, hand out tons
of flyers indiscriminately.  Don't spend 5 minutes of your valuable
conference time trying to assess whether someone may or may not be
interested in IGDA Indie stuff.  Assuming you really are an indie,
you're probably paying many hundreds of dollars to be at the conference.
If you're going to spend *that* long yakking at someone, I hope it is
for purposes of a higher quality connection than simply handing out a
flyer.

"Are you interested in indie game development?" and hand extended with a
flyer is all you have to do.  If they are, they'll take it.  If they
aren't, they won't.

Hit 'em in the lunch line.  They're not going anywhere, they got time to
read.  Hit 'em anywhere they're standing around gawking at something.
Hit 'em when they're sitting around waiting for a lecture to start.  Hit
'em when the lecture is boring them to tears and they're falling asleep.
"I know this *much* more interesting session...."  Well, assuming the
Indie SIG ever gets a session going.  Actually, I enjoy dragging people
away from boring sessions to stuff I'm more interested in, Indie SIG or
no.  Got time to talk 'em up on the way.

If you really want to promote, you can certainly hand out more than 50
flyers.  You can hit 'em as often as you've got energy for.

> There is also nothing
> stopping people from an informal gathering at a local pub
> etc. if someone is
> willing to declare a time and place.

Except logistics.  Don't underestimate the difficulty of following
directions to a place you've never been to in a strange city.  I heard
about this AI meeting and had halfway-remembered the directions to it.
It was near the conference center and should have been easy, or so
various people assured me.  I spent an hour circling long city blocks
where it "should have been," then gave up.

You also need to know how large of a crowd you'll be servicing.
"Impromptu informal pub / restaurant gathering" works great for 6
people, less well for 12 people, really needs serious logistical
planning for any more than that.  The MUD-Dev people are experienced at
this sort of thing.  https://www.kanga.nu/lists/listinfo/mud-dev/  They
would typically congregate in front of the convention center at an
appointed time, wait for some time window, then march to destination en
masse.  Of course, they have a lot of people to deal with, they've been
extant for a long time.  This Indie SIG is still just figuring itself
out.  You could ask "how many people know they want to meet up?" but I
bet right now, for this year, that number is small.

> At the very least talk things up - tell people it exists and
> get their card
> if they're interested and say you'll send them an invite to
> the list when you get back.

Talking people up is good.  Bear in mind, however, that a flyer with an
e-mail address and a compelling list of bullet points *why* someone
should sign up is also good.  There isn't time to talk up everybody, not
if you really want to move people in volume.

> This is where relevant roundtables are useful
> since you'll
> get a chance to announce you have some info for people if they're
> interested.

Don't be shy about making a 10 second elevator pitch for Indie SIG after
you've put in your $0.02 about a topic.  The roundtable doesn't *have*
to be relevant.  Everybody is at the conference to network.

> Granted these things aren't as good as an official meeting or
> a huge banner
> at the front of the conference center but they'll work.  It's
> got to be a person by person effort at this point.

Person to person, the quality time approach, is good.  But don't forget
person to herd.


Cheers,                     www.indiegamedesign.com
Brandon Van Every           Seattle, WA

Taking risk where others will not.

---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.572 / Virus Database: 362 - Release Date: 1/27/2004