What's the purpose of GenCon for publishers?

Inspired by some discussion over in the recent Ryan Dancey thread, namely a comment by Glyfair:

Glyfair said:

Yes, I am, stating that the GenCon is not representative of the hobby. It is representative of one section of the hobby (the die hard player). There are casual gamers there, bit they are the minority (mostly local players and those traveling there with die hard gamers).
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Why do [publishers] make a big deal about it? Because the diehard games spend the most money on gaming.

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I'm not sure I agree this is the point of getting a booth at GenCon. So, I figured I'd ask.

If you're a publisher, i.e. a game company, or an organization (ENWorld, IPR/Forge), what's the reason you get a both at GenCon? To sell to "diehards"? To sell to retailers/distributors? To make your presence known?

(I realize that most people who I'd like to see answer this are at GenCon, but hey.)

buzz said:

Inspired by some discussion over in the recent Ryan Dancey thread, namely a comment by Glyfair:

I'm not sure I agree this is the point of getting a booth at GenCon. So, I figured I'd ask.

If you're a publisher, i.e. a game company, or an organization (ENWorld, IPR/Forge), what's the reason you get a both at GenCon? To sell to "diehards"? To sell to retailers/distributors? To make your presence known?

(I realize that most people who I'd like to see answer this are at GenCon, but hey.)

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Well, as a a friend of a publisher and someone who worked Gecon for a publisher, I'd say it's all of the above.

You are more there for the exposure than anything. Retailers, Distributors, and many diehard gamers are there. There is no better way to get your name out than to impress Gencon goers.

I haven't been to GenCon in 10 years, so I don't know how things may have changed since then, but at least back in the 80s and 90s the notion that there were only "die-hard gamers" at GenCon is not accurate at all. Sure there were a lot of die-hard gamers there, but I'd say they only made up perhaps 15-20% of the total con attendees. A lot of people were locals (or from a couple-three hours drive away, which (at that time) included all of Chicago), some of them might have been friends or family traveling with a die-hard gamer who convinced them to come along on the trip; I don't know the exact breakdown was, but I know that, at least back then, the "feel" of the con wasn't that it was only a hardcore geek-fest. If anything, the local cons with only ~200 attendees tended to have way more of a die-hard geek atmosphere.

I think some small companies make a lot of their money at GenCon. Seriously, when you consider that some products sell maybe 1000 copies, if they can sell a few hundred at GenCon (which is possible) , it's a pretty big deal.

buzz said:

If you're a publisher, i.e. a game company, or an organization (ENWorld, IPR/Forge), what's the reason you get a both at GenCon? To sell to "diehards"? To sell to retailers/distributors? To make your presence known?

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Two words: gamer groupies

I know that I intend to go to GenCon next year both as an individual and as a publisher.

My reasons for going are several-fold:

1. The experience - never been, always wanted to go - can finally afford to
2. Get my name out - Dreamscarred Press is still a very unknown name in the industry and I'd really like to grow that
3. Sell stuff - I don't expect to break even, but hey, if I can make back some of the expense to offset reasons 1 & 2, all the better!

So with that being said, expect to see Dreamscarred Press at GenCon 2008! (Unless something drastic happens in the next year... /cross fingers)

mcrow said:

Well, as a a friend of a publisher and someone who worked Gecon for a publisher, I'd say it's all of the above.

You are more there for the exposure than anything. Retailers, Distributors, and many diehard gamers are there. There is no better way to get your name out than to impress Gencon goers.

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As Mike's friend, I will say he is great help in the booth if anyone ever wants to drag him to a show.

And besides, yeah, what he said.

Bill

Edit: More seriously, yes what you said but also the ability to get early adopters and GMs in on your game can make all the difference. For instance, this year, the new games we have are two supplements for the Squirrel Attack line. Why? Because it sells. Roma sells but I fill all the seats in SA! events and numerically, we get much larger sales out of SA than any of our other lines. These people take it home and all their friends who did not go get to see this goofy game...then go to the site or check out our other products...all to get more eyes on the products and GMs running games.