Our Space At Gencon (was: ENNIES 2004 Ceremony Planning Thread)

I originally bumped this thread and another in House Rules just so I could get ahold of the thread ID's to place in my sig... Anyway...

What would help the prestige of the Ennies?? Here's one idea...

Try to get the distributors to make avail some kind of shelf dressing for store owners to use with the winners in order to drive up sales of this product. Traditionally, Oscar winners experience a surge of sales just after they win even if the DVD's and VHS's have been out for months. If the movies have been in the theaters than attendance will surge - THIS is the reason "artsy" movies tend to see February releases folks - the producers are gambling on an Oscar nomination to trigger a resurge and Februrary is the latest they can release the movie and still be eligable for the Oscars that month.

Michael_Morris said:

I originally bumped this thread and another in House Rules just so I could get ahold of the thread ID's to place in my sig... Anyway...

What would help the prestige of the Ennies?? Here's one idea...

Try to get the distributors to make avail some kind of shelf dressing for store owners to use with the winners in order to drive up sales of this product. Traditionally, Oscar winners experience a surge of sales just after they win even if the DVD's and VHS's have been out for months. If the movies have been in the theaters than attendance will surge - THIS is the reason "artsy" movies tend to see February releases folks - the producers are gambling on an Oscar nomination to trigger a resurge and Februrary is the latest they can release the movie and still be eligable for the Oscars that month.

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Michael, I've talked to Morrus and he's agreed that a table set up for the winners to display their products and ennies after the show is a good idea.

This year we'll have a table in the back of the room, after the award ceremony the winners will man their spots (if they wish) with the a copy or two of the winning product. This will give attendees the oppourtunity to do the following:

1. Meet the winners in a more organized fashion.
2. See the product for themseves immediatly after it won, thus they can deside if they wanna buy it then instead of needing to look for it on the floor.
3. Perhaps even the winners can sell a few copies after the ennies but i think this is too much trouble. (asking all the nominees to bring a box of books with them in case they win is just asking for problems.)

ArthurQ said:

Michael, I've talked to Morrus and he's agreed that a table set up for the winners to display their products and ennies after the show is a good idea.

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Yes, but what I was referring to last msg is beyond GC itself. For instance, the Distributors could send the shelf designs out in July along with a nominee list and a URL for folks to learn who the winners are. That way dealers can drum up orders.

One idea to pay for it is this - the shelf design would come free with a pack that has one copy of each nominated product. The dealers could set it up somewhere in their store (probably alongside the WotC shelf for 3.5e products) and get feedback from their own customers on whether to decide to sell more.

The point is that winning an award is a marketting tool of some value. The publishers are giving up a considerable among of money once you consider the number of products they send to the judges - nominated and not - and they deserve a chance to recoup that. The way to do this is in the advertising of the awards themselves - but this flows into a Biz position I'm not qualified to handle. Still it's an idea and an area of the Ennies to explore.

Michael_Morris said:

Yes, but what I was referring to last msg is beyond GC itself. For instance, the Distributors could send the shelf designs out in July along with a nominee list and a URL for folks to learn who the winners are. That way dealers can drum up orders.

One idea to pay for it is this - the shelf design would come free with a pack that has one copy of each nominated product. The dealers could set it up somewhere in their store (probably alongside the WotC shelf for 3.5e products) and get feedback from their own customers on whether to decide to sell more.

The point is that winning an award is a marketting tool of some value. The publishers are giving up a considerable among of money once you consider the number of products they send to the judges - nominated and not - and they deserve a chance to recoup that. The way to do this is in the advertising of the awards themselves - but this flows into a Biz position I'm not qualified to handle. Still it's an idea and an area of the Ennies to explore.

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ah, gotcha.

well both of these ideas will help the winners sell more products.

The nominees should also be able to use it as a marketing tool.
"Ennie Nominated etcetcetc"

:casts "Ressurect Thread":

Ok, something new, a preliminary booth design. Since it could take a month to build this I'd like to get this finalized and out of the way first. Comments Welcome.

Anyway, this setup calls for a 20'x30' space. While Peter Adkinson has said he'd be willing to contribute space he never said how much. 20'x30' is sizable - specifically it's an endcap space (for those not familiar with the con, isles are 12' wide and vendor spaces arranged in columns 20').

As you can see in the diagram below MOST of the space is to allow folks to examine the nominee cabinets. Each of these cabinets is 7' high and has a 2'x8' footprint. Ten nominee spaces are in each one, allowing 5 books to be held in each space. The cabinets will be lockable with sliding plexiglass panels for access (not unlike the electronics displays you see at a Wal-Mart). The cabinets will be on wheels and on the night of the ceremony they'll be wheeled down to the area in front of the White Hall Ball room after the Exhibitor Hall closes.

The remaining space is for ENPublishing and board members. The focus of the ENPublishing area will be a plexiglass topped counter that will display ENPublishing products. This cabinet will also keep ENPublishing property under lock & key.

Next the social area will consist of two couches with coffee table. I vividly remember nowhere to just sit and chat in the exhibit hall, and I intend to do something about it if given the space

That said, this design can be collapsed into a 20'x20' space if Peter desires. It's ultimately his and Russ' decision as to the exact size and design of the booth space. But gathering input on such a project is never a bad idea.

Bump

I like the design of the booth, and the focus it has on the award nominated products. If Peter will donate the space for the booth, that would be great!

The only issue I can see being a problem is that the Ennies are a non-profit award ceremony, but ENPublishing is not. I seriously doubt that Peter would want space donated for the awards being used to sell products, and other publishers wouldn't want that either. What I'd suggest is having the space be made up of 2 sections, the Ennies space donated by GenCon, and the ENPublishing space paid for just like every other publishers space on the floor. That way, there is a distinction made between the awards and ENPublishing. We don't want anyone to feel that ENPublishing is being treated better than other publishers just because they are connected to ENWorld, which is sponsoring the awards. I hope what I'm saying is making sense.

Cthulhu's Librarian said:

I like the design of the booth, and the focus it has on the award nominated products. If Peter will donate the space for the booth, that would be great!

The only issue I can see being a problem is that the Ennies are a non-profit award ceremony, but ENPublishing is not. I seriously doubt that Peter would want space donated for the awards being used to sell products, and other publishers wouldn't want that either. What I'd suggest is having the space be made up of 2 sections, the Ennies space donated by GenCon, and the ENPublishing space paid for just like every other publishers space on the floor. That way, there is a distinction made between the awards and ENPublishing. We don't want anyone to feel that ENPublishing is being treated better than other publishers just because they are connected to ENWorld, which is sponsoring the awards. I hope what I'm saying is making sense.

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ENPublishing already pays a high price for its association (perceived or otherwise) with the ENnies - it's products aren't eligable to participate in the awards. Also, ENPublishing exists as one means to support this site. I don't think they'll be a problem in the association of the two.

Michael_Morris said:

ENPublishing already pays a high price for its association (perceived or otherwise) with the ENnies - it's products aren't eligable to participate in the awards. Also, ENPublishing exists as one means to support this site. I don't think they'll be a problem in the association of the two.

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I understand what you're saying, but I don't know if it will be seen that way by others. I don't want people to be thinking "Hey, we had to pay for our space, but they get to sell stuff just because they are associated with ENWorld." I think its better to have a division between the two so no misunderstandings occur. We should keep the business and non-profit portions of ENWorld seperate. have them in the same booth, thats fine. Just don't sell product in a space that has been donated to promote non-profit awards, unless those products proceeds are going entirely to support the awards.

Please don't mistake my concerns for a dislike of ENPublishing products. I have many of them, and will continue to support them. I hung out at the booth last GenCon, and everyone there was great. I just don't want to see them, or ENWorld, hurt by a business decision that involves the awards.

Cthulhu's Librarian said:

I understand what you're saying, but I don't know if it will be seen that way by others. I don't want people to be thinking "Hey, we had to pay for our space, but they get to sell stuff just because they are associated with ENWorld." I think its better to have a division between the two so no misunderstandings occur. We should keep the business and non-profit portions of ENWorld seperate. have them in the same booth, thats fine. Just don't sell product in a space that has been donated to promote non-profit awards, unless those products proceeds are going entirely to support the awards.

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Cthulu, one of these days you will learn that no matter how you do something, someone will complain. Even if ENPublishing pays full price for all of its space, someone will find a reason to whine if that is their inclination. Personally, I'm not going to worry about it - if for no other reason than it really isn't part of my job. To my knowledge, the space is for ENWorld, ENPublishing and the ENnies awards and I will continue to design the space appropriately until instructed to do otherwise.

And BTW, much of the profits of ENPublishing do go to support this site and, as is well known, there is still a significant shortfall. Severing the ENnies from ENPublishing on the show floor will accomplish nothing. Someone will whine even if this was done.

Finally, you're overlooking a security problem. While those cabinets will be locked, I don't want to place them were no one is really watching them at least some of the time. Part of the placement of the ENPublishing space is to allow the awards cabinets to be at least partially watched during the show.