ENnies: Publisher feedback and suggestions sought on the future of the ENnies

[Monte At Home]

It's ridiculous to think that anyone but the publishers should cover the costs of submitting and shipping the products that need to be shipped. To think that Morrus should cover any more than a very small portion of incidental costs (it does increase publicity for ENWorld) just doesn't make any sense.

It sounds like GenCon is footing some bills, but it doesn't sound like they're the important ones. A booth and some free rooms are nice, but if the awards might not happen because of the costs of the trophies or the shipping of products, those niceties seem superfluous. And if it's GenCon that's pushing to make the ENnies broader in scope (to appeal to the entire industry), then I fear for asking for them to shoulder more burden, because I think broadening the awards is a terrible idea.

If it's true that publishers won't pay more (and to be fair, the ENnies are already somewhat costly to publishers, and to be accurate, Malhavoc Press would be willing to pay more than we have if it meant saving the ENnies), then I'll put forth my cost saving alternative:

Eliminate the judges from the process. Make the entire awards public-vote driven with multiple rounds. Publishers merely have to submit the titles they've produced in the time period allotted (and moving up the time period sounds like a good idea). Now there's no shipping involved, and no product value to be discussed. In fact, with that decrease in cost to publishers, I'd think that a small entry fee would seem reasonable to cover the cost of the trophies and other miscellaneous stuff. Or, the money that GenCon is saving could then be used otherwise.

I proposed this a while ago, and after giving it a lot of thought I don't actually think it's the best way to do the awards, but if cost really is an issue, this would certainly be a way to save money, particularly in the long run.

 

[Monte At Home]

For what it's worth, here's how I think the awards could best be handled, assuming cost and other considerations are not insurmountable obstacles:

Keep the judges (and the product submissions, and so forth) as they are now, and keep the public voting too. But make them separate, with seperate awards. Thus, every category (and hopefully the number of categories is greatly reduced) gets two awards--not gold and silver, but instead Judge's Choice and People's Choice. This has the potential of pleasing everyone's conception of "awards": the guy who wins the Judge's Choice is vindicated by saying that his product doesn't have to be popular to be considered good, and the guy who wins the People's Choice award feels loved by all. And for the product that wins both categories--more power to them.

 

[Guardians Of Order]

It's evident that the ideas presented by some people in this thread (publishers helping with the cost) are not acceptable (in general) to publishers.

It's acceptable to us. Actually, it's the best way to go to cover costs. Charge each publisher $10-$25 for each product submitted (not per category) to cover shipping, the awards, and related expenses. If there's extra cash left over, use it for additional promotion with posters, ads, etc.

In short, if we the publishers are receiving the benefits, we the publishers should be paying the costs.

But please -- make publishers ship to one central distribution location only, and then distribute the products to judges as you have in the past. It's the best way to do it, and ensures that all product arrives at the same time.

 

[2WS-Steve]

I agree with Monte regarding the shipping. Publishers pay for sending out review copies anyway and the ENnies are certainly as worthwhile an investment as sending a review copy.

A small publisher might print 1d6 books per year, that's about $20 per judge to ship--or $100 total. If you can afford the thousands of dollars it costs to print the buggers, you better be able to afford $100 for what essentially amounts to a marketing expense.

Moreover, if you're working through a fulfillment house you'll get the bulk shipping discount.

I'm not sure if it's been done before, but, if going this route, it would be convenient if ENWorld put together an .rtf of mailing labels for the judges so that all the different publishers don't have to enter them by hand.

 

[PatrickLawinger]

Morrus,
Nothing I have said is meant as an attack or an insult. Simply a response to other things that have been posted. My advice about getting the big publishers involved is, I believe, a major point. At the same time, I think you need to keep the small publishers involved, the added costs of shipping aren't going to hurt (and probably won't stop) the middle to larger publishers. The very small guys are going to get hurt by it.

Can't respond fast enough, machine lag time and kids. I'll respond again later.

 

[BastionPress_Creech]

What would be really helpful is some constructive suggestions, rather than merely naysaying everything suggested.

Okay, as I am interpreting this, we are basically searching for a way for an outside entity to subsidize the entire cost of the Ennies (other than what Peter onates at Gen Con) that doesn't involve the taxation of the existing EN World membership or additional cost to the publishers other than what they already incur. No solution will mean no Ennies for next year. Correct?

Alrighty then. One step in that direction has already been mentioned by Morrus in that someone needs to be appointed as operations manager for the Ennies. My suggestion is that whomever takes this position be given the authority to make the Ennies work and be encouraged to think outside the box without having their hands tied and needing permission to do every little thing. That person's suggestions and decisions should carry the same weight as if Morrus himself made the decision no matter how popular or unpopular the decision may be. Only Morrus should be able to override the operations manager's calls.

Now having said that, what is the greatest cost incurred with the operations of the Ennies? As I understand it, it appears that the shipping of products to the five judges (which is a major sticking point of conversation in this threa) is the culprit. So, how do we reduce or eliminate this cost?

>1. Eliminate the judges from the equation and rely upon the public at large to nominate and choose the winning products. This has been done successfully in the past with other awards (both within and outside the gaming industry). The Pen & Paper Fan Awards (http://www.pen-paper.net/awards.php) are completely driven by public nomination/voting and the results are quite similar to this year's nominees for the Ennies in terms of variety and quality. Another bonus to this option is that you no longer have the problem of companies not entering (such as Wotc). Since the public inputs the information, any company is eligible. The 800 lb. gorilla can compete against the 400 lb. gorilla and no one is the wiser until the fial votes have been tallied.

>2. If the judges must be part of the Ennies, then a second choice would be having all submissions sent in pdf format (either on CD-ROM or having links provided to download). All print products are initially in electronic format (that's how they go to the printer), so it's not too much of a stretch to ask companies for pdfs of each submitted book rather than actual copies. This reduces the cost incurred by both the publisher and the central Ennies judge who is serving as the pointman to get it all out to the other judges. Bottom line, everything is cheaper all around than it was before with printed material.

If neither of these solutions are acceptable, then a way has to be found to bring in money to operate the Ennies and offset the shipping costs that will remain. Again, some ideas could include:

>1. EN World Ennies Auction.
This could take one of two different forms, both taking place at Gen Con immediately following the Ennies awards ceremony.

a.) Publishers/manufacturers exhibiting at Gen Con donate ordinary product or "exclusive" product, such as autographed copies of books by the authors/designers, artists, etc. who happen to be present at the show. This gives participating gamers a chance to score upon a product they wouldn't normally get a shot at unless they took the time to buy the product and obtain the signatures themselves. For example, Wizards of the Coast could donate a copy of d20 Future signed by all three principle authors or Malhavoc could donate a signed copy of Beyond Countless Doorways.

b.) The judges could donate all unwanted books that were submitted for consideration to auction. The logistical problem to this idea is that all of this material must be shipped to Gen Con for the auction at even more expense. One solution is to add a $3.00 auction handling fee to every auction total to offset some of this cost. The potential benefits could outweigh the downside if the auction has a good turnout and also depending on how the auction goods are brought to Gen Con. It's certainly worth exploring.

>2. Corporate Sponsorships
Companies can be approached about purchasing 'sponsorships' (in much the same way they are done in professional sports) where for a set (or tiered) dollar amount ad space is given in the Ennies program book and a discount is given for ads in the Gen Con on-site book (if Peter is willing to do this). There are a lot of different options that can be explored with this. The main point is showing publishers/manufacturers that any additional money they spend to support the Ennies will stand to benefit them directly because of the increased exposure (as opposed to just slapping them with an entry fee as proposed earlier). Getting Peter to be involved in this would be a good thing even if it's only to have his advice.

>3. Reduced costs for banner ads on EN World for participating publishers.
Offering publishers an incentive to participate by giving them a modest discount on banner ads is an option. Right now 100,000 impressions is $49.99. Offer any publisher who submits products to the awards a 25% discount on 100,000 impression banner ads to be bought after June but before August. This means the ads will run during the voting period and during Gen Con.

More in my next post...

 

[MEG Hal]

I would rather pay a small fee and ship to one location as well, another less expensive way of "shipping" is a pdf of the items, I am not fond of this idea but thought I would throw it out to all.

 

[Mark]

Ask Peter Adkisson to contact WotC about becoming co-sponsors with GenCon for the ENnies awards. WotC would love to be involved but it is a no-win situation for them to enter actual product. Money-wise, it's a drop in the bucket for them and the perfect way for them to get their name in the mix without having to enter product for awards. Not to mention that if they are co-sponsors, I have no doubt that there won't be many people who haven't heard of the ENnies after a year or two.

 

[BastionPress_Creech]

Continuing with my earlier post...

One of the other hurdles that the Ennies face that has been brought up before is how to make them meaningful outside of the EN World community. Right now there is a definite split in those participating in Ennies discussions as to whether the awards should even involve those outside of the EN community. While that is an argument for a different thread, it does bring up the point of growth. Does EN World want to see the Ennies grow into becoming the Gen Con awards? This is a question that should be considered strongly and answered. Right now, for use of the Gen Con awards name, Gen Con LLC provides booth, 2-3 hotel rooms, several badges and a venue for the award ceremony. If the awards are going to grow, does EN World need this? By all means. But if EN World wants to draw back and focus on being strictly d20 and EN membership voting only, then what is really lost? Only the Gen Con awards name and the perks that are provided. If the decision to scale back is made, is anything truly lost in the big picture? Except for the venue, one could argue "no".

So if the Ennies want to grow and fully become the Gen Con awards then it has to find a way to become meaningful to all gamers and not just those from the d20 crowd or EN World. It can do this and help subsidize the cost of the Ennies. Remember that program book I mentioned earlier? It can serve as a good vehicle for expanding the awareness of the Ennies. Paid for through advertising by publishers/manufacturers, the book could include product descriptions of each of the nominees, a one page history of EN World and its relevance to the gaming community, along with a 10% (or XX%) off coupon for a single purchase of a winning Ennie product good for the duration of the convention. Obviously, all of the publishers would have to be on board for this, but it would help generate some buzz about the Ennies and require people to seek out more information to determine who won. Ideally, this program book would be placed as an insert in the on-site Gen Con program book or included in the bags handed out to maximize the number of people who would see it.

Making the Ennies a more visible commodity will help add value to the awards and in return help bring more publishers on board as active participants and supporters. If the publishers truly believe in the value of the Ennies, then it will become more significant to gamers as those very publishers begin to promote it more frequently, showing their belief in the qualities of the awards.

 

[RangerWickett]

I figure if you win an ENnie for a book, you'd sell at least 10 or 20 more of that book than you would have otherwise. Plus people might pay more attention to your company, which also means more sales, hopefully.

Is it really that expensive to ship books, if you're not in a rush? I just checked USPS.gov and for shipping a PHB from California to Atlanta is $6, and that's including confirmation of delivery and insurance in case the item is lost. 6 days to deliver it.

What do other publishers think about the suggestion Dextra made for having E.N. Publishing manage the ENnies? We're not eligible for prizes, so would any publishers have an issue?