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Message: <blockquote data-quote="JohnF" data-source="post: 8691842" data-attributes="member: 88851">I have been to Gen Con, other biggish cons, and little cons. At some of those, I was there as a designer and representative of a company. Why did we spare the (often insane) expense to go (sometimes crossing a big ocean to get there)?<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">to present a new product that can get much more exciting buzz when attendees post Look-at-that! pics on their own accounts, spreading the word fueled by attendees enthusiasm - that's the key! That boosts the signal in ways your marketing team never could.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">to introduce products to newbies who will never look for it online. Not all attendees of cons are hardcore in-the-know gamers. There are friends of gamers who are curious, moms who bring their kids, non-gamers looking for an offbeat day out, and hyper-focused fans of one product who might become your next big customer if you catch their attention out of the corner of their eye. We want to talk to them! Players new to the hobby make up a larger portion of the attendees than you'd think at the big cons - we want to be the game that brings the ultra-newbie into the hobby, and doing it in-person makes it a special moment for them..</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">to meet up with peers and talk shop. Companies know companies, designers and employees mix and mingle all the time, and the business relationships that you build can be critical when you have a need. The business folks who go to these events see each other and look forward to chatting (and, sometimes, gaming!). It's super important to develop these business relationships and maintain them, and cons make that possible, especially when we are all scattered across the globe.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">to avoid uncomfortable questions. "Why wasn't your company at ______ this year?" "Nothing new to show?" "If you couldn't afford to go, does that mean you're in trouble?" Yes, this is the stupidest of reasons, but I can confirm that, when discussing the expenses and agonizing logistics of presenting at a con, this has come up as a reason to go. </li> </ul>In an industry like this one - plagues aside - the big and medium cons are always on your radar. They have to be. If the only thing you get out of it is to have a few strangers come up to you and say "I love your game," it can be worth it to give you the encouragement to keep going...</blockquote>

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