TOTAL CONFUSION XXII
(February 21-24)
This past weekend we had a fantastic time at the TotalCon 22 held at the Holiday Inn in Mansfield Massachusetts. We opted not to show up until Friday, when the Dealers' Room would be open, but that will certainly change next year now that we have a better understanding of the event. Unfortunately, on our way down to the convention we realized too late that we forgot to take our camera, hence the lack of pictures for this report. We'll blame that one on Ken and his penchant for leaving for these events at ungodly hours that I cannot possibily be expected to be awake for.
Anyhow, the hotel itself was very nice and our room had a balcony on the inside overlooking many of the tables that the gamers would be playing at. After stuffing ourselves with a simple breakfast buffet we made our way to the Dealers' Room and set up. Upon arriving there we were pleasantly surprised to be given an additional table with chairs for no extra charge, and 3 meal tickets each for each day. We made very good use of the extra space the entire weekend and used it to hold some of our props and to demo our game for those who were interested in trying it out. That first day we sold a good number of games and left the Dealers' Hall that night feeling very comfortable. Most impressive was the huge number of gamers sitting at tables enjoying theirm favorite RPGs and other games. Finding out that Chaos Isle was played alongside some of them that night was a great boost for us.
Saturday found us receiving our new posters near the end of the day, and more good sales of Chaos Isle and its Add-on Pack. A huge lift for our business was making important contacts with several game store operators and owners. I was also very fortunate to be allowed to try out an initial version of a zombie board game being designed by our friends from Rivendell Books & Games (224 Winthrop St. Rehoboth, MA). I found it very interesting, and had they a finished copy for sale it would have ended up in my purchase pile.
Ken turned up the heat on the final day and sold just enough copies of Chaos Isle and the Add-on Pack for us to achieve our goal. We left the convention that afternoon exhilerated and hopeful for the future. We found the TotalCon to be a first rate class act, just like its organizers. We had a great time after dealers' hours just wandering through all the rooms and tables checking out all the various games being played and talking with some of the gamers. The feedback on Chaos Isle was just as it had been since its release: virtually nothing but glowing reviews of the card quality, art and writing, game mechanics, originality and sheer fun. It was especially fun meeting and talking with all the patrons from The Game Castle and playing quite a few hands of the game with them. Fortunately, we will be visiting the Game Castle (www.thegamecastle.com) in just two Saturdays from now (March 8th) at Noon to demo Chaos Isle. This will hopefully lead to the game being sold in their store and tournaments to be held there. We shall see...
A Big Thanks to those of you who visited us at our table at the United Con 17 this weekend, especially to those that bought our game. We know you will enjoy it!
The United Con 17 Adventure (November 2-4, '07)
Things started off interesting as Ken went to the convention (by himself since I still had to work at my "real" job that day) to set up and check into our hotel room, by meeting and chatting with Henry Winkler ("Fonzie" from Happy Days) in the elevator. I got there a few hours after the dealer room opened and found Ken sitting there like a wart on a toad and almost hit him when I discovered he hadn't sold a single game yet. By the end of the first day, however, we sold our very first copy of Chaos Isle (and an Add-on Pack) to a customer that wasn't a friend or family. That was a very exciting moment for us and we celebrated later on by overeating at a local buffet. After a solid night's sleep and a few tasty morning donuts we headed back to the convention. We had a very good day and sold a handful of Chaos Isle games and gave away plenty of flyers and met some interesting characters. Suspiciously, Ken met Henry in the elevator again that morning. Perhaps he felt Ken was stalking him, but it didn't stop us from giving Henry a free copy of Chaos Isle and the Add-on
Pack. Well, to be truthful, we sent our assistant, Angela, to give him the copy since seeing Ken again probably would have caused him to flee. At least she got a kiss and a free autographed pic for her troubles ("He's pretty hot for a guy that's about 60"). By the end of the day we were feeling good and pigged out again at the same local buffet. Unable to get up on time the next morning, Ken had to drag me out of bed after he feasted on a succulent breakfast at (you got it) the same local buffet. That last day was absolutely bereft of purchasers and we were surprised to sell one last copy of Chaos Isle before we packed things up for the return trip home. It was great meeting all the vendors and buyers at the convention and it was a great first experience for our company. Hopefully, we will see some of you at our next convention!
