Welcome back! I hope you had a great couple of weeks with lots of gaming with friends, family, and loved ones. It has been a couple of busy works here, which is part of the reason for not having an article last week.
Anyone who has asked for advice for building an audience has likely been told of the importance of attending conventions. In fact, it was the topic of part 29 of this blog series. However, there is one small problem – it simply isn’t feasible for someone to be at every convention. Luckily there is a solution to this dilemma and for this week’s blog post we’re going to be looking at 3 options for attending cons without attending cons.
Take advantage of the convention services offered by the Indie Game Alliance
Anyone who has followed the blog or had a conversation with me knows how much of a fan I am of the Indie Game Alliance. Along with a number of other services, the Indie Game Alliance offers the following convention services:
- Curated game library
- Curated prototype game library
- Running of dedicated events
- Convention sales
- Kickstarter reward distribution
- Promotional material/flyer distribution
Additional information can be found on their website. Interested parties who aren’t already members can join here.
Participate in the envoy program offered by Double Exposure Inc.
Another option for increasing your convention presence without actually attending them is to be a part of the Envoy program offered Double Exposure Inc. Double Exposure is the company behind the First Exposure Playtest Hall at GenCon each year. The envoy program offers Play-to-Win support to about 50 cons across the US and Canada, as well as teachers and demoers who have been certified as knowing the game. Additional information can be found on their website.
Hire Albino Dragon to demo your game at conventions throughout the year
One of the podcasts that I listen to is the Board Game Business Podcast, and they recently did an interview with Erik Dahlman from Albino Dragon. They recently started up a convention services program that could be worth looking in to. More information can be found by listening to the interview or contacting them at convensions@albinodragon.com.
That is everything for this week. It should be noted that even with taking advantage of one or more of these services, you still won’t be able to attend every convention but should be able to have a presence at the majority of the major ones. Do you have any experience working with one of these or a different one? I would love to hear all about it. Join in the conversation by sharing in the comments. Until next week, happy designing.