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The Booth Optimization Thread
My company managed to snag a last minute booth available, and we're going to be demoing our first commercial game at PAX this year.
It's our first time rolling a demo, on a booth, in any gaming convention; we're scouting for ideas on how to optimize our booth, and to make our player pipeline as smooth and as time efficient as possible.
I've been going to PAX for a few years now, and I'd hate to be "that booth" that consumes 2-3 hours of line waiting time, and in turn, wasting the gamers convention time.
Here's a few things we've been doing to address this problem.
1. Create a demo that's about 7minutes:30seconds -15minutes worth of gameplay time, and having the best possible use of all the games features within that time frame.
2. Bring as many PC's and PC backups as possible.
3. Take timed reservations? (I'm not sure about this one. Not sure if anyone has done this efficiently in previous conventions).
4. We're bringing a projector to clone one of the PC displays, so people can watch the demo while in the queue.
TL;DR; What could booths do to make line-waiting less of a problem at this years PAX?
It's our first time rolling a demo, on a booth, in any gaming convention; we're scouting for ideas on how to optimize our booth, and to make our player pipeline as smooth and as time efficient as possible.
I've been going to PAX for a few years now, and I'd hate to be "that booth" that consumes 2-3 hours of line waiting time, and in turn, wasting the gamers convention time.
Here's a few things we've been doing to address this problem.
1. Create a demo that's about 7minutes:30seconds -15minutes worth of gameplay time, and having the best possible use of all the games features within that time frame.
2. Bring as many PC's and PC backups as possible.
3. Take timed reservations? (I'm not sure about this one. Not sure if anyone has done this efficiently in previous conventions).
4. We're bringing a projector to clone one of the PC displays, so people can watch the demo while in the queue.
TL;DR; What could booths do to make line-waiting less of a problem at this years PAX?
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The main thing about lines is to manage expectations. Signs that say "X minutes from this point" will make it very clear what players are in for once they commit to standing in that line.
The projector will certainly help with those expectations as well. If it's easy for a novice to do "something cool", show people playing demos. If it takes an experienced player to pull off the most gratifying elements, then simply put those running on a loop on the screen and dispense with the live demo feeds.
The main thing is keeping your demo short but meaningful. If your booth is popular though, you'll have a huge line no matter what you do. Nintendo does an amazing job with their demos (imo), but they still always have one of the longest lines.
we got a 10x10, so it's a tiny booth. We can fit 3 PCs, and a projector, as well as clone displays.
I'm considering cutting down the gameplay time to 5 minutes. That means a timed combat round, which isn't too hard to tweak. Of course, this problem only applies if there's a line, I wouldn't mind letting a gamer play as long as they wanted.
> The main thing about lines is to manage expectations. Signs that say "X minutes from this point". .... The monitors of other players playing will certainly help with those expectations as well. If it's easy for a novice to do "something cool", show people playing demos. If it takes an experienced player to pull off the most gratifying elements, then simply put those running on a loop on the screen and dispense with the live demo feeds.
Ideally, I don't want people waiting more than 20 minutes to play. We have 3 PCs, and have cooperative play, so it shouldn't be too bad.
I know that Nintendo is more popular than most booths, but they have a TON of demo stations available and are always swamped with lines running in huge areas along the expo hall.
Yes, the madness is indeed noticed.
> People will not show up
Maybe this is something I'll have to reserve exclusively for my Kickstarter backers (we had a small population, less than 500, and I don't think there will be many of them attending PAX this year)
> The main thing is keeping your demo short but meaningful.
Precisely. It looks like I'll have to retweak the game build to a 5 minute demo. Though, there are other battle instances I want to run, maybe a 10 and 15 minute one when the lines die down?
> If your booth is popular though, you'll have a huge line no matter what you do.
Seriously, I would LOVE to have that problem. But it means taking the burden of "long lines".
Good luck!
If the line is long.... adjust lua scripts to add more damage and more HP to enemy instances.... so the gamers die faster........
I feel a bit too evil to do that. But I don't think I have a choice.......
If you have 3 PCs, that telegraphs how much capacity you have, a timed game probably has a timer on the screen, and therefore turnover is likewise easy for most attendees to visually or mathematically assess. If demand builds and you find yourself staring down explosive demand, have a backup plan. Shorten the timed combat game accordingly.
Be flexible and do what you can to always appear to be successfully attracting players. Manage the game time to keep your line short but your seats filled.
I wish you the best of luck, and I'll be looking for a booth with three PCs to try your game. :-)
Thanks.
We're scared and excited. This is our first gaming convention as exhibitors.
Most likely, we will have a time on round clock running on the big projector, and all the PCs will be linked to the same battle instance anyway.
500$ for basic web service for 4 days..... electricity bill of about 120$ for 1000W.
And I'm on the smallest type of booth.
> and enough staff to work the booth in shifts.
There's only 2 of us unfortunately. We're both going to be on the line if there is a crowd gathered, and if there are people lining up.
At PAX east we had a paintball/Splatmaster setup where people could shoot targets. Then we had our game on multiple iPads as well. People were always going from one to the other, and vice versa, because it wasn't just a "one trick pony" location so to speak. So if you have your booth setup with your PC's then try to have something to engage others (swag, an area showing design artwork/sketches/etc)... just something that people will want to go through and stay occupied without just ONE focal point. You want them to play your game, definitely, but the expo hall is full of games. You want them to interact and remember it and the experience when they leave too. That in turn will translate to them remembering your game when they pull out all the stuff from their swag / information bags after the event and start looking up game sites.
500 for web service isn't nearly as much as Boston was I heard. We didn't need data there, as we built an offline mode into the game for the event, but from talking to people it was pretty high for a dedicated hardline (which I could see a lot of people needing for sales, etc, due to the high usage in the expo hall due to people.
Definitely do the shoes thing! Also make sure you have someplace to sit down yourself out of the way here/there even if it's just a few minutes every hour or two so you can stretch your legs/feet/etc. In Boston I found myself volunteering by mid day 3 to reload the paint pods we were using so I had a reason to sit down...lol.
ALSO: Be personable. It's the BEST thing you can do. If you engage people and they're interested in YOU they'll view your product! Make them want to see it because you've psyched them up just talking to them! Personality can be the most important thing of the entire experience! MAKE them remember you by not only your product, but the experience they had in your booth in general.
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Unfortunately, the power bill comes into play for this one. We could only afford 1000W for the booth itself, and our projector consumes 25% of that. Luckily the mac mini will consume less than the 2 windows 7 boxes we have.
> So if you have your booth setup with your PC's then try to have something to engage others (swag, an area showing design artwork/sketches/etc)... just something that people will want to go through and stay occupied without just ONE focal point.
I think I'll have to setup leaderboards for prizes. (top 5 at the end of each convention day each get a free copy of our game)
We actually can't afford a swag inventory, so that's still up in the air. We do have posters and game related art.
> Be personable. It's the BEST thing you can do. If you engage people and they're interested in YOU they'll view your product!
I'm considering cosplaying as one of the characters in our game...... I'm not sure if I can hold the act for a whole day though >_>
in, before "booth babe" drama posts......
I was often the youngest person in the hall at 35.
If it's just two of you, have something to sit on. Your backs and feet are going to be absolutely killing you by the end of the show.
I did a four day show once with a manager who felt that sitting or leaning didn't look professional. The bottoms of my feet were so worn it hurt to walk for a week after.
I agree with Bunktavious. I work at farmers markets 3 days a week for about 6 hours each day. (We're not allowed to sit down, so I'm standing all that time.) My feet and back killed me at the end of each one. I finally dropped $160 on a new pair of hiking shoes (heavy duty runners/trainers, basically) that had proper arch support and now I have minimal foot pain/back pain. Sure it hurts a bit and I'm stiff at the end, but I can still move. Having a seat will also dramatically decrease your pain. Just remember: it doesn't matter how ugly the shoes look, you will feel FAN-freaking-TASTIC at the end of it.
(And not gonna comment on Booth Babes...)
It's a sure bet that you will both need to be on the line. Plus some.
We just got back from PAX Aus (as show-goers) where there were a LOT of "first time" exhibitors, and I would say that BY FAR the biggest mistake made was a lack of staff. Two people is simply not enough to show a product. The best indie booths we saw (and the ones which we actually enjoyed) were staffed by at least four people.
PAX Aus' expo hall was 1/6 the size of Prime (I'm being generous here) and there were permanent 5 to 15 minute waits at indie booths simply because when both of the (two) exhibitors were talking to different people, anyone else that came up would need to wait. Unless you can literally shuffle people in and out, getting your message across in less than 2 or 3 minutes, you're going to have a small line.
15 minutes each times two people, means that you're only going to be able to handle eight people in an hour. (12 per hour if you assume three PCs running.) If you're in indie-land you're probably going to see eight people per minute. Admittedly, only about 5% are going to be interested enough to stop and ask about your game, but that's still going to exceed your capacity.
Think about holding a raffle or giveaway of some type for something special (original signed artwork maybe?) more often then once a day. It doesn't have to be expensive, just exclusive.
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I like the leaderboard idea. Since you don't have swag, I myself have been lured to try games just because there was a leaderboard contest (knowing I never ever win those things anyways it still makes me try the game).
A place to sit/rest for you two sounds like a great idea. One thing I'd worry about is theft. If this is your first booth, note the loose items will disappear. People may thing it's free swag, or might grab it just because. Make sure everything is secure.
3 PCs shouldn't be too bad. I think I'm going to depend on my games presentation, instead of my "pitch" to people. There is no "tutorial round", and I'm gonna have to make timed modules for each gameplay round. (right now, since our game requires a "setup time" for making battle formations, I think I'll have to give players a 2 minute setup time, and a 5 minute round)
> Teaching the game, talking about the game, people gushing about the game to you afterwards. So that 5 minute demo is actually 10 minutes per person.
That's the plan with the projector demo. We got lucky enough to have a corner-intersection booth, so we get 2 roads leading to the projector. There's about 13 feet on that road, and we're gonna align the project showing towards the intersection.
> note the loose items will disappear.
Yeap.... so we're going "wired" for our whole setup. Wired keyboards and mice. Most likely we won't have much at the booth. (we won't have a swag bin).
> I second the "do whatever you can to bring a few more bodies." Four days is a long time for a booth to only have two people staffing it.
Nope. We're the crew! Especially on short notice. The booth came with 3 passes, and we aren't sure if I'm even getting a backup, and its 50/50 chance I might have to man this booth by myself.
Unless, by some weird miracle, I sell 10000 pre-orders in an hour on day 1, I don't think I can hire another person to staff the booth.
You will die. Find someone. Anyone. Homeless person off the street. Your game group? Find another KS project and split the booth and passes with them. I don't know man.
You have an extra pass and you need an extra person. Make that happen.
> You have an extra pass and you need an extra person. Make that happen.
.... we are prepared to accept other means of survival. But it looks like there will only be two of us.
> If he/she does, he/she can put it in his/her signature. Unless we want to start a general thread for "games to be shown at pax" which would also be fine. Can't post it in this thread though less it become an advertisement of sorts (speaking of which, thank you very much for NOT doing that thus far!).
This forums rules about "self promotion" are contradictory, confusing, unenforced and selectively enforced; all at once. So I won't even go there.
If you find something confusing, please ask me via a PM! I have no problems answering questions.
a discussion forum is not the proper forum for discussing the policies and the moderators.
Gotcha.
Geth, close the thread.