The new forums will be named Coin Return (based on the most recent vote)! You can check on the status and timeline of the transition to the new forums here.
The Guiding Principles and New Rules document is now in effect.

Freebie etiquette

Alice BentleyAlice Bentley Registered User regular
edited July 2007 in PAX Archive
This will be my first PAX, so I don't know what the options are for distributing promotional items to attendees.

Is there a Freebie Table where i would just leave things off? Can (or should) I walk down the Registration lines handing them out?

And how many people still play ButtonMen? Would a free starter set be a welcome bonus or a quickly tossed burden?

Inquiring minds want to know...

Alice Bentley on

Posts

  • person34person34 Registered User regular
    edited July 2007
    I think you may want to talk to Mr. Khoo. aka: Robert Khoo... Since I'm not sure about that sort of thing, but he seems to be the official word about stuff like that. Perhaps send him a super nice PM about whatever it is you want to pass out and ask him.

    Though I dont think there would be a problem, as long as its not like covered in boobies and swear words... that stuff is best to give directly to me... ;)

    person34 on
  • AvidAvid Registered User regular
    edited July 2007
    Let us know what he says.
    Id like to hand out stickers so u guys can plaster them all over the building. hahahahha DOOOM

    Avid on
  • BigRedBigRed Seattle, WARegistered User regular
    edited July 2007
    Avid wrote: »
    plaster them all over the building.

    Uhh... No.

    That would be bad.

    BigRed on
    <MoeFwacky> besides, BigRed-Worky is right
  • mentok1982mentok1982 I could never leave you PAX baby. BaltimoreRegistered User regular
    edited July 2007
    I will have about 50 business cards with me for GPUReview.com (PC graphics card site) but I am only going to give them to interested parties. Nvidia will be at the top of my list of course.

    mentok1982 on
    Penny Arcade TV makes my life complete!
    PS3: Mentok || Steam: mentok1982 || Diablo 3: mentok1982#1212
    Links: GPUReview.com My IGN activity My IGN Blog [H]ard|Forum
  • TheMayorTheMayor Registered User regular
    edited July 2007
    Handing out stuff is highly frowned upon, as all you are doing is getting the same coverage that the other sponsors actually paid for. In the end, you are taking money from Penny Arcade by not paying them for an official space, and you are being a jerk to all those who did pay.

    After I inquired about buying a booth there from Mike I asked if going boothless was OK. Its basically the same question, can I walk around handing out my stuff. The answer is no.

    Here is the email you should inquire to: mikef@penny-arcade.com

    What I didn't find out, is if there is a flyer table set up someplace to leave brochures, CDs, etc. Most trade shows have one so I would bet PAX will too.

    TheMayor on
  • Alice BentleyAlice Bentley Registered User regular
    edited July 2007
    TheMayor wrote: »
    can I walk around handing out my stuff? The answer is no.

    I actually hope to avoid having to hand anything out - I hope to spend all my time attending panels and gaming. It's just that the guys I work for are dropping one of their product lines, and we still have some stock left. And rather than scramble around finding a wholesaler who's interested, or -horrors- just throwing them into the landfill, I thought it would be more fun to make them available free to PAX attendees.

    I'll try emailing again, and let this thread know what gets decided.

    Alice

    Alice Bentley on
  • TheMayorTheMayor Registered User regular
    edited July 2007
    Yeah if you find out there is a freebie table I too am laden with flyers and installation disks that would look lovely sitting upon it. Let us know!

    Thanks!

    TheMayor on
  • Alice BentleyAlice Bentley Registered User regular
    edited July 2007
    I'll try emailing again, and let this thread know what gets decided.

    And the answer is ... nope, there are no plans for a Freebie Table.

    Promotional give-aways can be included as inserts in the show bag for the (in my opinion, quite reasonable) cost of $400.

    For my specific purpose - clearing out a no longer supported product line - I'm guessing my bosses aren't going to want to pay extra to unload them. What I do next will depend on my measure of overall support for the game, and whether people would actually be happy about getting them.

    So let me repurpose this thread and ask for feedback: Button Men is a dice based duel game ideal for conventions. All sorts of companies have produced characters for it, so having our handful bow out of the lineup shouldn't dim the enthusiasm much. Would getting a pair of Button Men and an instruction sheet be a cool, appreciated thing, or just something discarded?

    Alice Bentley on
  • BigRedBigRed Seattle, WARegistered User regular
    edited July 2007
    The bag insert thing is a very reasonable cost.

    Last year we were told (enforcers) to be on a lookout for people handing stuff out and to ask them not to.
    You are being watched :P

    Unless someone wants to give me bawls or anything else with caffeine, ill take your whole load of it :P

    BigRed on
    <MoeFwacky> besides, BigRed-Worky is right
  • atrayatray Registered User regular
    edited July 2007
    I'll try emailing again, and let this thread know what gets decided.

    And the answer is ... nope, there are no plans for a Freebie Table.

    Promotional give-aways can be included as inserts in the show bag for the (in my opinion, quite reasonable) cost of $400.

    For my specific purpose - clearing out a no longer supported product line - I'm guessing my bosses aren't going to want to pay extra to unload them. What I do next will depend on my measure of overall support for the game, and whether people would actually be happy about getting them.

    So let me repurpose this thread and ask for feedback: Button Men is a dice based duel game ideal for conventions. All sorts of companies have produced characters for it, so having our handful bow out of the lineup shouldn't dim the enthusiasm much. Would getting a pair of Button Men and an instruction sheet be a cool, appreciated thing, or just something discarded?

    Sounds great to me :) you should do it.

    atray on
  • dyaballikldyaballikl PAX Main Theatre House & Security Manager • PAX Community Cartographer Gold Coast QLD AustraliaRegistered User regular
    edited July 2007
    I'll try emailing again, and let this thread know what gets decided.

    And the answer is ... nope, there are no plans for a Freebie Table.

    Promotional give-aways can be included as inserts in the show bag for the (in my opinion, quite reasonable) cost of $400.

    For my specific purpose - clearing out a no longer supported product line - I'm guessing my bosses aren't going to want to pay extra to unload them. What I do next will depend on my measure of overall support for the game, and whether people would actually be happy about getting them.

    So let me repurpose this thread and ask for feedback: Button Men is a dice based duel game ideal for conventions. All sorts of companies have produced characters for it, so having our handful bow out of the lineup shouldn't dim the enthusiasm much. Would getting a pair of Button Men and an instruction sheet be a cool, appreciated thing, or just something discarded?

    never heard of the game. but, let me get one thing straight: for the low, low price of only $400 i could have fliers full of boobies placed in every pax bag?! why was i not informed?! i'll get on this at once!

    dyaballikl on
    a.k.a. dya
    "Riding a mongoose reminds me of having sex with a man, which is something I do frequently because I am gay!" -Gabe
  • SumiSumi Abbotsford, BCRegistered User regular
    edited July 2007
    Everyone loves swag.

    you can slip me some under the table.

    Sumi on
    Standard Action, it's a webseries.
  • nearlysobernearlysober Registered User regular
    edited July 2007
    Seriously for $400 I'd have taken a picture of my buddy with just the words "Kick Me" on it and have it put in every PAX bag just to mess with him.

    nearlysober on
  • yoshamanoyoshamano The fuck is this. The fuck was that. Marshall, Soviet MichiganRegistered User regular
    edited July 2007
    Seriously for $400 I'd have taken a picture of my buddy with just the words "Kick Me" on it and have it put in every PAX bag just to mess with him.

    Or put this in and try to start some sort of wild rumor.

    20040616h.jpg

    yoshamano on
    pa_forums_sig.jpg
  • WerrickWerrick Registered User regular
    edited July 2007
    Y'know... i can't say for sure.

    I think I'd probably have a look at them, but the chances that I'd play with them are small. Unless, of course, my buddies thought they were cool and talked me into it. I'm going with one guy who checks all that shit out in it's most minute detail to see if it's any fun.

    The thing is that on most cons I've been to you get handed so much fucking crap that it just because a "Junk Collection" after a while.

    Werrick on
    "Civilized men are more discourteous than savages because they know they can be rude without having their skulls split, as a general thing."

    -Robert E. Howard
    Tower of the Elephant
  • Tony HellmannTony Hellmann Registered User regular
    edited July 2007
    Seriously for $400 I'd have taken a picture of my buddy with just the words "Kick Me" on it and have it put in every PAX bag just to mess with him.

    Umm, its not exactly $400. That's just the cost for the privilege of putting something in the bag. You also have to deliver 10,000 of whatever you're giving out.

    However, if you're serious about that, its pretty funny, so I'll do the printing for you at cost.

    --Tony

    Tony Hellmann on
    Tony Hellmann
    CEO, Technomancer Press
    http://www.technomancer-press.com

    Check out TerraDrive Live...its happening at PAX, and everyone's playing
  • BigRedBigRed Seattle, WARegistered User regular
    edited July 2007
    Seriously for $400 I'd have taken a picture of my buddy with just the words "Kick Me" on it and have it put in every PAX bag just to mess with him.

    Umm, its not exactly $400. That's just the cost for the privilege of putting something in the bag. You also have to deliver 10,000 of whatever you're giving out.

    However, if you're serious about that, its pretty funny, so I'll do the printing for you at cost.

    --Tony

    hahaha

    BigRed on
    <MoeFwacky> besides, BigRed-Worky is right
  • atrayatray Registered User regular
    edited July 2007
    Seriously for $400 I'd have taken a picture of my buddy with just the words "Kick Me" on it and have it put in every PAX bag just to mess with him.

    Umm, its not exactly $400. That's just the cost for the privilege of putting something in the bag. You also have to deliver 10,000 of whatever you're giving out.

    However, if you're serious about that, its pretty funny, so I'll do the printing for you at cost.

    --Tony

    Isnt it closer to 30,000 this year?

    atray on
  • Moe FwackyMoe Fwacky Right Here, Right Now Drives a BuickModerator Mod Emeritus
    edited July 2007
    10,000 is only the number of things you are required to supply to put in the bag. I'm sure some companies supply more.

    Moe Fwacky on
    E6LkoFK.png

  • atrayatray Registered User regular
    edited July 2007
    so pre-reg people have a better chance of getting more free swag?

    atray on
  • RelativioxRelativiox Halo Nerd Forerunner shield world OnyxRegistered User regular
    edited July 2007
    Umm yeah. That's what you get for being smart and thinking ahead.

    Relativiox on
    iris_forumsig.gif
  • JaidenJaiden Registered User regular
    edited July 2007
    atray wrote: »
    so pre-reg people have a better chance of getting more free swag?

    Showing up on Friday means you've got a better chance of getting bag swag. I honestly don't remember if we hold onto X number of bags for pre-reg people, but my assumption is to say that we don't.

    Jaiden on
    [15:51] <+Snickers> Dur, I R CUM
    [10:24] * @BigRed-Worky cums the water

    [12:32] <+prox> lawl you kickbanned me so hard my client crashed
  • atrayatray Registered User regular
    edited July 2007
    Makes sense, but if pre-reg get in before everyone else on friday they would get dibs on the bag swag right?

    atray on
  • BigRedBigRed Seattle, WARegistered User regular
    edited July 2007
    atray wrote: »
    Makes sense, but if pre-reg get in before everyone else on friday they would get dibs on the bag swag right?

    the PAX bags will be handed out one per person, not sure how its working exactly this year because of the new venue.

    BigRed on
    <MoeFwacky> besides, BigRed-Worky is right
  • RikaLovesDieRikaLovesDie Registered User regular
    edited July 2007
    BigRed wrote: »
    Unless someone wants to give me bawls or anything else with caffeine, ill take your whole load of it :P

    Dude, Red... you sell out at a pretty low cost... weaksauce, man.

    I'll just jack some penguin mints off my roomie for you. He won't notice...

    RikaLovesDie on
    SquallSeed31: Well... if you volunteer to take the black, make sure you clearly specify that in your preferences.
    Rika: lol wut?...
  • BigRedBigRed Seattle, WARegistered User regular
    edited July 2007
    Penguin mints are weaksauce.

    What do you mean low cost? You realize how much caffeine I can consume? :P

    BigRed on
    <MoeFwacky> besides, BigRed-Worky is right
  • Alice BentleyAlice Bentley Registered User regular
    edited July 2007
    Final outcome of my freebie question:

    There really isn't a good venue at PAX for wholesale distribution of freebies unless you already have a booth in the Exhibit Hall. But clever Mike F pointed out that Game Prizes for the tournaments are welcome, so I'll be sending them about a dozen bundles of the game.

    Go win those tournaments folks!

    Alice Bentley on
  • Moe FwackyMoe Fwacky Right Here, Right Now Drives a BuickModerator Mod Emeritus
    edited July 2007
    I would like to divert all of your attention towards this post.

    http://forums.penny-arcade.com/showthread.php?p=2229357#post2229357

    Moe Fwacky on
    E6LkoFK.png

  • BigRedBigRed Seattle, WARegistered User regular
    edited July 2007
    Moe_Fwacky wrote: »
    I would like to divert all of your attention towards this post.

    http://forums.penny-arcade.com/showthread.php?p=2229357#post2229357

    hahahaha

    I would discreetly chip in on that ;-)

    BigRed on
    <MoeFwacky> besides, BigRed-Worky is right
  • TimeCruiserMikeTimeCruiserMike Past Organizer of the West Coast Train Trip San Fernando ValleyRegistered User regular
    edited July 2007
    as would i . . . . hmmm . . . . maybe some one should set up a paypal donation thingy and make it happen . ..

    TimeCruiserMike on
    SkOelFN.png
    {Fondly remembers the PAXTrain}
  • HotSakeHotSake Registered User regular
    edited July 2007
    Still have to pay to get them printed, right?

    HotSake on
    hotsakepaxsigbl0.png
  • atrayatray Registered User regular
    edited July 2007
    Now we just need to find an anonymous printer.

    atray on
  • Alice BentleyAlice Bentley Registered User regular
    edited July 2007
    The deadline for adding things to this year's PAX bags has already passed, so now you have a whole year to plan your nefarious scheme!

    Alice Bentley on
This discussion has been closed.