Reaper at Gencon'13?

[savanttheory]

They very well may be doing something like that, we just don't know yet. As I said before last year they were giving Bones away for free at the Paint and Takes, and will most likely do that again, the question is if they'll have a retail partner like last year.

I can't argue with that, even with their presence missing in the dealerhall last year they were amazing supporters of the Miniature Hobby Events from paint and takes to classes, I think they provided Marike with all of her demo figs.

 

As to a retail partner I think that is likely the best we can hope for at this juncture. I recall seeing their paints at the darksword booth this year but I will say if they are to share space with the DS crew it should be a larger booth. DS was cramped into a pretty tight space, I recall a lot of jostling as I was taking a look at some of the clear reaper acrylics. Pipe dream and wishes would place them in partnership with the crew over at Paizo but even there I think they'd be starved for space. In the interim I'll try and be optomistic and look foward to teaching some new faces how to paint at this year's con.

[Wren]

I believe Dark Sword is planning a bigger space this year, and that they should still have the Reaper paints available.

[ReaperClark]

The gaming crew will be there running two games and Miniatures Building Authority will also be letting us use one of their game boards. Reaper will not have a booth though.

 

Yeah, what he said...

[SamuraiJack]

I'd be willing to staff a booth for them. Wouldn't be my first convention booth rodeo

[scorpio616]

Is setting up a booth even that profitable? Given the exorbitant costs for tablespace at major conventions and airfair / transit costs, is it truly worthwhile? Exposure at a con is still valuable for an up and coming company, but in the current era, the con market isn't what it used to be.

[MonkeySloth]

Depends on the company and the convention. I have a friend that's a cartoonist and he makes more money at gencon then any other convention he visits. ComicCon, however, is one of his worst and he no longer goes to it.

 

if you're loosing money at the con then sometimes the presence from being there is worth the cost marketing wise.

[klarg1]

I don't know about manufacturers, such as Reaper, but, as I understand it, small time publishers for games (RPGs, etc.) are often aiming to just break even at a big con, like GenCon. The hope is to make a big splash with new products, and promote your stuff.

Edited May 21, 2013 by klarg1

[savanttheory]

Is setting up a booth even that profitable? Given the exorbitant costs for tablespace at major conventions and airfair / transit costs, is it truly worthwhile? Exposure at a con is still valuable for an up and coming company, but in the current era, the con market isn't what it used to be.

My sense of it however is that it is a little disconcerting that an industry leader has abandoned its presence at the major trade show for tabletop gaming. Here in the last two years we've seen a major push by Coolmini growing as a publisher with its own brands filling the vaccuum left by Reaper's step back.

 

At the end of the day vendor hall dollars aside I have to imagine it is beneficial to be able to work with other industry heads, plan out the next fiscal year and brain storm with your compatriots face to face at a trade show. Fan participation aside Gencon presents a golden opportunity to network and create new business opportunities.

[SamuraiJack]

It also depends on how they run the booth.. Utilikilt sends one main person and merchandise and customers who already own a kilt can volunteer to work in their booth and if you work I think 12 or 15 hours you get a free kilt.. Turbine Games only sent a couple people to the convention each year to demo stuff..heck I'm spending 25 hours GMing PFS at Origins for freebies that aren't even physical..

[MonkeySloth]

I hate to keep harping on it but the Paint and Takes are really Reaper's volunteer group. While having a few fans working a booth is fine if there are a lot of actual employees there I'd rather have no presence then an all volunteer army. As has been stated GenCon is a big event and the actions of the people representing Reaper there would reflect on them employees or not. I've only been to GenCon once and there already are companies I won't bother doing business with because the people working the booth at the time I was there were either very unprofessional or couldn't answer the basic questions about the products they were selling (and there was no one around they could ask) and none of us want that.

[SamuraiJack]

I agree totally with that statement. I wouldn't want to work a convention if I couldn't answer questions about the product because i personally wouldn't want to look stupid or unprofessional. I have seen it many times though and it turns me off too.. especially when its a simple product like dice or steampunk gear..

[vutpakdi]

GenCon's Paint and Take is run by a group of independent painters/volunteers (MHE). Reaper and other manufacturers support the Paint and Take with extensive donations of paints and minis, but they aren't "Reaper's volunteers".

 

Paint and Takes at smaller cons were/are sometimes run by Reaper volunteers.

 

Working the Reaper booth is great fun, partly because it's a great crew, and partly because the customers are generally very appreciative. All the booth volunteers that I know have a history with Reaper and know the product well: "Do you have a XXXX YYYY with ZZZZ?" "Yes. This one, and this one, but my favorite is this one."

 

Ron

Edited May 21, 2013 by vutpakdi

[SaintRigger]

I love working with the Reaper crew at the shows - mostly because of the people I get to work with and meeting the folks at the show.

 

Savanttheory - will you be part of the MHE crew at GenCon this year? If so, we'll be working together. :D

[savanttheory]

I love working with the Reaper crew at the shows - mostly because of the people I get to work with and meeting the folks at the show.

 

Savanttheory - will you be part of the MHE crew at GenCon this year? If so, we'll be working together. :D

Yes, this will be my first year working with the MHE team. Look forward to catching you there!

[SaintRigger]

Cool! It's a real good time, and fantastic people. I love just sitting and teaching and chatting. :)