Trade Show Planning Case Study Series

July 01, 2014 4 Comments

Trade shows can be an excellent opportunity to generate awareness for your game. They provide a format to promote to potential fans, network with the press, build partnerships and more all under one roof. Trouble is, trade shows can just as easily become an expensive waste of time. Whether you’re exhibiting or attending, good trade show planning is a key to a successful event. And as we approach trade show season, what better way to learn good trade show planning tactics than with real-world examples!

In the coming weeks, I will be publishing a trade show series. Each post within the series will profile an indie developer and his or her recent trade show experience, providing concrete examples of what worked, what didn’t and important lessons learned. Each post is also intended to provide a different perspective: from the least expensive “walking the floor and promoting on foot” to the more expensive “securing and promoting from a booth.” Below are summaries of each upcoming case study so you know what to expect 🙂

Trade Show Planning Case Studies

On Foot at E3
The first case study in the series profiles Diametric Games, an indie studio out of Canada. For Rob Stamper, the president and CEO of the studio, promoting GAS, the studio’s upcoming title, on foot at E3 was quite the adventure. Thankfully, as his second time at E3, he was able to put in place some proper trade show planning and garner excellent results.

Table at PAX East
The second case study comes from Henchman & Goon, a studio in Bergen, Norway. This small studio successfully secured a table at PAX East and exhibited from across the Atlantic Ocean. Learning how to manage trade show planning, including hiring two people to staff its booth, from across the world, was an experience to say the least.

20′ x 30′ Booth at GDC
While I may not may not have been an indie developer, I have exhibited in some large booths at GDC while I worked for Dassault Systemes marketing its game engine. For booths this size, loads of trade show planning is required, much of which is applicable no matter what scale you’re promoting at. I will share everything I learned in an upcoming post.