Not Impressed By GenCon Booth

[Thunderforge]

I went to GenCon last weekend and I have to say that I just wasn't impressed with the Mongoose booth. I stopped by on Sunday and was wanting to ask a few questions about Traveller. I think it's a system that I would be interested in, but I wanted to know how the system worked and such to see if I wanted to buy it.

When I went, I walked around the racks for a little bit. One of the workers at the register was busy with another person. I waited for a while until after they were done, but the folks at the register didn't seem to notice me. In fact, I got the impression that they were bored to death. They clearly didn't want to be there and they didn't want to talk with anyone who wasn't buying something.

So I stood around for a few more minutes hoping they would take notice of me (and that I just had a bad first impression). When they didn't, I promptly left.

Other companies such as Pinnacle Entertainment and Cubicle 7 had their employees (and in some cases, the game designers) standing in the aisle talking to people passing buy and answering their questions. They were passionate about their games and, despite a lack of sleep, they were thrilled to talk about their games with new people (something I can't say about the Mongoose booth). Pinnacle also had a small table set up to give a quick demo of Savage Worlds with some sample character sheets. I would have really appreciated if Mongoose did the same and maybe I would have purchased a Traveller book or two they did.

And for what it's worth. Pinnacle and Cubicle 7 always had packed booths when I went by. I was the only person at the time who was wandering the lonely wire racks at the Mongoose booth. If people don't feel they're welcome to stay and ask questions, they won't spend much time at your booth and will lose interest.

Please do all you can at future cons to make your booths a more enjoyable experience, especially for people who want to know more about your games.

 

[AndrewW]

Could be they didn't want to disturb you and where waiting for any questions you might have to be asked.

In terms of demo's, could always have looked in on any Traveller games going on at the con. Could have given Living Traveller a go.

 

[MongooseMatt]

I am very sorry you felt that way. We were intensely busy over the four days and tried to give everyone an equal amount of attention - we were happy to explain any of our products with anyone who asked. I was, after all, one of the people there.

At the same time though, I have to ask - if there was something you wanted to know, why not just say? Plenty of people come by the stand just to browse. If they catch our eye, we'll say hello and ask if there is anything we can do for them. If they don't... it is usually because they they know what they are looking for or just browsing.

Again, I apologise that you felt ignored - but your conclusion is far from the truth.

 

[rust]

From personal experience with "booth duty" on book fairs I know that it is
really difficult to see whether someone wants to be left alone to browse or
would prefer to be talked to.

I am one of the customers who prefer to be left alone unless I really have
a question and ask someone, in fact I find it even a bit impolite if some-
one annoys me with a sales pitch I did not explicitly ask for - there are a
couple of shops I avoid because my "No, I am just browsing" look either
does not work or one of the employees feels obliged to stand two steps
behind me and watch me all the time anyway.

So, people are quite different, and unless you signal the people on duty at
the booth which kind of customer you are, there is a risk that they will
make the wrong guess. :wink:

 

[Thunderforge]

I guess first impressions are everything and I just had a bad one at GenCon. I'm sure you guys are knowledgable people and would have answered my questions if I chose to ask. I probably should have walked up to the register and asked, but as I said, I got the impression that they didn't want to talk.

To give an analogy, if you walk into a hardware store not quite sure of the part, I'm sure you really like having someone on the store floor instantly greeting you and asking if they can help. You feel at ease, they can help you out, and you walk out of the store feeling it went well. Contrast that with wandering the aisle for a bit, only to find a salesperson in the corner of the store who has a frown on their face while being busy counting money. Not exactly the best experience.

I would really appreciate it if next year, Mongoose's booth would have a person who's not behind the cash register who can greet people and answer any questions (or just have a good time sharing their love of the games). Besides, people also stop by to listen in on a conversation like that, which gets people to stay at your booth and hopefully buy stuff (again, I cite Pinnacle and Cubicle 7 as examples). A small demo or a table with character sheets for explaining the system would have been great too because a book on a wire rack doesn't tell you all that much. There's plenty of space at the booth, so why not?

 

[Thunderforge]

I am one of the customers who prefer to be left alone unless I really have a question and ask someone, in fact I find it even a bit impolite if someone annoys me with a sales pitch I did not explicitly ask for - there are a couple of shops I avoid because my "No, I am just browsing" look either does not work or one of the employees feels obliged to stand two steps behind me and watch me all the time anyway.

I'm not saying that they need to give a full sales pitch to everyone that walks in, just someone who's not standing behind the register who might ask "is there anything you have a question about?" or "is there anything you're looking for?". Maybe if you see someone looking for a while at the rack of Traveller books, you might walk up and say "Are you familiar with Traveller?"

If they don't want to be bothered, they can just say, "No I'm just browsing" and be left in peace. But they might say "Yeah, I'm kind of interested in Traveller, but I don't know too much about it. Can you please tell me about it?"

 

[AndrewW]

I'll have to agree with rust here I would prefer not to be bothered unless I specifically ask.

 

[Greg Smith]

To give an analogy, if you walk into a hardware store not quite sure of the part, I'm sure you really like having someone on the store floor instantly greeting you and asking if they can help.

That is a very American thing. Mongoose and its staff are by and large British, and that is a pretty uncommon way of doing things over here, so it may just be a cultural difference.

(The staff in Games Workshop stores do and it I find it damned annoying).

 

[AndrewW]

To give an analogy, if you walk into a hardware store not quite sure of the part, I'm sure you really like having someone on the store floor instantly greeting you and asking if they can help.

That is a very American thing. Mongoose and its staff are by and large British, and that is a pretty uncommon way of doing things over here, so it may just be a cultural difference.

(The staff in Games Workshop stores do and it I find it damned annoying).

Hmmm, well I'm an American and dislike it...

***Hides his british citizenship...

 

[MongooseMatt]

That is a very American thing. Mongoose and its staff are by and large British, and that is a pretty uncommon way of doing things over here, so it may just be a cultural difference.

This is certainly true - we are far more pro-active in US conventions than in the UK ones. There are always exceptions but, by and large, the British public do not like being bothered while shopping

 

[Random Code]

This is certainly true - we are far more pro-active in US conventions than in the UK ones. There are always exceptions but, by and large, the British public do not like being bothered while shopping

Yep. Gotta agree. Well, unless its a really fit bird that's working there - then she can 'annoy' me all she wants!



As a solution to your queries though Thunderforge, I suggest posting some questions here in the appropriate forum section (assuming you haven't already done so). I'm sure you'll get some ecellent responses.

 

[pixelgeek]

At the same time though, I have to ask - if there was something you wanted to know, why not just say?

Some people don't work that way Matt That is why most companies train their booth staff to engage people when they see them in the booth or looking at product.

The last time I was at GenCon I stood and listened to booth staff talk to each other about a football game (I think it was West Ham) while I stood next to the register watching them holding a copy of a couple of books in my hand.

Maybe they thought I was more interested in hearing about the game? In any case people at trade shows need to be engaged by booth staff.

 

[rust]

In any case people at trade shows need to be engaged by booth staff.

It really seems to be a cultural thing. If booth staff over here would act
like this, a small minority of people would perhaps like it, but the huge
majority would be driven away from the booth by it. Here the general
rule is not to talk to a potential customer unless he turned towards you
and made eye contact.

I remember a book fair where I walked up to a guy browsing one of our
books and said hello. He turned around, snapped "****, are you blind,
don't you see that I am reading ?", put the book back on the shelf and
left, obviously quite angry. :shock:

At another book fair we could only afford a very small booth, about the
size of a prison cell, and we spent some time at the much bigger neigh-
bouring booth - especially after my colleague had counted the visitors
at our booth and found out that more people browsed our books when
we were not there and only went over whenever someone began to look
around for staff.

 

[nezeray]

I've worked a few Gencon and Origin booths over the last 6 years or so and have noticed that people walking by your booth and glance in aren't interested in chatting. If they step foot into your booth, they most likely are going to walk up to a certain book OR they're going to look for someone to talk to.

If someone walks into "my" booth, I will approach them and just say, "If you have any questions, feel free to ask me" then pause long enough for them to respond. If they don't ask a question, I will move on to the next person. I will make sure to glance back at the previous person if I'm not talking to someone in case they do come up with a question.

The booth that I worked this year, had a small demo table set up and I ran some short demos: I still tried to at least flash a smile at people who were looking at our books.

I think that you have to gear your approach to the location that you're in. Usually Matthew and his team are very good at this in the US. I know that I saw Bryan Steele (author extraordinaire) around the racks talking to people.

One thing that I've learned that many people don't know about the big conventions is that many of the "big wigs' like Matthew are pulled away from their booths for interviews, business lunches, and meetings. if there were only one or two people at the booth, this may have been the reason. When not coordinating demonstrators, MGP usually has their Con Organizer (this year it was Curt) at the booth talking to people.

Thankfully you've found the forums, so feel free to ask as many questions as you'd like about Traveller and our other games.

James / Nezeray
MGP demonstrator

 

[Thunderforge]

If they step foot into your booth, they most likely are going to walk up to a certain book OR they're going to look for someone to talk to.

If someone walks into "my" booth, I will approach them and just say, "If you have any questions, feel free to ask me" then pause long enough for them to respond. If they don't ask a question, I will move on to the next person. I will make sure to glance back at the previous person if I'm not talking to someone in case they do come up with a question.

I suppose this was what I was expecting and I didn't see it. It's not too much, but I think it would have gone a long way for me and other people.

And I appreciate the invitation to ask questions about Traveller. Perhaps in another topic I will

 

[Random Code]

I stood and listened to booth staff talk to each other about a football game (I think it was West Ham) while I stood next to the register watching them holding a copy of a couple of books in my hand.

Standing at a cash desk with purchases in hand is very different to general browsing! I don't like being 'annoyed' by staff while I'm browsing but the above would have lost them a sale if it'd have been me.

 

[nezeray]

I stood and listened to booth staff talk to each other about a football game (I think it was West Ham) while I stood next to the register watching them holding a copy of a couple of books in my hand.

Standing at a cash desk with purchases in hand is very different to general browsing! I don't like being 'annoyed' by staff while I'm browsing but the above would have lost them a sale if it'd have been me.

Now that I can agree with, I walked out of a store because the lady behind the counter was chatting to no end about Harry Potter with some kids who obviously weren't buying anything. She was doing most of the talking to, NOT trying to get out of the conversation.

James / Nezeray