Pushing Your Product At E3
by Gregory Micek · in General Discussion · 11/12/2001 (10:14 pm) · 18 replies
Has anyone here ever seriously considered taking their project to E3 to show it off?
It may seem expensive, but it looks as though there are ways to keep the costs down. Very simple really. And for this we're assuming that you would be in Kentia hall, thats downstairs. Although it runs the same price upstairs, the spaces are much larger.
$23 per square foot. Booths come in incriments of 10ftx10ft sizes. So, the smallest booth you would get would be 100 square feet, for $2300. Split that up between two people and you're not doing too bad really.
I'll skip getting a 10x20, because going to 20x20 has a nice benifit. If you get a 20x20 booth, your not walled in on three sides like the 10x10s. With a 20x20 booth you can get whats called an 'island'. An island is accessable from all sides, so it gives you a lot more exposure. It also means that you can have a significantly higher number of people that can share it without having anyone face the back.
So, we have our 20x20 booth which costs us $9200. It would not be unrealistic to think that up to 16 people could easily share that space. So now we have 16 people with a decent sized booth each putting in less than $600 ($575 to be exact).
Sure, there are other things to consider such as internet access cost ($400 for T1 speed for the entire convention, thats $25 a piece). Other things such as paying GES to carpet, furiniture rental and so on would have to be added in. Or would they? It is not a stretch to think that in this large group of people someone will have the connections to help provide furniture and other things. Even an arrangement with a local business or other company could probobly be arranged to help keep cost down.
Now, keep in mind that simply getting a booth at E3 would not be enough to get much attention. Much ground work would need to be done (handing out propaganda and such), but that is to be expected.
Just something to think about.
It may seem expensive, but it looks as though there are ways to keep the costs down. Very simple really. And for this we're assuming that you would be in Kentia hall, thats downstairs. Although it runs the same price upstairs, the spaces are much larger.
$23 per square foot. Booths come in incriments of 10ftx10ft sizes. So, the smallest booth you would get would be 100 square feet, for $2300. Split that up between two people and you're not doing too bad really.
I'll skip getting a 10x20, because going to 20x20 has a nice benifit. If you get a 20x20 booth, your not walled in on three sides like the 10x10s. With a 20x20 booth you can get whats called an 'island'. An island is accessable from all sides, so it gives you a lot more exposure. It also means that you can have a significantly higher number of people that can share it without having anyone face the back.
So, we have our 20x20 booth which costs us $9200. It would not be unrealistic to think that up to 16 people could easily share that space. So now we have 16 people with a decent sized booth each putting in less than $600 ($575 to be exact).
Sure, there are other things to consider such as internet access cost ($400 for T1 speed for the entire convention, thats $25 a piece). Other things such as paying GES to carpet, furiniture rental and so on would have to be added in. Or would they? It is not a stretch to think that in this large group of people someone will have the connections to help provide furniture and other things. Even an arrangement with a local business or other company could probobly be arranged to help keep cost down.
Now, keep in mind that simply getting a booth at E3 would not be enough to get much attention. Much ground work would need to be done (handing out propaganda and such), but that is to be expected.
Just something to think about.
About the author
#2
I was just wondering if the GG team was going to make an apperance at E3 to show off the TGE?
Alc
11/13/2001 (7:26 am)
I think it's a good plan. Our team is planning on heading down to E3 as spectators (nothing solid enough done yet to market).I was just wondering if the GG team was going to make an apperance at E3 to show off the TGE?
Alc
#3
Than again see what it got GOD games.....
Still it's something you should keep in mind even if it's just coffee and some cookies...
11/13/2001 (7:28 am)
Don't forget the beer and the babes ;O)Than again see what it got GOD games.....
Still it's something you should keep in mind even if it's just coffee and some cookies...
#4
This is the kind of thing GarageGames will eventually be doing for you guys. We probably won't attend the 2002 E3 in a booth becuase there will not be enough games to make it pay, but we are planning on getting a booth at CGDC in 2002.
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I haven't checked, but it seems like your prices are kind of low. Where did you get your information? Another thing you have to remember is that it's not just the cost of the booth. There travel costs to get there, costs for the booth structure, etc. Another one that I'm sure you didn't count on is the cost of the union labor to carry in your boot and set up your electricity.
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I was a bit shocked to see the prices for GDC, about twice as expensive. I got my information from Bill Creonte (508-875-3976 ext226). And you are definately right about the other costs involved. It would be nice if that $575 included everything :) The last two years i've gone to the convention (as attendee) i've been able to save quite a bit of money. Hotel rooms can be found very inexpensively, so long as you reserve in December and Janruary. Not buying food at the convention center saves you all kinds of money. As for setting up the booth, if those going in on it were willing to accept the fact that they would most likely not get something with large structures and such, it should be fine. One thing that would work nicely would be banners with the developers logos, or their game logos on them. THose can be purchased for a good price.
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I should be getting my exhibitor packet next week or so, so i'll post more information then. That should give a clearer picture of how much various services (like electricity and furniture) cost.
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One thing i forgot to mention before actually. With a 10x10 booth you get 5 exhibitor passes to the show. With a 20x20 you get 7. If a large number of people were to share the space something would have to be agreed upon. You can get additional exhibitor badges, or you can get guest passes. I'll be able to find out the difference in cost a little later.
11/13/2001 (12:07 pm)
You said:--------------------------------This is the kind of thing GarageGames will eventually be doing for you guys. We probably won't attend the 2002 E3 in a booth becuase there will not be enough games to make it pay, but we are planning on getting a booth at CGDC in 2002.
.
I haven't checked, but it seems like your prices are kind of low. Where did you get your information? Another thing you have to remember is that it's not just the cost of the booth. There travel costs to get there, costs for the booth structure, etc. Another one that I'm sure you didn't count on is the cost of the union labor to carry in your boot and set up your electricity.
---------------------------------------------------
I was a bit shocked to see the prices for GDC, about twice as expensive. I got my information from Bill Creonte (508-875-3976 ext226). And you are definately right about the other costs involved. It would be nice if that $575 included everything :) The last two years i've gone to the convention (as attendee) i've been able to save quite a bit of money. Hotel rooms can be found very inexpensively, so long as you reserve in December and Janruary. Not buying food at the convention center saves you all kinds of money. As for setting up the booth, if those going in on it were willing to accept the fact that they would most likely not get something with large structures and such, it should be fine. One thing that would work nicely would be banners with the developers logos, or their game logos on them. THose can be purchased for a good price.
.
I should be getting my exhibitor packet next week or so, so i'll post more information then. That should give a clearer picture of how much various services (like electricity and furniture) cost.
.
One thing i forgot to mention before actually. With a 10x10 booth you get 5 exhibitor passes to the show. With a 20x20 you get 7. If a large number of people were to share the space something would have to be agreed upon. You can get additional exhibitor badges, or you can get guest passes. I'll be able to find out the difference in cost a little later.
#5
Don't forget the beer and the babes ;O)
.
Than again see what it got GOD games.....
.
Still it's something you should keep in mind even if it's just coffee and some cookies...
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I've noticed two things in the years that i've gone to the convention.
1: Last year Atari was handing out free 8oz water bottles at their booth. Nothing fancy, just regular bottles, but the label just had the atari logo on it. Man, you could not even get past the crowd of people gathered around there. Free beverages of any kind are a huge draw, because most people do not offer it (same goes for food).
2: Places to sit are impossible to find at the convention. That is the only reason anyone ever goes to the Ziff Davis booth, they usually have a couple couches. A couple places to sit in a booth is definately a draw.
On a final note, my roommate has worked with enough models to know that hiring one for the convention is not reccomended. I think a good idea for the 'boof babe' factor would go a little something like this: Have someone who lives in the L.A. area go to a local college. Find someone perky and friendly (beauty is actually a secondary consideration i think) and offer them something like $100 for a days worth of standing around handing out propaganda. Its a safe environment, you could offer free lunch or something, and they would be making some extra cash.
11/13/2001 (12:16 pm)
You said:-----------------------------------------Don't forget the beer and the babes ;O)
.
Than again see what it got GOD games.....
.
Still it's something you should keep in mind even if it's just coffee and some cookies...
-----------------------------------------------
I've noticed two things in the years that i've gone to the convention.
1: Last year Atari was handing out free 8oz water bottles at their booth. Nothing fancy, just regular bottles, but the label just had the atari logo on it. Man, you could not even get past the crowd of people gathered around there. Free beverages of any kind are a huge draw, because most people do not offer it (same goes for food).
2: Places to sit are impossible to find at the convention. That is the only reason anyone ever goes to the Ziff Davis booth, they usually have a couple couches. A couple places to sit in a booth is definately a draw.
On a final note, my roommate has worked with enough models to know that hiring one for the convention is not reccomended. I think a good idea for the 'boof babe' factor would go a little something like this: Have someone who lives in the L.A. area go to a local college. Find someone perky and friendly (beauty is actually a secondary consideration i think) and offer them something like $100 for a days worth of standing around handing out propaganda. Its a safe environment, you could offer free lunch or something, and they would be making some extra cash.
#7
Greg, what product(s) are you showing at E3?
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Our game that we're currently calling /Dev. It is a web based resource management and strategy game where player must operate and manage a game developer. The game allows players to(among other things) hire employees, create a custom company page, sign a publishing deal, design their game and get it to market. Of course theres alot more to it, but i'll save that for the webpage. Right now the only webpage we have of it is our development site with all our assets on it.
As for showing it at E3. I doubt we'll do it this year. It may be a little late in the game to get all the people together for it, pay in time to get a decent booth space and all that. We'll be handing out propaganda and the like at D.I.C.E., GDC, and E3 though. We are working on something that will allow us to walk around with a couple laptops hooked up to the internet via wireless device to demo the game.
11/13/2001 (12:30 pm)
You said:--------------------------------------------Greg, what product(s) are you showing at E3?
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Our game that we're currently calling /Dev. It is a web based resource management and strategy game where player must operate and manage a game developer. The game allows players to(among other things) hire employees, create a custom company page, sign a publishing deal, design their game and get it to market. Of course theres alot more to it, but i'll save that for the webpage. Right now the only webpage we have of it is our development site with all our assets on it.
As for showing it at E3. I doubt we'll do it this year. It may be a little late in the game to get all the people together for it, pay in time to get a decent booth space and all that. We'll be handing out propaganda and the like at D.I.C.E., GDC, and E3 though. We are working on something that will allow us to walk around with a couple laptops hooked up to the internet via wireless device to demo the game.
#8
But i'm not really up to date on convetion rules in the USA im just speaking from my European construction building conventions experience, You should have seen the Caterpillar booth in Munich last year it covered a whole hall a the word was out that it costed around $ 14.000.000,00
useless info, i know =O)
11/13/2001 (2:25 pm)
Well Greg you'll atleast want to offer the press a cup of coffee while you show demos or anything else.. As for the booth babes those could never hurt =O)But i'm not really up to date on convetion rules in the USA im just speaking from my European construction building conventions experience, You should have seen the Caterpillar booth in Munich last year it covered a whole hall a the word was out that it costed around $ 14.000.000,00
useless info, i know =O)
#9
- ian wheat
11/13/2001 (2:42 pm)
I'll be handing out coffee and Jolt when we go to E3. That'll keep the gamers coming =)- ian wheat
#10
You can't sell anything while you are there for tax and transportation reasons. But, you can make arrangements and deals.
You cannot hand out stickers or noise makers of any kind (understandable)
It says that catering is handled exclusively by the LA Convention center. definately want to get some clarification on this.
It says that the exhibitor is responsible for the construction of their booth, and that they may hire an outside company for this.
You must show proof of insurance (liability insurances as well) 30 days prior to the convention.
they ask that the booths be set up about a week before the convention. and that (in this years case), the last possible day to do this is the 21st.
If you back out you lose whatever money you've payed into it. There are also certain cutoff dates for payments, so you would be responsible for those amounts after those dates
No passing out advertisements in the common areas (isles and such). Darn. Although, it is not uncommon to see this anyways. have to look into it.
The agreement basically states that the exhibitor is fully responsible and liable for their booth, and that the E3 people are not.
One company per booth, unless you pay to have other companies represented there in the E3 literature(plus get exhibitor badges for them). This costs $1,000 for direct companies. I'll get clarification on how a 'publisher' is dealth with. Whether or not you can just have the publisher represented in the literature.
Anyway, i'll be calling them again tomorrow with some followup details. And the rest of the details will be coming with the packet sometime in the next week or so.
11/13/2001 (3:17 pm)
Very good point Pascal. I'm anxious to recieve the exhibitor packet so we can see what you can and cannot do. I did notice some things in the exhibitor agreement though:You can't sell anything while you are there for tax and transportation reasons. But, you can make arrangements and deals.
You cannot hand out stickers or noise makers of any kind (understandable)
It says that catering is handled exclusively by the LA Convention center. definately want to get some clarification on this.
It says that the exhibitor is responsible for the construction of their booth, and that they may hire an outside company for this.
You must show proof of insurance (liability insurances as well) 30 days prior to the convention.
they ask that the booths be set up about a week before the convention. and that (in this years case), the last possible day to do this is the 21st.
If you back out you lose whatever money you've payed into it. There are also certain cutoff dates for payments, so you would be responsible for those amounts after those dates
No passing out advertisements in the common areas (isles and such). Darn. Although, it is not uncommon to see this anyways. have to look into it.
The agreement basically states that the exhibitor is fully responsible and liable for their booth, and that the E3 people are not.
One company per booth, unless you pay to have other companies represented there in the E3 literature(plus get exhibitor badges for them). This costs $1,000 for direct companies. I'll get clarification on how a 'publisher' is dealth with. Whether or not you can just have the publisher represented in the literature.
Anyway, i'll be calling them again tomorrow with some followup details. And the rest of the details will be coming with the packet sometime in the next week or so.
#11
I think the idea of Garagegames Games going there together sounds really intresting. And a realistic.
Becourse its NOT realistic that a group of developers, finansing this out of privat money, where going to buy a stand, set it up one week in advance, hire evil overpaid contractors, hire computers etc.
Especialy not when your from Europe! The cost of having 3 people travel to the states, hotels for a week in LA and so on is simply unrealistic! (I'm sure we would much rather use those money to go to South France for two months! :)
But one or two guys from the team, flying to LA to stay a few days, thats posible ofcourse...
Please keep working on this cool idea... E3/CGDC is THE place to be! :)
11/14/2001 (8:36 am)
Showing your stuff at E3 would be priceless. But ofcourse developers without a financial contract of some sort, don't have unlimited amounts of money! :)I think the idea of Garagegames Games going there together sounds really intresting. And a realistic.
Becourse its NOT realistic that a group of developers, finansing this out of privat money, where going to buy a stand, set it up one week in advance, hire evil overpaid contractors, hire computers etc.
Especialy not when your from Europe! The cost of having 3 people travel to the states, hotels for a week in LA and so on is simply unrealistic! (I'm sure we would much rather use those money to go to South France for two months! :)
But one or two guys from the team, flying to LA to stay a few days, thats posible ofcourse...
Please keep working on this cool idea... E3/CGDC is THE place to be! :)
#12
I also think that something like this isn't realistic for E3 2002, atleast not for garagegames.. Like Jeff said something like that could be worked out in the future, if garagegames would organise it and people would pay in advance bla bla bla, bla bla bla it could actually happen in the future... but not now, i don't believe that would be a good idea.
As for the booth, hey this is Garagegames a brand new flashy booth wouldn't fit the company or the "garage" developers. An old car, some flashing neo-adds, some garbage bins, a toolrack, a few dirty coveralls, some empty crates, some healthy creativity and a couple dedicated people would actually fit the profile alot better and probably will be a whole lot less expencive.
On the other hand Tobias don't underestimate the people visiting these boards, you can't judge them on just the few replies they have posted on this forum.. For example i don't live in Germany but in the Netherlands (i just visited the convention in Munich), i'm also not just a kid with a game idea or an artist waiting for a job, i actually have a good paying job (totaly not game or art related) and paying a trip to LA and some hotel costs wouldn't mean more to me than just saving up for 3 months or so (No Hilton for me though =O) ) I'm not saying you are totaly wrong, or ment to offend you, i just think that if Garagegames would try to pull something like this you could be surpised about how many people actually are willing to and could afford to represent their team on whatever convention, especially E3.
I really, really love the idea but i have to stay realistic, it won't happen in 2002 (maybe even never for me personaly). The question if it will happen in 2003 will all depent on on the progess that will be made before the end off 2002 by all the teams working on something rigth now and the number of people who are willing to pay and do their share.
11/14/2001 (9:51 am)
Well i think, that if something like this was to be organised, that everyone should pay his own ticket and hotel, i believe that is only normal.I also think that something like this isn't realistic for E3 2002, atleast not for garagegames.. Like Jeff said something like that could be worked out in the future, if garagegames would organise it and people would pay in advance bla bla bla, bla bla bla it could actually happen in the future... but not now, i don't believe that would be a good idea.
As for the booth, hey this is Garagegames a brand new flashy booth wouldn't fit the company or the "garage" developers. An old car, some flashing neo-adds, some garbage bins, a toolrack, a few dirty coveralls, some empty crates, some healthy creativity and a couple dedicated people would actually fit the profile alot better and probably will be a whole lot less expencive.
On the other hand Tobias don't underestimate the people visiting these boards, you can't judge them on just the few replies they have posted on this forum.. For example i don't live in Germany but in the Netherlands (i just visited the convention in Munich), i'm also not just a kid with a game idea or an artist waiting for a job, i actually have a good paying job (totaly not game or art related) and paying a trip to LA and some hotel costs wouldn't mean more to me than just saving up for 3 months or so (No Hilton for me though =O) ) I'm not saying you are totaly wrong, or ment to offend you, i just think that if Garagegames would try to pull something like this you could be surpised about how many people actually are willing to and could afford to represent their team on whatever convention, especially E3.
I really, really love the idea but i have to stay realistic, it won't happen in 2002 (maybe even never for me personaly). The question if it will happen in 2003 will all depent on on the progess that will be made before the end off 2002 by all the teams working on something rigth now and the number of people who are willing to pay and do their share.
#13
I hadn't thought of having the developers pay for GG coverage in the booth. My thoughts are that we would be pushing the most successful titles, as well as the titles that we find the most interesting. We may need help manning the booth, and it could be in the best interests of the developers with products on disply to be there to talk to the press. In that case, we would not pay for the trip.
Jeff Tunnell GG
11/14/2001 (11:44 am)
Believe me, when we finally go to E3 it will be on a budget. We'll be in the cheap booths on the lower level. Last year (2001), that is where I thought all of the interesting stuff was. The big, airy booths on the upper levels had the usual game ideas chasing the usual crowd. The lower level had the struggling developers with the "wierd" ideas that will someday become the usual.I hadn't thought of having the developers pay for GG coverage in the booth. My thoughts are that we would be pushing the most successful titles, as well as the titles that we find the most interesting. We may need help manning the booth, and it could be in the best interests of the developers with products on disply to be there to talk to the press. In that case, we would not pay for the trip.
Jeff Tunnell GG
#14
11/14/2001 (12:00 pm)
Yeah that makes sence it couldn't be a "come all, as long as you pay" kind of things. The most succesfull and intresting stuff is probably the thing you might want to display. Sorry didn't put that right "need" to display after all those will be the titles making the money that will insure all off us and people to come, to use this engine at low costs. Sorry Jeff, that didn't cossed my mind yet but your totaly right.
#15
Becourse its NOT realistic that a group of developers, finansing this out of privat money, where going to buy a stand, set it up one week in advance, hire evil overpaid contractors, hire computers etc.
Especialy not when your from Europe! The cost of having 3 people travel to the states, hotels for a week in LA and so on is simply unrealistic! (I'm sure we would much rather use those money to go to South France for two months! :)
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I did not think that some people would be coming from Europe. Yeah, that would really lower someones chances of going. I guess i can only speak for myself then. I live in northern california, so driving to So. Cal. is no big deal. And have extra computers, wireless devices, networking equipment, and disposable incom so getting computer equipment there is not a problem.
I've gone to some pretty extreme measures to attend E3 in the past, so doing this is not that much of a leap really.
As far as contractors go. I just called the E3 people again and they stated that you do not have to go through their contractos if you do not wish to. The only exception is carpeting, which the person i spoke with is in the proccess of checking into. As far as having to be there ahead of time, because of the way everything has to be in the hall, if you got a booth near the middle (where the 20x20s are) you have to be there somewhat ahead of time. And even then, your people don't have to be there, just your freight has to be there. That's actually quite reasonable. So theres a couple options there. Hire a freight line to ship it, which is really not that expensive. Or having someone who lives nearby take everything there.
The way i see it, it can be done. Sure, its not something that would be done overnight, nothing worth doing is easy.
11/14/2001 (12:28 pm)
You Said------------------------------------------------Becourse its NOT realistic that a group of developers, finansing this out of privat money, where going to buy a stand, set it up one week in advance, hire evil overpaid contractors, hire computers etc.
Especialy not when your from Europe! The cost of having 3 people travel to the states, hotels for a week in LA and so on is simply unrealistic! (I'm sure we would much rather use those money to go to South France for two months! :)
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I did not think that some people would be coming from Europe. Yeah, that would really lower someones chances of going. I guess i can only speak for myself then. I live in northern california, so driving to So. Cal. is no big deal. And have extra computers, wireless devices, networking equipment, and disposable incom so getting computer equipment there is not a problem.
I've gone to some pretty extreme measures to attend E3 in the past, so doing this is not that much of a leap really.
As far as contractors go. I just called the E3 people again and they stated that you do not have to go through their contractos if you do not wish to. The only exception is carpeting, which the person i spoke with is in the proccess of checking into. As far as having to be there ahead of time, because of the way everything has to be in the hall, if you got a booth near the middle (where the 20x20s are) you have to be there somewhat ahead of time. And even then, your people don't have to be there, just your freight has to be there. That's actually quite reasonable. So theres a couple options there. Hire a freight line to ship it, which is really not that expensive. Or having someone who lives nearby take everything there.
The way i see it, it can be done. Sure, its not something that would be done overnight, nothing worth doing is easy.
#16
Never said it was unrealistic for a handfull (or two) of Garagegame development-teams to share 20x20 feet. (Late 2002, 2003)
I said it was unrealistic for a SINGLE development-team. Even if you have a job (Like I do to... :)
The cost of a single team of two from europe would be at least cost $ 10.000-15.000. A lot of money if you don't have any security for that investment.
11/14/2001 (12:39 pm)
I think you guys missunderstod me.Never said it was unrealistic for a handfull (or two) of Garagegame development-teams to share 20x20 feet. (Late 2002, 2003)
I said it was unrealistic for a SINGLE development-team. Even if you have a job (Like I do to... :)
The cost of a single team of two from europe would be at least cost $ 10.000-15.000. A lot of money if you don't have any security for that investment.
#17
Well i think, that if something like this was to be organised, that everyone should pay his own ticket and hotel, i believe that is only normal.
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Exactly. The cost of a hotel room is actually not that great. Last year my group got a place less than 3 miles from the convention hall for less than $70 a night. And it wasnt a dump. It wasnt the Ritz or anything, but it wasnt a Best Western either. I've gone to E3 the last few years and the entire adventure costs me less than $400, and thats if i fly to LA and get a rental car instead of driving.
You Said------------------------------------------------
I also think that something like this isn't realistic for E3 2002, atleast not for garagegames.. Like Jeff said something like that could be worked out in the future, if garagegames would organise it and people would pay in advance bla bla bla, bla bla bla it could actually happen in the future... but not now, i don't believe that would be a good idea.
As for the booth, hey this is Garagegames a brand new flashy booth wouldn't fit the company or the "garage" developers. An old car, some flashing neo-adds, some garbage bins, a toolrack, a few dirty coveralls, some empty crates, some healthy creativity and a couple dedicated people would actually fit the profile alot better and probably will be a whole lot less expencive.
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That whole garage theme is great, haha, man. That would be too cool. As far as organizing, your right, its very unrealistic for someone who isnt independently wealthy to put it together for 2002(i think i typoed before when i said i was planning for 2003), but 2003 is well within reach. A couple things though. Whoever organized it would be taking on the financial risk. Whatever 'umbrella company' (GarageGames for example) was actually getting the space would need to collect the money from those participating. If i were doing it i would state that the money would need to be in by the December deadline date (before that date you get all your money back if you cancel). If someone pays but does not go, then they're out some money, and the rest the people can either A: have that much more room, or B: offer to help someone else out.
Another thing i found out is that the 'umbrella' company is the only one mentioned in show material and so on. If you want another sub company within that umbrella company mentioned its $1000 for a direct company, and much more for non direct. I just asked them about this, and if a company could have another company in their booth, but not mentioned in the show material (thus saving the money). She said that the 'sub-company' would not officially be there. And they would not gain the benefit of being in the show literature. And if they didnt really care about that? She said "We're not going to go down there with the cops and bust you, people do it all the time and it is not a big deal." And there you have it.
11/14/2001 (12:46 pm)
You said------------------------------------------------Well i think, that if something like this was to be organised, that everyone should pay his own ticket and hotel, i believe that is only normal.
--------------------------------------------------------
Exactly. The cost of a hotel room is actually not that great. Last year my group got a place less than 3 miles from the convention hall for less than $70 a night. And it wasnt a dump. It wasnt the Ritz or anything, but it wasnt a Best Western either. I've gone to E3 the last few years and the entire adventure costs me less than $400, and thats if i fly to LA and get a rental car instead of driving.
You Said------------------------------------------------
I also think that something like this isn't realistic for E3 2002, atleast not for garagegames.. Like Jeff said something like that could be worked out in the future, if garagegames would organise it and people would pay in advance bla bla bla, bla bla bla it could actually happen in the future... but not now, i don't believe that would be a good idea.
As for the booth, hey this is Garagegames a brand new flashy booth wouldn't fit the company or the "garage" developers. An old car, some flashing neo-adds, some garbage bins, a toolrack, a few dirty coveralls, some empty crates, some healthy creativity and a couple dedicated people would actually fit the profile alot better and probably will be a whole lot less expencive.
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That whole garage theme is great, haha, man. That would be too cool. As far as organizing, your right, its very unrealistic for someone who isnt independently wealthy to put it together for 2002(i think i typoed before when i said i was planning for 2003), but 2003 is well within reach. A couple things though. Whoever organized it would be taking on the financial risk. Whatever 'umbrella company' (GarageGames for example) was actually getting the space would need to collect the money from those participating. If i were doing it i would state that the money would need to be in by the December deadline date (before that date you get all your money back if you cancel). If someone pays but does not go, then they're out some money, and the rest the people can either A: have that much more room, or B: offer to help someone else out.
Another thing i found out is that the 'umbrella' company is the only one mentioned in show material and so on. If you want another sub company within that umbrella company mentioned its $1000 for a direct company, and much more for non direct. I just asked them about this, and if a company could have another company in their booth, but not mentioned in the show material (thus saving the money). She said that the 'sub-company' would not officially be there. And they would not gain the benefit of being in the show literature. And if they didnt really care about that? She said "We're not going to go down there with the cops and bust you, people do it all the time and it is not a big deal." And there you have it.
#18
11/14/2001 (3:25 pm)
Not sure if anyone cares or not, but you do not have to use GES (the exposition services) for carpeting. although it probobly wouldnt be a bad idea. 
Torque Owner Jeff Tunnell
I haven't checked, but it seems like your prices are kind of low. Where did you get your information? Another thing you have to remember is that it's not just the cost of the booth. There travel costs to get there, costs for the booth structure, etc. Another one that I'm sure you didn't count on is the cost of the union labor to carry in your boot and set up your electricity.
Jeff Tunnell GG