At The Table with The Dice Tower - Essen Prep

0:00At the Table with the Dice Tower, Episode 56, Episode 56, SNPrep.

0:24Welcome to At the Table with the Dice Tower, a podcast about games and the people who play them. This time, Tom has abandoned us, so we're going to talk about what it takes to move a publisher booth overseas. How full will Julie's luggage be? Plus, our latest collection of roses, thorns, and hula hoops. I'm Eric Sommerer. And I'm Julie Ahern. And there is no Tom. Yeah, so we've actually been talking. I'm surprised that we have not had the opportunity to do an episode without Tom. Tom got, we're going to say, stuck in traffic and was unable to join us. And with our wacky schedules in this sort of two-week period, this was the one time we could get together.

1:05Julie, you had sort of a last-minute work trip. You had to skip away and do some final checks on one of your upcoming titles and couldn't record at our normal time. And then, of course, the streaming schedule on the Dice Tower channel is full, and Tom has a lot of meetings and stuff. A lot, yeah. This was hard to do. It was. And this was the window, and Tom couldn't make it at the last minute. So we are here, you and I. We might as well chat. We might as well. And do an episode. Why not? How are you, Julie? Oh, I just got home and boy, are my arms tired. No, I'm good. But yes, like you said, I drove down to Nashville to look at a proof of a game in person so that I could check to make sure all the components before they start manufacturing it were correct.

1:55And I caught something. So it's a good thing that I was there. It's redundancies. It's important. Right. You know, multiple sets of eyes. Right. Usually we have a little bit more time and they just mail it to like Evan and AJ will look at it and then they'll mail it to me and I'll look at it or vice versa. But we're kind of in a time crunch for it. So we it was all hands on deck. Just so what time frame are you looking at this this title? When is it expected to be released that you're you're worried about the time crunch? Well, it's so it's an expansion for Detective City of Angels. It's the one that is on GameFound right now as a pre-order.

2:34And so as it's on pre-order, we're trying to get it done so that as soon as the pre-order is done, we're shipping it. So that's, you know, you don't want to go too long on something like that. So we're just trying to get it manufactured and out as quickly as possible. It's still not going to be until the first quarter of next year that it's finished. But if there's any opportunity to have it done sooner in time for certain seasonal events, that would be great. But one week delay on something then can cascade to something else. You mentioned having to get the files and printer material to the printer, and they have their own schedule.

3:14And if you miss a window there, then you might get, you know, one week becomes a month. There's a holiday in China right now, this week. So trying to get it done and information to them so that there's not a lag while they're on vacation, which, you know, happens because they don't all coincide, all the holidays around the world. So, yes. So you're back and you're resting and it's going to be a nice, relaxing few weeks. Oh, wait, you have a big trip coming up. And we're heading to Germany in just a few weeks. And that's what we're going to talk about. We're going to talk about what it takes to move your booth to Essen.

3:56But before I get to that, I have to do the stuff that Tom usually does. And he says, hey, you should come join us on the cruise. The Dice Tower Cruise is a lovely floating convention. We're going all sorts of places. I think one of the registration milestones came along today. And people who are already registered for the cruise are starting to get their information populating in the app on Royal Caribbean. and they're starting to pick out their excursions and stuff. So the excitement level has just kicked up a notch for the cruise. And you can still join us. There are still some cabins available on the cruise, DicetowerCruise.com.

4:30Also, DicetowerWest is on the horizon. Registration opened. The hotel block is getting very sparse for DicetowerWest. And so if you are looking to join us in Las Vegas in March, it's going to be, you know, for me, it's cold. Julie, it's going to be cold still in March, and heading to Vegas is a nice, refreshing change, I think. Also, lots of games to play, and you can do that at DicetowerWest.com and grab those hotel block rooms while they're still available. Okay. You did it. Good job. I did it. I did the things. And now, let's turn our sights to a little industrial town in the northern section of Germany known as Essen.

5:15where Spiel is notably maybe the most, the largest international convention, let's say. It is really like a European cacophony that just assembles in northern Germany every year. And it's a real festival on the horizon. But for a company like yours, Julie, Van Ryder Games, if you have a booth, and you do, in Essen this year, You have to maneuver what would be, I'm not going to say simple, but an easier thing for you to travel to, say, Gen Con or Origins, which is its own logistical ball of wax. But you have a lot of additional things to worry about when you're moving things across an ocean. Correct.

6:04How much do you have already prepared over there with vendors already in Germany? How much are you having to ship over? And like I said in the intro, how full is your luggage going to be as you cram it with promos? Maybe that's just my experience in going to conventions. Well, you know, you can't bring things over in your luggage for sale without, you know, letting them know at the borders. So as a PSA to fellow publishers, don't do that. If it's a promo and it's a giveaway, that's a different thing. but they're going to look at you sideways if you have a suitcase full of cards and boxes and say, no, I'm not selling any of these.

6:46So, you know, that's your own risk. But that's an aside. I'm getting ahead of myself. Yeah. So, you know, I am super local to Gen Con and Origins. And we, so yes, that's a very, it's its own challenge, but it's a very different thing. And so you were asking how much is overseas so the more you attend an overseas convention i think the more you have there are absolutely uh companies that specialize in booth setup um and storage for booths so atake is one of them and the that we use that are based in germany and so we ship banners to them and our overhead banner, you know, the ones that spin in the air.

7:38So you can see us from afar. That one is just stays there because we don't change that every year type of thing. You just have a certain amount of storage space that's allocated for it. Here's our general booth or like the skeleton of what you want to put up. And at Banner Art Areas that we do at Greenbrier, we had a metal, a giant metal vault, like a like seven lockers worth of a metal box that we would put all the storage in and they would store that. Is it sort of like a time capsule? Like what were we thinking when we took the booth down last year? A little bit. Why is this churro in here?

8:19That's not supposed to be in here. The nice part about that one was that we had the padlock get closed. And so we had a secure lock box during the day for all of our stuff and that was nice um but there's a lot of different things you can do um uh the so i'm getting ahead of myself you you get a booth at specifically at spiel but you know like you have uk games expo you have other shows but at spiel you um need to have a certain amount of rules and regulations for wall space, which every convention has, and it's not exciting. We don't talk about it because who wants to know about the foot height requirement per show?

9:09Although I know them all. You just don't, you don't talk about things like that. It's not exciting on a show. So you're not allowed to build like the Eiffel Tower in your booth. Absolutely, no. Without permits. Yeah. But I mean, some people have like the Clask had for years a two story playhouse that had a slide coming down it. And yeah, they did. But it's expensive. And you have to go through a lot of hoops because safety regulations and things being up to building code. Yeah. I mean, you're actually building something. Yes, you are. Yeah. And it has to be signed off on it. It's a lot. It's a lot more than you would think of.

9:48think of like you're building a house and you have to get permits and stuff like that it's not quite that level but it's along those lines and you're doing it for a one weekend and you're paying a company to do it usually you're not doing it yourself um so it's a lot but so to streamline that so you have spiel which is the organization that runs the convention but you have the mesa or the convention center so think about like your fern or your like locally like the the people who are just running the data they they're there for every convention they're they're guardians of the building itself and they a combination of dealing with both of them you are provided with you or you can purchase rent not purchase rent walls and it's not the pipe and drape and then we kind of covered ourselves here that we have in the United States.

10:42It's a light metal, like a structure that is. Yeah. It's like grown up Lincoln logs. It kind of is. And these can be printed. You sort of send files to them and they will preprint your marketing materials on them. It does mean that the booths at Essen have a much more uniform feel to them and feel a little more constructed because it's not pipe and drape. It doesn't have the frilly edges of a curtain. It's actually like walls that have been modular and they can construct together. It reminds me a little of my sound booth where pieces can be fit together and walls can be fit together in different configurations to make a booth.

11:25So you have that. They actually print on vinyl and it's a vinyl sticker. And then they pull the vinyl sticker off and they stack the metal and they save them for the following year. Ta-da! Because economy. So that's good. So the general construction of the booth is, I mean, that's pretty standard for, you know, setting up a booth at a con. You have the general footprint figured out, but you don't have to worry about the signage for at least the walls because they've been preassembled. So, yes, they've been preassembled. You get there and if they put them out of order, despite the layout you gave them, because they don't care.

11:59It's workers who do not pay attention to the look of it. So they, even though somebody's face is obviously looking suddenly like a Picasso, you have to hunt somebody down and they have to pull it apart and put it back together. And it's not something you can fix because they have to be disassembled. Yeah. I didn't think of that happening, but yeah. Yeah. I actually had to provide first aid for someone who tried to do it themselves and it's thin metal and they sliced their hand. Oh, no. Once a publisher. They're fine. They've lived. They're still here with us, among us in the living. So, but yes, don't, you find a professional to do it, hopefully.

12:37So anyway, actually at this point, I think it is required. I think over the years they've cracked down. Oh, they're like, don't touch it. Yeah. So that is a cost and a plan that you have to make. And you're doing it by filling out copious amounts of paperwork. Again, not, it's not sexy. This is not a exciting, I don't know. And you have a timeline. You have to do it on time or the cost goes up. And if you don't do it correctly, they're going to come back to you and you have to refill everything out and resubmit. So it's a lot of paperwork. It's a lot of paperwork. So there's the setting of the booth that way.

13:17Or you can hire a company that is not part of the MESA to organize and do it all for you, which is what we do. um and then we do actually print fabric banners that stretch taut over the panels instead so you can do that as well but so we bring those those will be in our luggage the new ones uh for new games so all of that is is part of it yes um and that's all to that but that's all the show dressing and you're maybe you're running to Ikea to get tables maybe you have a rental company that's bringing you tables and things like that but all of that is the window dressing for the actual event which is the games yeah how do you get all those over there yeah so it's exciting that part is exciting for me that's the one the part that keeps me awake at night So it depends.

14:15So if you have a new release, chances are very likely. And of course, it's a major show. So there's a lot of people trying to get their brand new game to the show for a SN release. Never seen before, creating a lot of buzz, getting people getting excited. Those are typically coming from the manufacturer. You haven't seen them either. The pallet shipped to the Mesa or to your storage company, which then goes to the Mesa on show day. Correct. And many a publisher has found themselves with a half-empty booth because they didn't clear customs in time. Oh. Yep. The horror story. There's always a horror story.

15:02At least one. Of that happening. But I've seen companies where their entire booth was empty. Boy. Right. So you try to plan for that well in advance. So shipping things into foreign countries, friends, it's not just a matter of when you send a package. Like when you send a care package to your kids at college and you just shove some stuff in a box and send it on its way. Yeah. It's you have a lot, again, paperwork, getting the right papers, making sure that you've given all the correct forms that the boxes themselves have the right things to be sold in that foreign country, of which I know Germany's intimately at this point, of, you know, what safety the little baby onion on the back, which is what we call it.

15:53So there's a little picture of like a sad child, but it's a weird onion shape face, not a circle. That means that it is not suitable for children under three. It's a choking hazard. And wow. And you need to have that as one of the many things you have to if you've done testing and if it's age range wise, what age appropriate is that you've done the appropriate testing and you have paperwork to show you've done that testing to show that it is, you know, If you have it as an age is eight and plus that you've done testing on those products to make sure it's okay for an eight-year-old and whatever those standards are.

16:28So all these little things are important. Having a German edition of things is important. So if you have a publisher who you've localized with who has a German copy, making sure that you have that information or having a copy of the German copy of your game at hand would be helpful. um you know we for a lot of our games since we publish uh final girl in multiple countries that's an easy thing but sometimes but sometimes it's as simple as google translate of the rule book and printing out a copy of that so you have it on hand lots of little things like that that you plan then there's the actual shipping so you've got the stuff coming from a manufacturer, potentially.

17:15You have the things that, you know, if you sell your versions in Europe somewhere, chances are you are having your localization, not localization, distribution partner shipping from their warehouse what you have at their warehouse. And a lot of times it's maybe it's if you do a crowdfund fulfillment and you sent copies somewhere to be shipped, maybe it's from that company who had extras. Maybe it's from a retailer or a distributor that has a large quantity. And but they're, of course, trying to sell it into the European market. So have you messaged them in advance to say, hey, put a palette of these things aside.

18:04And then within this window, please ship it to Germany. Or if you're coming to Germany, can you add that to your caravan, throw it in your truck, and we'll be paying for that shipping cost as well. Or you're shipping it directly from the United States. In which case, whatever warehouse you're storing your games in, you're packing them up. And that one is probably the most like shipping off to the care package. Yeah. but with more paperwork. Which is what you'd have to do for your, say, back catalog stuff. So you've got your big release that may be shipping directly from the manufacturer, but now you've got some stuff in your warehouse that you also think you could sell in Germany.

18:48And so you're grabbing a case or two of those releases as well, hoping to either sell those in addition to the new release, or that's your plan B if the new release doesn't show up. Yes. So three different locations means much more likelihood that if something doesn't show up, there will still be things to sell at your booth. That is correct. One thing, this is sort of an offshoot. You mentioned the partners, translation partners. Often at Essen, you'll have the original, say, a North American publisher selling the English version of the game. But then you'll have another publisher that's European-based that's selling, say, the French or German copy.

19:29Or Italian. And they have separate booths. And it's kind of cool that they're sort of sometimes both available at each booth. Like at some point, somebody walks a crate across the hall and says, here's the crate of the English edition. I'll take a crate of the German edition. And we can just sell them rather than having to send people across the hall. Yes. To. Actually, that is – if you are doing a lot of localization, reaching out to your partners and coordinating is, I think, a much better way to go because also, you know, so you're, we're selling and converting things to Euro and kind of rounding up or down based on whatever today's current exchange rate is.

20:16So coordinating with them of, I think I'm selling it at this much. What are you selling it at? And if you are at vastly different prices, getting on the same page. Now, of course, it's more expensive for us to get there. So most US publishers are going to round up because the cost of getting it there, the cost of getting us there is more intensive than a local publisher. But have that conversation because if you are outpricing yourself in the market, because like you said, if it's a back catalog thing and it's not a new thing and they can go to their friendly local game store and get it for 15 euro less then then you're not gonna it doesn't matter you're not gonna sell any of that product anyway right so you're also you know hopefully emailing all the people that you work with all your colleagues and saying hey that that that game we have are you bringing yours?

21:21And how much are you selling it for? Okay. That's a good idea. Me too. And let's trade a couple. So I have a case here and you have a case there and we can let people know if we run out that there's still some available. So you've got your booth construction there. You've got your games there, hopefully, fingers crossed. What else do you make sure you bring with you so that you don't have to go hunting it down at a local store? Well, you want you want to be able to sell your product. So you want to know if you have, if it's a cash only booth or if you are working with a local, maybe one of your local publishers has their apps and you can take all money that goes to them and then they pay you from there.

22:13Because it is difficult for you to accept, say credit cards as a North American entity that requires many hoops to do. And sure having a and paying all the proper taxes and all of that. Yep. Hooray. Again, not exciting guys. We're talking about the non-exciting part of us in here to spiel. But you, yes, making sure that you're doing things so that, and if you want to talk about exciting though, if you do cash only, coming home with giant wads of cash on your person can be exciting uh if you know legally declaring it and everything and filling out the paperwork again always the paperwork but sometimes uh you're going through airport security and they don't understand why you have giant wads of cash on you and they get excitable about that.

23:11I've heard.

23:17Security comes running, I've heard. And then you have to show your paperwork and say, no, no, no, no, this is perfectly legal. And then they say, well, what is it from? And you say board games and they say, what? And there's a lot more conversation. But you make your flight and it's fine. And you filled out the correct paperwork. Fill out the correct paperwork friends this is the this is the theme of the entire entire episode fill out the correct paperwork uh so yeah that can be exciting um so that's the thing that you have to think about is how are you getting money uh how are you paying all your vendors what are you doing with the product at the end of the show so have you talked to retailers who might want to buy it after the show or are you shipping all of that back somewhere if you don't sell all of your product so those are things you have to think about in preparation and you can do it during the show but preferably hopefully you're doing that all in advance uh you have a sales team that says hey local distribution company or retail store owner um you sell carry our game in your country?

24:25Do you want to swing by the booth at the end? And if we have any leftover stock, take some of it off our hands. So you're doing things like that. And then you're preparing for the actual people. So all of this is so that the people who come to the show come and see your game and have a great time. So the other part of all of this that we haven't talked about is getting together a demo team who know the games that they're teaching are knowledgeable are excited um preferably have multiple languages that they understand sure if you do not uh and are ready to go once you start and giving them a schedule and um communicating you know what payment you're doing for them and all of that.

25:20So that's another big part of it that is important. Yeah. Prepping the demo team, do you send them the rules to the new releases or the demo tables? Yes. You send them early rather than like a big meeting beforehand? I have done both, but Jen, usually, so Final Girl, you know, every new release, the base rules are the same. So everybody at our booth knows how to play Final Girl. it's right already um before they come so it's sending them the rule book but then yes always we'll have it during setup after a certain point in the day when i know that they're not going to be at risk for getting smooshed by the overhead banner getting hung and things like that um yes we'll have the new games out on the tables and people can swing by and grab the latest t-shirt so that they have it to wear for the show, but also play the newest version of Final Girl.

26:22If it's a new, new game, then I also will have that out. And if I have time or try to get somebody, explain it to somebody and then be like, okay, you're here for the next hour and pass it along and kind of telephone teach it. At an Essen at Gen Con, I have lots of people who are local who can have a dedicated person to do a teach as people come in type of thing so it just depends um we have a really like developing a good fan base is huge because a lot of that i don't have to worry about i have people come back every year and they know the drill and then they just onboard the new people and having a good uh Being community manager and appreciating your team and showing them love is a valuable thing because then they in turn show your customers love.

27:26Yeah. Because there's nothing worse. As somebody who's paid money and is excited to go to a show, and this is your, you took time off of work and you only get so many weeks a year. And this is traveling to another country for a lot of, for the people in the United States and having to navigate all of that and getting there and then having a bad experience at a booth is terrible. Yeah. So you want to avoid that. I don't think anybody's intentionally ever doing it, but setting yourself up to have a minimal amount of possibility for that is important, which is not to say that it is unavoidable at all times.

28:09Trying to have events that are exciting, trying to have games and have people there, but also you can have some challenges. this year we have the new release enemies and lovers the card game which holly black designed she is an author she writes novels and her fan base is very excited about coming to see her at the show and i think most people are doing okay with it but there's definitely people who don't understand despite the fact that we are trying to communicate this is a booth inside a board game convention it's not the same as going to a bookstore so there is some frustration at having to buy a badge for a convention to then come to the booth and only during certain hours and because of it being a massive not just this isn't the event it is one of right hundreds of events that they have to also then have a ticket and they only have a window of a certain amount of time and they only have a minimal amount of things.

29:16They can't bring all their books for Holly to sign. And that's been a challenge. And so you have things like that too that you have to be mindful of at your booth. Yeah. And that's difficult for you as well because that's not usually what you're dealing with. You're worried about crowd control for a new release. You're worried about how to get these games and demo these games, you're not worried about how to manage a line for people who want to sign things. Correct. Well, I mean, managing lines is always, if you have a new release that's exciting and people want, we've had things like that before at Gen Con, managing the line to get in for the events in the event room, where we got a little feedback about having the lines too long and that spilled out into the hallway at the beginning of the day and having to let have somebody stand there and be like, hey, until the line dies down in the room, please move along.

30:15So crowd control, which again, this is for people's safety. It's for security. The more crowds you have, the more opportunity for theft, which you'd like to say is not a concern, but it absolutely is. You have a lot of people who have cash on them because there are cash only booths. so that leads to an unsavory element of the population showing up so these are all things that you know as that you also have to pay attention to as somebody um running a booth especially going to a foreign country where potentially your stuff is all going to be done in cash and paying attention to where your cash is uh and that it is secure so these are all little things that over time you gain experience on, but if this helped anybody have any handle on it, that's good.