VGXPO -- poor promotion?

[BUC]

For as big as I thought his event was supposed to be, VERY little info out about it. Even the website is a bit of a joke.

Any thoughts? And any info other than what's on the website?

Website says the thing closes at 5 pm. That can't possibly be. Especially since one of the tournament finals (classic gaming -- of wihch there is no other info on) starts at like 4:15 the last day.

[mindlesspunk77]

it usually closes at 5 on sunday and on saturday is open till 9 or ten

[MegaManFan]

I hate to be the one to agree right before I hop a plane headed for Dallas (four hours from now) but you're absolutely right. My wife has been tremendously dissapointed by the lack of info and the lack of publicity compared to the other cons we've been to, even compared to a small show like Tulsa, let alone the big shows in Philly or California. For those reasons we're only planning to attend one day of the con (Saturday) and hopefully spend the rest of the time hanging out with friends who either live in Texas or are coming for the weekend themselves.

[Flack]

I'll have to agree with the sentiment. If it wasn't within driving distance, there's no way I'd commit to going to this. The web site seems like a press release that was written way before anything was set in stone. Of course, this is the first time PC/vgXpo has teamed up with NBC, so it's possible they don't know what to expect any more than we do. Still, I had hoped for a little more concrete info on the site. I've seen many people complain about the lack of hotel information on the page, and I would have really liked to have seen the events information a day or two before the show. I still don't see anything about the guest speakers on the guest speakers page. I see the page has been updated with hotel info now, but you would think a show like this would be posting information "around town" so-to-speak.

It kind of seems like (to me, anyhow) that the Dallas show isn't quite ready for prime time. My guess is everybody will still have a good time, but it feels a little disorganized at this point. Maybe I'll change my mind once I get there.

[intvsama]

I think it'd be nice if the website were actually up. Last 3 days I've checked it's been offline.

Is it loading for anyone else?

[Flack]

I think it'd be nice if the website were actually up. Last 3 days I've checked it's been offline.

Is it loading for anyone else?

It was up for me yesterday, but it's down this morning. I was planning on checking it before hittng the road in about an hour.

[ChronoTriggaFoo]

The vgXpo site wouldn't load up for me either.

I live in the Dallas/Fort Worth and I didn't even know about this until a couple days before from Atari Age.

My friend Ghosts n Goblins on here, in Waco, inquired earlier this year about any video game expos in the dallas/fort worth area and they (someone in the know and behind the scenes) said absolutely not. Looks like it WAS a last-minute thing.

[Sniderman]

Looks like it WAS a last-minute thing.Actually, it's not. The three VGExpos were announced back in April with promises of "bigger, better, best!," which is why this is particularly sad. And the fact that there are two more of these expos this year (Washington DC and Philly area) makes me question whether those will be better (using this first one as a "learning experience") or if the other two will be exactly the same as with what I'm hearing about this one.

[Flack]

Looks like it WAS a last-minute thing.Actually, it's not. The three VGExpos were announced back in April with promises of "bigger, better, best!," which is why this is particularly sad. And the fact that there are two more of these expos this year (Washington DC and Philly area) makes me question whether those will be better (using this first one as a "learning experience") or if the other two will be exactly the same as with what I'm hearing about this one.

My guess is that since this was originally Philly Classic, the organizers probably have many more east coast ties and can get a bit more of a turnout (I would hope).

Also I have heard that the ones on the east coast will be partnering with NBC *TECH* shows. This wasn't the case in Dallas -- it was an NBC "Home and Lifestyle" expo. There were lots of booths there for dental programs, home made jewelry, and all other kinds of crap. I was expecting a mini Comdex or something.

I can't say much more about it without sounding like I'm personally attacking the show so I'm gonna back off for a bit.

[Jibbajaba]

I was speaking with an exhibitor at CGE who said that he was extremely dissapointed with the turnout at the Dallas show (he had a booth there as well). Apparently they had next to no sales there, compared to CGE where they did rather well.

<shrug>

I'm not going to knock the other show, since I obviously didn't go. I'll just say that I consider myself very lucky to live so close to CGE.

Chris

[MegaManFan]

I can bottom line it like this: I had a lot of fun at the show despite the low turnout and small size of things, because the people who were there were 100% there with the right spirit - make the most of the situation. The vendors didn't close up early, One-Up Studios still played (and all the chairs set up in front of the band were full each time I came by), and where the arcade games would have been individual consoles were set up for people to play. In a way the smallness was a blessing since it gave me more time to chat one-on-one with fellow collectors and gamers, whereas at a big show sometimes everyone and everything gets lost in the crowd. I guess it's a "glass half empty" or "glass half full" thing and it's all how you look at it. I bought some good games, got some great deals, heard a lot of cool stories and thoroughly enjoyed myself. That being said if I didn't have a friend who lived in Dallas to begin with, I might have called off the trip because of the poor promotion before it took place. In the end I justified it simply because he lived out here and it was a good excuse to come visit.

[J2games]

I heard from a few of the vendors that attendance for the Dallas show was somewhat lower than expected. As this is the first year VGXpo has branched out to other cities, I would give it a little time. I'm betting the Philly Classic was "light" in attendance the first year, but build a solid reputation and now has gamers coming in droves.

Wondering if anyone at the Dallas show received the free handlout copy of Video Game Collector Special Edition 1/2?

We ran an ad on the back cover of this free handout issue and curious for feeback. (for those of you seeing the ad, "YES I KNOW THEY ARE BIG") Curious more of the layout and stuff. We just hired a new artist and although I like his work, wanted to see how others viewed it.

Will we be seeing anyone at the DC show this coming weekend? I'll be in town on business and scouting the show on saturday.

Jay
J2Games.com

[Trade-N-Games]

I heard from a few of the vendors that attendance for the Dallas show was somewhat lower than expected. As this is the first year VGXpo has branched out to other cities, I would give it a little time. I'm betting the Philly Classic was "light" in attendance the first year, but build a solid reputation and now has gamers coming in droves.

Wondering if anyone at the Dallas show received the free handlout copy of Video Game Collector Special Edition 1/2?

We ran an ad on the back cover of this free handout issue and curious for feeback. (for those of you seeing the ad, "YES I KNOW THEY ARE BIG") Curious more of the layout and stuff. We just hired a new artist and although I like his work, wanted to see how others viewed it.

Will we be seeing anyone at the DC show this coming weekend? I'll be in town on business and scouting the show on saturday.

Jay
J2Games.com
Your ad looked great. I dont think he was even able to give away many at the show in Texas I was set up across from him and he headed out sooner than me sunday. I am sure alot were given out at CGE. I thnk we would a high number if 1000 people attened

[mezrabad]

My son and I attended, making the shorter than expected three hour drive from Austin listening to the BBC Audio Drama of the Lord of the Rings.

When we got to the show, we blew right past the NBC 5 sign, thinking we should've been looking for a vgXpo sign. It wasn't until I spotted someone wearing a 1up mushroom shirt that I asked for directions and he pointed me back to the Home and Lifestyle show.

The area devoted to our particular lifestyle seemed really small and I was very worried that I had wasted a six hour drive and a tank of precious, precious petrol.

After wandering around for a bit, we decided to make the most out of it and had a great time. Really. If I'd seen a layout of the show prior to the weekend, we may not have made the trip, but I'm glad we did.

Give it another year or two and I think it can be another great show like the Philly Classic is.

Now if we could only get the CGE to be a little more central to the continent, my son and I would drive to that.

[Sniderman]

Now if we could only get the CGE to be a little more central to the continent, my son and I would drive to that.It *was* in Vegas for years and years, y'know. But, come to think of it, the drive would've still sucked from Texas. But there are folks who drive out from the East coast, so guess it's a question of "how bad d'you wanna go?" and "what's the price of gas THIS hour?" ;)

[Mayhem]

It *was* in Vegas for years and years, y'know. But, come to think of it, the drive would've still sucked from Texas. But there are folks who drive out from the East coast, so guess it's a question of "how bad d'you wanna go?" and "what's the price of gas THIS hour?" ;)

Not to mention people who fly there from Europe ;)

(and I wasn't the only European there this year, one of the guys on the OlderGames stand was from Bristol, and of course EvilOtto helping Tony Fox on the music stand)

[punkoffgirl]

Not to mention people who fly there from Europe ;)

(and I wasn't the only European there this year, one of the guys on the OlderGames stand was from Bristol, and of course EvilOtto helping Tony Fox on the music stand)

I'm pretty sure that EvilOtto is from New York.

[Mayhem]

He's got Germany in his profile... was under the impression he lived there :)

I'm sure he'll yay or nay this...

[punkoffgirl]

He's got Germany in his profile... was under the impression he lived there :)

I'm sure he'll yay or nay this...

Hopefully he will! Someone told me they talked to him about it this weekend, and he's not German at all, just likes to play the part ;)

[DogP]

Well I'll be at the one in DC this weekend... I'll let everyone know what I think of it, and try to get some pics. I'll be wearing my DP nametag from CGE, so if anyone sees me, say hi!

DogP

[Ed-Fleming]

There are a number of issues that we got stung with on the first two vgXpo shows. Biggest among them is that the number of folks coming into the vgXpo-Dallas was not as high as we expected.

Working with NBC is a dream for us. But, handing 100% of the marketing over to them did not sit well for us. When we signed on with NBC to run the shows, each of the events was a Technology focused show. NBC's '2004' Dallas show was a Tech event and had nearly 20,000 attendees. NBC modified the focus of the Dallas show to include Lifestyles and it really made the show fall off of its mark. Additionally, the marketing of the show, in general, played out poorly. We had hoped to ride the coat tails of the NBC organization, but have realized that it really takes gamers to run a gaming event and we cannot expect NBC to deliver all of our marketing for the show.

On the up side, the Dallas and D.C. shows provide us with 2 very important things. First, it provides us with a way to get our feet wet under new management and second it provides us a way to promote Philly and the 2006 shows.

We will continue to work with NBC through the rest of the year and may re-evaluate our relationship with them in the future. Rest assured, we plan to continue growing videogame events throughout the country. However, we need you and your gaming friends to help us grow these shows. I want you to know that the vgXpo management reads your posts and we are taking steps to resolve the issues we ran into.

As other show managers (like Al at AGE and the DP gang with CGE) can tell you, running a gaming event is a huge amount of work. It takes more resources then you can imagine and takes away a lot of your personal time. However, I and the rest of the vgXpo team are in this for the long run.

I've never posted here at Digital Press before and have only posted on Atari Age once (and its pending), and I don't really post on any sites other then videogame.net. However I thought it was important to add my voice to the mix.

I want everyone to know that I love games, and running the VideoGame.Net Experience and the vgXpo is my full time job. How many other game fans can say they make a living with games? I love it, and make a living out of it is my dream.

Sure, I was a bit disappointed by the Dallas turn out. But, I sure did learn allot about running a game show.

I think, for the most part, Dallas and DC were good shows... Even though we expected more from NBC -- I have always run my business knowing to be something, you have to start with humble origins to make a big future.

As we ramp up for Philly, I want everyone to know that my heart is in this. Philly is going to be our big 2005 event - and Dallas and D.C. are part of the path to make vgXPo one of the most important events for gamers.

Regards,

Ed Fleming

[digitalpress]

Right on, Ed.

Best of luck with the next two events. I'm sure you'll have many more successes going forward, especially with the right attitude, which you clearly have.

[Sniderman]

Any word or photos or reviews of the Wasington DC show held this weekend yet?

[DogP]

I went... it looked pretty good from a casual gamers standpoint, but disappointing for me. First, there were no arcades (I asked the guy and he said the guy they were getting them from sold them, or didn't show up, or something :P ). I figured it could still be a good show even with no arcades, but it was paired with the Digital Edge expo, which was packed (mostly with kids), so all of the games were being played pretty much non-stop. Also, most of the games were new games (a lot of Super Smash Bros. Melee, DDR, etc.), although there was a classic section (but they were all being played except the Colecovision, which I hogged on an awesome round of Mouse Trap ;) ). I also got a quick game on the Vectrex (Mine Storm), but the shoot button was messed up (you had to push it really hard). There was also a Flashback 2 that didn't seem to get much play there, but I found the controller to be really hard to use (it's like the 7800, but too small for my hands or something). I played a little bit of Jaguar too (I forget which game was in it), but most of the people didn't get what they were supposed to do, so they just kept shooting, so when I got to it, I was out of ammo :P .

So anyway, it was fun for the couple of hours I spent there, but since it was just a small corner of the main show (page 12 is a layout map: http://www.nbc4.com/download/2005/0826/4903167.pdf ), it seemed like it was mostly a lot of people from the other show wandering in to play games, unlike most other video game shows where people actually go to the event because they're interested in video games.

The rest of the show did have some cool VR-like stuff though, but the lines were really long for all of that too. They had a virtual tour through a computer (I know WAY too much about computers to be able to subject myself to that ;) ), a Virtual Golf tent, but I think it was just hitting 5 balls off the tee, if you get a hole in one you get some prize, there was a Virtual Rollercoaster or something (looked pretty cool, actually rolled upsidedown), and a Virtual Nascar (you actually sat in the car and it moved).

I didn't see any other DP'ers there... was anyone else there that I just missed? So anyway, unless I get really bored tomorrow, I don't think I'll go down there for the second day (I got there a little before 1 and left around 3:15). I took some pics, and I'll be uploading and posting them tonight.

DogP