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Behind the Scenes At Gamestop's Private Expo
Gamasutra has a look behind the curtain, at a game expo few people even know exist. The annual Gamestop expo has a lot of the air of old-E3, with a greater focus on business deals, swag, and benefits for the hard working Gamestopper. "What did the show accomplish? In some sense, it seemed almost to be a reward for the store managers -- who work long hours on the front lines -- to listen to the show-floor scuttlebutt. While the official line was that the show was all business, bringing the managers to Las Vegas, loading their arms with swag, and letting them play pre-release games is obviously a big draw for these 'professional gamers'. They were so enthusiastic, in fact, that a huge number stayed beyond the 9 PM closing time; kiosks had to be deactivated before the die-hard crowd filtered away."
If you read the article (and of course you didn't), you'd know that the vendors paid for everything as a marketing expense. The total dollar amount is surely a million or more, but split over 30+ vendors, that's not much at all for a chance to demonstrate your products to the people who are selling to 25-30% of the US retail gaming market. If you win over those managers, they are a whole lot more likely to recommend your products.
I'm not sure how much this article makes sense for slashdot, as the majority of people who actually care were attendees anyway.
I hear if you trade in your press pass from last year, they'll buy it back for about 5% of it's original price in shop credit, then resell it next year for about eight times as much!