I just got back home after spending the weekend at the Game-itoba convention in Winnipeg and I am looking forward to finally getting some work done on the website, social media and the print & play versions of my game.

Before I get back to work, there needs to be a review of the convention. This was my first time attending, to make connections and see if this is worth investing more time into next year.

In short, I was impressed. The convention was very well organized and had a great sense of community. It was a small, local gathering of just a few hundred people, which is a stark contrast to the 200,000+ people that were at Essen Spiel, and this was a great thing. It was far easier to talk to people and because of the small nature of the event, I would continue to connect with the same people several times over the weekend, giving a greater sense of community. Additionally, the ability to sit down and play some games instead of walking in circles for 8 hours, pestering people about my products was a breath of fresh air.

As a publisher, trying to advertise a product, Game-itoba offers a far different set of challenges then a large convention or trade show. If I set up a booth at Essen or Gen-Con, my week will consist of waving flags and yelling “Look at me!, I have shiny things!”, while attending Game-itoba will offer a chance to get some play testing done, which me gives some much needed feedback.

Taking this all into account, the big conventions do offer a much larger customer base (at a much higher cost). However, Game-itoba offers much higher quality of customers, simply because they have more time to talk, due to less distractions and there is more desire to connect with local developers. Also, my ability to connect with them as a gamer instead of just a company spokesperson can not be understated.

So, will I attend next year? Absolutely. Game-itoba will be given a very high priority next year and now that I know what to expect, I can plan a little better and maybe even sign up for some slots to teach people to play some of my favorite games.

If you have not heard of Game-itoba, I suggest checking out their website at https://game-itoba.ca/, and making an attempt to attend. It is one of the most enjoyable conventions I have been to and I can not recommend it enough.