Kevin,
I'm in a real quandry here in San Angelo, and wanted you to be aware of what's going on.
When our local game store shut down in September, it literally pulled the plug on any organized CCG gaming. In the five months since then, most of my 1E player base has moved on, moved away, or has otherwise disappeared.
I tried running an organized demo program at Hasting, a local entertainment superstore - in their cafe area at least once a month since October. I had about 5 of my old players show up for the first demo, but no one has attended since. The ONLY STCCG activity since then has been friendly play at the apartment of one of our 1E players who has NO interest in spending any more money on a new game.
And, as I mentioned in my January report, Hastings is focusing it's support to a Yu-Gi-Oh league that one of their employee's is trying to start up.
My attempt at demos at the Nemesis opening were equally dismal, topped off by my being called away for a work-related emergency.
The only hope I've got on the horizon is the possibility of a new store opening up in the next couple of months. To be brutally honest, I give this new store about 50-50 odds of them opening their doors - their financial position is very weak.
What this boils down to is that I have NOT met the minimum requirements for an Ambassador since September - and it doesn't look like I'm going to be able to make a serious stab at rebuilding a player base until the new store opens (if it opens).
So the question is - are you and Decipher willing to keep me on as an Ambassador until then??
If not, I certainly understand - and I'll hand in my resignation without arguement, and reapply for a position when (and if) this new store becomes a reality.
Matt Clouser
STCCG Ambassador, Ronara Region
San Angelo, Texas, USA
If you're not willing to give up, please keep at it Matt. Just as long as
you do your monthly reports and keep trying.
It sounds like you may have to regroup and start over with a new player
base. Or just re-organize your current players.
I have a suggestion. Do you still have phone numbers or emails from your
players? You can access those from your old score sheets and TD data base. I
would also always take the names and emails of new people you demo to. I
suggest hosting a weekly game night. If you don¹t run it at a store, try a
pizza place or bookstore. Some people may feel more comfortable with casual
play than the intimidation of a tournament. New players like to learn
through casual play more than tournaments to.
Use your email list to inform your player base every two weeks or so of
upcoming events. Do this consistently so people know that¹s it going on.
Maybe they wont show every night. But they will know about it and possibly
spread the word.
You know, I've been to San Angelo. I was there doing a Young Jedi demo tour
a couple of years ago. I remember doing an event at Hastings and one of the
local shops. Its a cool town. I think causal play may be the thing to
concentrate on in the time being. Word of mouth helps too.
My fellow co-worker and friend Kyle Heuer are from Santa Barbara CA. We set
up a weekly game night at a local pizza place back in 1995. Its still going
strong to this day. The pizza place loves us! :-)
Let me know if you have further questions Matt. I hope things turn around.
-Kevin
Kevin Reitzel
Decipher Inc.
Marketing Dept.
Product Champion Coordinator
Guinness World Record Holder
253 Granby St
Norfolk, VA. 23510 USA
(757) 664-1140
Kevin.Reitzel@Decipher.com
www.decipher.com