Ambassador Report - June 2003
Ambassador: Matt Clouser

1.Retail/Player Information from your area:

Retailer Scene: There are still NO stores in my area that support STCCG products and activities.  As I reported staring in January, Hastings is no longer reserving space for me for my monthly demos - mainly because I haven't had any attendees at a public demo since October.  They still allow me to show up and do small demos, but on a space available basis.    

CCG Scene:  CCG Scene:  CCG activity remains low in the area - Yu-Gi-Oh and Magic are the most prominent.  There is a LARGE Yu-Gi-Oh gathering on Thursday evenings at Hastings - our local entertainment "super-store". 

Magic players continue open play Saturdays at Hastings - so far the response has been fairly decent, and they are looking towards reviving the tournaments in town.

With the release of the new expansion (??), Pokemon has seen a minor rebirth - primarily at the local toy store. 

STCCG remains dead - no player base and little interest.


2. What have you done "For Love Of The Game" in the past month?:

Another disappointing month for STCCG.  I made an announcement (through my email list) for a demos on June 15th and July  6th.  Thanks to Decipher for the product support!!!  I got to rebuild my demo decks, and add several extra give-a-way decks.  I got a fairly high incident of repeat uncommon and rares, but this worked out well for deck-building.

Tournaments: None

Demos: Two.  No takers on my 15 June demo.  On 6 July, one person mentioned he did not have time for a demo - but wanted me to contact him for a later demo. 


3. What new target (store, gaming clubs, special event) are you planning to establish contact with in the next month to promote Decipher games. What plans are you making to help current stores become more self-sufficient?

Same story, different month.  My 1E players have showed NO interest in 2E, and I have not been able to attract new blood to the game. 

I got to visit with all three of the local TD's - the suggestion made last month that we would have to provide credit card numbers to decipher led to an .. ahem .. "animated" discussion.  While I won't go into the gory details, I will say that as soon as this policy is implemented, San Angelo will no longer be part of the program.

Overall, the San Angelo situation remains grim.  A dedicated venue or retailer is what's needed and I do not have one.  I'm was holding out for the possibility that a new game store may open locally.   I recently found out that one of the principals in the potential store partnership has left for Iraq - his father got in on some of the contractor $$$$ being spent in the rebuild of Iraq's infrastructure. A noble undertaking - it just doesn't do ME any good as an ambassador ;)


4. Feedback on Special Promotional events held that month…successes, shortcomings, suggestions for improvement, player/retailer comments

POSITIVE

Working one potential player contact ..

NEGATIVE

Not much interest in either STCCG or Star Trek in general.


5. Retailer Store(s) or venues you have run your demos/tournaments:

None ...


Until next month....

Matt Clouser
STCCG Ambassador
San Angelo, Texas USA