With E3 right around the corner, we wanted to pass on some sage advice! Last year our very own Yoonsang David Yu wrote some tips for general attendees. This year we decided to write some tips for industry professionals heading to E3, or any other convention!
Be Positive
E3 is magical and it can be easy to lose sight of that sometimes. The stress of preparing for it, working long days surrounded by huge crowds, and hoping to get folks to pay attention to you, your studio and most importantly, your game can erode your nerves and the nerves of everyone working with you. But don’t forget to take a moment to think about how cool it is to be there and how lucky all of the other attendees are going to feel getting to meet with you first hand. This ensures that people are going to walk away with good memories of you, your team, and your game. There are eyes and ears everywhere in E3. Make sure that when folks are watching and listening to you, they’re coming away with a smile on their face.
Have a Solid Pitch
The question on everyone’s mind when they see an exhibit for the first time in E3 will always be the same. “What’s your game about?” Now, there’s going to be plenty of answers for them, in the marketing materials you’re displaying, the art that you’re featuring, everything in between. But everyone on your team should be able to give an answer to that question, which we would normally call an elevator pitch. What’s the one sentence answer to that question? Do you know it by heart? You’re going to be giving it out over and over again, but more importantly your whole team will be. You want your answer and the answer of everyone else working your exhibit to be the same. That consistency is going to pay off when folks see your released game and it matches that image your pitch put in their head in E3.
Take Some Time on the Floor
It can be really easy and tempting to man your booth all week, making sure that everyone sees the very best that you and your team have to offer. But you’d be doing yourself a disservice if you didn’t tour the floor a bit, especially as an indie creator with the other indie devs at E3. It’s no secret that the big, AAA conferences are going to be the big focus of a lot of attendees, and one of the best things that indie creators can do for themselves is band together with other devs a lot like them. Being able to give out recommendations to attendees looking for something cool to see as well as share in their hype for the other projects at the show is going to help you get the best out of the whole convention.
Network!
This is easily the most obvious, but also the most important aspect of E3 when attending as an industry professional or business. E3 is going to be one of the best places for you to meet your peers, shake hands, learn names, and make that first impression that gets you a call two years down the line. Don’t squander that opportunity! Bring plenty of business cards and hand them out like candy on Halloween, not just on the show floor, but in the bars, at the parties, in the local restaraunts, while waiting in line at a food truck! Anytime you walk up to a booth, start with your name. There are going to be a lot of nameless folks meeting devs and publishers and all you need to do to stand out from them is to say: “Hey, I’m so-and-so, I work on such-and-such, and your game looks awesome.”
If you have any other tips and tricks, feel free to leave a comment here, hit us up on Twitter, or join the official Akupara Discord. We won’t be exhibiting a game at E3 this year, but will be in attendance so don’t hesitate to reach out to anyone on the team.