April 29, 2008: Back From GTS

The annual trek to Las Vegas went astonishingly well -- no misplaced pallets, no misprinted handouts, and no last-minute illnesses in the booth crew. All in all, our little corner of the tabletop gaming industry's largest trade show operated very smoothly.

Our primary goal was to get information into the hands of the retailers, and we succeeded quite well, I think. Our traditional "retailer packet" was chock full of information and liberally laced with fun stuff, including a Munchkin Silver Piece. We answered questions and showed off the nigh-final prototype of Munchkin Quest. Demos were also run; the playtest set of Munchkin Booty got the real workout there.

But it wasn't all give and no take. We had questions, and our friends in the distribution and retail tiers were happy to share their opinions. We got solid answers on two new product lines, which we'll undoubtedly be discussing in much greater detail in the upcoming months. And we chatted with our publishing peers . . . but that's all I'm going to say about that for the moment.

At the end of the week, GTS was a good experience. We're very tired, but we've got piles of notes and business cards. Assuming the post-con funk hasn't laid anyone low, this week will be about following up on leads, writing reports to get the stay-at-home staffers up to speed, and, of course, trying to catch up on the bloated email inbox.
-- Paul Chapman