Interview with Ian Houlihan - Events and Marketing Director for Gen Con Australia

Interview from Yug - Monday, 02 August 2010 @ 12:32am

In another blow to the local gaming industry (eGames 2010 isn't happening this year either), GenConOz has been cancelled for 2010. What's the go? Why did a gaming event that's run successfully for over 2 years suddenly have to cancel?

To answer these questions, I went straight to the source - Ian Houlihan, Events and Marketing Director for Gen Con Australia - who has poured his heart, soul, and finances into this event, to find out what went wrong and what happens next.

Q. Why cancel GenConOz this year?

Cancelling Gen Con OZ 2010 was not something that we wanted to do, but given the climate that we are in, I think it was the smartest decision we could make.

As we said in our press release, the current state of the global economy has had an impact on our exhibitor's ability to commit to our show. It may be true that businesses are now starting to recover, but it is also true that the financial climate took its toll on people and their businesses. And that's not just small business either. Big business also took a strong hit.

From what I've seen, many businesses only just survived, or went under. I spoke with countless businesses both here and overseas, and many were running their businesses from show to show, some even purposely agreeing to pay late fees for shows because they wouldn't have the money to commit until after the show prior to the one they were booking for.

We have to keep in mind that when we started selling booth space, the economy was in a bad way. Perhaps it is was bad timing for us in that many businesses just couldn't make the commitment to the show in the timeframes that were needed for the show to go ahead.

I should also mention that this was to be only our third year. We are a single show, and it is a strain upon us to carry the financial weight of the show while we wait for businesses to come aboard. Contrary to popular belief, we are not supported financially by anyone other than ourselves. Unlike other shows with multiple shows in different states/countires like Gift Fair, Supanova and Armageddon, and who have who can use funds from their next show to roll into the current one, Gen Con has one bite of the cherry. Add to this that we are the new kid on the block, and it does make it an up-hill battle. Unfortunately this year, the battle got the better of us, and so we had to cancel.

Q. Have the previous year’s GenConOz events been successful?

Very much so. We have a great community and a lot of support from our existing retailers. In 2008 we saw over 10,000 people come to our show, and we only had 88 booths, but had over 500 events on offer. We had a lot of lead time with that show, having announced our imminent arrival two years prior. We had loads of guests, a flashy magazine to launch the show, and all the bells and whistles we could muster. Attendees had a great time, and we created an event gamers could be proud of.

Plenty of people packed the last GenConOz event in 2009

The success continued in 2009 with a shortening of the show based on exhibitor feedback (4 days was very long). We took the expo to 3 days, but had the convention and events start from the Thursday allowing us to keep our motto of "The Best Four Days in Gaming". This also meant we could cut back on some costs. 2009 didn't have all the bells and whistles that 2008 had, but it bacame much more managable, and allowed us to set goals to enable the show to grow.

From the front end, everyone seemed happy with both shows. We did see a reduction in numbers of attendees across the entirety of the show, but our numbers increased per day. We did see a slight reduction on the Saturday but this was due to an unfortunate clash with another long standing event. Luckily we've smoothed that glitch out, and we had cleared the way for 2010 to be an even greater success.

Unfortunately, the back end of the show was not as fantastic as we had hoped. Financially anyway. Due to a lack of exhibitor support in the first year, and a lack of sponsorship in both years, a lot of my own personal finances disappeared into the show. Like any small business, I was not naive enough to think that we would be making a profit from the get-go. We had set ourselves up for a loss in the first 3 years. Unfortunately that loss all came in the first year, and thus we struggled to make the event happen in 2009. But we percervered and made it through.

2009 saw us still make a loss, but it was not a substantial one. We were on the right track, but without the support of the industry that some other shows have, we were destined to find it a hard slog.

On the positive side, we have a great community, and one that is behind us all the way - if our Facebook site is any indication.

Q. What’s the greatest difficulty in getting a gaming expo off the ground in Australia?

The short answer is that you need support. Support from the community, support from the retailers, and support from the industry that the show is making the effort to promote. That is after all what we are doing.

The long answer is a little more convoluted. I think that that the biggest difficulty its getting to know who's who in the industry so that you can gain their trust, and then in turn get their support.

In 2008 I was lucky enough to get a head start through our intitial contact with the crew from Gen Con So Cal and Gen Con Indy, the owners of the license we hold. We were treated like royalty when we went to those shows in 2006 and 2007 repsectively. They showed us the inside and out of Gen Con LLC, introduced us to the people who make decisions, and emersed us in how the event ticked. Unfortunately the people who make decisions in the United States were not the same who made decisions over here.

Can't have a pop culture event without cosplayers!

What this meant was that we had a way of getting in the door of the tabletop gaming companies which helped dramatically. The downside was that many saw Australia as such a small blip on their radar that the majority did not even have offices here in Australia. Instead they relied on distributors here, with each distrbutor dealing with hundreds of product lines from different manufacturers. This resulted in a dilution of the enthusiasm that the main company had - something which sticks out as being a big positive at events like the US based Gen Cons and other events like Origins and PAX. We managed to get their support which was great, but it wasn't exactly what we were looking for. We did however manage to lure Games Workshop to the show which was fantastic. Their team was enthusiastic, and they did very well demonstrating their poruct along with the sales that their demonstrations encouraged.

When it came to speaking with the electronic side of the convention with companies like Microsoft, Nintendo, Sony, and some of the local/international publishers, it was literally like starting from scratch. Luckily we made contact with Queensland Games, who at that stage were really behind the notion of helping small publishers get the word out there about their businesses. They were also good at getting our foot in the door in the larger companies and helped us move our way up the chain of command a lot more quickly than expected.

"We were on the right track, but without the support of the industry that some other shows have, we were destined to find it a hard slog.'"

This process took time, but was well worth it. Unfortunately, being the new show that we were, many took the "we'll wait until after your first year" approach which meant that some electronic gamers didn't get quite what they were looking for. This improved in 2009 with attendances from the likes of 2K Games, Microsoft, Sega and some online games companies, but we were still a little away from where we wanted to be.

2010 was the year we were going to make a difference. Unfortunately due to the economic downturnings, things were difficult from a very early stage. This hampered our efforts to get the support we needed both financially, and promotionally.

Q. How has the support from the local industry been?

From the bsuinesses who have come to the show - fantastic. Many of the smaller businesses in particular. We have seen some great support at various times, and I cannot thank Wizards of the Coast enough for their support each year. Unfortunately it does fall a little short when it comes to the electronic games industry and major retailer support.

Our vision for Gen Con OZ is to be a fantastic platform for games companies to show off their wares to the consumer market. To allow them to demonstrate the latest and greatest in new games and developments in the industry. On some levels this has occurred. While on others it is seriously lacking.

One of the highlights of Gen Con is the table top gaming

I should mention that support does not need to come from just one source, nor does it need to be financial. It can be anything from the supply of our computers for registration, to our sound system for the Anime Theatre, as well as prizes, and even just supporting the event through promotion to their own databases.

It is unfortunate that Gen Con OZ is only heavily supported by small distributors, clubs and societies, small retailers and the community. Luckily, these four groups are very loud and well connected. As a result we do see their customers coming to the show. What we don't have though, is the impact on the mainstream that we are gradually tapping away at that we know the bigger companies have access to, and communicate with regularly. We do have consistent support from big companies like Hasbro (Wizards of the Coast) as I mentioned before, and Madman Entertainment, but beyond that, there is little consistency. And that is what the show needs.

Q. Is there anything those who were hoping to attend GenConOz can do?

There is nothing anyone can do to resurrect Gen Con OZ 2010. We have made the tough decision to cancel and will focus our efforts on finding better ways to bring the show back either next year or a little futher into the future.

In the meantime though, I think the best thing people can do is talk about Gen Con OZ. A lot.

How can YOU bring GenConOz back? Talk about it ... ALOT

In my opinion, business people are keen observers of their clientelle. They watch and listen to whatc their customers are saying, and react to those needs. It makes sense that those business people make decisions on what show they attend based on the opinions of their customers. Its in their best interest to attend, whether that be to sell those customers more product, or just connect with their existing customers. It may even be to generate new clients. By this way of thinking, the more they see and hear people talking about Gen Con OZ, the more likely people will notice the show.

So my advice to people is to talk about the show. Talk about it on social media sites. Blog about their experiences. Speak to retailers. Just talk. I think they would be surprised how many businesses listen.

Q. What’s the plan for the future? Will there be GenConOz next year?

For the immediate future, I plan to take a short break. I'll be taking the time to spend with my family and re-focus on what went wrong this year and to establish what is required in order build a better business plan to take Gen Con OZ to the next level. I'll also be taking the time to talk. Talk to attendees, exhibitors, business partners and other influential people to work out the best way of approaching our vision of Gen Con OZ.

As to what next year will bring? Well there are quite a few things that have to fall into place first. Our intention is to come back in 2011. If we have the support from the community, the industry, and the city we choose to have Gen Con OZ in, then we are certain to return. In the meantime, we'll just have to wait and see.