Last week, my wife and I travelled from North Yorkshire down to Birmingham to attend UKGE as Exhibitor's for the first time. This was also the first time we were showcasing Bludgeon publicly, as well as the first time it was rendered in a physical format.

 I've had some time to think about the trip and everything that happened. What follows is part post-mortem and part retelling. The section headers should help you find the information you're looking for.

 Overview

In my opinion, and it’s a very sceptical one on the best of days, is that the whole experience was a net positive. There's a lot we've learned and a lot to improve on if we intend to do this again.

We sold just above our internal threshold for success - an arbitrary value that we felt would be a good point to hit.

The general reception to the game's pitch was positive. 

The team's efforts before and during the con showcased how well we could function together.

Preparation

This was a bit hit and miss. We got half the things we needed set up and prepared fairly early, but then our family was hit with a layoff for one of our number and a project shift for the other. This derailed our early momentum for a while.

To be fair, procrastination played its part here, as well.

The pins (from Zap!Creatives) we had on display had been ordered and received a month in advance.

We managed to get our Quick Start Guides printed via VistaPrint early and they arrived a few weeks before the con. We took the decision to print the Art Cards at home, which initially was a great idea but our home printer quickly started to tap out after 2 days of heavy use. We had an uneven no. of prints because of this. Not a major issue, but it did annoy me.

In terms of booth set up, we had the handcrafted cloth at home already but had to order table covers, assemble-able stand for the art, and some pins.

Thanks to George from Three Sails Studio, we were directed to Eco-Print who created the back display at our stall.

We built a mock up of our booth at home a week or so before the con, so we knew what we wanted, how long it'd take, and had ample time to order anything that may have slipped through the cracks. Almost nothing, it turned out.

Overall, very little was left down to the wire except additional Business Cards and some extra showcase prints, which we managed to get from a printer located within the NEC.  

Travel

We don't have a car. Trains were the only other option.

However, given the total cost of trains, we are wondering if for 30-40 extra, taking a cab saves us from all the other hassle we deal with on public transport.

I really wish public transport was more affordable here, so that this wasn't an actual consideration.

Anyway, travel was a bit of a pain. We packed all out personal clothes and stuff for the booth into 2 suitcases. The cloth banner had its own bag that was separate. All in all, we had 2 suitcases, 2 backpacks, and the banner bag.

100 books and the oblong banner bag made things a little inconvenient. I was always worried that the weight of the books would snap one of the wheels from a suitcase.

Outside of that, my wife kept me from turning into an avatar of travel stress induced petty anger. We left early to account for intra-station travel between platforms with our luggage. In hindsight, an exaggerated precaution, but I'd rather wait 40-60 minutes chilling at the station than attempt to run around between platforms. It also gave us time to chat and chill.

The way back was less stressful, having shed 60 books worth of weight, but that's a spoiler. We did have 1 last minute platform change on the way back at York and were separated between compartments and the head of a train in the center, but again, that's minor.

Convention Set Up

We left for the Con early Thursday morning and arrived at Birmingham International by 2-ish.

We made a beeline straight for the Halls so that we could divest ourselves of weight before heading to the hotel.

It was amazing and eye-opening to see what everything looks like before the show begins. A peek behind the curtain and a validating sense that I had crossed a proverbial threshold. Also fun was how maze like the hall feels when everyone has their gear around for set up. As things move around, lanes and walkways shift in small ways.

We got our hi-vis jackets on (packed into our backpacks and easy to access) and made our way to our stall. We did get a bit turned around on the way there.

Set up was straight forward - Unload the books, set up the banner, lay things out on the table. All in all, it took about an hour. Our third member, the eponymous Nilesh Krishnan, arrived just in time to help us out.

We also got to meet our lovely neighbours - The Moonshine Adventure Company & Yokaiihime.

The former were fantastic people and lovely to hang out with throughout the con. The latter remains one of my wife's favourite handmade merch stores.

With set up done, the 3 of us headed to the Holiday Inn, checked in, had a few drinks, and then retired.

Fun anecdote: I took a nap, woke up at 9 pm, and had a minor panic attack because I thought it was 9am the next day. 

What We Did

Our booth was selling three things: Art Prints, Wooden Pins, & the Quick Start combo.

If you'd stopped at our booth, we would tell you about what made Bludgeon unique, with a focus on the mechanics that made it different. Part of this pitch was asking you what your favourite class was and then explaining how it'd play in Bludgeon. This went over quite well, in fact. Most people reacted very positively to this.

The design of our booth, most especially the art of our banner and prints that were displayed vertically, were what would draw initial interest to us. My wife deserves all the credit here. She was in charge of how we presented ourselves and did a fantastic job.

We'd make it a point to keep an eye on the crowd and catch the eye of anyone who reacted to the art. This was especially easy for where we were located - Traffic was never so hectic that we couldn't make out individuals.

A polite smile was generally enough to push interest to curiosity and entice someone over to listen to us. Not fool proof, mind, but it worked well enough.

Anecdote: We got one or two people to stop by, by complimenting their attire. Mind, we genuinely liked the Tenacious D shirt and cosplay from those two people.  

The Pitch

It took us (Nilesh, my wife, and I) the first half of Friday to really nail down the best way to pitch. We had the base version of it down, but we'd known it would be refined once we were live at the con. We quickly established a rhythm between us and an understanding of how to juggle things.

By Saturday, I started varying elements of the pitch based on the customer's ttrpg experience and body language. The latter telling me when to hurry up and where I had their attention to alter what I wanted to speak about.

The basic idea of our pitch was:

1. Elevator pitch of the game. Key mentions:
   1. New D20 system
   2. Indian Folklore/Pop Culture Inspirations
   3. Themed Rulesets that had crunch but supported roleplay
2. Provide example of how the Bard works in combat to explain 'Themed Ruleset'
3. Ask about their favourite class & explain the Bludgeon ruleset for the same
4. Optional - Talk about Bludgeon's 3x3 Stat-block & how it was contextual to roleplay
5. Optional - Provide further examples of Martial Classes
6. This was our first time presenting, and the first time we were offering the Quick Starts anywhere

Depending on the engagement with our pitch so far, we'd occasionally add more info or attempt to upsell a customer with an art print.  

Purchases

Of the people who'd stop by the stall, we managed to sell (observationally) a book to about 20-30% of them.

What this resulted in was 28 Sales over 3 days.

We sold an additional 2 to work colleagues after the con.

One person reached out post con to buy a book because they'd forgotten to swing back around. Which I mailed, just a few days ago.

We also gave two reviewers a copy of the physical book for free. I don't know how I feel about this. Conflicted, mostly. I appreciate the attention but the print and our labour to achieve it goes uncompensated. I guess, it's also the uncertainty of when and if those reviews will come out. So, like I said - conflicted.

That being said, my metric for success was 'at least 25 books sold' and we passed that. I felt that was a win for a first time showcase for a whole new system. I also wonder if Daggerheart being down the lane from us affected our footfalls in any meaningful way. Personally, I don't think it'd have made a difference if they weren't there.

We only sold a handful of prints & pins, sadly. This was surprising because I'd expected/predicted those to sell far more than the books. On this account, I'm glad to have been proven woefully wrong.

Reception

Rules & Base Concept of Bludgeon - Barring a few outliers, everyone who heard the pitch loved the idea of how the game had thematic rules. I say this because there were visible, genuine indicators of surprise and delight as we provided examples (even on folks who didn't commit to a purchase).

"That (the described rule) just makes sense."

"Why don't more games do this?"

We heard those statements at least twice each day. I take that as a good sign and that we're definitely doing something new in this space.

Art Prints - Very positive, but negligible sales. People loved the art, so much so that we had a few people call out that it was cool while walking by. Unsurprisingly, the Platycra got the most attention.

Pins - Not much for these. In hindsight, I attribute this to the fact that there's no context for a purchase of these. People have nothing to relate to with the designs. They're cool designs, no doubt, but only the creators know what they mean.
 

Meet-Ups, Networking, & Social

PoC Networking Event - This was an event set up by Taylor N. and her sister Gemma. It was designed to bring PoC indies in touch with mentors from different part of the industry. This was a first for the UK industry.As an attendee, I felt like this was a success.

I struggle to be social, especially in crowds, and I'm not great at inserting myself into a conversation, which are key skills for networking.

Thankfully, George & Jeremy of Three Sails Studio helped make some introductions and the generally smaller no. of people at the venue made it so that more social mentors would walk up to you to speak.

I got many good conversations out of the night, despite being exhausted from the first day of the con. 

Notably, I had a great conversation with JayDragon about ttrpg design and audiences. Stumbled upon some good nomenclature while trying to explain some thoughts I had on different audience types and expectations. I'll attempt to write a blog about that soon.

RRD Social - This event takes place on the Saturday after the con ends and is an open invite for industry folk and ttrpg exhibitors to hang out. Hosted by Rowan, Rook, & Deckard, it's a great place for people to meet friends and spend some time together.

Off Day 2 of the Con and already struggling with some exhaustion, my wife and I did feel overwhelmed by the event. It's a lot of people in an enclosed space that makes things very loud. The line at the bar is an easy 10 minute wait (understandably because there's a lot of people there). We also arrived late due to wanting some time to recuperate post the con.

While no strangers to the UK ttrpg scene, we're also somewhat new, as well. It could just be me, but its very easy to feel like an outsider looking in. There's also the perceived burden of effort one feels to break into ossified groups of folks.

We basically left after being there for 30 min and saying hi to a few people.

How we handle these sorts of events and gatherings are on our list of things to improve on.

Con Social - One thing we desperately need to improve on is our time management during the con. Between my wife and I, we didn't really explore the con all that much. The few breaks we took were either to get food, other sustenance, guilt-ridden browsing in our near vicinity, or pointed stall visits. The latter was mostly to Ralph Horsely's booth - one of our favourite artists and someone whom we visit each year and spend an ungodly amount of money on.

Next time, however, we've agreed to be more methodical and planned. We didn't see the booths of so many indies that were kind enough to visit us, for example.

We need to make time to meet others and support them in much the same way they've done us.

Next time, so we don't miss the wider con (which we also did) and to ensure we meet our friends and well-wishers who are also exhibiting, we plan to check the provided map-pack provided the day before the con and map out a route and locations to ensure we go to.

Final Thoughts

I'm extremely proud of the TacticsNChai team. From preparing for the event to manning the booth, everyone stepped up.

The reception we had was far better than expected. We're hoping to make more Bludgeoneers. Our discord already has new members who are asking us about mechanics!

There are Bludgeon Quick Start Guides in the wild now! That's both exhilirating and nerve-wracking to think about. All in all, everything about this project feels a lot more tangible now.

We've learned a lot of lessons on what we can do next time. Some of these are insights we've found ourselves and others were graciously offered by other members of the community. This extends from copy particulars, to improvements on how to engage passerby (they love free stuff!), to supporting gear we could invest in. By the end of the con, we were already discussing what we could do next year and what other cons we might want to attend.

Additional (Heartwarming) Anecdote

Two young South Asian girls, one in CR cosplay, did a double take when they saw our booth. They were excited to hear about the game, loved the fact that the art looked more familiar to them, and very excitedly exclaimed that 'we'll ask our dad to buy it on the website'. They absolutely made our day and we hope we can give more kids something that inspires them.