ICv2 caught up with GAMA Executive Director John Ward at Gen Con to discuss growth and change in the five years he’s spent in his post with the Game Manufacturers Association (see “GAMA Goes Outside for New ED”).
 
Can you compare how it was when you took over in 2009 to where GAMA is today?
It’s been a lot of change both internally and externally.  The industry is doing really, really well.  Right now is just a super time to be involved in the hobby market.  Internally we’ve had a lot of structural changes over the past five years.  When I first came on board we had a lot of opportunities to excel, so now we’ve got changes in infrastructure and what we provide for services for members; we’ve had changes in infrastructure at GAMA Trade Show; we’ve had changes at Origins Game Fair, all trying to morph to the needs that meet more of what we’re dealing with in 2014.
 
From your perspective, what were the big problems when you arrived?
We had communication issues.  Even though it still needs some work, our website was pretty outdated.  And we had a history of dealing with companies on an individual basis.  That was one of the premises I was hired under at GAMA.  I had come from public service, so my job was bringing more of that public value back to the Association to do things more consistently across the board.
 
Our industry is very small, so if I tell you something and talk to somebody else in a different company and tell them something different, it’s not like it’s not going to circle back and people aren’t going to immediately know that.  We’ve created some broader policies and some procedures for us to follow internally so that we gave a consistent message.
 
Attendance at GTS is up.  What do you attribute that to?
A lot of the reason we’re doing really well with the GAMA Trade Show is that we refocused on the purpose, which is content delivery and sales.  We’ve got manufacturers doing Premier Presentations that have been very successful.  Manufacturers have time slots at the GAMA Trade Show to talk to retailers about upcoming releases, products, sometimes Q&As.  You might have two slots in your sponsorship agreement and that might be 2:00 on Tuesday and one on Wednesday at 9:00 am.  So retailers come to our conference, it’s just like any other professional conference.  Retailers are coming to our show and laying out their schedule and they want to hit not only the professional track that the retail division is providing for them, but they also want to hear the professional track the manufacturers are providing.  It’s really morphed our show into a national conference with the trade show functionality with it, but the content delivery part of the show has really added a lot to what we do for the membership.  I think that’s really contributing to it.
 
When we do the appreciation package, that’s helped too.  A lot of our retailers take a risk when they take four days away from their store.  Knowing that they’re going to get a box of new product from us shipped at no expense to their store is really helpful. They know that they’re going to recoup a lot of that travel cost and that risk of leaving the store for a few days (see “John Ward on Changes at The GAMA Trade Show in 2013” and “GAMA's Retailer Appreciation Package”).
 
 
What about Origins?
Origins has been really fun. We’re trying to focus on what we do best which is play games and have fun. We’ve integrated more play space into the main gaming halls. We’ve got sales space integrated in that now with manufacturers and that’s been very successful.
 
We’ve tried to bring a lot more large scale events to the show and our fill rates reflect that. Games are filling well and the fill rates within those games are well.  It’s really made the show a lot more vibrant.  Mayfair is our show co-sponsor and other manufacturers have really helped bring that focus on play back to the show. That’s what we should be doing as a manufacturer’s association; helping companies to get their products and IP in front of consumers.
 
What are the attendance trends for GTS and Origins?
The number of retail stores is up a little over 30%, which is really good and hit us a little harder than I expected (see “Over 1,300 at GAMA Trade Show”).  That was a nice bump for us and we have a plan to deal with that more aggressively next year.
 
Origins numbers were really good, too.  We were up to 12,900 some-odd uniques, or about 39,000 turnstile.  We really got hit hard on Saturday so we’re doing a better job of seeing how we can handle Saturday day-badges for people who are only able to get away for a day or two.  Numbers for both shows have drawn real well.  That was about a 19% increase for Origins this year.
 
One of the things that’s been the most successful for us is to focus on getting behind your play-in events at the show.  We want consumers to come to the show, enjoy themselves and have a good time. Our focus is on that play experience and creating that good experience.
 
In your first five years you can rightfully say you’ve accomplished a lot.  Where do you go from here?
Someone used the metaphor the other day, “it’s hard to turn the Titanic.”  We’re not quite a Titanic, and we’re not a speed boat yet but we’re a little more flexible and adaptable now than we were five years ago.  The thing for us next is to focus more on improving the two events that we provide.  Those are very valuable for us.  
 
We’ve also got the ability now as a trade association to start providing more services to the membership. Our GAMA membership is at an all-time high, not only retail stores, but manufacturers.  What programs do the retailers need?  What programs do the manufacturers need, and start looking at resourcing those for manufacturers.  It’s a changing technology today so the landscape now is not what it was five years ago.  Adapting the little things in technology, not only professional development on how to use things like website design and those things for our small companies, but adaptable devices that go on your phone, like Square, and services we can provide and get a discount to our members.  A lot of us are traveling all the time, so what things can be provide that are value-added to the membership there?