As part of its events for the 30th anniversary of Dungeons and Dragons, Wizards of the Coast is gearing up for D&D GameDay, currently scheduled for October 16th, 2004.  That date is later than the originally scheduled date, in order to have the event closer to the release of the new D&D Miniatures Starter Set and Aberrations Booster Pack.  We talked to Wizards of the Coast Senior Brand Manager for D&D Liz Schuh at the recently concluded Gencon show about the event. 

Tell us a little about the D&D Game Day event and how it will take place in retail stores

Worldwide D&D Game Day is all about playing D&D and celebrating 30 years of history, so we have a little something for everyone, whether you've been playing the game for 30 years or you're brand new.   You'll have opportunities to learn the game, to play the game with other seasoned players, whatever your level of experience.  We'll have giveaways; we have a special adventure that's been designed just for the event, so I'm sure it will be a lot of fun.

How do retailers get involved with the event?

Retailers who want to be part of the event can talk to our organized play group.  We have already solicited about 900 stores, but if for some reason a store who wasn't on our list wants to participate, they just have to get in touch with our organized play department. 

Do they have to be direct accounts, or can they be buying Wizards products through distributors?

They do not have to be a direct account to participate.

Do they get a package of stuff to help host this event?

Yes, there are actually two different kits that will ship out.  One is a promotional kit that ships out a month before the event, and that's designed to provide retailers with everything they need to promote the event in their stores, get excitement levels up, get participation.  There are bag stuffers, posters and other in-store items like that. 

And then the second kit is the event kit itself.  It contains the adventure, dice, mechanical pencils for giveaways, and everything that the volunteers need to run the event.  And retailers can tap RPGA volunteers to come run events for them if they don't have enough staff.  [There are actually two adventures.  Lair of the Mad Alchemist is an intro to D&D; The Forgotton Forge is a full-scale adventure set in the Eberron campaign setting.]

What kind of support marketing is Wizards doing for the event?

We're doing print advertising in core magazines.  We're also doing online advertising both on core Websites and in wider electronic gaming sites to get information out.  Our PR team is working hard to get information out as well.

Does the advance kit have template press releases for retailers?

We have some information that retailers can use to get information out to their local media.

How about ad slicks?

We don't have ad slicks currently planned for the kit.  

It's always hard to predict, but do you have any feel for what the national press response is going to be like?

We're going to choose a few markets where we focus and try to get the national media attention.  We haven't chosen those markets yet, but they'll be the usual suspects--large media markets like New York, Los Angeles, Chicago.  And that's where our PR group will really be focusing on getting the national stories out.

How many markets for the PR push?

We'll probably select four.

Is there co-op support for retailers that advertise the events?

Retailers can certainly talk to their distributors about co-op opportunities, because we do offer co-op to our distributors that they can then pass on to retailers.

And you also offer that to your direct accounts?

Yes we do.

I also should mention that we have a special Web page set up, DnDgameday.com

That's for public, consumers, and retailers alike.  That Website will be on all of our advertising, and all of our online advertising will click through directly to that site. 

What's your goal in terms of the number of consumers that participate?

I know that our OP group has goals that they've set for the team; I don't know that they want those public, but I'll say that we plan to have locations throughout North America and Europe.  We also have some locations in Australia that will be participating.