Rolling for Initiative is a weekly column by Scott Thorne, PhD, owner of Castle Perilous Games & Books in Carbondale, Illinois and instructor in marketing at Southeast Missouri State University.  This week, Thorne previews the upcoming GAMA Trade Show.

GTS Pre-regs Up 35%, registration is up about 35% from last year, possibly due to the $1600 Retailer Appreciation package but I would be more likely due to the amount of face time and opportunity to hear manufacturer presentations.  Most of the major manufacturers in the industry have presentations on the schedule, including Wizards of the Coast, WizKids, Cryptozoic, Paizo, Upper Deck, Bandai, Impressions Advertising and Marketing, Mayfair, Catalyst, Wyrd Miniatures, Games Workshop and Osprey.  Fantasy Flight Games apparently thinks the presentations are a better use of its time and money than a booth in the exhibit hall, as the company has chosen to forgo the latter in favor of the former.

Though I normally like to sit in on a session or two, the manufacturing track looks rather light this year, with only about twenty in the manufacturing track as compared to the two dozen plus sponsored by the GAMA Retail Division, in addition to the manufacturer presentations that run all day Tuesday and Wednesday morning.  There are several sessions that look quite interesting though, including one on using QR codes and another on the use of patents to protect intellectual property.

Of course there are the surrounding dinners and luncheons, as well as the GAMA Retail Division elections (generally not a well-attended event, so if you want to have a say in what the GRD does this year show up and vote or, even better, put your name up for election as one of the directors), followed by the GTS Poker Tournament (sponsored by ACD), Wednesday nights Games Night and a couple of Meet & Greets.  Although I don’t see it on the schedule anywhere, I would not be surprised to see a presentation or a table promoting Geek & Sundry or TableTop some time during the week as well, given the impact they have had upon the industry in the past year.

The opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff of ICv2.com.