'I Think I Can Manage' is a weekly column be retailer Steven Bates, manager of Bookery Fantasy, a million dollar retail operation in Fairborn, Ohio.  This week, Bates gives some ideas on National Games Week.  

Mark your calendars--National Games Week is November 21-27 2004.  What is

'National Games Week' you ask?  In a nutshell, like Free Comic Book Day and Wizards of the Coast's D&D GameDay, NGW promises to be a positive experience promoting various aspects of our niche industry to the general public, introducing some people for the first time to the joys of gaming while simultaneously enticing others back to the hobby, if only for a few days.  Sponsored by over 20 of the biggest names in gaming, with an additional 50+ supporters and affiliates,  National Games Week is the brainchild of Matthews Simmons Marketing, publisher of Games Quarterly Catalog.  Mark Simmons, coordinator of the week-long gaming event, states, 'Game enthusiasts already know that games are great, smart entertainment . We are encouraging individuals, schools, games stores, organizations, libraries, everyone, to hold a Games Day event during National Games Week, showcasing the fun of game for family and friends.'

Sounds like fun, just like Free Comic Book Day, but an awful lot of work, right?  Well, yeah, you betcha, it will be.  But the chance to capitalize on these national promotions is something no gaming store should ignore.  Even small events can bring a shop (or group, club, church, or library) big publicity, depending on the size of your community and the receptivity of the local media.  Of course, it helps if it's a slow news day; no 'feel good' feature plays when it's competing with death and destruction, especially if it's caught on camera.  That doesn't mean you shouldn't put forth your best effort for some free coverage.  A single news story, in any outlet-TV, newspapers, radio-carries more weight than a half dozen advertisements in the same medium.  There's a legitimacy that people associate with the news, and your opinions are elevated to near-gospel status when people are exposed to them in the media.  Even if you wrote the press release.

First, organize an event or two or ten to coincide with National Games Week.  Maybe you're already running in-store tournaments, great!  Ramp it up a notch, adding a bigger prize or bringing in a celebrity judge.  If you're like me, and gaming illiterate, let your staff handle the creative end of things.  Better yet, get your customers involved.  Chances are, you know a little about a lot of games, or a lot about a few games.  Your customers are experts in dozens of different systems, and most are eager and willing to convert the innocent masses to their particularly favorite games.  Does that make them smarter than you?  Well, yeah-they're not the ones trying to make a living at this, after all!  Let them run the demos, tourneys, and such.  You'll actually be freed-up to do more important things, like publicity.

Writing a press release is not an exact science, but it does pay to familiarize yourself with a few basics.  Review a few articles or news stories before writing anything, paying attention to the style and pace of the target medium.  TV and newspapers approach things very differently.  To warrant a visit from a television news crew, you'd better offer something very visual to lure them in, like gamers dressed in full battle gear or babes in chain mail.  Members of the 501st Stormtrooper Brigade love to show off their highly-detailed replica armor, and the Society for Creative Anachronisms can re-enact battles only J.R.R. Tolkien could imagine.  Maybe two gamers will decide to tie the knot in your store during National Games Week.  Or that guy with the fantasy mural painted on his semi will park in front of your store one day.  Now that's good TV!

Newspapers crave a more fact-heavy and quote-ridden press release, something that will read like 'real news,' informative yet entertaining.  Remember to include ALL the details about your shop, National Games Week, the events underway (or planned), and dates.  Journalists use two very important techniques to get it all down in black & white so it can be read all over: the 'Five W's' and the 'Inverted Pyramid.'  The 'Five W's' are simply Who, What, Where, When, and Why (and sometimes How); Who would be you, What would be National Games Week, Where would be your store's location, When would be ... Duh, and Why?  Quote Mark Simmons above, if you must, or come up with something pithy on your own.  Make it sound serious, but not deadly serious.  Remember, these are just hobbies, people.

The 'Inverted Pyramid' gives you a structure in which to work, a diagram of how the article should read.  Visualize an upside down, or inverted, triangle.  The broad side, the base, is now on top, and the pointy end faces down.  Journalists write their news with this model, putting the most important elements, the foundation of the piece, on top, in the opening paragraph(s).  Each successive paragraph contains more specific information than the previous one, often simply elaborating on the ideas laid out in the opening sections.  The idea is that if an editor trims, they can just lop off paragraphs at the end of the article, without eliminating vitally important information (I'm sure my editor wishes I did that with this column).  If you stick with the 'Inverted Pyramid,' your press release is more likely to run unedited in the local newspaper.  Events like National Game Week and Free Comic Book Day offer pre-fab press releases for you to tweak, but I recommend learning how to do your own self-promotion for times when you're flying solo.  Contact information should be printed inside the paper or on their website, or you can reach a number of media outlets by visiting www.Congress.org.