RE: Wargames Stores

So, let's see if I have it right.

UK	Shows are organized by clubs to recruit members and to get
companies to 
bring product to sell.	Games are a spectator event, with Q/A to the
club in 
question.  These are one day events, with several events each "season"

US	Shows are organized by groups to give a venue to play games and
to get 
companies to bring product to sell.  Games are a participation event,
and the 
primary motive for going (either to play or run the games).  These are 
multi-day events, with 2-4 events each year in a particular market (i.e.
SF Bay 
Area has 3 major events, DundraCon [February], KubalCon [May] and
Con-Quest 
[September]. HMGS has Fall-in, Cold Wars and Historicon in PA)

Pubs:  I wish that model had migrated here!  Blast those Puritans! 
There isn't 
a good equivalent in the US (at least in the parts I've lived).  I think
it has 
to do with settlement patterns.

Michael Brown

-----Original Message-----
From:	Roger Burton West
Sent:	Thursday, July 10, 2003 9:17 AM
To:	gzg-l@csua.berkeley.edu
Subject:	Re: Wargames Stores

On Thu, Jul 10, 2003 at 10:16:10AM -0500, Allan Goodall wrote:

>Those of us on _this_ side of the pond can grumble, too. For one thing,
the
>vast majority of the U.K. is within a single day's drive. You just do
not get
>the single day game shows here in North America. Instead, you get big
shows in
>the summer that run several days. Even still, it usually has to be a
vacation
>trip (costing you lodging money, money to attend, money to get to the
location
>in the first place).

...BUT on the other hand, shows in the UK are mostly not actually about
gaming! It's true that at a big show like Salute there'll be some demo
games you can join, and I haven't been to the smaller events like
Bifrost; but most of Salute, and almost all of Colours, is a sales forum
not a gaming one. GZG-ECC was the first wargaming show I'd been to.

Roger