Fil and I had a fantastic weekend at UK Games Expo in Birmingham at the Hilton Metropole, near the NEC.
We have taken to frequenting many gaming events, and Expo undoubtedly figures as the largest and most tiring! A roller coaster of an event, they broke all records this year. I think they had as many people attending on Saturday as they had for the whole of the event last year. We certainly felt the difference in the sheer weight of interest passing by and through the stall.
We appreciate all your interest, enthusiasm, and support.
I ran two games on Friday – and we spent part of the afternoon preparing the stall the following day. We experimented with format, as we wanted to have the product accessible, but didn’t want to stand behind a table. I think it worked out OK – but, I’m certain we’d prefer to get space for two stands and really offer full access to customers.
Many reviewers have commented that you can’t appreciate an All Rolled Up by sight alone. The web-site offers you a pile of pictures, but something you need with the ARU is the tactile appreciation. Some of these things feel way better than they look – and they look good to begin with.
Highlight new addition to the range had to be the bestiary skin game rolls – including the Red Dragon and Basilisk ARU and the Salamander and Basilisk TARU. These look and feel like leather, but they’re 100% faux. Fabric through and through, they nevertheless look fantastic and feel awesome.
Anyway – we came along with 130+ ARU and 60+ TARU – and by the end of the Saturday, we’d sold a solid 50% or more, which meant the performance of the whole of Expo 2013 in a single day. Stunned – we sure were. And, we loved it. We loved the chance to meet so many of you. We appreciated the chance to walk newcomers through the features and benefits of the All Rolled Up design. We took the opportunity to showcase the new stuff and provide a little insight into why we chose them. We showed everyone the ARU and TARU alike – as well as a great range of hand-crafted dice and gem bags from The Dice Bag Lady, Anne.
By the close of Saturday, when I ran a game of Night’s Black Agents, my voice already had the twangs of strain about it. I always overdo the banter at these events – but you deserve it. I want to tell you why All Rolled Up exists, what it means to me, and why you should have one (or more) yourself. I value that discussion with every darn one of you – and I’m not going to spare my voice if it means having another discussion with another potential customer.
Come Sunday, I ran a game of TimeWatch, then split my time between the stand and sorting out everything else. I had to collect goodies from the Bring and Buy stand, organise transport for a few boxes we couldn’t get into our own car, and finally managed to see a little of the event itself.
To round off the weekend perfectly, we’d been nominated as one of four products up for the UK Games Expo award for Best New Accessory or Expansion – and we won. Fil and I received our award from Chris Barrie (AKA Rimmer from Red Dwarf) – and very happy we were, too. Thanks for EVERYONE who voted for us. We appreciate the support – and we hope you get many years of good service from your All Rolled Up(s) of choice.
We’re already looking forward to (and planning for) next year. Hope to see you there.