November is a couple months away, but it’s the right time to start planning your trip to TAGIE and ChiTAG! And guess what?  I’ve worked out a discount for all readers of The Game Aisle! Write “The Game Aisle” on your registration form (or download the one below) and get $75 off the full registration cost!*

What are TAGIE and ChiTAG?

TAGIE is the Toy and Game Inventor’s Expo and it is the best place for new and experienced toy and game inventors to meet industry experts and expand their knowledge of the business.  It’s a two day conference that covers a variety of topics including:

• How to get your concept licensed
• Self-manufacturing
• Protecting your ideas
• Using sales reps and distributors
• Using an agent
• Prototypes and play testing
• Toy safety legislation
• and much, much more!

Without repeating everything you can find on the TAGIE website (see here) I’ll just give you some of the highlights.  Besides getting all of your questions answered during the discussion panels, conference attendees mingle with the speakers (including me) during “inventor table walkabouts.”  During these “walkabouts” you may show experts your toy and game concepts and gather candid feedback.  Past attendees have shown everything from scrap-paper prototypes, to drawings, all the way to fully manufactured products!  If you want more time with an expert, you can choose to sign up for the one-on-one consultations which give you private meeting times with some of the experts.  This is a great way to talk one-on-one with buyers, reps, manufacturers, etc. that you may not have access to at any other time!

Personally, I recommend this event because it’s a really open and transparent experience.  Experts mingle and chat with attendees at all of the meals.  On Thursday night there is an “Evening with the Experts” dinner that is a great way for the attendees and experts to network over drinks and food.  And then on Friday night, it’s the Toy and Game Inventor Awards and a ticket is included in the registration!  It’s an AMAZING evening with the top industry inventors, designers and manufacturers and last year the inventor of the Game of Life, Reuben Klamer, was honored.  The TAGIE conference is, in my opinion, the top networking event of the year.

And then to boot, it is right before ChiTAG (Chicago Toy and Game Fair)! ChiTAG is the largest, family-friendly game expo that is open to the public! So whether you get a booth to sell or demo your products or if you just want walk the show with your family, it’s not something you want to miss.  And how smart is this?   It’s right at the start of the holiday season so you can push your products and help them make it onto Christmas Wish lists — or better yet, into the shopping bags of show attendees.

When & Where do TAGIE and ChiTAG take place?

TAGIE is Thurs. November 18 & Fri. November 19, 2010 (*One-On-Ones take place on Sat.)

ChiTAG is Sat. November 20 & Sun. November 21, 2010

Both take place at Chicago’s Scenic Navy Pier

How do I sign up?

So glad that you asked!  You can download the registration PDF by clicking here: 2010_TAGIE_Registration.  Or if you want more information please go to the TAGIE site: www.TAGIE.net Just remember to write “The Game Aisle” on your registration form and subtract $75 from the “Full Registration” cost only*.  If you click on the PDF above, I’ve done it for you.  And for you out-of-towners, the hotel info is here.

Hope to see you there!

*$75 off is for the “Full Registration” only and cannot be combined with any other offers and void where prohibited.

**FYI, I do not receive commission, kickbacks or money of any kind for promoting this event.  I just think it’s the best conference for game inventors of all experience levels.

B: Backgammon • Backseat Drawing • Balderdash • Bananagrams • Big PayDay • Blurt • Boggle

C: Can’t Stop • Chicken Cha Cha Cha • ChickyBoom • Chips • Cinq-O

D: Double Shutter • Dweebies

E: Easy Come, Easy Go • EXCAPE

F: Find It

G: GiftTRAP • Gobblet Gobblers • Guillotine

H: Halli Galli (Holiday Theme) • Hisss

I: In A Pickle

K: King Me

L: Last Word

M: Mille Bornes

N: Name 5

O: Order’s Up

P: PayDay • Pentago • Pickomino • Pit

R: Ratuki • ReFraze • Rummikub • Rush Hour

S: Shut the Box • Stix & Stones

T: There’s a Moose in the House • TriBond

W: Wits & Wagers • Wits & Wagers Family • Word on the Street

Y: Yahtzee

Z: Zingo

Periodically I get an email, a comment, a Facebook or LinkedIn message asking me if I can help a someone get a meeting with Hasbro’s inventor relations department.  Typically I say, “Sorry no, I would be seriously damaging my relationship with Hasbro if I did that” (which is the truth) and politely point them in the direction of the TIA’s (Toy Industry Association) website which talks about agents and other options.

What most beginning game inventors don’t realized is that there is a large group of professional inventors out there, commonly referred to as the “inventor community,” and it’s very difficult to break into.  How did I get in?  I worked for a well-know invention firm and I met the right people when I was there.   So how then does a regular Joe (or Jane) become apart of this?  Well they really can’t – at least not until they’ve had a successful item but even then it’s tough.  So how can you get your product seen?  One way is to get an agent.  Do some research here – poke around on the interenet, ask for references.  It’s industry standard for an agent to take 50% of any royalties you get.  It sounds like a lot, but getting a game idea licensed is a big deal and takes a lot of hard work matching a game concept to a manufacturer.  I asked Mike Hirtle, one the inventor relations guys at Hasbro, about how many items he sees a year from the “inventor community” (professional inventors) and of those how many actually make it to market in a typical year.  Here’s what he said:

• 1600 Concepts reviewed from professional inventors (including agents) each year **
• 400 Brought in for further evaluation
• 30-40 Optioned or licensed
• 20-25 Make it to market

**Note that he also adds that for each concept presented to him, there are at least 10 ideas that the inventors have come up with and done at least some work on.  That makes the first number closer to something like 16,000 ideas for the 20 products that make it to market.

Looks pretty bleak, right?  Well that is why it’s important to have an industry veteran on your side – like an agent.

The other route is to self-publish/manufacture your game.  Then organizations like Discover Games run by Mary Couzin can help you out.  She will show your concept all over the country to buyers and inventor relations people with the hopes of either selling product or licensing the concept.  With this method you pay a much smaller royalty (20%) but you still get Mary’s seasoned advice and expertise — and of course the advantage of her giant Rolodex of worldwide contacts.

Whichever route you choose to go, the best place to start is the Toy and Game Inventor’s Expo (TAGIE) in Chicago which is always held the Thursday and Friday before the Chicago Toy and Game Fair (ChiTAG) which is the weekend right before Thanksgiving.  You’ll meet tons of industry experts including buyers, inventors (including me) and inventor relations people, like the Mikes from Hasbro — and it’s the only time they’re available to meet with people outside the “inventor community.”

The conference covers topics from how to get started, to how to publish your game, and what to do once you sell your idea.  It’s an amazing resource and unbelievable that one event was able to get all of these experts and industry gurus in the same place at the same time.  It’s run by Mary Couzin and I asked her what compelled her to start it.  She said:

“I started TAGIE to help toy and game inventors. It is a natural extension of DiscoverGames.com, which is the largest co-op of Indie Board Game Inventors in the World.  I wish it had been around when I started as a board game designer; it would have saved me a lot of time and money.”

Even if you want to go the agent route, Mary has put together a must-see event for any person who has a game idea and wants to grow it.  Hope to see you all there!

• More TAGIE information can be found at ToyAndGameInventors.com
• For more information on Discover Games look here: DiscoverGames.com (check out “Inventor Help: Inventor Wannabes”)
• For the TIA’s page on agents, look here: ToyAssociation.org

So, since I am the type of person who will recommend games to total strangers if they look perplexed at my local Target, I thought I would do something about it.

The game plan is that I will review the good games, ignore the bad and sometimes talk about the ugly ones but only if they are fun to play.  (see Pit review)  I also feel compelled to share with you something about the inventor, because the stories about how these games came to be is often quite interesting.  (And I’m an inventor and I think my fellow inventor friends deserve some credit. ha!)

Enjoy!