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April 29, 2006
Rollin' with the big ol' Xbox bus
Here's one way to look out for established community members who visit you at tradeshows: Give 'em a hospitality bus, and make it accessible at the convention center's front door.
That's what John Porcaro and his Xbox 360 crew will be doing at the megalopolis tradeshow E3 in L.A. The bus is for members of the Xbox fan community to blog, upload photos or podcasts and perform other erstwhile citizen marketer activities.
Update: In the comments, John Porcaro writes: "A year ago we didn't even acknowledge our fans who had blogs or posted regularly in online game forums. This is huge for them."
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This bus idea seems really weird. Isn't it easyer just to place some WiFi stations around Your booth or around the trade show premises so that people can just pull out thier laptops, get instant wireless access and do what ever they like to to on the net, even check their E-mail, if they so choose?
Same applies for the bus: if the space is limeted insed the bus, then the WiFi is totally acessible AROUND the bus, so those that prefere fresh air or just find that they don't fit in the crowded bus, can have network access by just siting on the grass or on some cleaner spot of asfalt.
Logistically, there isn't a good place to do it inside the booth. Believe it or not, all 50,000 sf of space is used for showing games to industry press/retailers/partners. There is a media room, but without press credentials, attendees don't have access.
As for our community, it's as much about making it easy to get online as it is about making our community members feel supported. But we do want to limit it to some degree, rather than hosting free wireless for every attendee.
We are handing out WEP keys to the guys we invite, and we change them at least once a day.
Plus, gotta remember that a year ago we didn't even acknowledge our fans who had blogs or posted regularly in online game forums. This is huge for them.
Got this quote the other day that kind of summed up how this is helping:
"...when you guys started actually talking to the indie media on this level it changed things, so now I get irked when I don't get a callback from my nintendo contact..."
BTW, I've been a huge fan of Ben and Jackie, ever since being introduced to them when the book launched. Ben has spoken at Microsoft a few times, and I'm an internal customer evangelist for their work. These guys "get it," and their workshops and speeches at Microsoft have helped those I work with "get it" too.
John, you are much too kind. You were one of our earliest supporters, and we'll always be grateful for that!
Thought you guys might want to check out this...
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