Diggity still isn't home from Japan...yet. I stopped in Los Angeles on the way home this weekend, to attend a very unique conference for work. I was really, really tired from the Tokyo flight - particularly when we sat on the tarmac for over 3 hours before leaving on a 10-hour flight ; ) The actual location of this conference is in Anaheim. I was about 500 ft from the entrance to Disneyland!
The conference is called BlizzCon. It's a special two-day event for fans of Blizzard - one of the biggest videogame companies in the world. If you've ever heard of World of Warcraft - this is a Blizzard game. They've regularly pulled in annual revenue in excess of $1 billion...no chump change, that's for sure. They also care a great deal about their fans and hold this event in Anaheim each year. About 30,000 people show up to play games, meet other players, dress-up as their favorite characters...and just have fun.
WarCraft playing area
StarCraft area
World of WarCraft area
As you can see from these pictures, the opportunity to play games is a foundation of the experience. There were over 1,000 computers available for gameplay. Even in the darkness, you can get a feeling for the enormous size of the event.
This year, I was one of the sponsors of the show (if anyone is interested in how much money is involved here, I'm happy to discuss). We sponsored a similar event in Paris, but I attended my family reunion, instead. I just hope they understand what I gave up ; ) As a sponsor, we provided video cards for ALL of the computers at the event. In addition, we had a booth at the show.
It's easy to get crowds when you're giving away free stuff ; )
Remaining somewhat objective, I can tell you that our booth was the most-crowded of any at the show. We gave away video cards and two custom-built PCs for gaming. In addition, we hired models to pose as our company mascot and the nerdly gamers were able to have their pictures taken with them. Yeah, it was a big draw. In all, the Blizzard people really liked what we did for their show...and I was really pleased with what my team pulled off for the Blizzard fans.
Notice that my hands stay folded...
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