About the Retailer Appreciation Package
I wanted to again thank Alliance for helping us to distribute all the Retailer Appreciation Packages. We have all the product in for the packages and I am sure you will each find it worth the wait! Alliance will start to ship & your store's package should arrive in 2 weeks. Please call the GAMA office (Not Alliance) if you have any questions (614) 255-4500. The good news is that each package will have the (sold out!) Galactic Guardians from WizKids! Thank you again to our sponsors for making this wonderful program possible!
John Ward
Executive Director
The 2012 GAMA Trade Show Recap
COLUMBUS, OH (March 22, 2012) On behalf of the GAMA Board of Directors, the GAMA Retail Division, and the GAMA staff, we want to thank all of our attendees, exhibitors, and sponsors for another successful GAMA Trade Show!
We had another year of growth at GTS and that is a direct result of all your support! We had an increase both on overall attendance and unique retail stores, falling just 17 stores “short” of our retail store numbers in 2007 when the show was in full bloom!
The total show attendance this year was up to 916 as compared to 833 last year, almost a 10% increase.
Our theme this was “Staying the Course” and we saw GTS continue its path of growth and improvement.
The seminar program grew again this year. The Premier Presentations were packed even though we expanded the program by over 20%. We added additional Retailer seminars on Monday evening and they had as many as 60 in one of the sessions. The New Store Orientation grew again this year with over 50 new stores getting to know GAMA and GTS. Our new manufacturer track was also well attended with more than 45 new companies at GTS for the first time.
I am very excited to see these content portions of the show growing!
The exhibit hall was vibrant; providing a great chance for networking and establishing new business contacts, especially for our new members and attendees.
Our expanded meal events were a success, especially the GAMA Dinner with over 350 people in attendance. Games Night was another great success! We had over 300 people in attendance for a full night of gaming, food, drink, and fun.
It is this unique interaction on such a large scale that makes GTS a great industry event.
A special thanks again to all of our sponsors: Bandai, Wizards of the Coast, Mayfair Games, Cryptozoic, WizKids, Konami, Impressions, Catalyst, Fantasy Flight Games, AEG, Paizo, TOPPS, Games Workshop, Osprey Publishing, PSI, Alliance Game Distributors, ACD Distribution, GTS Distribution and ICv2 for supporting this outstanding industry event.
We hope you enjoyed your time with us in Las Vegas and don’t forget to mark your calendars for GTS 2013!
Thank you again to everyone and we look forward to seeing you at next year’s show!
John Ward
Executive Director