作者：Peter Willington

在乌克兰基辅举办的Casual Connect大会的Indie Prize活动（游戏邦注：这是一个评选最佳独立游戏的竞赛）中，作为记者我发现许多团队在展示作品时都陷入了一个常规行业大会的套路。

如果你是独立开发者，就应该知道向媒体展示作品也是一项艺术——这正是为何大型发行商要在PR上投入巨资的原因，但因为你无法接触这些专业人士，你就得知道如何自行解决这个问题，以及该用什么方法接近媒体记者。

你还要清楚如果自己不注意的话，就会陷入哪些误区。

以下是我针对开发者如何吸引游戏媒体的5个建议。遵从这些建议并不能保证你的作品就会出现在行业网站首页，但至少可以让你的游戏获得一些曝光度。

game-event(from plexonic.com)

1.主动寻找和联系媒体

大家胸前的牌照可不只是戴着玩的，这也是为了便于你们在人群中找到记者。

要留意“媒体”、“记者”、“通讯员”、“评论员”、“编辑”等字眼，如果看到佩戴这些证件的人士，不妨主动上前打声招呼。

即使大家在展会上并没有佩戴什么牌照，证件，你也能够很快地分辨出谁是记者。那些拎着笔记本电脑包、记事本和笔、专业摄像机，穿着格子衬衫、身材瘦削的人，一般就是传说中的记者形象。

不要惧于走到他们面前自我介绍（关于这一点的重要性，我们会在下文中细谈），因为记者来现场的最终目的就是要采访报道，而你自己也是这个展会的一分子。

总之，千万不要在整个过程中一直玩自己的游戏，眼睛老盯着手机看微博或上网，或者与周边展友的朋友没完没了地聊天。

要记住：你能够参展就该好好把握机会。

2.有一个开放而令人舒服的展位

从心理学角度来讲，你的展位布置和装饰十分重要。如果它过于狭窄，就有可能阻碍人们前来试玩你的游戏。

基辅的Casual Connect大会上有很大一排的桌椅，这其实没有充分利用空间。因为它会让人们滋生一种坏习惯：我就看到有名独立开发者坐在桌子和椅子上，一直在埋头玩自己的游戏，我45分钟后再看到他时，他还在那里玩游戏，丝毫没有准备跟人说话的意思。

但展位布置得很不理想，也并不意味着你就只能这样将就了。你可以撤走椅子，留下桌子，让自己保持警惕性，面向人群以便同他们对视和交谈。

这里有个建议：最好是将展示游戏的设备屏幕打开，防止它自然关闭。记者原先并没有打算看的游戏，但却因为无意中的一瞥而令其难忘的游戏数量非常之多。

另外，那些穿着暴露的cosplay模特可以走开，现在是21世纪了，不要因为别人这么做，你就盲目跟风。

3.准备好回答问题

在手机游戏这种重视技术的行业中，我们还是要关注人的感受，尤其是在展会活动要擅长与人建立联系和关系，这会给你带来长远好处。

所以要记住，一定要重视人性化。

当记者提问“你的游戏主要是什么内容”之类的问题时，可以进行一番推销，但如果记者深入挖掘有关游戏灵感来源、目标、过程或者盈利计划时，最好还是像正常人说话为妙。

你并非动视，所以类似“我们现在还不便公布这些内容”这种说辞并不会让你看起来更像个专业人士，只会让记者产生反感。

例如，假如记者提问游戏何时面世，最好不要提供过于宽泛的信息（游戏邦注：例如“等它准备好的时候”，“估计在2014上半年”），或者直接实话实说（“我们还不确定”）。

你应该事先就针对各种可能出现的问题准备好答案。就我个人经验来看，英国和美国媒体通常会问一些更常规（有时候是引导性）的问题，例如“你瞄准哪个平台？”以及“Holy Hand Grenade武器的灵感来自……？”

欧洲媒体通常会提一些更有针对性的问题，例如“它有多人模式吗？”“游戏中有多少种枪？”，“发布时的售价是多少？”

无论你是和哪国媒体打交道，都要热情介绍自己的产品。在乌克兰有人向我展示了一款快节奏的动作游戏，但对方介绍游戏时的语气却极为沉闷和单调，导致我大部分时间不得不强制自己不要打呵欠。

你并不需要时时保持欢快的语调，不需要成为聚会的中心人物，但至少要表现积极和富有活力。

最好多准备一些材料，以真诚和热忱的态度同媒体交谈。这样有助于媒体更高兴地帮你写报道。

4.记者的服务对象是读者而非开发者

记者参加展会可不只是来看开发者的营销活动，不是为帮手持玩具公仔的开发者照相的。

也不是来浪费时间参加你们的微博转发有奖活动。

也不是来为你的游戏参选最佳展会作品投票的。

也不是来帮你获得更多曝光度的。

我也并不想要与你的游戏有关的钥匙圈。

我知道这些策略对消费者挺管用，我在非工作时间也做过上述事情，但佩戴工作证前来参展时，记者的任务就是撰写与你的作品相关的客观报道，所以不要再用这些事情来干扰其注意力了。

5.要带上名片

我参加展会或博览会时都习惯与人交换名片，因为这是一个很好的礼节，它传递出的信息就是“我是专业人士，我想在专业层面与你深入接触。”

名片的另一个好处就是在大会结束很久之后提醒你同某人联系。我参加完会议后通常会整理自己拿到的名片，此时如果看到你的名片，就会想起你的长相，以及我们之前接触的情况。

如果我需要你提供一些素材来完成报道，我就会根据名片上的信息向你发邮件索要相关内容。如果我想获得游戏的验证码，我就知道该找谁了。如果我想安排深度报道，也很容易联系上你。

如果我没有你的名片，我就没法报道你的游戏了。

另外，开发者也可以借此联系记者，请求对方报道自己的作品。

记者现在可能只知道《Fluffy Bunny Adventures》，但当这款游戏的第2、第3部续作问世时，开发者也可以通过名片信息联系到记者，请求帮助宣传游戏。

所以一定要带上独一无二的名片，这样才能为下次接触创造机会。（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，拒绝任何不保留版权的转载，如需转载请联系：游戏邦）

How to court the press at industry events in 5 simple steps

by Peter Willington

I’m in Kiev right now, covering Casual Connect.

As part of this year’s event there’s something called the Indie Prize, which is a competition to find the best independently produced games from across the world. You can find out all about it on its website, if you like.

There are some cool games here, and I might well write about a few of them over on PocketGamer.co.uk, but I noticed that many of the teams taking part fell into some of the classic game event traps when demonstrating their work.

If you’re an indie, you should know that showing off your game to the press is an art-form – it’s why big publishers spend so much on PR – but since you don’t have access to such specialists, you need to understand how to handle yourself and how to approach journalists in the right way.

You also need to have a firm grasp on the kind of pitfalls that are so easily sauntered into if you’re not careful.

So here are my top five tips on how to court us, the gaming press. Following them all won’t guarantee you a spot on the site after we’ve shaken hands at the next event, but it’ll make it a damn sight more likely.

Look for us, and make the first move

Those name badges hanging around everyone’s necks aren’t just for funsies, they’re a way for you to single out who is who at a show easily and from a distance.

Keep an eye out for the words “media”, “journalist”, “reporter”, “critic”, “editor”, and so on, and if you spot one, go and say hello.

Hell, even if there aren’t name badges at the show, you should be able to spot us easily. Laptop bag, note pad and pen, decent camera, chequered shirt, malnourished figure, misplaced sense of importance: these are all telltale signs that you’ve got yourself a journalist.

Don’t be afraid to introduce yourself (the emphasis being on ‘yourself’ – more on this later), because ultimately we’re there to cover the event, and you’re a part of that event.

Do not, under any circumstances, be playing your own game to the detriment of approaching others, have your eyes glued to your phone as you tweet/text/surf the net, engage in a long conversation with friends who are hanging around the booth, or otherwise distract your attentions from talking with people.

Remember this: you are lucky to have this space, so make the most of your time there.

Have an open and welcoming setup

How you layout your booth or table is incredibly important from a psychological point of view. If it’s too closed off, for example, you’ll dissuade people from coming and trying out your game.

At Casual Connect in Kiev, they had a large row of tables with chairs, which was cramped and hardly an efficient use of space.

It can encourage bad habits: I saw one indie chap sit at the table, in the chair, playing his own game, and when I came back 45 minutes later, he was still there, showing no signs that he’d talked with anyone.

However, just because that’s the setup you’re given, it doesn’t mean you have to keep it that way. Sling out the chair to keep you on your toes, hold onto the tablet you’ve brought with you, and face away from your booth so you can catch people’s eyes and greet them.

Here’s a pro tip: set the screen of the device you’re showing the game on so that it won’t turn off automatically. The number of games I hadn’t planned on seeing, and then caught a glimpse of from the corner of my eye and investigated further, is extremely high.

Oh, and booth babes, scantily clad cos players, erotically charged standee art – all these elements can (as we Brits say) “do one”. It’s the 21st century, so don’t act like a prick and hire a bunch of models because everyone else is.

Be human, be prepared, be sharp

For as tech-focused as the mobile games industry is, it’s still very much centred on people, especially at events where the entire point is making connections and relationships that will hopefully benefit you in the future.

So for God’s sake: be a human being.

A sales pitch is fine when I ask a question such as “what’s your game all about”, but when I’m digging for more information on inspirations, goals, process, or even how you plan on monetising it, speak to me like a normal person.

You aren’t Activision, so “we’re not talking about that right now” doesn’t make you sound like a professional, but it absolutely will colour my perception of you.

For example, if I ask when the game’s coming out and you really don’t want to tell me, either deflect (“when it’s ready”) give very loose information (“its ETA is first half of 2014″), or tell the truth (“we’re not sure”).

You should have information prepared for all the kinds of questions you are going to be asked. In my experience, UK and US press tend to ask more general (sometimes leading) questions, such as “what platforms are you targeting?2 and “what inspired the Holy Hand Grenade weapon?”.

European press meanwhile are all about the specifics: “is there multiplayer?”, “how many guns are there?”, “what is the price at launch?”

Whoever you have to talk with press also needs to be enthusiastic about the product. I was shown a fast-paced action game here in the Ukraine and the guy demonstrating it sounded so unbelievably bored and monotonous the entire time that I actually had to stifle myself from yawning.

You don’t have to be mega-cheery about everything, you don’t have to be the life of the party, but you do have to be positive and energetic.

The golden rules here are as follows: have as much info to hand, and talk in a genuine and passionate manner. Do that and it’ll help me be as excited to write something up about your game, as you are to get it covered.

I am not here to help you, I am here to help my readers

No, I am not going to take part in your “hilarious” marketing campaign where you ask everyone to take a photo holding your cuddly mascot walrus called Ralph.

No, I am not going to waste my time entering your Twitter-based hashtag competition to win a free T-shirt for your game.

No, I am not going to vote for you for the Best Game at the Show award.

No, I am not going to help you get through Greenlight.

No, I do not want a keyring.

Furthermore, I would posit that no journo that you want covering your titles would do any of those things either.

Don’t get the wrong impression – I’m sure those tactics work for consumers, and when I’ve not been working I’ve done a whole bunch of the above, but a person writing critically about your work isn’t at the event to engage in such activities, so don’t hassle them about them.

No business cards = no follow up

When I go to a conference or an expo I like to exchange business cards, because it’s a nice formality to observe that – in one swift flick of a wrist – says “I am a professional, I would like to engage with you on a professional level”.

They also have the added benefit of being a visual reminder of a meeting long after that meeting has occurred. When I unpack after a conference and I begin sifting through the cards I picked up, I’ll see your card, remember your face, and remember our interaction.

If I need assets from you to complete a write-up, I can email you for them with the details I find on the card. If I want to grab a review code, I know who I can approach. If I want to arrange further coverage, you’re a message away.

If I don’t have your business card, I can’t do any of that.

Better than this though, you’ll have a way to contact me via mail and request coverage of you products.

I might only wanted to have known about Fluffy Bunny Adventures, but when Fluffy Bunny Adventures 2 and 3 hit the digital shelves, along with its spin-off Prickly Hedgehog Funtime, you’ll be able to tell me about those too.

So take your cards, make them unique, and follow up on any you in-turn receive.（source：pocketgamer）