This was my fourth WASD and 20th [ish] (lost count) UK event. I’ve seen them all change massively over the years. WASD has grown steadily attracting more and more on both sides on the screen.
My suggestions come from this experience, and I would think fall in line with the way WASD is expanding.
TL;DR
Layout: I’ve talked about this before. I don’t really like the “library” layout of rows and rows of stands. More curves and less visual blockers. There is no easy solution as anything that would need construction/design would then come at a cost which would be passed onto the Exhibitor/Attendee.
This the leads onto…
Discoverability: I had a list of games in my head I wanted to play, of course I got distracted by all the others. It wasn’t until I saw a tweet from WASD that I realised one of the games I wanted to play was part of the careers area.
I went to find the game and spent quite some time playing it, but I felt sorry for the people that side, it was almost completely empty. Bringing them into the main show and refocusing there stands to showcasing their students’ creations as well as selling the university could be one solution.
Which then leads onto…
Space Usage: The main room is getting to capacity, there was probably space for one more row. Spilling over into other areas hasn’t worked that well in past events, people didn’t know they existed and where surprised when I mentioned it. People don’t really look at the maps either.
What can be done, its difficult again, until the show reaches a certain capacity splitting it into two rooms would just introduce the same issues. Maybe offer out the other space, small areas/rooms to III (triple I) or the larger publishers at a discount with the expectation the foot fall may be less. This always worked well at Tabacco docks but that is mainly glass
walls and easy to see everything going on.
Talking about spaces…
Content Creators: I don’t like the fact there are so many different ticket types which then isolate groups of people away from others – we are all there for the same things, show or play games, lets all be together to do it.
My suggestion here is to create an area where creators can create (YouTube, Twitch, etc) but also allow everyone else to be part of it by having small booths/stages with a few seats/sofas for the audience. Creators can book time slots in a booth, use the kit provided (maybe pre-loaded with the games on show) or use there own (setup complications). Record or stream as usual but with a live audience and then upload.
You could have a larger stage which would act more as a public access talks etc (this worked well at EGX but only lasted a couple of years). You’d still need to book but you could talk about what you wanted and stream/upload as you wanted.
p.s. will we get a second WASD this year like we did last?!?
p.p.s I want Cheeky Burger back!!!
