Experiential Marketing - What I do for a living and why it's the best job ever.
48 replies, posted
Hey everyone, I just thought I'd say a bit about what I do for a living!
Back in February I started my own business called 'Quickplay Event Staff' in order to get paid for what I'd done for the past 7 years - demonstrated toys and games.
I now go around toy shops and exhibitions all over the world with my box full of toy trains and play with them. Oh, and get paid.
It all started when I was 14 with Yu-Gi-Oh!, I started playing the card game, and then I became one of the worlds top judges for it, working at events like the World Championships in Berlin and even running the 'unofficial' website. I worked with every Upper Deck game, including VS System, Quickstrike (which was Avatar: The Last Air Bender, Shaman King and Pirates of the Carribean) and World of Warcraft TCG. When my father first head judged a national championships in Britain he was hired to work for UDE back in 2004/5 and was with the company until the UK office closed (which was some time after Konami won a legal battle to get Yu-Gi-Oh! back). Since then I've worked with Tomy (Tomica and Knex) and Cryptozoic (World of Warcraft TCG, Food Fight and Penny Arcade: The Game!).
Here are a few old photos of me working at events, before Quickplay was even a glint in my eye:
[img]http://a4.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/5320_137335938104_538358104_2585898_6138390_n.jpg[/img]
[img]http://a2.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-ash1/v72/22/11/199709377/n199709377_34202277_1001.jpg[/img]
[img]http://a2.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-ash1/v132/22/11/199709377/n199709377_36034179_8695.jpg[/img]
[img]http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-ash1/v292/22/11/199709377/n199709377_38970292_6429.jpg[/img]
Back then they used to just give you boxes of cards for the work you did, you accumulate a lot of things after a few years...
[IMG]http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i238/robbsin/Photo0149.jpg[/IMG]
I used to work with this guy, but he went off to work in research and development for Yu-Gi-Oh! at Konami:
[img]http://a7.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/251171_10150215557278105_538358104_7425183_5509913_n.jpg[/img]
Now me and Cosmic Duck work together all over the country, saving the day and all that. I have to say, it sure is fun travelling around the country with one of your best friends playing with toys. Here are a few of our creations:
[img]http://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/s720x720/321044_10150294466163105_538358104_8186609_1892215_n.jpg[/img]
[img]http://a4.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/s720x720/313332_10150294466233105_538358104_8186611_7953364_n.jpg[/img]
[img]http://a2.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/s720x720/291954_10150294466263105_538358104_8186612_7680052_n.jpg[/img]
[img]http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/s720x720/296871_10150294466323105_538358104_8186613_6721379_n.jpg[/img]
When I'm not working with Cosmic Duck I'm working around the world on WoW TCG. In July I worked in Rimini, Italy at the World of Warcraft European Championships and last week I worked at Darkmoon Faire in Poznan, Poland. If all goes well I'll be in Rotterdam at the World Championships also. I don't get paid for doing these events, but I do get to meet some awesome people, get to drive there and see the sights and stay in a hotel room for free.
Oh, and I get to work closely with Svetlana Quindt who makes some of the most amazing costumes I've ever seen:
[img]http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i57/exastra_2006/kamui.png[/img]
Of course when I'm working with her she's dressed as Alexstraza:
[img]http://pooperton.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/alexstrasza_5.jpg?w=389&h=640[/img]
I get to meet lots of people and sell toys and World of Warcraft TCG to a lot of interesting characters, including cosplayers, parents and some of the cutest kids I've ever seen. Seriously, with every job I get more and more closer to simply saying 'fuck it' and having kids with my partner.
If anyone has a company out there that is looking for someone to work at conventions, you'll find I work for a LOT less than most agencies and I'm good at what I do, I have 7 years of experience behind me. Just contact me for a quote and I'll give you one!
[b]TL;DR: My job is to play with toys and games at shows and toy shops, usually increasing sales by a margin of between 100-500% on the day I'm there.[/b]
You want to swap jobs with me?
Please..
Holy shit you have a sweet job. Are there any bad sides though?
Have you ever had to demo a toy and thought to yourself "God why the fuck was this made?"
Jesus Christ your job sounds amazing.
Much better than working at the local grocery, anyways.
Man that's awesome. I wish I could get a cool job but Im probably gonna work at a grocery store for like the next 12 years :(
So you basically get to be a boy for your entire life? Gosh that must be the perfect life.
Marketing and Advertisement can be pretty fucking baller, but shit when you find somewhere good to work, you are so set.
This is a dream job. You're damn lucky to be able to do something you enjoy with your best friend.
[QUOTE=PN_Redux;32073385]Have you ever had to demo a toy and thought to yourself "God why the fuck was this made?"[/QUOTE]
Yes, there's a small springloaded railway crossing that closes when a train goes over it, the spring it too highly strung and just flicks the train off the train every time.
[QUOTE=Jacinth;32073274]Holy shit you have a sweet job. Are there any bad sides though?[/QUOTE]
Well once Matt (the guy wearing the Flavor Flav clock made out of Knex) once had his shoes peed on twice within the same hour by two different kids, other than that not really.
Parents seem to destroy things more than the kids do though, I remember this one time a kid fell over, nothing wrong with him, he was wasn't crying, he just carried on running around. His grandmother however thought it would be great to walk past the display us and some kids had spent an hour setting up, push it over and go and see if he was okay.
There's also taking photos of an area to send in our report, usually we have to have pictures of kids playing in it to send into the head office. I feel really uncomfortable just taking photos like that. We don't have to get permission from people either, the only person that can stop us taking photos of people on the premises is the person that owns that premises. Still, I always make sure it's known we're taking a photo and delete them if parents wish me to do so.
Travelling is a big one, I don't have a car myself and if Cosmic Duck is busy I have to take the train with everything you see set up in the Tomica photos, including the Tomica table. One time I had to travel from Dunbar to Newcastle at 6am, fell asleep on the train and rushed out with the Tomica when my stop had arrived, forgetting my bag which had my netbook, £200 worth of recording equipment (for my voice acting career) and my DS. If I'm working on WoW it's a 32 - 48 Van journey to places outside of the country.
Good for you that you can make a living with this! I've never actually heard of this kind of job but it sounds cool. However I'm curious if you'll be able to that forever since i guess your clients will search for young motivated people.
Have you ever done Svetlana Quindt?
Bonus points if she was dressed with one of those costumes.
[QUOTE=Lithifold;32073234]
Oh, and I get to work closely with Svetlana Quindt who makes some of the most amazing costumes I've ever seen:
[img]http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i57/exastra_2006/kamui.png[/img]
Of course when I'm working with her she's dressed as Alexstraza:
[img]http://pooperton.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/alexstrasza_5.jpg?w=389&h=640[/img][/QUOTE]
I want to put my dick inside of her.
[QUOTE=gnisasas;32074502]Have you ever done Svetlana Quindt?
Bonus points if she was dressed with one of those costumes.[/QUOTE]
Nope, she's married and I'm engaged.
[QUOTE=Lithifold;32077721]Nope, she's married and I'm engaged.[/QUOTE]
No one has to know
stick it in her pooper
Wow this sounds awesome. You're really lucky having a job that you enjoy with one of your best friends. Do you make a good amount of money from it?
[QUOTE=aliendrone123;32083518]Wow this sounds awesome. You're really lucky having a job that you enjoy with one of your best friends. Do you make a good amount of money from it?[/QUOTE]
Depends, usually between £50-100 a day plus travel and hotel expenses.
Man if I wasn't already working full-time as a penniless writer, I would pursue a career like this in a second
Have any Vacancies? I'm a 19 year old student in the UK and this sounds sweet.
Sounds like a good life your living in.
My brother would be a pro at this.
Need a college student to pull overtime during the summer? I love taking toys to their limits :v:
Can I be your wacky assistant that plays with your competitor's toys and has a really terrible time and breaks the toy before you come on and present your better one
My envious hatred spews fourth like immense geyser of petty spite.
Wow dude that's fucking amazing. How I wish I could be a kid forever. I'm currently an under-wage janitor at a local amusement park.
sounds like a fun job but seems like it's a lot of hassle.
and holy fuck you have a tonne of WoW TCG boxes, i want some.
I saw the words trains and was curious. Saw Thomas the tank engine, was nostalgically jealous
[QUOTE=frankie penis;32088213]sounds like a fun job but seems like it's a lot of hassle.
and holy fuck you have a tonne of WoW TCG boxes, i want some.[/QUOTE]
A lot of it is Yu-Gi-Oh!
[QUOTE=Zeke129;32086141]Can I be your wacky assistant that plays with your competitor's toys and has a really terrible time and breaks the toy before you come on and present your better one[/QUOTE]
No, Cosmic Duck already does that.
[QUOTE=strayebyrd;32083956]Man if I wasn't already working full-time as a penniless writer, I would pursue a career like this in a second[/QUOTE]
It's a hard career to get into without knowing the right people.
I don't have any vacancies at the moment, this job only really requires two people. If I get anymore contracts though, I may have to look into expanding.
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