I had actually talked about this with a few guys at Canton...
If we had a product to sell beyond just membership, we would probably more than make our money back. My wife is an artist who from time to time participates in large fine art festivals/events (events targeted specifically to art buyers) and she usually brings in several thousand dollars over a weekend at a decent show.
The trick would be to not exclude entry level gamers by focusing only on our custom products. What if we partnered up with Miggle to deal some of their items. This is after all where most people will start. No one needs a Ferrari if they don't know how to drive
But, at the same time it would be great to feature some of our "show-off" items to help inspire the masses.
I believe that we would do far greater good in terms of exposure and recruitment with just one of these events than we would at 15 years worth of tournaments and Canton conventions.
Please, do not take this the wrong way. I love the Canton experience and I don't want that to change. This would be something that we should all consider as an added event. I just know first hand how great the exposure at these things can be... Where else can we reach 30k gamers in a weekend?
dr