Author Topic: TechKeys @ West Fest Chicago (Read 6724 times)

i3oilermaker · « **on:** Tue, 09 July 2013, 16:58:11 »

This is a reminder to those I have already told...

TechKeys is taking to the streets of Chicago this weekend to see if they can make clackers out of the citizens of West Town.

I would love for you Chicago GHers to stop by, even if its just to say hi! I will have a typing contest going with prizes for the fastest typists.

Details:

Saturday and Sunday from 12:00 - 10:00 @ Chicago Ave. between Damen & Wood

mtl · « **Reply #1 on:** Tue, 09 July 2013, 17:31:57 »

sounds awesome

tipo33 · « **Reply #2 on:** Tue, 09 July 2013, 17:50:45 »

I miss Chitown

Krogenar · « **Reply #3 on:** Tue, 09 July 2013, 18:03:44 »

Photos of your booth or table, please! Hope you make truckloads of filthy, evil money, Boiler.

Also, don't get shot or anything. :thumbsup:

CPTBadAss · « **Reply #4 on:** Tue, 09 July 2013, 18:04:56 »

Damn I wish I lived closer. Take lots of pics and Chicagoland GHers, come out and represent GH!

i3oilermaker · « **Reply #5 on:** Tue, 09 July 2013, 21:55:57 »

Quote from: Krogenar on Tue, 09 July 2013, 18:03:44

Photos of your booth or table, please! Hope you make truckloads of filthy, evil money, Boiler.

Also, don't get shot or anything. :thumbsup:

Photos for sure.

In terms of filthy evil money, I am fully expecting to loose money on this...The booth + tent + rental table + electricity + a million odds and ends to prep cost well over a thousand dollars. If I recruit even just a handful of newbies that enjoy this stuff as much as I do, I will call it a win. But I wont complain if a landslide of cash hits me

LechnerDE · « **Reply #6 on:** Wed, 10 July 2013, 01:39:47 »

Display the turtle set and the CCnG and jaws will drop

Krogenar · « **Reply #7 on:** Wed, 10 July 2013, 06:20:26 »

Quote from: i3oilermaker on Tue, 09 July 2013, 21:55:57

Quote from: Krogenar on Tue, 09 July 2013, 18:03:44
Photos of your booth or table, please! Hope you make truckloads of filthy, evil money, Boiler.

Also, don't get shot or anything. :thumbsup:

Photos for sure.

In terms of filthy evil money, I am fully expecting to loose money on this...The booth + tent + rental table + electricity + a million odds and ends to prep cost well over a thousand dollars. If I recruit even just a handful of newbies that enjoy this stuff as much as I do, I will call it a win. But I wont complain if a landslide of cash hits me

Make sure to bring a mushy, boring membrane keyboard as a comparison! And talk to the crowd -- get all Sham-Wowie on them about mechanical keyboards.

Oh, and a headset. It will make you look important.

I think you'll probably do pretty well for a tradeshow.

jalaj · « **Reply #8 on:** Sun, 14 July 2013, 21:01:38 »

Didnt see a techkeys.us stand today. Plenty of dogs, attractive people, other sale goodies, music, and street fare food though.

i3oilermaker · « **Reply #9 on:** Mon, 15 July 2013, 08:09:56 »

I left the fair around 9:00 PM perhaps you missed me

Krogenar · « **Reply #10 on:** Mon, 15 July 2013, 08:28:32 »

Quote from: i3oilermaker on Mon, 15 July 2013, 08:09:56

I left the fair around 9:00 PM perhaps you missed me

How'd it go?

i3oilermaker · « **Reply #11 on:** Mon, 15 July 2013, 08:31:02 »

Somewhere between a mild failure and a learning experience.

Krogenar · « **Reply #12 on:** Mon, 15 July 2013, 10:09:55 »

Quote from: i3oilermaker on Mon, 15 July 2013, 08:31:02

Somewhere between a mild failure and a learning experience.

i3oilermaker · « **Reply #13 on:** Mon, 15 July 2013, 10:15:57 »

There was a lot of genuine interest. People stopped and were wowed by the CCnG, Tooth Key, and Sixshooters....kids were quick to point out the Mario and Luigi....but not a lot of people were willing to drop the money it takes to get started.

Most common stupid questions...

-Do these keyboards work?
-Are those real teeth?
-Will these keys work on my Macbook?
-Can you make me a xyz key?

In the 20 some hours I spent at the booth I would say I encountered maybe 10 people that were familiar with or owned mechanical keyboards and they seemed pretty pumped to learn there is stuff out there for them. I think in the future I would look to market more specifically at gamers/developers/nerds as opposed to the general population.

BunnyLake · « **Reply #14 on:** Mon, 15 July 2013, 10:19:42 »

Quote from: i3oilermaker on Mon, 15 July 2013, 10:15:57

There was a lot of genuine interest. People stopped and were wowed by the CCnG, Tooth Key, and Sixshooters....kids were quick to point out the Mario and Luigi....but not a lot of people were willing to drop the money it takes to get started.

Most common stupid questions...

-Do these keyboards work?
-Are those real teeth?
-Will these keys work on my Macbook?
-Can you make me a xyz key?

In the 20 some hours I spent at the booth I would say I encountered maybe 10 people that were familiar with or owned mechanical keyboards and they seemed pretty pumped to learn there is stuff out there for them. I think in the future I would look to market more specifically at gamers/developers/nerds as opposed to the general population.

hold up

were you showing or selling the teeth, you need to sell me one of those pronto sir, the anticipation is killing me

i3oilermaker · « **Reply #15 on:** Mon, 15 July 2013, 10:31:38 »

Quote from: BunnyLake on Mon, 15 July 2013, 10:19:42

selling the teeth, you need to sell me one of those pronto sir, the anticipation is killing me

Well I did not successfully sell any so they are all waiting for you to buy.

I am hoping to get them up this week.

BunnyLake · « **Reply #16 on:** Mon, 15 July 2013, 10:46:34 »

Quote from: i3oilermaker on Mon, 15 July 2013, 10:31:38

Quote from: BunnyLake on Mon, 15 July 2013, 10:19:42
selling the teeth, you need to sell me one of those pronto sir, the anticipation is killing me

Well I did not successfully sell any so they are all waiting for you to buy.

I am hoping to get them up this week.

gah, well i dont know how many of them you possess, so if there is any kind of reservation system or dibs, consider me in, time zones often cause me to miss things as they first go up

and im sure to the general public they may not have been an easy sell, but im sure on here sir you arent gonna have any trouble

the thing with what you are doing with the markets and such is, although it may not seem beneficial in the short term, raising public consciousness will pay off over time, the amount of people who thought i was barmy when i started talking to them about keyboards who are now obsessed with them after tying them is roughly 100%

boost · « **Reply #17 on:** Mon, 15 July 2013, 10:49:44 »

no pics of the booth?

i3oilermaker · « **Reply #18 on:** Mon, 15 July 2013, 10:52:02 »

Quote from: boost on Mon, 15 July 2013, 10:49:44

no pics of the booth?

I do have pics, but I got home so late an exhausted, I didn't get them off the camera yet.

Pics to come!!!

Megaweapon · « **Reply #19 on:** Mon, 15 July 2013, 10:53:54 »

Selling specialty keycaps is like selling rims that only work on sports cars. I would have been very surprised if you had gotten a bigger reaction from the general public, so don't be disappointed: That's just the nature of the thing.

Maybe try at something like this, instead: www.midwestgamingclassic.com (I've thought that pairing a GH meetup with this con would be ideal, too...)

i3oilermaker · « **Reply #20 on:** Mon, 15 July 2013, 11:02:49 »

Quote from: Megaweapon on Mon, 15 July 2013, 10:53:54

Selling specialty keycaps is like selling rims that only work on sports cars. I would have been very surprised if you had gotten a bigger reaction from the general public, so don't be disappointed: That's just the nature of the thing.

Maybe try at something like this, instead: www.midwestgamingclassic.com (I've thought that pairing a GH meetup with this con would be ideal, too...)

Yea - my hypothesis was correct that people would be amused/interested/intrigued - I just thought I could flip more of them into sales.

If I do another event, it would totally be something like that.

boost · « **Reply #21 on:** Mon, 15 July 2013, 11:06:36 »

Quote from: i3oilermaker on Mon, 15 July 2013, 10:52:02

Quote from: boost on Mon, 15 July 2013, 10:49:44
no pics of the booth?

I do have pics, but I got home so late an exhausted, I didn't get them off the camera yet.

Pics to come!!!

slacking yo!!!! j/k lol

Krogenar · « **Reply #22 on:** Mon, 15 July 2013, 11:10:22 »

Quote from: Megaweapon on Mon, 15 July 2013, 10:53:54

Selling specialty keycaps is like selling rims that only work on sports cars. I would have been very surprised if you had gotten a bigger reaction from the general public, so don't be disappointed: That's just the nature of the thing.

Maybe try at something like this, instead: www.midwestgamingclassic.com (I've thought that pairing a GH meetup with this con would be ideal, too...)

I would agree -- finding the right venue is key. You need to find people who either already have compatible keyboards, or could directly benefit from a mechanical keyboard.

Michael · « **Reply #23 on:** Mon, 15 July 2013, 11:11:27 »

Quote from: i3oilermaker on Mon, 15 July 2013, 10:15:57

-Will these keys work on my Macbook?

jalaj · « **Reply #24 on:** Mon, 15 July 2013, 18:52:14 »

Quote from: i3oilermaker on Mon, 15 July 2013, 08:09:56

I left the fair around 9:00 PM perhaps you missed me

was there on sun. from 345 to 545. circled around the entire fair twice, even checked the kiddie and doggie sections to be sure. please upload a pic so I can see where you were

here's a pic from the event:

i3oilermaker · « **Reply #25 on:** Mon, 15 July 2013, 19:56:13 »

If you would have turned 180 degrees from that photo you would have seen me.

Sifo · « **Reply #26 on:** Mon, 15 July 2013, 19:56:44 »

hahahahaha ^

Trent · « **Reply #27 on:** Mon, 15 July 2013, 19:58:45 »

So I felt silly, but randomly a friend of mine invited me to the fair. We're walking around, enjoying the sights, when all of a sudden I see artwork that looks familiar...

"That looks like techkeys art...."

Then all of a sudden I realize that i3oilermaker is there!

-- "Been a long time since the original Chicago meetup!" -- I was happy to pick up a blue usb cable to charge my phone!

I really do need to pay more attention to boards that aren't off-topic haha. It was great to see i3oilermaker there representing keyboards since I won't be able to attend keycon!

Here are my pictures from the fair!

i3oilermaker · « **Reply #28 on:** Mon, 15 July 2013, 20:06:38 »

Just beat me to the pics...

Here are my shots of the booth, and me with the creator of the TechKeys logo and TechArt.

Krogenar · « **Reply #29 on:** Mon, 15 July 2013, 20:16:54 »

Very nice! Thanks for the photos.

jalaj · « **Reply #30 on:** Mon, 15 July 2013, 20:19:45 »

What, didnt see that AT ALL. Now im annoyed that there was lack of signage for vendor booth locations.
So is the keycon a dry meetup? Or will there be refreshments FS/BYOB.

pexon · « **Reply #31 on:** Mon, 15 July 2013, 20:21:11 »

Quote from: Trent on Mon, 15 July 2013, 19:58:45

So I felt silly, but randomly a friend of mine invited me to the fair. We're walking around, enjoying the sights, when all of a sudden I see artwork that looks familiar...

"That looks like techkeys art...."

Then all of a sudden I realize that i3oilermaker is there! -- "Been a long time since the original Chicago meetup!" -- I was happy to pick up a blue usb cable to charge my phone!

I really do need to pay more attention to boards that aren't off-topic haha. It was great to see i3oilermaker there representing keyboards since I won't be able to attend keycon!

Here are my pictures from the fair!

One of my cables

Shipped over especially for it

News:

Author Topic: TechKeys @ West Fest Chicago (Read 6724 times)