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geekhack Community => Off Topic => Topic started by: i3oilermaker on Mon, 24 June 2013, 15:25:50

Title: TechKeys @ WestFest Chicago - Suggestions Please!
Post by: i3oilermaker on Mon, 24 June 2013, 15:25:50
So I want to test the waters on bringing Mechanical Keyboards to the average consumer.  It has been my goal for quite some time to have a booth at a street fair to see how many people I could convince to go Mechanical.

For all you Chicagoland folks I will be at West Fest (http://www.westfestchicago.com/) a two day street fair of music, food, and retailers.  The fair is July 13th and 14th from noon to 10pm, so I really hope to see some familiar GHers come out and support me!

The reason for this thread is I want to take some suggestions on how to make this fair a success.  A lot of my plans are solidified at this point, but I am open to hearing all ideas. More specifically I want feedback and ideas on the demo table I have planned.  I purchased a 42" LED TV, and I am trying to figure out what device to drive it with, and what software to run.  I am leaning towards a laptop and TypeRacer, but I am open to ideas. 

Thanks guys!
Title: Re: TechKeys @ WestFest Chicago - Suggestions Please!
Post by: CPTBadAss on Mon, 24 June 2013, 15:29:01
Definitely have a video game on hand to play. People really gravitate towards test-driving stuff and video games. Maybe some kind of raffle and freebies too?
Title: Re: TechKeys @ WestFest Chicago - Suggestions Please!
Post by: i3oilermaker on Mon, 24 June 2013, 15:29:55
Definitely have a video game on hand to play. People really gravitate towards test-driving stuff and video games. Maybe some kind of raffle and freebies too?

My concern about a video game is that it will cause 1 nerd to hog the station and drive away "non-video gamers"
Title: Re: TechKeys @ WestFest Chicago - Suggestions Please!
Post by: Badwrench on Mon, 24 June 2013, 16:40:56
Definitely have a video game on hand to play. People really gravitate towards test-driving stuff and video games. Maybe some kind of raffle and freebies too?

My concern about a video game is that it will cause 1 nerd to hog the station and drive away "non-video gamers"

That would be my worry as well.

I would stick with Typeracer.  Put together a leaderboard for each day with the top 3 getting a prize.  I think that a lot more people will be interested that way - most people use a keyboard at least part of their day.  I would also have on hand a basic RD board to give people a baseline to feel against (maybe a Logitech K100 or something equally vague feeling  ;)). 

People tend to like hands on booths, so samples aplenty would be good.