The Future of Video Games in the Live Event Industry

Of all the forms of entertainment media now a days, video games are definitely the biggest on the rise.  With games getting bigger and bigger budgets these “Triple A” titles are becoming more like interactive dramas.  With these games getting more media exposure, and larger marketing campaigns in addition to the changes in technology, there is no better time to capitalize on the rise of live video game events.

Being a soon to be to graduate of Full Sail University’s Entertainment Business Masters program has given me a wealth of ideas for the future.  The basis of my idea starts from a few a simple market trends I have noticed in recent years.  For starters, technology has improved so much in the past year that LCD TV prices have dropped significantly.  As an avid gamer, I was able to pick up a new 42” Vizio at an amazing price.  The video game consoles themselves are now only $300 dollars, which in some cases is half of what they use to be.  With broadband Internet pretty much circling the globe, the online social gaming empire is starting to gain some significant numbers.  It is fun to play games online and every console now has a headset to make online communication fun and simple, but gamers want to interact and talk smack in person at live video game tournaments.  I believe with the lower cost in technology these tournaments can be easier and more cost effective to put on.  Major League Gaming (MLG) is one of many such organizations to already be capitalizing on this.  MLG is huge of course, but with my live events background it gives me expertise on how to set up tournaments and events like these.  Gaming companies that are just starting out and need to get more marketing exposure for their game, especially if it is multiplayer, may interested in a live gaming event.  It is a great place to unite the gaming community while hyping up the release of new product or driving sales of an existing one.

Thanks to my education I can now see and understand market trends much better than I could before.  I see the video game world only getting more grand with larger, more posh social gaming events popping up all across the globe.  I hope to capitalize on the industry on the rise by merging my love of video games with how to put on a successful live event.  As technology improves we will see better games and more and more live events to bring the gamer empire together.

Some Alternative Funding Sources for Business Plans

There are websites out there to find sources for funding for business plans of all shapes and sizes.  Whether your business plan is for a hip new product, the hottest new intellectual property, or just opening up a restaurant, there are a bunch of websites out there that can help you secure the vital funding you need to turn your business plan into a reality.  I will highlight two of the many that are available.

The first is the First Nations Development Institute, a Native American organization, which is working to restore Native American control and gain new assets to ensure the long-term vitality of the Native American people.  They fund businesses that are located on their reservations or in rural Native communities.  They will fund businesses linked to the provision of a product of service for their communities.  They award grants through their Eagle Staff Fund (ESF), which launched in 1993 and has awarded 200 grants totaling 8.6 million dollars since 1994.  They offer seed, start up, and working capital grants.  If you can launch your business plan on a Native American reservation, or have a product or service that could benefit them, the First Nations Development Institute may be for you.  Check out their website for even more information on the programs and services they offer.

The second is the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA), which is a government organization whose mission is “to lead the federal economic development agenda by promoting competitiveness and preparing American regions for growth and success in the worldwide economy.”  The website has a lot of great information on federal funding opportunities including links to state and other local development agencies.  The EDA has investment priorities in collaborative regional innovation, public/private partnerships, national strategic opportunities, global competitiveness, environmental development, and economically distressed and underserved communities.  The EDA, in its simplest form, partners with communities to foster and create new jobs and local business.  If you think the EDA may be right for your business, then check out the grant process page for details on how to get the ball rolling.  This process is great because the EDA provides formal feedback on the grant’s technical and competitive merits and/or deficiencies within 15 business days.  This feedback can invaluable in improving and refining your business plan.

These are just two of the tons of alternative funding source websites out there.  The advantage is, you can gain some excellent funding but your business may not always qualify.  Some other alternative funding sources are CFED, OWEESTA, the Association for Enterprise Opportunity, the Opportunity Finance Network, the Coalition of Community Development Financial Institutions, the Community Development Venture Capital Alliance (CDVCA), the National Community Investment Fund, and the National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions to name a few more.  There is a lot of money out there waiting to be invested by investors.  Finding the right investor to fund your particular business plan is the tricky part.  If you can launch your business by yourself without investors, it is best because you maintain control of your business and keep all profits.  But if you do need to find an investor, it is safe to assume there is more money out there than good ideas.

What Theatrical and Event Technology Investors Look For

One year ago, this September I enrolled in the Entertainment Business Masters program at Full Sail University and I have learned so much in less than a year.  I have learned the importance of a professional blog and regularly maintain the one you are currently reading.  The big payoff is my business plan thesis, which is due next month.  All of our classes have been leading up to the final project, our completed business plan.  I am extremely excited by this project because I have never written a business plan before.  I think I have a quality business plan on my hands.  When I am done refining it, I will need to find investors to fund the business venture.  Finding the right investor for a particular business plan is the key for successfully starting any business, regardless of the industry.  Capturing the attention of an investor and getting them to read through the whole business plan can be tricky, but if you know the potential investor, you can tailor the business plan to what they are looking for.

For my industry of theatrical and event technology, there are only a few companies out there with investor entrepreneur CEOs that invest in companies like the one I am writing my business plan for.  One these investors is Jeremiah "Jere" Harris, the Chairman and CEO of Production Resource Group (PRG).  PRG is the world’s leading supplier of entertainment and event technology.  Jeremiah’s philosophy involves investing in new technologies as well as partnering with other similar industry companies.  This approach has brought him considerable success.  He buys up smaller, strategic companies and new ideas to keep PRG fresh and current.  Being on the leading edge of technologies, trends and changes has kept him at the forefront of the industry.  Another one these investors is Jason Friedman, the Chairman and former CEO of Creative Realties (CRI).  CRI is an experiential marketing design firm with a theatrical flare.  CRI grew rapidly by investing in the early stages of digital signage, before it became a standardized commodity, but Jason made his money while the area was hot.  Jason is also the CEO of Wind Tunnel, Inc., an entrepreneurial think tank and investment group.  It is his smart investment thinking and ability to see around the curve that has kept him at the helm of many successful companies.  For these investors, I will tailor my business plan by having an extensive operations and technology section.  Both Jeremiah and Jason are big into technology; what new technology and new ways of working with it can achieve.  They both have companies that are well established and very profitable.  These investors are looking for new ideas and resources and my business plan will be designed to grab their attention and be what they are looking for.

Successful investor entrepreneurs know what they are looking for in a business plan, enabling them to invest money wisely into what will hopefully become a successful business.  Tailoring my future business plans to the wants and needs of a particular potential investor is extremely important to capturing their attention.  Creating a business plan that seem profitable and fits into what the investor wants to invest in is important.  Also, having new and innovative ideas in new and/or underdeveloped niches that leverage and compliment the knowledge, skills, expertise they already have will surely enable a business plan to jump out at them.

Theatrical and Event Technology Investors

Finding the right investor for a particular business plan or project is key for successfully starting any business, regardless of the industry.  The theatrical and event industries have their share of production companies out there to get a project done.  Starting a new company can be a mixed bag in today’s age.  There is plenty of work to be had out there, but the industries are so small and incestuous that the big name companies already have the big name clients locked down.  Luckily, these big time companies have investor CEOs and owners that are always looking for a new business venture to fund or acquire.

One these investors is Jeremiah "Jere" Harris, the Chairman and CEO of Production Resource Group (PRG).  PRG is the world’s leading supplier of entertainment and event technology and grown into this position due to his leadership.  Jeremiah has done this by investing in new technologies and partnering with other similar companies.  Like any good investor, you should take all the opportunities that are presented to you to improve your business, just like PRG did by acquiring Nocturne Productions.  With the addition of Nocturne, PRG will have a much larger footprint in the concert touring market, an area they were looking to expand.  Mr. Harris also dabbles in other projects, like being a producer of the "Spider-Man" Musical, Turn Off the Dark that just opened a few weeks ago.  The high profile musical has been in the news a lot recently for being over budget but with the help of Jeremiah and the other producers they finally seem to have the musical on a profitable track.  Jeremiah invests in the newest technologies that are coming down the pipe in the theatrical and event industries and being on top of the newest technology keeps him on top of the industry.

Another one these investors is Jason Friedman, the Chairman and former CEO of Creative Realties (CRI).  CRI is an experiential marketing design firm with a theatrical flare that Jason founded in 1997.  It has a number of Fortune 500 Companies as clients.  The company really began to blow up by investing digital signage early on.  Digital signage is now everywhere and Jason made his money when the iron was hot.  He is now the co-founder of TrackPro Advisors, an online community for hardcore racers.  This site will help give the best information and advice to racers in the community.  No more searching for information on any part of your car or where to go to find it.  TrackPro brings all this information in one legit place.  This company comes from the think tank ideas of his other company Wind Tunnel, Inc., where he is CEO of this entrepreneurial think tank and investment group.  It is this smart investment thinking on business plans and being able to see around the curve that has kept Jason at the helm of many successful companies.

Both of these very successful investor entrepreneurs know what to look for in a business plan to able to turn it into a successful business.  They are both on top of two highly successful multi-million dollar companies.  These companies are not only profiting but expanding as well.  The side projects that both Jeremiah and Jason invest in normally seem to grow as well.  The future seems bright for both these investors and the projects they touch.  They are looking for interesting innovative ideas, new and/or underdeveloped niches, and new business plans that leverage and compliment the knowledge, skills, expertise they already have.  Looks like I have few people in mind to send my future business plans to as soon as I get them nice and polished.

Social Media at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week

Social Media is everywhere nowadays.  With almost everyone in the world having some type of social media account, it is not just a trend; it is a whole new way of connecting and interacting with each other.  Tweets and status updates give followers up to the second updates of their favorite celebrities and industry figures.  Thanks to these new technologies, previously closed-door events are now open to public viewing and critiquing such as Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, which takes place twice a year in one of the major fashion capitals of the world, New Year City.

Within the last four seasons, a season being the new spring or fall collection every six months, social media has taken a more dominant role at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week (MBFW).  MBFW now has their own Facebook and Twitter pages so everyone can follow the action as it unfolds live over the course of fashion week.  Social media has a huge impact on how fashion followers can keep current with the industry.  Even before fashion week starts, MBFW releases productions pictures and schedules of the tents at Lincoln Center, the heart of MBFW, being built.  The day of the each show, MBFW sends updates about daily schedules of the different designers and what tent they are showing in.  TwitPics show the latest fashions as they march down the runway and show off celebrity sightings of who is at what show.  MBFW tweets about the latest announcements as they happen in real time and unveils all the surprises of fashion week.  What use to be exclusively seen and read about in newspapers and magazines the next day now all happens in real time.  Social media helps followers feel as if they are sitting right there, next to the runway.

Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in New York City is just the beginning for social media to connect more people to otherwise limited or closed-door industry events.  Video game conventions like PAX East in Boston, Massachusetts are starting to tweet on the official PAX Twitter page with insider info for their show.  The E3 Expo is doing the same thing but has partnered with GameTrailers to have them be the exclusive tweeters for the show.  E3 has gone even further by having Spike TV's Games & Gadgets be the official cable TV provider.  Social media is going to get bigger and better as the technology evolves and I for one am very excited for the increased interaction and coverage that social media can provide to otherwise inaccessible events.

Digital Marketing in Streaming Content

Nowadays almost everything is online in some form or another.  With the coming of reliable high speed Internet, it is now easier than ever to stream digital content through all sorts of devices from desktop computers to laptops, media servers, tablets, and smartphones.  Many of these are designed with specialized apps to make playing the streaming video simple.  With this rise of these new distribution methods for TV shows and other content, the advertising and marketing must change and evolve to keep up.

            There are tons of ways to watch TV shows and other content online at your leisure.  As a result of these free streaming sources, digital marketing has had to step up its game.  There are still traditional TV advertisements on cable television and they are not going away anytime soon.  They are only getting bigger with more production value thanks to the numerous cable providers and now web series, and streaming services out there today.  Comcast, Optimum Online, Road Runner, Time Warner, AT&T Uverse, and Verizon Fios are just a few of the traditional cable companies.  These companies run traditional paid commercial ads.  They offer on demand services normally with ads before the free on demand content.  Technology has now allowed for mobile streaming on smartphones and tablets in addition to streaming on desktop computers and laptops.  There are now special products just for streaming like Apple TV.  YouTube and Hulu are both popular sites for streaming free TV shows among other things.  Due to their popularity there are now commercials being shown before the media.  Web series have even become a new way of multimedia story telling thanks to the Internet complete with commercial ads.  Mortal Kombat: Legacy is excellent example.  The revenue from these ads keeps the free content on these sites, so it is worth it, as many of these web series are quite good with high production value.  Even the big three gaming consoles, Nintendo’s Wii, Sony’s PlayStation 3, and Microsoft’s Xbox 360 are in the streaming business.  They all host one of the premium subscription streaming services, Netflix.  Netflix lets you stream TV shows and movies to every device under the sun.  HBO is another company following this route with their HBO GO service.  There are even rumors of announcements from the E3 conference this week of a Microsoft Xbox 360 Xbox Live Diamond subscription TV service coming soon.  Makes me wonder what kind of digital marketing this service will bring.

            As these companies and their subscriptions and services continue to grow and expand along with technology and the Internet then digital marketing and advertising will certainly grow and expand with them.  New ways of integrating ads into streaming content apps and similar distribution centers will have to be created to keep up.  With cloud based products beginning to emerge, it will definitely be interesting to see how digital marketing takes hold and adapts itself to these new cloud based services in the future.