Conventions

“The Gama Trade show is all about “”minding the business of games”". The theme for GTS 2011 was “Times Are Changing”, and those gamesters witnessed a lot of changes at the show. This was the best retailer turnout for GTS since 2008, with 219 unique retail stores attend this year’s show, fifty percent up on the GTS 2010 attendance level. The sponsors were outfits like Bandai, Wizards of the Coast, Mayfair Games, Cryptozoic, Sandstorm, WizKids, AEG, Paizo, Konami, Osprey Publishing, GameScience, Alliance Game Distributors, ACD Distribution, Game Publishers Association, and ICv2, and they collectively pioneered a new Retailer Appreciation Package. See that little group over there, in pink gingham shirts and raggedy-ann straw hats? They’ve been playing Farmville non-stop for the whole duation of the show. Now, if I give you a cow, will you feed my chickens?

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This has in the past been one of the fastest-growing shows anywhere, implying security is a growing public and business concern. Hot topics: biometric i/d products, video surveillance, remote monitoring. A lot of hard-wired products are now looking at wireless technology instead. Better security!

Show is about information and IT for legal practices, law firms, legal departments. Microsoft among others touting cloud-computing solutions. Cost-saving was a focus generally. More general sessions than previous years. Keynotes by Mohamed El Baradei, former UN Atomic Energy Agency director-general, also Malcolm Gladwell, author of “The Tipping Point”. Big themes: eDiscovery, compliance, search and retrieval, cost-efficiency. It’s legal tech..no pictures please.