I mentioned earlier this month that we have a new store, and I want to thank everyone for stopping by and giving it a test drive.  Thus far it’s been a great transition for users and for us.  While there are literally dozens of new features, I did mentioned I would mention a couple as we continue the roll out this month.

After your order our back-end is now more powerful than ever, and package tracking is one of the tools now integrated into the site.  So place your order with confidence, communicate with our service team and have a simple click and track for most items.

Once you log into your account and visit your account page, you can click on any order and see the status.  For most items we also have your tracking number included on your record and you can click to see the exact delivery status live from UPS.

It’s another way you can order with confidence, follow the progress of your order and know when your product is due to arrive or has arrived.

If you haven’t seen the store, take a look.  We are proud to have over 70 products for game operations, event entertainment and mascots. Place any order this month and get a free Gameops.com T-shirt with your order.  I am wearing one right now (I promised not to send you this one).

–Cudo

Congratulation to Gameops.com accounting maven Shantiel on the birth of Will last week.

We will be sure to outfit Will with a toddler-size Human Hamster Ball, imprinted sippy cup and a rally towel for the excess drool.

We wish mother and child all the best.

–cudo

FRESNO, CA – The unthinkable has happened. Less than five days prior to the Fresno Grizzlies home opener at Chukchansi Park, the team’s beloved mascot has left the team over what he called “reconcilable differences” in a note left behind (attached). Challenging the team and its fans to ‘Pack the Park’ on Opening Day, Parker has walked out on the ballclub and retreated to the top of the tallest building in the City of Fresno, 1060 Fulton. The structure is also known to locals and tourists as the Security Bank Building.

“At first we thought Friday’s warning that he was thinking of leaving the team was just an empty threat,” said Grizzlies Vice President of Marketing Scott Carter. “He wants us to ‘Pack the Park’ on Friday against Tucson, and I guess he knows how important he is to the atmosphere at the game. At least he’s somewhere we can keep an eye on him, or he can keep an eye on us.”

Though Grizzlies management initially worried about Parker’s well-being during an extended stay inside an office building, the mascot apparently did his homework before mapping out the plan. The Security Bank Building, originally constructed in the 1920’s, and still the tallest building between Los Angeles and San Francisco, has undergone a transformation including living space in the last 12 months. It is unknown whether Parker has taken up residence within The Lofts at 1060 Fulton, or whether he plans to spend his time surveying the City from the building’s balcony.

A fun promotion, certainly media friendly locally, and a great use of the team’s popular mascot. The Grizzlies are really leading the way in minor league baseball with their expansive use of their team assets.

Whenever these promotions come up, I wonder if the mascot would really hold up their end of the boycott and just not show up at the park if the fans didn’t sell out.

Your own Gameops.com Editor (in my former days as Timberwolves mascot Crunch) camped out on a billboard overnight next to the Metrodome in Minneapolis suggesting that I would not come down until we set the NBA all-time attendance record. Of course we had already sold those tickets so I knew I would eventually be able to come down. Being a wolf of high principles, I would certainly have stuck to my word and not come down if we didn’t set the record. (Note: that record still stands).

Good luck Parker….stick to your word. Even if they don’t pack the park you have a pretty good seat.
–Cudo

PS: Due to my high regard for mascots who camp out on billboards and buildings, I have nominated this for Best Game Promotion in 2008.

In December Gameops.com awarded the Nationals President’s Race Best Promotion honors, and this year the Nationals have improved on their centerpiece promotion even more.  This from the “Let Teddy Win” Blog.

#1: Racing Presidents (What Else?). I started this site because the racing presidents are the first truly unique hometown tradition that we can call our own. They are great fun, and give kids of all ages another reason to become Nationals fans.

I was incredibly pleased to find that the team has made them a huge part of the fan experience at Nationals Park. The presidents race itself has been expanded, plus Teddy, George, Tom, and Abe greeted us at the centerfield gates and reappeared near the kids zone after the 4th inning. The Nationals had no idea how big the racing presidents could be when they were first created, but it’s equally clear that they are astute enough to build on this great fan tradition.

Great to see a team taking it’s strongest element and pushing it even further.

The Lake County Captains are taking a similar bend, reviving their popular live Perch Races (which were abandoned last year after a sponsor pulled out) giving out 1000 mini bobbleheads for it’s three popular Perch fish characters, and reviving the popular in-game feature.

What a great question to ask yourself, what are you doing “best” and how can you expand on your own success?

–Cudo

Our April Update is now live including:

A major upgrade to the Gameops.com Store. One-stop shopping for all your game presentation, mascot, and event operation needs. The new store has nearly 80 products and new high-power full featured store tools, like live shipping quotes, quantity discounts and more. I think you will really like it.

Also, we have a new guest columnist, Pat Walker. Pat was interviewed last month on Gameops.com and will now periodically join us with a game operation-related column. His first column looks at the importance of selecting the right name for your promotions, entertainment teams, and sponsored elements. It’s a great read. I am excited to be working with Patrick, and look forward to more columns from him in the future.

Finally I am excited to note that the prolific and profound prose of Benjamin Hill is back. Benjamin writes a very funny and insightful weekly look at promotions around minor league baseball. It’s a must read for anyone in game entertainment. The column is back for the new season and can be found here. Here is a sample:

Altoona Curve
Kitchen Sink Giveaway and Jerome Bettis Appearance (4/3)

Nothing says baseball season is here quite like the combination of kitchen appliances and retired football players. The Altoona Curve are well aware of this fact. On Thursday, the club will kick off its 10th anniversary season by having legendary Pittsburgh Steelers running back (and Curve co-owner) Jerome Bettis throw out the first pitch. Then, during the game, a kitchen sink will be awarded to one lucky fan. This largely symbolic gesture illustrates the fact that the Curve are “throwing the kitchen sink” at fans in 2008.

With Benjamin’s blessing we also routinely update our Promotion Database with these great promotions each week.

–Cudo

In about 10 years there have been about 120 monthly updates, thousands of page updates, and three or four major upgrades to the site. This month I am happy to introduce another major site upgrade:  The all new Store on Gameops.com.

Since 2004 we have had an e-commerce element on Gameops.com, and now we have a store that is hosted by an award winning E-commerce Site (Best e-commerce solution in 2007 and 2008 from Small Business Computing).  While the old store did the job, the new site is about 100 times more powerful and usable. I will post a few examples in the coming weeks, here is one:

On the old store, you would pay shipping on every item.  For example, say you paid $6 shipping on green widget, then order a blue widget….you’d pay $6 more (when the real cost would be jsut $2 more).  While it was nice to get $4 more for the shipping….I would prefer my customers get the best possible rates.  Now you do.  The new store has live shipping rates that calculate actual shipping for your entire purchase…in almost every case you save on your overall costs.  The site can sort out the exact costs, so you don’t pay extra for ordering multiple items.
I feel really confident that you will love the new store.  The service we use is the same one major retailers use and is currently used by the Obama campaign.  As noted, there are a dozen great features…I will share a few more over the next few weeks.

All the old links will lead you to the new store, or you can use the new store address:  thestore.gameops.com to reach the new one-stop solution for all your game operations and entertainment needs.

I welcome any feedback (as always).  It’s all live, and we continue to add new items and information as we go.

Thanks for your support.  Selling items on the store is the engine that allows us to support the community with the rest of the site’s content.

–Cudo