A Bridge to the Global Media – PR Team
The Public Relations (PR) team played a key role in the GGS as the liaison with the media around the world. Were there any interesting incidents during the process? What problems did they encounter with communication and coordination? Let’s see what the PR staff have to say in their interviews with G!VOICE!
GUS – Yuwei Chang
G!VOICE: What was the trickiest part of the talking with international game media?
Yuwei: The media in America is easy to work with so there were problems there. Still, people were spread out all over North America so arranging their flights took more time. Some of those living in Canada had to go through two transfers to get to Taiwan. We had to make sure they didn’t have to spend too long waiting for their transfer flights but we also didn’t want to cut it too close.
G!VOICE: Did anything interesting happen or were there any particularly memorable moments when you arranged for the gaming media from around the world to visit Taiwan?
Yuwei: All of the American media were visiting Taiwan for the first time. Not only were they really easy to get along with, they also said that the GGS was so far the best show that they had ever been to in terms of the game presentations and entertainment.
The fun the American media had at the GGS Party left a strong impression on me. They all wanted to join in the beer drinking competition and had a lot of fun dancing with the dancers as well! Back on the bus, when everyone was talking about how fun the party was, one of the media said something that made everyone laugh out loud: “I realized that my shirt might be hard for the dancer to get off so I undid the buttons myself!”
GNC – Sanmoon Hu and Jacqueline Huang
▲Sanmoon Hu (right) and Jacqueline Huang (left) makes funny faces! (Laugh)
G!VOICE: What was the trickiest part of the talking with international game media?
Sanmoon: For GCN the real sticking point was balance. All of the media are constantly comparing themselves against each other to see who has the best report. For example, if I give more to one media, the others might complain about not getting the same treatment as well. A lot of thought had to go into making sure that each media went away with something so our product will receive maximum exposure and support.
G!VOICE: Did anything interesting happen or were there any particularly memorable moments when you arranged for the gaming media from around the world to visit Taiwan?
Jacquelin: Quite a lot of memorable things happened this time during GGS. For example, a media editor wrote his English name on his visa but his passport was in Chinese, so he was stopped while transferring through Hong Kong and couldn’t get to Taiwan. Eventually the staff at Hong Kong Airport contacted Taipei, verified his identity and allowed him through, so the situation ended well. At the reception dinner on September 7, there was one editor that said that “I am the youngest here”. He was immediately mobbed by other members of the media and nearly got drunk.
GEU-Rick Van Beem
G!VOICE: What was the trickiest part of the talking with international game media?
Rick: I think the biggest problem was Gamania’s lack of exposure in the West. Gamania is just getting started in the European and North American markets. Lucent Heart and Bright Shadow have just been released so it will take time for the media to become familiar with Gamania. Though we have good contacts, getting important media to accept overseas invitations is still not that easy. Eventually, Yuwei in the US and I both managed to invite the most important media in Europe and North America. We had a good media mix as well this time. Gamesindustry.biz and EDGE magazine for example emphasize mainstream MMORPG and industry news so should give a significant boost to the profile of Gamania and our games.
G!VOICE: Did anything interesting happen or were there any particularly memorable moments when you arranged for the gaming media from around the world to visit Taiwan?
Rick: I was absolutely stunned by the level of planning. Nothing was left to chance… Even down to the smallest detail. This left a really strong impression on most of the Western media and we really create a good reputation for Gamania through GGS. I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone at Gamania that took part in this event. We really did well!
Product-wise, I think Core Blaze and Langrisser Schwarz left the strongest impression on the European media. There were also other interesting itineraries such as the visit to the Gamania HQ, the new UX Lab, the server control center that seemed to be straight out of Star Wars as well as meeting the Gama Bears. One of the reporters was a fan of Sen so this was probably the highlight of his trip. My thanks go to Iona and CJ (and Sen of course) for organizing a short interview with Sen. The interview will appear as a special report in PC Gamer, one of the largest PC gaming magazines in the UK. Many of the media were impressed with our Creative Center, our original Ip as well as our integration of animation and game production.
The highlight for everyone was of course the interview with Albert. Most of the reporters were impressed by Albert’s friendliness and frankness during the interview. As for me, the whole trip was one big highlight because I got to meet many of my colleagues in Taiwan supporting our European operations. Taiwan is a very friendly place and I think the people are among the most warm and friendly in the world.
GHK – Nikko Lam
G!VOICE: What was the trickiest part of the talking with international game media?
Nikko: Since Taiwan is a popular destination for people in Hong Kong, organizing the itinerary for the reporters often meant catering for different requirements such as staying behind or double rooms because they were traveling with their wife. At night, since they were all very familiar with Taiwan so there was not much interest in some of the leisure activities we proposed. In the end, they preferred to just do their own thing. This did mean that the reporters were scattered in different places at night so we had to ask everyone where they were and when they will return to the hotel. We were also worried that they might stay up overnight and end up oversleeping their itinerary for the next day.
G!VOICE: Did anything interesting happen or were there any particularly memorable moments when you arranged for the gaming media from around the world to visit Taiwan?
Nikko: I was struck by how much camera gear Hong Kong reporters carried compared to other countries. All of the Hong Kong reporters carried at least one “big” professional camera and tripod. It couldn’t have been easy running around with all that gear.
Another interesting thing was how much the Hong Kong media liked Taiwan’s lunch boxes. In Hong Kong, lunch boxes are generally considered something to be avoided if at possible. At GGS, we had arranged for lunch boxes on one day. They were disappointed at first but ended up saying just how great Taiwan’s lunch boxes were compared to Hong Kong’s! (Laughs）
GKR- Jina Bae (배현진)
G!VOICE: What was the trickiest part of the talking with international game media?
Jina: It was probably language. I am not really confident with my foreign language skills. Still, I had help from Tim and Kate at Gamania HQ as well as Saya and Kimi in GKR so GGS went smoothly. Another problem was food. I really like Taiwanese cuisine so I thought the Korean media would feel the same. Some of them didn’t like it however so I had to arrange for something closer to what they prefer. That was a little tiring.
G!VOICE: Did anything interesting happen or were there any particularly memorable moments when you arranged for the gaming media from around the world to visit Taiwan?
Jina: The Core Blaze and Langrisser Schwarz demos left the most strongest impression. In both games, the Korean reporters managed to defeat the bosses themselves and the developers praised them for being pro-gamers.
Finally, I would like to thank all the demo staff as well as the PR responsible for organizing so many things for all of the hard work they put in!