What's Up?

After getting my son Alex to Daycare (he still goes to the Wizards of the Coast daycare) I start work:

My usual day consists of catching up with all the E-mail, both at the adam@hiddencitygames.com address and the ventureteam@hiddencitygames.com address. Soon I'll take on the venturestore address as well. I'm meeting with Sean, our director of sales, this week to get on the same page with him on that program so I can provide daily support and he can handle the tough stuff.

If I'm not working with Paul, I spend most of time streamlining Venture Demo Team or CLINCH documents. Of course, I keep an eye on the forums all day. The last couple of weeks I've been trying to get CLINCH and VDT to be Euro-friendly. We'll see how that goes as I continue to communicate with our partners overseas. Starting this week I'll be contacting our Asia Pacific (APAC) partners to see how CLINCH will work for them, and what I can do to assist them. This is WAY overdue. Because I specialize in social connections and communities, I'm way more comfortable working within my own culture. Tough, I've got to suck it up and send those e-mail and make those calls. =-)

On Mondays I gather all the Venture Demo Team reports that have accumulated over the past week (most reports come in on Monday) and get them entered, if they haven't been already. If it's been more than a week, I'll put togeher the Venture Point totals and get those posted. I'm pretty happy with the bi-weekly schedule, though I can't wait for a website to post the info to.

Tuesdays I try to get everything mailed out that needs to arrive by the following weekend. That includes Playmats, Demo Kits, and Tournament kits. I'm not sure they actually get there in time, but at least there's a good chance.

Wednesday is sort of a catch-up day. E-mail, general paperwork. I do a lot of my concept work on Wednesday, figuring new ways to handle demos, tournaments, and such. There's a fair amount of crackpot ideas that never see the light of day dreamed up on Wednesdays. Example: I'd like to run a convention league that rewards players for the number of players they defeat, rather than the number of wins overall. This 'viral' league would directly reward fans for finding new players (and then crushing them.). Losses would be valuable as well, so there's a reason to let your buddy kick your butt, even if you know you can't beat him. On the last day of the con, players would be able to collect prizes based on a combination of their wins and success finding opponents. Note: Fans that are successful networking at a con will tend to have networking skills that make them top-notch Demo team members.

Thurday is the HCG Staff Meeting, so I generally spend the day getting ready for that if I'm presenting, or at least making sure I know what everyone else is up to so I can contribute at the meeting. This usually doesn't take too much time, so I can keep up on e-mail, etc.

Friday, like Wednesday seldom has a set agenda. Make sure there arent' any merchants or fans who need something. Make sure I've taken care of absolutely everything that needed getting done over the course of the week.

I also work on other HCG projects - I help Paul with R&D during playtest sessions. They ususually last 3-4 hours per day for a few weeks at a time. The last one was Marvel, and the Marvel expansion is probably not too far off (we're still 2 expanstions ahead on Fantasy) We've got a new game that I can't really talk about yet. I'm still working on how I'll fit into what that'll need.

I also have my own project, which I usually work on off the clock, but if an good idea strikes me I don't feel the least bit bad about spending some time on it during the day.

I spend a lot of time on the internet, just keeping up with what other game companies are doing. Some, like WizKids and JoyRide (FullMetal Alchemist), really impress me. Others don't. I read a LOT of gaming blogs, just too see whats hot. Those who can't do, read blogs.

My favorite sort of day is one where I start work and go non-stop until I have to leave to pick up Alex from daycare. I have the best job, ever, and I like it best when I've lots to do.

Adam "Wildcard" Conus