What, oh what, is a company to do?

Hey! Here are some ideas that I have come up with to help GR/D and other military history companies that are suffering from the card crunch. These are ideas that several others have helped formulate - a retailer, Kevin Fitzpatrick, Frank Chadwick, and others. You are a part of these plans, my brothers. You can help Europa and GR/D. How, you ask? Here is how. Use the most effective method of advertising you have. It is easy, doesn't cost anything and "is sure to break the ice at parties." To quote Monty Python: "Talk!"

GR/D has begun a program call the "Europa Headquarters Store." This program was developed to encourage retail sales of our games. If there is a hobby store in your area that: carries a complete or nearly complete stock of our games, AND carries this magazine, send me their name and address. Get one of their business cards if you can. Talk to them.

If you spend money at a hobby store that does not carry our products, talk to them, show them the back cover of this magazine, or, even better, photocopy the back and give it to them. When you do this you help us a lot! The details of the program are on the back, take a look to see what I am talking about. That is one program we have started. There is more...

It is called "Stars & Stripes" and is a catalog of military history games for sale. It is four-color, very professional, very nice, way cool. This project is in the planning stage at this time. I have contacted other companies to take part in this new program. In general the response I have received has been very positive.

The message of this program is simple. We are not in competition with each other. We all do things differently, but we share the same customers in many cases. The program will be of direct benefit to all of us, regardless of where we sit on the food chain. It will provide one-stop shopping for those who cannot find our products in stores. This is an important point to remember.

We don't want to replace retail sales. They are still our number one method of recruiting new customers. This program is designed to fill the gaps that have opened up in the system. It will be like, uh, well, it could be viewed as a "War-Mart" store. The details have not all been worked out. All the companies that can participate have not been contacted and given a chance to get involved. To date we have about 10 companies that have agreed to the program. This proposal could have the greatest impact on gaining since SPI came on the scene, or it could go into the tank.

But I, for one, refuse to follow the old methods. Times are changing, evolve with them or, well, who knows what will happen. But, you cannot sit still. Small companies facing the "new" reality must act to keep moving forward. We, as an industry, have about the lowest cash flow of any group in business today. Every dollar spent to promote the hobby must have several effects. It has to get your attention, encourage you to become a part of or stay with the market, and offer as many services as possible -- the common sense things that have to be done to stay afloat.

This program should be final by Origins '96 and you will be kept on the edge of the information as we produce and deliver. This program could be a big deal if done right.

The Europa WEB Site

Hats off to Scott Pagel. He designed and delivered the world wide web pages for Europa and GR/D. I have visited the site. Very nice. Our web address is: http://www. grdgames. coml

If you can get there, do so.

As I understand, there are several other Europa web sites that have been started by fans. GREAT! Get the addresses of these sites and send them to me. We will link them so that we can float through cyberland, electronic hand in hand.

The Europa E-Mail List

In addition to the ongoing discussions on GEnie, there is a Europa Internet mailing list dedicated to "Europa-talk." How doe an Internet mailing list work?

People post messages simply by sending an e-mail to a specific address. An automated system then takes the e-mail and immediately distributes it to everyone on the list. The entire thing is free, except for any normal e-mail charges you get. How do you subscribe?

Just send an e-mail to: europa-request@lysator. liu.se

The subscription portion of this list is not automated, so put in a one-liner saying you want to subscribe. Include your e-mail address in the body of your message, so that Mats, the list administrator, can double-check its accuracy.

After subscribing you can, of course, post your own messages for distribution. To do this send an e-mail to: europa@lysator.liu.se

Be careful and don't get the addresses mixed up. If you send a post to the "europa-request' it doesn't get distributed. It goes only to the mailing list administrator.

The article "Defending Finland" in this issue of TEM began life as a posting by Peter Rogers to the list. Join.