Precinct Omega's first proper event is this weekend, as I head down to Plymouth with a car full of products. But PAW (The Plymouth Association of Wargamers) isn't just about selling stuff (although, obviously, it's about selling stuff).
In the first place, it's about getting to tell more people, face-to-face, about Ballmonsters! to get a sense of their opinions. Who likes it? Who doesn't? What sort of person is drawn to the product and who recoils in disgust?
It's also about seeing other traders, like me but more experienced and more comfortable in the role. How do they interact? How do they organize themselves? Who turns up first and who's late? Who sells stuff hand over fist and who sees barely a dribble of sales? And why? And, because PAW is a two-day event, hopefully there'll be a chance to hang out and get some drinks and learn from others about how to work and how not to work.
But there's also one other big thing that this weekend is about.
I established Precinct Omega on the basis that I wanted it to stand for something more than just great games and making profit. An important part of Precinct Omega's business model is doing whatever we can to reduce our environmental impact. So I'll be travelling to Plymouth in an electric car: a 2017 Nissan Leaf, to be exact.
Travelling a long distance in an electric car is a big deal and not to be undertaken lightly. So I've planned my stops along the way to make sure I can stay charged up and don't have to rush anywhere. It's a different sort of driving: a more elegant vehicle from a more civilized age, with which we think more about our journeys, take more time to plan them, move more slowly and efficiently and deflect energy bolts back at our opponents (possibly not the last one).
Hopefully, all will go well. And I might even turn a profit.
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