Answer: All the Difference

One of the great things about GameTruck is that when people see the Game Trailer, they instantly get the concept.  I frequently hear things like, “How fun!” and “That looks amazing,” or the timeless favorite, “Wow.”

I know the truck is extremely cool, but, that is not what people buy from us.  As sweet as that game theater is, at the end of the day, this is not actually what people buy from us.  Remember the story about Laser Tag?  Before we offered it as a service, people would call, ask for it, and despite being told, “We don’t offer that.” They would book us anyway.  Who does that?  Who calls a store looking for one thing and then buys something completely different?

As far as the equipment goes they are completely different.  A set of laser tag gear looks exactly nothing like a Video Game Trailer.  This caused me to ask the question, “What exactly are they buying?”

It’s not what the equipment is, it is what the equipment represents.  The equipment is a physical representation of an outcome.  They can see equipment.  They can visualize it.  But what they really want is a party.  And not just any party, they want a GameTruck Party.

And let’s be clear, a GameTruck party is a special kind of party.  If you only focus on the equipment, you might miss it.  People buy GameTruck parties to celebrate.  The outcome they want is a great celebration.  A celebration is a form of marking a special occasion or important event by engaging in enjoyable social activities.

From my experience, a celebration is a form of recognition.  You are acknowledging someone and elevating them into a position of dignity and respect.  They feel validated, seen, heard, and most of all valued.  A successful celebration is a confirmation of the value we place on the people in our lives, especially our children.

This is supported by one of the oddities of the GameTruck business.  Most parties are not ordered by the person playing in the game theater.  They are ordered by parents, by office managers, by school administrators.  The event is ordered by someone for someone else.  

A GameTruck Party is a gift, a gift of recognition, respect, and socialization.  It is a transference of emotion, and things don’t transfer emotions, people do.

At the end of the day, the magic of a GameTruck Party is delivered by and from the GameCoach.  The person in charge of the event, of managing everything that happens inside (and near and around) the Game Trailer.

When people say, “It’s about the experience.”  This is the experience they are talking about.  The experience their child has when they are the center of attention of an adult who cares as much about gaming as they do.  They are the focus of their friends and family, sitting at the front, choosing the game they want to play and who they want to play with.

The real magic of a GameTruck party is delivered by the amazing men and women who go to great lengths to:

• Make sure the trailer is clean before the party starts
• Put everything away after the party is over
• Make sure the host is comfortable with the selection of available games (we respect the right of parental choice for is and is not appropriate for their guest to play)
• Help the players negotiate who is going to play what games and when
• Translate the players expressions for the parents (concentrating gamers do not look like they are having fun – but they are)
• And most importantly, making sure the VIP – the focal point of the celebration is feeling seen, heard, and valued.

It’s easy to focus on equipment.  We see people do it all the time.  They get sucked into comparing this thing vs that thing, this feature vs that feature and they lose sight of what they really want to buy.  They want to let their child know how much they mean to them. They want to celebrate.

A great Game Coach makes that all seem effortless, automatic, invisible even. Yet we know it’s real and it matters because we see the tips that flow through our system on a regular basis.  We also get the calls from distraught parents who, for the sake of $25 went with another company that cancelled on them at the last minute because their “driver got sick”, or “flaked”, or “didn’t show up” or my personal favorite, “the driver is in jail.”

We never call our staff drivers.  They are Coaches.  A coach works to grow human potential.  A coach is focused on helping you play your best.  A coach brings specialized knowledge that will make it easier for you to play the way you want to play.

Drivers are focused on things.  

A coach is focused on people.

When people ask, “What does a Game Coach do?”

I answer, “The most important work of all. They turn a party into a celebration.”

And that is what every parent is really trying to buy from GameTruck, and that is what everyone in our system works so hard to deliver.