It's easy to want to go to E3, but it's a little more difficult to actually get there. Going to the E3 expo's web site leads you through a rather dark and intimidating registration process. Once that's done, there are other hoops that you're going to want to jump through, and in the end sometimes even people that want to go and are qualified to go don't make it to the convention. E3 2005 is less than a month away, and I've been getting a lot of questions about how, when, and if people should and can attend the show. Let's take a look at the exact steps you should take if you're interested in attending E3 2005.
Are you allowed to attend?
The first question you're going to want to ask yourself is whether or not you're allowed to attend. E3 is a trade event, meaning that it's closed to people that are not involved in the industry and people who are under 18 years old. If you can't claim at least some ties to the gaming industry, you're probably not going to have much luck acquiring a ticket, and your dreams of attending E3 end here. The affiliation doesn't have to be that strong though. "I'm a game player," won't cut it, but, "I work at the video game rental store," just might. When you're registering, you'll be presented with a number of choices. Just as an example, here are a few of the affiliations they expect to be applying:
- Primary Business:
- Consumer Electronics
- Computer Hardware/Software
- Video Store
- Toy, Hobby Store
- Catalog Showroom
- Mass Merchant
- Department Store
- Book Store
- Mail Order/Catalogs and Clubs
- Super Store Chain
- Online Retailer
- Importer/Exporter
- They also have categories such as:
- Education/Libraries
- Investor/Banker
- Brokerage/Venture
The list goes on, but as you can see, there are a lot of different categories to fit yourself into. If you can figure out an angle that might get you onto the show floor, give it a go. Don't start randomly e-mailing game magazines asking to go on freelance or anything (we get that a lot), but if you have a legitimate claim it can't hurt to send it in and see what happens.
Applying for an E3 badge: Step 1
If you made it by the last paragraph and think you have some sort of justifiable reason for attending - besides that you're a rabid fan and really,
really want to go - it's time to actually apply. E3 does not use tickets, they issue badges instead. You can swipe these badges at the booths to register who you are and where you've been, and they'll be scanned by people with black lights at the entrance to the E3 convention floor. If you don't have one, you're not getting in. There are three types of badges you can apply for. They are:
- As media:If you're a member of the press and are willing to prove it, you'll find a free badge and holder is just a few steps away. Since applying as media is more complicated (involves submitting copies of your business license) and applies to only a few of our readers, we're not going to talk about how to register as media.
- As Industry Invite:If you're not sure what this is, you probably don't have one. Industry Invites allow both the people running E3 and the booths (like game publishers) to invite key people to the show. Most of you are not going to have one of these, so we're not going to talk about how to register as Industry Invite, either.
- As an attendee:
This is probably you. Attendees are people that have shown they have some reason to attend the show (are affiliated with the industry), but aren't really going as one of the other two.
Applying for an E3 badge: Step 2
Now that you know who you're applying as, there's one more thing to decide before you actually start filling out forms, and that's which parts of E3 you want to attend. E3 is actually broken up into two halves; a conference with lectures on things like AI design and programing for games, and the exhibit floor. Generally, whenever you see the press refer to E3, we're talking about the last 3 days on the exhibit floor. This is where all the publishers and game companies show off the cool toys and games they have under development; unless you're really interested in the details of game design, which is pretty cool, you're going to want the "show floor only" package.
