Benefits of Membership
Below are some of the benefits our members enjoy. If you
have any questions about any of them, please contact our program manager, Trey
Reilly, at Programs@gama.org.
GAMA Trade Show: brings together industry professionals, offering them education on how they
can run their businesses better and improving communications between all
members of our industry. GTS is
the place to find new products for your stores and to learn about important new
releases. Publishers and distributors use the show to find new customers for
their products and support relationships with existing customers.
Origins
International Games Expo:
Game players from across the U.S.
and around the world come to play their favorite games, meet game designers,
and buy the newest releases. Origins is the ultimate direct-to-consumer
marketing experience, a great opportunity for game retailers, and a solid venue
for the strengthening and building of the game-playing community.
Booth Rebates: GAMA
Members receive a 10 percent rebate on their Exhibitor Booth fees with GAMA for
the year (totaling both GTS and
Origins), up to the full cost of their membership fee.
Retailer Badges: GAMA
retail members receive one free Buyers Badge for GTS, and two free Origins badges,
to either use themselves or to give away at their store.
Trade Organization
Survey: GAMA looks very good in comparison to other organizations of its
size. We will continue to do the survey as one way to make sure we’re offering
our members more than the average benefits package.
Retailer and
Manufacturer Handbooks: Mailed when someone first becomes a member, these
handbooks have proven to be exceedingly useful resources to our members.
Industry Watch
Committee: Led by Michael Stackpole, the Industry Watch Committee helps
stores and publishers deal with negative press about games. Luckily you don’t
hear much about our work in this area as Mike’s done a great job handling
issues.
Games in Education:
This program strives to teach educators how they can use games in their
curricula. Anchored by the Teacher’s Hall
Pass program at Origins
and our booklets on Games in Education, our staff has also been attending
educational conferences and reaching out to educational organizations to spread the word about our industry's games.
Retail Mentorship
Program: This program, sponsored by the GAMA Retail Division, is aimed at
helping new game stores to become successful businesses. Since 2000, the GRD
has had a solid success rate with matching up experienced retailers with
retailers needing guidance.
Origins Awards:
Presented by GAMA’s Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts & Design, the Origins
Awards recognize the gaming industry’s top achievements and products released
during the previous year. In its 32nd year, the Academy strives to
create national recognition and prestige for these awards, and reward
innovation and achievement in our industry.
GAMA Store Decor
Program: A new program in 2005, retail members can receive sign files for
their stores that the retailers can have printed at their local print shop. These signs are open and closed signs, product
department signs, bathroom signs, and so forth. The signs feature artwork from
several of our member game companies and are all in standardized sizes and
formats so the retailer can use signs from several different companies and they
all look good together.
Health Insurance:
GAMA offers health insurance benefits to its US-based members at rates or with
benefits that large companies enjoy. The insurance comes through Assurant
Affinity, a company specializing in health insurance solutions for non-profit
trade organizations.
Industry Resource
Lists: In addition to our Member Directory, GAMA has lists of distributors
and vendors on our Web site for members to access to help them in their
businesses.
National Advertising
Campaign: To help our retail members spread the word about their stores and
the fun of games, GAMA created three generic “Let’s play a game!” commercials
that include time at the end for custom information. The ads are available free to all GAMA members.
Each tape includes three ads (15, 30, and 60 seconds), and comes with
instructions on buying ad time with your local cable company to target your
customers either by geography or interest.
Retail Locator:
To assist in the sale of more games, GAMA offers a retail locator on our Web
site for people looking for game stores to use. Our list of retailers is also
available in one file for our members to use in their marketing efforts.
Website Benefits: Registered GAMA member users gain access to additional features such as: Industry Downloads, Additional Search Functions, and Forums Posting Access. Registration is simple! Just click the "Create an account" link above!
GAMA Member Logo
GAMA members can proudly display the GAMA logo on web sites and
appropriate products in accordance with GAMA policies and directives.
This logo should link back to http://www.gama.org
To download the image right click (or click and hold on a Mac) and select "Save As..."
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