HV Gamer Con
In July of 2018, Baker Public Relations was retained by the Eastern Colligate Athletic Association (ECAC) and the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) as they looked to host a first of its kind event in the Northeast. HV Gamer Con would bring together colleges from across the eastern United States for a weekend of esports competition at the Albany Capital Center in March of 2019. The organizers of the event would rely on Baker Public Relation’s ability to adapt and willingness to learn about a new subject to its fullest potential to culminate in a widely panned event.
Baker Public Relations worked with the coalition of organizers including ECAC, MAAC, Center for Economic Growth (CEG) and the Albany Capital Center (ACC) to plan a press conference announcing the competition details and introducing the concept of egaming to the Capital Region residents and press. Baker Public Relations designed a logo and branding for the event in consultation with the organization partners. Through the end of March, Baker Public Relations would design and create dozens of graphics and flyers to be used on social media and in print.
In September of 2018, the Albany media was invited to the Albany Capital Center for an official announcement for what would become HV Gamer Con. The press conference was well attended and a spark of interest was lit in the community.
In the fall of 2018, Baker Public Relations assisted CEG in applying for a state grant (ultimately awarded for $150,000) to make the event a financial reality. Once the grant was awarded Baker Public Relations drafted a press release and worked with media covering the awards.
Baker Public Relations created a massive media list for esport journalists and trade publications and saw some national attention given to the event. Baker Public Relations also worked with local and regional media with pitches on player profiles and event logistics.
In January of 2019, Baker Public Relations was given a robust advertising budget to be used to promote the March 30 event. Baker Public Relations shot and edited multiple video spots, gifs and still images to be used in digital advertising on Facebook, Instagram, Youtube and Google. Baker Public Relations also used a partnership with Albany Broadcasting to create radio spots, in studio interviews and ticket giveaways. Digital ads were created and ran at Crossgates Mall and Aviation Mall for the month of March. Baker Public Relations also did a three-week ticket and gaming giveaway on the HV Gamer Con Instagram page. Since it was an inaugural event, Baker Public Relations had to bring together all the partners and local competing schools to satisfy the local media demand for images, interviews and video that could be used on their broadcasts.
With a first of its kind event, Baker Public Relations thought outside the box on how to reach the target audience while also keeping the non-gaming local media interested in the event. To keep excitement high through March, Baker Public Relations organized an “update” press conference at the Albany Capital Center announcing sponsors, committed teams and broadcasting partners. This was widely attended and resulted in positive media coverage.
Baker Public Relations also organized and facilitated a Media “Pro-Am” tournament through a partnership with Siena College. Baker Public Relations invited eight local media personalities and paired them with a Siena gamer for a Fortnite tournament. This resulted in widespread traditional and social media coverage building up to the event.
To build up excitement in the week before the event, Baker Public Relations secured interviews with every TV station in the Capital Region and coordinated numerous live shots at both partner locations and in–studio.
Baker Public Relations assisted with event logistics designing and creating a program to be used at the event, helped coordinate a panel of local gaming executives and coordinated on site media at the event. The event was considered a success by attendees, organizers and competitors.
