Demo\'s at GW Stores

[fieldarchy]

Hey,

Has anyone ever set up a painting demo at a GW store before? I was in the one in Grapevine, Texas this week as it\'s right near my office and got to talking with one of the guys there. He had tons of questions about painting and things and I told him it would take me a day to sit down and teach him all he wanted to learn (from color theory to layering to knowing how to mix recipes and proper painting equipment). I\'m sure others in the area would be interested in learning more refined painting techniques as well (comparatively speaking to the army painting method).

Anyway, if anyone has any insight as how to set one of these up without being a GW employee it would be greatly appreciated. I wanted to approach them about it when I go in again on Friday but I wanted to be armed with some info first.

 

[Dragonsreach]

Well I do them quite regulary for my local store, but I know the manager/staff very well and have a Criminal Records Bureau clearance. (Required for GW employees and my work). I don\'t know what the requirements are in the US, but you\'ll have to meet them.

Meg; I\'d suggest that you \"ingratiate\" (be careful) yourself with the manager and the rest of the staff, but make sure that they are real hobbyists and not just gamers/salespersons.

There are a few risks involved in trying this:
1) You\'ll have to make sure you have a selection of GW Miniature products painted up.
2) You\'ll be limited to GW paints.
3) As an Attractive Girl you\'ll scare off some of the GW Fanboys.
4) As an Attractive Girl you\'ll get \"hit on\" by some of the GW Fanboys/Dads/Staff.
5) You\'ll have to develop a strong tolerance to Teenage Body Odour.
6) You\'ll have to develop eyes in the back of your head as some of your kit will \"develop legs\".
7) You will suddenly find yourself developing a \"limpet\"................That is a Socially Inept Person, Male in their 30\'s, more than likely still \"Intact\", who\'s rationale is that they have decided to themselves that they are your long lost best friend and will speak to you incessantly at any opportunity about every aspect of GW games.

And if that hasn\'t scared you off then \"Go for it\". It can be fun and sometimes you find that there are some damn good painters who just need a couple of pointers to make them really \"top class\".

 

[freakinacage]

Originally posted by Dragonsreach

3) As an Attractive Girl you\'ll scare off some of the GW Fanboys.
4) As an Attractive Girl you\'ll get \"hit on\" by some of the GW Fanboys/Dads/Staff.
5) You\'ll have to develop a strong tolerance to Teenage Body Odour.
6) You\'ll have to develop eyes in the back of your head as some of your kit will \"develop legs\".
7) You will suddenly find yourself developing a \"limpet\"................That is a Socially Inept Person, Male in their 30\'s, more than likely still \"Intact\", who\'s rationale is that they have decided to themselves that they are your long lost best friend and will speak to you incessantly at any opportunity about every aspect of GW games.

oh mike you are such a cynic! lol

good luck meg!

 

[generulpoleaxe]

it can be fun, but mike is right about the body odour part.
christ, white dwarf should have a guide about hygiene in it, if only for the sake of their retail staff.

 

[Dragonsreach]

Originally posted by freakinacage

Originally posted by Dragonsreach

3) As an Attractive Girl you\'ll scare off some of the GW Fanboys.
4) As an Attractive Girl you\'ll get \"hit on\" by some of the GW Fanboys/Dads/Staff. 1
5) You\'ll have to develop a strong tolerance to Teenage Body Odour. 2
6) You\'ll have to develop eyes in the back of your head as some of your kit will \"develop legs\". 3
7) You will suddenly find yourself developing a \"limpet\"................That is a Socially Inept Person, Male in their 30\'s, more than likely still \"Intact\", who\'s rationale is that they have decided to themselves that they are your long lost best friend and will speak to you incessantly at any opportunity about every aspect of GW games.4

oh mike you are such a cynic! lol

Unfortunatly Tim it\'s true.

1 Being \"Hit on\" does happen, only in my case it\'s been a 60 something grandmother and a Gay teenager. Neither of which has really done anything for my self esteem.

2 Our local GW store is by no means the worst gamers place in the Area another shop has such a noted problem it\'s developed the nickname of \"Funkboythree\".

3 Painting equipment (and models) do seems to sprout legs, I\'ve lost a couple of decent W & N brushes, a SPAM Terminator Chaplain and a mixing pallette.

4 Oh that this one wasn\'t true! I as an \"Older\" gamer/painter seem to have developed a magnetic personality for \"Limpets\". There are times when Iunderstand just how a whales feels with all those barnacles stuck on it\'s jaw.

good luck meg!

 

[demonherald]

Hee hee.. as an ex manager I can relate to everything Mike says....especially the limpet.. It\'s amazing how many\" best \"friends I developed.
to officially do it CRB clearance is needed...(in the UK) but to be honest we always welcomed people doing demos and lessons and I think the company as a whole encourage it as long as Mike rightly says it is GW products at every step..even brushes to a point which can add a fun challenge.
best bet is just ask them .. The worst they can say is no and that\'s their loss not yours..

 

[freakinacage]

Originally posted by Dragonsreach

1 Being \"Hit on\" does happen, only in my case it\'s been a 60 something grandmother and a Gay teenager. Neither of which has really done anything for my self esteem.

[/quote]
i would pay money to watch that!!

also, what is a spam terminator?

 

[Roger Bunting]

A spam would be a SPAce Marine.

 

[Mason Storm]

I\'ve done a few at the local GW. The manager approached me and asked if I would be willing. I\'m sure they would jump at the opportunity to have you do a demo/lessons. The only problem I had was that I was expecting \"competition/display\" level painters to sign up (which is what the store had promised), but instead most of the guys who attended were \"gaming\" painters. I didn\'t mind necessarily, but I had prepared for the former and not the later. So, the only advice I would have is to make sure they know what you expect (and vice versa). Overall, I had a good time with it, but found it impossible, like you mentioned, to even come close to cover everything.

 

[skeeve]

Originally posted by fieldarchy

Anyway, if anyone has any insight as how to set one of these up without being a GW employee it would be greatly appreciated. I wanted to approach them about it when I go in again on Friday but I wanted to be armed with some info first.

1. No, in US you do not need criminal clearance (what is that after all?)

2. Whether you need to use GW paints or not depends on a) goodwill of the manager b) what are you demonstrating.

I use a mix of paints heavily slanted toward Vallejo and reaper master. If you show techniques/theory it doesn\'t matter what paint you use. If you show color schemes you have to stick to GW. Figure it out in advance with the manager.

3. Figure out the level of your audience. I would be interested in intricate details of your blendings, many would be asking what the hell is ink.

4. Make sure you have some painted and unpainted minies to show the results. Mine are often on display, so I always have them.

5. Use VERY limited color pallets, probably no more then 4 colors + black and white. People get scared if you tell them that you used 7 different colors just for the skin, but again know your audience, some people might be actually interested in this as well.

6. Yes, you will have a chance to meet annoying a) teenagers, b) grand parents, c) parents, d) customers who think you are working for the store. Just be prepared to tell them off and focus on painting.
Personally, among everything Dragonsreach mentioned I find that overly excitable parents that run around, point at your minies and scream how amazing, great, wonderful…and all that to be most annoying . I really don’t know how to react to such a display of pointless emotions.

 

[Dragonsreach]

Originally posted by skeeve
Personally, among everything Dragonsreach mentioned I find that overly excitable parents GW Employees, Kids, that run around, point at your minies and scream how amazing, great, wonderful…and all that to be most annoying . I really don’t know how to react to such a display of pointless emotions.
Tell \'em you sacrifice fluffy kittens. ........Works for me! :evil::twisted:

 

[Friar]

Originally posted by skeeve
1. No, in US you do not need criminal clearance (what is that after all?)

Probally the same as a backround check, alot of US employers require it, they just call up the local police station and check ya out, just with most things it sounds alot fancier on teh other side of the pond.

 

[mattrock]

Hey Meg, I run some paint clinics at the Katy Mills GW store just outside of Houston and I didn\'t need any clearance to do so. From time to time I\'d find myself there painting to get out of the house (particularly when my wife had tutoring students there) and lots of \"ooohs and ahhhs\" were had in the time that I was there. I was getting a lot of questions as you are and I simply approached the manager and offered to teach a clinic at no cost. He was more than happy to have it. I generally think it\'s a good idea to choose a single mini for everyone to work on (thus I have recently chose one of the new Ork models as they seem to be the hot new items lately) and thus help to drum up business for GW while drawing some new people in as well.

I haven\'t had any fanboy problems yet, but I have met a few limpets as it were. It\'s still fun though and it\'s pretty satisfying to help someone else actually \"get it\" which may only happen to one student in 10 or so.

Just ask...you may be surprised.

 

[airhead]

get a large tin of mints. Offer them - often. Best advice I was given when I started doing painting classes.

 

[RobberBaron]

I went to one of these demos by a golden demon winner and it was a lot of fun.
Basically he took a lot of work in progress pics of his winning mini, and then presented them on a laptop with discussion on his techniques for each step - basecoating, layering, etc. He had a few models to demonstrate his techniques on too.
He happened to be good friends with the manager who is a painter which helped a lot. The manager kind of filtered the people who attended, making it an invite only and only for people that were interested in display quality painting. This way you don\'t get the \"how do I paint 20 marines fast?\"