Management at Lower Deck advised us last week that they are not renewing their Buzztime contract in October, so unless the sales force is active, the four Atlantic Provinces will be left without a single location where its fans can play. The manager noted that it had not been bringing in new customers as they had hoped, and that they could not justify the cost.
This was not surprising to us, as they have no signs or ads re the games, often it was not on any screens, the Playmakers were hidden behind the bars, the staff had no interest in the games, and not only did not promote it, but often did not know how it worked. They did promote one evening of live trivia each week, with cash prizes (from registration money) and this was very successful. Unfortunately, no attempt was made to have similar contests for the NTN games, nor even to point them out to the live trivia players.
We had our regular Showdown team up to six, but, because of the high cost of gas, the two of us making the two-hour trip from the Annapolis Valley had cut back to every second week, and the others were not keen enough to come in on their own.
As far as I can tell, there is no Buzztime rep east of Ontario in Canada, which may be part of the problem. This is probably a chicken-and-egg question, but at least a part-time liaison or promotions person here could help.
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