Author: Phil Dieringer, marketing and language, WWBG

GAMA Expo 2025, in many regards, was trial by fire. I have worked adjacently in the board game industry for a few years, namely as a textual laborer (writing rulebooks, translating promotional materials, etc.), and only until a few months ago have expanded into marketing, community management, communications, and other fields full of corporate speak and buzzwords.

Imposter syndrome is real.

I’d sometimes forgotten how small the industry really is, and within the convention hall, I quickly found myself rubbing shoulders with names that I have engaged with unidirectionally—they create, I consume. Starstruck is not quite the right word, but your knowledge and (nascent) expertise comes under imagined scrutiny. What nuggets, what terminology can you drop to leave an impression? After all, a game needs to be sold and a brand needs to be remembered.

An anecdote I heard secondhand: A publisher or creator stood in front of an audience of retailers and struggled through a pitch. (Again, a game needs to be sold.) In the sea of games being introduced at GAMA—never mind the number being launched annually—it would have been easy for the room to simply dismiss the speaker and, consequently, their game. There is always another hotness, another trend to chase. Instead, some of the retailers sought out the speaker afterwards, thanking them for their time and providing feedback. Weeks after GAMA, I find myself coming back to this story because the retailers then ardently encouraged the speaker to take the experience and pay it forward—including to their future self.

We have all once been the imposter.

The board game industry is a bit notorious for how it chews through its media: Top 10 Games Lists of 20XX are full of entries that are seemingly forgotten as FOMO has moved on [to its next victim]. In that moment at GAMA, however, there was a personal touch that swam upstream against our faster-than-light consumption. The speaker could have been consumed and moved on from as the next waited in line—but they weren’t. There should never be an expectation of being fully polished, and the notion of paying it forward to oneself is a positive outlook on development from which I can certainly benefit.   

This camaraderie and inclusion, as a first time GAMA expo-goer, is what stands out to me. Inclusion is a big word to use for this English-speaking, cis, white male who fits the mold of the board game hobbyist. The board game industry, like all industries, has work to do on the inclusivity front. At the same time, the encouragement and welcoming spirit towards new retailers, marketers, developers, creators, etc. is one of the community’s strengths. Indeed, a rising tide lifts all boats. But don’t roll your eyes just yet: this is the kind of cornball idiom you see literally talked about and manifested at GAMA.

We all have a voice, and—from my experience—GAMA and the wonderful individuals I interacted with were more than willing to listen.