The Manaverse Podcast

Welcome to another episode of the Manaverse Podcast. We've got a great show for you today because today the whole round table is here to talk about finding and hiring the right people so you can build a team that … Read More The post MVP066: How To Build A Winning Team appeared first on Manaverse Saga.

This is the third episode in the series where we're exploring the question "If a game store wants to grow their game store business today, what should they do?" If you haven't listened to the previous episodes of this … Read More The post MVP065: Personal Development And Tools For Success appeared first on Manaverse Saga.

The round table is back! John Coviello and Gary Sproul join me to discuss the recent changes in the gaming industry and their impact on the business. We go over Game Workshop changing their policy about online shopping carts, minimum … Read More The post MVP064: Round Table – The Games Industry Is Changing appeared first on Manaverse Saga.

One of the most common threads among the game stores that have been featured on this podcast is that they provide their customers with an exceptional experience. Each transaction in your business fundamentally comes down to how your customer feels … Read More The post MVP063: How To Craft An Exceptional Experience appeared first on Manaverse Saga.

How would you like to wake up every day, knowing that your game store is steadily growing. Events are pulling in larger and larger numbers of people. The number of sales is going up, along with the size of each … Read More The post MVP062: Marketing Your Game Store appeared first on Manaverse Saga.

In today's episode of the Manaverse Podcast we're talking about Great Bend's newest game store, Mind Sculpt Games. So new it doesn't exist yet. Usually, I interview game store owners that have been in business for a few years and have … Read More The post MVP061: Building Mind Sculpt Games From The Ground Up appeared first on Manaverse Saga.

In today's episode of the Manaverse Podcast, our special guest is the most excellent Lynn Potyen. Lynn is the owner of the The GameBoard in Sheboygan, WI and in the words of the Geek and Sundry article she was recently … Read More The post MVP060: The GameBoard – How To Make Your Customer The Hero With Lynn Potyen appeared first on Manaverse Saga.

Guardian Games, the Grandest Game Store in Portland is the subject of this episode of the Manaverse Podcast. Gene Joo is the special guest today, he's the Magic Department Manager of Guardian Games in Portland, and he shares the strategies that he's … Read More The post MVP059: Guardian Games and Fostering a Magic Community with Gene Joo appeared first on Manaverse Saga.

Megacorp was created and designed by Mark G. Koh, a serial tech founder with a lifelong love of card games and business. Growing up in Singapore, southeast Asia, Mark discovered tabletop games at an early age of 8- beginning with … Read More The post MVP058: Business is War – Mark Koh on MegaCorp appeared first on Manaverse Saga.

In this episode of the Manaverse Podcast, the hosts of the show look back on 2016 and do a postmortem report. It's always a good idea to look back on what went right and what went wrong. You can learn some … Read More The post MVP057: Round Table – Breakout Games, Surprise Winners, Unexpected Stinkers, And The Lessons Of 2016 Round Table appeared first on Manaverse Saga.

The round table hosts of the Manaverse Podcast come together to discuss the past month. We live in exciting times and November has been an interesting for the guys. John Coviello, Wayne Mittlesteadt, Gary Sproul, and Tom Traplin share their … Read More The post MVP056: November In Review, Plus A Special Announcement appeared first on Manaverse Saga.

Every owner of a profitable game store will eventually face a difficult decision. Do you move your store or do you expand? Well, lucky for you this episode of the Manaverse Podcast covers both! Gary Sproul from the Haunted … Read More The post MVP055: Round Table – How To Move/Renovate Your Local Game Store Without Going Insane appeared first on Manaverse Saga.

In today's show the hosts of the Manaverse Podcast discuss the reasons why game stores fail. Some percentage of businesses fail. The question is how do you make sure that your game store isn't one of them? The sad truth is … Read More The post MVP054: Round Table – Why Game Stores Fail appeared first on Manaverse Saga.

The problems with Pucatrade are the subject of the show today, specifically the release of the Future Site update and the effects of its crumbling economy. After a fundraising campaign and many months of development time, Pucatrade's newest incarnation has … Read More The post MVP053: The Problem With Pucatrade appeared first on Manaverse Saga.

In today's episode of the Manaverse Podcast Wayne hosts John and I at Dueling Grounds in Toronto and we discuss the variety of ways a game store owner can build their shop's inventory. We go over the product mix matrix … Read More The post MVP052: Optimizing Your Product Mix appeared first on Manaverse Saga.

Tom's Top 5 Magic Settlers of Catan Betrayal at House on the Hill Hearthstone DBZ Card Game John's Top 5 Shadows Over Brimstone Takenoko Malifaux the Miniatures GameMansions of Madness Call of Cthulhu Wayne's Top 5 Magic Dungeons and Dragons … Read More The post MVP051: Round Table – Top 5 Favourite Games appeared first on Manaverse Saga.

According to an article by Bloomberg last year, ecommerce sales beat out traditional brick and mortar sales during Black Friday. The trend is now obvious and ecommerce sales are going to become more and more important as time goes on. … Read More The post MVP050: Ecommerce for Game Store Owners appeared first on Manaverse Saga.

Gary Sproul describes the terrifying history of the Haunted Game Cafe Today's episode of the Manaverse Podcast involves a deep dive into the murky fog and buried past of Gary Sproul. Gary is the ghostly proprietor of the Haunted Game … Read More The post MVP049: Gary Sproul on the Haunted Game Cafe appeared first on Manaverse Saga.

Many game store owners think their Facebook page is all they need to compete online and reach new customers. Tom Traplin, John Coviello, and Gary Sproul come together on this episode of the Manaverse Podcast to discuss the question: Does … Read More The post MVP048: Round Table – Does your game store need a website? appeared first on Manaverse Saga.

GeekyGami's has appeared! The story continues. Allen Hicks comes onto the Manaverse Podcast today to share with us the latest update to the tale of Nerdish Haven in Coffeyville, Kansas. Nerdish Haven was the fledgling local game store we've been following … Read More The post MVP047: GeekyGami’s with Allen Hicks // Nerdish Haven has evolved! appeared first on Manaverse Saga.

The game cafe and how to build one from scratch In this episode of the Manaverse Podcast, I'm joined by my co-hosts John Coviello and Wayne Mittlesteadt as well as a special guest, Gary Sproul. Gary is the owner of … Read More The post MVP046: Round Table – Game Cafes appeared first on Manaverse Saga.

Have you written a business plan for your game store? In this round table episode of the Manaverse Podcast Tom, Wayne and John discuss the importance of planning out your business. Sometimes that means sitting down and writing an actual, … Read More The post MVP045: Round Table – Creating a Business Plan That Works appeared first on Manaverse Saga.

Is Magic Digital Next Wizard's Answer To Hearthstone? In this round table episode of the Manaverse Podcast Tom, Wayne and John discuss the future of Magic: the Gathering. We also discuss how it may impact local game stores. With Wizard's announcement of … Read More The post MVP044: Round Table – Will Magic Digital Next Make Magic an E-Sport appeared first on Manaverse Saga.

The end of the local game store? In this round table episode of the Manaverse Podcast Tom, Wayne and John discuss an article recently written by past guest of the show, Gary Ray. You can find Gary's interview on the … Read More The post MVP043: Round Table – Will Local Game Stores Survive? appeared first on Manaverse Saga.

The Wizards Lawsuit In today's episode of the Manaverse Podcast Tom, Wayne and John discuss the details and ramifications of the recent announcement that WotC is being sued by four judges in California. The class action lawsuit claims that MTG … Read More The post MVP042: Round Table – Wizards of the Coast Sued By MTG Judges appeared first on Manaverse Saga.

Travis Parry and the tale of The Nerd Store Today's episode of the Manaverse Podcast features Travis Parry, someone you may recognize from the round table editions of the show. As the only co-host that hadn't been interviewed one on … Read More The post MVP041: Travis Parry and The Nerd Store appeared first on Manaverse Saga.

How to run great events that grow your game store Running events is one of the most effective ways to grow the community for your game store. If you do a good job organizing each one and provide a good … Read More The post MVP040: Round Table – How To Run Great Events That Grow Your Game Store appeared first on Manaverse Saga.

In the grim darkness of the deep internet, there is only war… The featured guest for today’s episode of the Manaverse Podcast is Matthew Glanfield. Matt is the co-owner of the popular YouTube channel MiniWarGaming and the website miniwargaming.com. There … Read More The post MVP039: MiniWarGaming.com – From LGS To YouTube appeared first on Manaverse Saga.

Welcome to the first edition of the Manaverse Podcast round table! In addition to the usual one on one interviews that you know and love, I've brought on a cavalcade of courageous co-hosts, a torrent of talent, an avalanche of entrepreneurial … Read More The post MVP038: Round Table – The GAMA Trade Show appeared first on Manaverse Saga.

The triumphant return of the Manaverse Podcast is here! No, this isn't a cruel April's Fools joke. The Manaverse Podcast is back! This episode of podcast is a short bite size update, a way for me to reintroduce myself to … Read More The post MVP037: Tom Traplin and the Manaverse Podcast are back! appeared first on Manaverse Saga.

The featured guest on today's episode of the Manaverse Podcast is Jay Mason-Grant. Jay is the owner of Black Knight Games in Hamilton, Ontario. Jay has a pretty interesting origin story for how he got into the business, and yet … Read More The post MVP036: Checkmate with Black Knight Games appeared first on Manaverse Saga.

KW Vintage Games - from retro to cardboard Joaquim Mendes is quite the character. Our guest today is the owner of one of the most unique shops in Kitchener, Ontario. Within the walls of his relatively small store is virtually … Read More The post MVP035: Player 2 Press Start – KW Vintage Games appeared first on Manaverse Saga.

Nerd Haven v2.0 Welcome to a slightly delayed edition of the Manaverse Podcast. Today’s podcast is an update with a previous guest. Roughly six months ago Aaron Tillman started up Nerd Haven with $500 and a laptop. Now, he’s expanded … Read More The post MVP034: The Nerd Haven Update – 5x The Haven appeared first on Manaverse Saga.

Face to Face Toronto - The Duelist Welcome to part 2 of the Kelly Ackerman/Face To Face Toronto interview. Today Kelly and I talk about the big mistakes, the big wins, and a bunch of tools and resources you can … Read More The post MVP033: Face To Face Toronto – How To Run Massive Magic Tournaments And Other LGS Secrets With Kelly Ackerman Part 2 appeared first on Manaverse Saga.

Welcome to another episode of the Manaverse Podcast. We’re continuing the Face To Face Games series today, this time we’re back in Toronto with Kelly Ackerman. Kelly is the co-owner of the newest iteration of the Face To Face business, … Read More The post MVP032: How To Run Massive Magic Tournaments And Other LGS Secrets With Kelly Ackerman Of Face To Face Toronto Part 1 appeared first on Manaverse Saga.

In this edition of the Manaverse Podcast and over the next few weeks, I am excited feature one of the most well known names in Canadian Magic. This particular episode our guest has competed on the Pro Tour twice, created and … Read More The post MVP031: Captain Canada Talks Being On The Pro Tour, Content Creation, And Building ManaDeprived.com appeared first on Manaverse Saga.

Welcome to the 30th episode of the Manaverse Podcast. I’ve got a great show for you today, our featured guest is the creative content manager for one of the premier LGSs in North America. Perhaps you’ve heard of them, Card … Read More The post MVP030: The Methods Card Kingdom and Mox Boarding House Use To Reach Hundreds Of Customers Each Week appeared first on Manaverse Saga.

Today's episode of the Manaverse Podcast is part two of the Steve Ellis interview and yes, that's a time travelling DeLorean in the feature image. Steve is the co-owner of Rainy Day Games in Aloha, Oregon in case you missed … Read More The post MVP029: Rainy Day Games And Building An LGS That Stands The Test Of Time Part 2 appeared first on Manaverse Saga.

Today's episode of the Manaverse Podcast features Steve Ellis, the co-owner of Rainy Day Games in Aloha, Oregon. Steve had so much insight into the world of game store ownership that I once again had to split the episode into … Read More The post MVP028: Rainy Day Games And Building An LGS That Stands The Test Of Time Part 1 appeared first on Manaverse Saga.

Today on the Manaverse Podcast we're talking to Laura Schneider. Laura's the co-owner of Meeples Games and she's going to walk us through how she built her awesome game store /cafe/thunderdome. We go over how Laura spent an entire year … Read More The post MVP027: Meeples Games, Welcome To The Thunderdome! appeared first on Manaverse Saga.

This week's episode of the Manaverse Podcast is part two of the Derium's CCGs interview. If you haven't checked out part one, you should do that first. I'll wait. Hey, glad you're back. This is the episode where the guys and … Read More The post MVP026: Derium’s CCGs Part Two appeared first on Manaverse Saga.

This week's episode of the Manaverse Podcast is a special one. Not only is it the 25th episode, it's also a two parter. The featured business for the next two episodes of the podcast has a popular channel on Youtube, … Read More The post MVP025: Derium’s CCGs Part One appeared first on Manaverse Saga.

Today’s show features Alex Moore. Alex is the chef and board game manager at Bampot, a board game cafe in Toronto. Bampot, or the full version: Bampot: Bohemian House of Tea and Board Games is a trendy place that offers loose … Read More The post MVP024: Bampot Tea, The Trendiest Board Game Cafe In Toronto appeared first on Manaverse Saga.

Today's episode of the Manaverse Podcast features Aaron Tillman. He’s the proud owner of Nerdish Haven in Coffeyville Kansas. In this episode we explore an LGS in the very first days of it’s existence. That’s because Nerdish Haven opened it doors … Read More The post MVP023: Nerdish Haven – The Story Of How To Start An LGS With $500 And A Laptop appeared first on Manaverse Saga.

Today's episode of the Manaverse Podcast is a little different from the usual show. In this shorter than average episode I talk about the different stages in a Magic player's career and how each stage relates to an LGS owner's business. We … Read More The post MVP022: How Your LGS Can Crush It With Player Progression appeared first on Manaverse Saga.

Jennifer Ward comes onto the Manaverse Podcast this week to share with us the future: A world dominated by crazy squirrels. Ok, that's not true, but she has come to share with everybody what makes Crazy Squirrel Game Store in … Read More The post MVP021: The Crazy Squirrel Game Store Is Plotting World Domination appeared first on Manaverse Saga.

Gary Ray on the Magic: the Gathering bubble On today's episode, my featured guest is Gary Ray, the store owner of Black Diamond Games in Concord, California. Gary is a purveyor of board games, card games, and all things … Read More The post MVP020: Black Diamond Games, Gary Ray, and the Magic Bubble appeared first on Manaverse Saga.

Erik Bigglestone and Games of Berkeley are the focus of this week's episode of the Manaverse Podcast. Erik shares his experience as part of a gaming family and the story of how he came to be the owning manager of … Read More The post MVP019: Games of Berkeley, California’s Premier FLGS appeared first on Manaverse Saga.

Today's episode of the Manaverse Podcast features a woman whose store is literally a castle. Pat Johnson comes on the show to talk about her aptly named store Pat's Games. Pat has a fairly unique business. Most local game stores put … Read More The post MVP018: Pat’s Games And The Castle That Magic Built appeared first on Manaverse Saga.

Wayne Mittlestead comes onto the Manaverse Podcast today to talk about life, love, and happiness as an entrepreneur... sort of. Wayne built Dueling Grounds in Toronto, Ontario from the ground up. With 11 years of experience Wayne has a lot to … Read More The post MVP017: Pistols at Dawn! Wayne Mittlestead on Dueling Grounds appeared first on Manaverse Saga.