Anmelden
4 Examples of Good, Bad, and Mixed Communication from Our Iceland Trip
A huge part of my job at Stonemaier Games is communicating information via this website, our newsletters, Facebook groups, the weekly YouTube livecast, etc. I’ve tried to hone my communication skills through lots of practice, plus the consumption of other creators’ newsletters, crowdfunding updates, videos, and more.
I’m always fascinated by how someone handles communication when things don’t go as planned, and we had a few such situations arise during our recent Iceland trip. Here’s what happened, how the communication was handled, and what I learned from it as a creator.
Please Get Off the Plane
We boarded the plane for our Baltimore to Reykjavik flight late in the evening, and then we sat on the plane for around an hour while mechanics came and went. The captain kept us informed during this time that there was a minor mechanical issue that would be fixed soon. When the issue was resolved, the plane continued to sit at the gate for around 20 minutes before the pilot shared that the airport runways were now undergoing scheduled maintenance, and we would need to get off the plane and wait until the next day at 2:00 to reboard.
It was a rough way to start the trip, because we missed an entire day in Iceland as a result. In this case, I think the communication between the plane and the passengers was fine, but I have to think that better communication between the airline and the airport could have gotten us out of Baltimore without disrupting the runway maintenance.
In publishing, communication about timing in the short-term can have big implications. For example, we have a game we’re trying to launch on our webstore right before Essen Spiel (and then have copies at the convention), but to make that possible, we needed to work with our manufacturer to split the print run into two halves.
The Eclipse Is Cancelled
A small part of the reason we chose this particular week to go to Iceland is that they were in the path of totality for a solar eclipse due to happen on August 12. The weather was sunny and clear the entire trip…until the afternoon of the eclipse, when the boat was surrounded by a thick layer of fog.
Throughout the day, the communications officer on board gave updates and set expectations for the eclipse viewing. She told us that the captain was doing his best to find a clear area, but the chances of finding one were increasingly low. While I’m sure some people were disappointed that they missed a clear view of the sun, these updates ensured that no one was completely caught off guard by the lack of visibility.
I appreciate this approach to crowdfunding updates. Even if things aren’t going as planned, I’d rather know (and to hear what the creator is working on) than be kept in the dark.
We Now Live on This Bus
After a fun visit to an Icelandic horse ranch, our excursion bus struggled to pull out of a steep driveway. The driver kept trying, time after time, and each time the bus drifted a little further down the hill. This went on for around 20 minutes without a word of communication from the driver or tour guide.
Did we need progress updates? I don’t think so. We could all hear what was happening, and we knew the driver was doing his best. No one complained, and when the driver finally got it to work, we all cheered.
However, I think there was probably an opportunity for one update 10 minutes in to ease any future concerns. Something along the lines of, “If we’re still here in 20 minutes, we’ll call for a backup bus and everyone can wander around the ranch in the meantime.”
Sometimes people just need to hear that everything will be okay (and how it will be okay). It’s why we send a shipping update and post in a game’s Facebook group about a week into the shipping process–we want to assure people that it’s normal for some orders to have shipped but not others, and that we’ll take care of them if their order doesn’t arrive exactly as they’d hoped.
There Is No Line (Until There’s a Line)
We went on a few excursions, and we found the lack of signage at port to be a bit bewildering. For example, when we arrived to go see puffins in the wild, there were several lines, but the only guidance anyone had from the excursion coordinator was to either wait in a specific line (as directed by her) or to wait literally anywhere else until further instructions were provided. It was confusing for the hundreds of people who had excursions at different times, and probably frustrating for the coordinator to get the same questions over and over.
Similarly, for any future product, I think it’s helpful for customers to have a place to “wait” (i.e., a prelaunch signup page or a game-specific launch notification newsletter). That way they don’t have to wonder if they’ll miss out–they’ll get a notification when the product launches.
Have you learned anything about communication recently from travels, crowdfunding, or other experiences?
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