In my area of WV there aren't lists of approved vendors or anything like that for things I would buy during the school year. Requisitioning things at the end of the year has a few approved vendors but we have forms we can fill out to request a purchase from any source.
The biggest inroad I can think for a game company would be to befriend an interested teacher. Offer to come into a classroom or an after school program to demo one of the games. Come prepared with some sample lesson plans for the teacher to show how the game could directly address their particular state's standards.
Most of all though - give them some sort of donated game to get them started. Schools tend to have little funding and if they can get a sample game to play with on their own, learn the rules, come up with some ideas on how to use them then they will be more likely to bite at your product and come back to you.
Speaking from experience when I began a Go program I had a few distributors donate some equipment to me. Later that year I got around 400$ from my school and spent almost the entire amount with those specific vendors. I also thank those vendors in my handout to the kids and our school website to try to give them some advertising back for their help.
-Ryan
On 6/29/07, Maureen Reed <maureen@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Hi everybody. I am Looney Lab's
sales representative in the Chicago
area. I'm not trying to sell you guys anything (you already love Looney
Labs products or you wouldn't be here!) but I've been told it would
be okay to ask you how I would go about reaching teachers and school districts.
I know there is a purchasing process at all schools and I know generally about
national teacher conferences. I'd like advice on how to get my foot in
the door and recognized as a legitimate vendor of educational supplements and
enrichment activities. Are there listings I should get Looney Labs' name
on? Are there local conferences where vendors are present? Does your purchasing
department circulate lists of authorized vendors? How do you go about
purchasing items for your classroom? Please, fill me in on what I don't
know about selling games to teachers.
Thanks!
Maureen Reed
_______________________________________________
Edu mailing list
Edu@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://lists.looneylabs.com/mailman/listinfo/edu
--
Ora, lege, lege, lege, relege, labora et invenies.