A few months ago I was asked if I’d like to become a Nintendo DS Lite brand enthusiast. Thinking it was someone who wanted me to schill for free product, I sort of ignored the emails.. but in the end they tracked me down and I agreed. Basically, all I had to do was accept a free Nintendo DS Lite. And that’s it. I wasn’t required to blog about it or take surveys or do anything really. For a year we are stay in contact and sometimes they’ll send me a game or accessories. After the year everything is mine to keep. Of course, I’m blogging about it now, so I’ve done what they wanted… but whatever! Free Nintendo DS Lite. Plus, this is less “Nintendo is great, buy their products” and more “Hey, let me tell you about this cool thing that happened,” which is what I’m about to do in the next paragraph.

Part of my agreement was that I’d host a party with Nintendo. They were trying to target adult women who don’t usually game, so I needed to invite 25 - 30 of my “girlfriends.” Oh, and every one of them who attended would also get a free Nintendo DS Lite. See, it pays to be my friend!

While compiling the invitation list I realized that 1) a lot of my friends are dudes, 2) a lot of dudes will offer to wear a skirt and shave their face in order to score free electronics, 3) a lot of my close girlfriends don’t live in Chicago. Or even Illinois. But, I think I did a good job coming up with different women from all of my different friend groups. And they all got along and we had a totally fun time.

I was kind of afraid because I’d only met people from the marketing firm one time.. and then I had to tell 30 people about the party.. and what if it wasn’t not cool? Or you were punked and there’s not really a party? Or there was a party but it was all marketing and presentation? Or what if it’s in a really lame place? Well, it was none of that. A really beautiful West Loop loft space was rented out and decorated stylishly. Seriously, I wanted to live there. Also, there was really fantastic food provided, red wine, white wine, and champagne. Not once was there any people saying how great Nintendo is or schilling. The people that worked there were really nice. There was a photographer (we had to sign releases) and a food/bartender. There were four women who were roughly our age and dressed in black skirts and black tops and high heels. I wasn’t sure at first about their cocktail-y attire, but they turned out to be super nice and down to earth. And you could just tell that they’ve played the games like crazy. They knew everything about the games and seemed to really enjoy playing them. I guess that’s the best marketing of all. It’s cool that Nintendo has recognized that we don’t have to be told that they’re fun, they just show that they are. They let the product speak for itself. I also like that they said “you don’t have to do anything” (blog/survey/feedback/etc), because you know we all don’t like being told what to do, but if you say we don’t have to, then we will. Some companies are so clueless about word of mouth and guerrilla marketing, though.. the stuff that can’t be measured with solid metrics.

There were four couches set up in the space and at each spot there were several Nintendo DS Lites with different games in them. So, you needed to play each game at each station to get a charm for a charm bracelet everyone was wearing. After you got all the charms then you got to play WII on some flat screen TVs. When guests left they got to choose if they wanted a black or a pink Nintendo DS Lite. And everyone got Brain Age 2. Pretty much everyone told me they had a fabulous time playing the games, that the food was great and that they enjoyed the company. And, of course, everyone was thrilled to have a new Nintendo DS Lite!

I’ve never considered getting a handheld gaming system, but I find myself playing the DS all the time. At home, on flights. It’s pretty fun. I do wish I’d had the chance to choose the color, though. I for sure would have picked black. Instead they sent me a pink one a few months ago, and not only that, it’s bedazzled with rhinestones in the shape of a heart. Seems like it’s geared more towards a tween than an adult woman, but hey, it was free, so I’m not complaining!