How to get a Dare Night card stand placed in a venue. The ask is small on purpose: "can I leave this card on your bar?" — an easy yes. The founder delivers (a CEO skill — OKR #3); this playbook is the prep. Reusable across every venue. Companion to the card stand in marketing/ and the measurable /card scan route.
You are not selling a game. You are selling a livelier common room. A hostel's product is its social atmosphere — it's what "great vibe" reviews are made of, and a lit-up common room means guests stay in, socialise, and spend at the bar. Every line below pitches to the manager's interest (a better room, better reviews, zero effort), not to how fun the game is.
Three things that make the ask an easy yes — say all three:
Opener (10 seconds — friendly, low-pressure, ask permission):
"Hey, are you the manager? I'm Dave. Quick one — I make a little party game for travelers, and I'm
putting it in a few good hostels around here. Can I show you in 30 seconds?"
Beat 1 — what it is (show, don't tell). Hand them the card stand so they see a real prompt:
"It's Truth or Dare, but built for a room of strangers who just met — the thing that turns a
quiet-everyone-on-their-phones common room into everyone-laughing."
Beat 2 — what's in it for you (the hostel):
"Costs you nothing and takes zero effort — it's literally just this card on the bar. Guests scan it,
it opens on their phone in the browser, no app to download, and it's free. It gives solo travelers an
instant icebreaker — which is exactly the 'amazing social vibe' people put in their reviews."
Beat 3 — the ask (tiny + reversible):
"Can I just leave this on the bar / in the common room? Try it a week. If guests don't pick it up,
toss it — no hard feelings, and I'll swing back to check."
Leave-behind: the acrylic card stand.
Plant the bigger yes (the ladder — for later, not now):
"If your guests take to it, I'd love to run an actual Dare Night on your common-room TV some evening.
But let's just start with the card."
Subject: Made a game for travelers — can I leave one at [Hostel]?
Hi [name] —
I'm Dave. I make a party game called Dare Night — Truth or Dare built for a room of travelers who
just met. It's the kind of thing that turns a quiet common room into everyone-laughing, and it's the
icebreaker solo travelers actually use.
I'm placing it in a few good hostels around [area], and [Hostel] came to mind — your common room
has exactly the crowd for it. The whole thing is a small card guests scan: opens free on their phone,
no app, nothing for you to set up or pay for. Just a livelier room (and the kind of vibe that ends up
in reviews).
Could I drop one off — or mail you one — to try for a couple of weeks? If it's not adding anything,
bin it, no strings.
Either way, thanks for what you do for travelers. 🙂
— Dave
[dare-night.app]
Follow-up (only if no reply, ~5 days later):
Hi [name] — floating this back up, no pressure. Happy to just leave a card at reception if that's
easier. Cheers — Dave
Every card's QR points at /card, a measurable route — so once Cloudflare Web Analytics propagates, you can see which venues actually drive plays (scan counts by day). Use it: a venue whose card gets scanned is a keeper (and a case study for the next pitch); a dead card means wrong venue or bad placement (move it somewhere with more foot traffic). Pitch → place → measure → do more of what works.
Don't hide that you built it and you travel. "I made this, for rooms exactly like yours" is more convincing than any hired rep — authenticity is the pitch. Lead with the room's benefit, close with why you care.