[Forge Midwest 2007] Official thread, Part 1 of 2

[Matt Snyder]

This is the first of two official threads about Forge Midwest 2007. This thread is to open up planning and discussion a little bit. This will be short lived as details must be finalized soon! The second official thread will be about the actual, finalized reservations and specific event planning.

So, to kick it off, here are the preliminary details:

Dates:
* Friday April 13 through Sunday, April 15
* Friday April 20 through Sunday, April 22

Locations:
* Rosemont, which is very near O'Hare International
* Skokie, suburb northwest of Chicago proper

Use this thread to do the following:
* Voice concerns or ideas about dates, location, or expenses.
* Comment on last year, good, bad and ugly.
* New ideas for this year.

You get the idea ... Be warned. It will be IMPOSSIBLE to meet everyone's needs and wants. Also! I'll be talking it over behind with scenes with Illinois experts Ralph, Ron, and Keith. We'll consider concerns and weigh those as we finalize reservations.

[Troy_Costisick]

Dates:
* Friday April 13 through Sunday, April 15
* Friday April 20 through Sunday, April 22

Camp Nerdly is in early May, I think.  So I'd like to keep as much time between those two events as possible to give people a chance to reflect, recoup, and save up.  Personally, the last week of March would have been best, but of these two dates the 13-15 is by far the better of the two choices, IMHO.

Peace,

-Troy

[jenskot]

April 20-22 works best for me.

April 13 is nerdnyc's Gotham Gaming Guild.

I do not have a location preference.

I loved last year!

I would love a little more structure for the games. I don't think pre-registration is necessary. But having a wall of signup sheets would be awesome. This would help diversify groups so that games aren't just filled with existing friends (which isn't a bad direction to go either).

I would love to include seminars or roundtable workshops like what Luke moderated at Dreamation.

You rule!

- John

[Eric J. Boyd]

As a possible attendee from out-of-town coming by air, nearer the airport is probably better, all else being equal. I also second the notion of some kind of sign-up process, perhaps even before arrival. I know folks are awesome and inclusive, but if I'm going to come in from Arizona I want to ensure I have a rockin' time with a full slate of games.

Cheers,

Eric

[GamerChick]

I'd prefer the 20-22nd myself, though I might be able to make the previous weekend work.

Jae Walker

[Mayuran]

Matt-

First off - much thanks for organizing again this year.

Keith mentioned that one of the locations is off of the blue line, and much more convenient for transportation from the airport and into Chicago (for Jared's goth club excursions and our trips for real Chicago pizza)

I'm also excited about 20th-22nd.

Last year was great - very chill and informal. As long as we keep that vibe, it's all good. Pick up games, some board gaming, and maybe a few specific things people have brought specifically to run/playtest.

Hope to see you there!

Mayuran

[Jake Norwood]

Well, after all my bitching in the other thread...

the 20-22 increases my chances of attendance, also. FWIW.

I love you guys...

Jake

[Nev the Deranged]

 the 13th - 15th works best for me, but I can make either one. Rosemont is preferable to Skokie, although neither are as close as last year's location which I could almost have walked to from my place. Too bad the service there was sub-par.

 Last year was the sheezy. I somehow manage to not game that much at GenCon, so having a weekend with NOTHING BUT GAMING is freakin' awesome. I will happily make blood sacrifices to whomever in order to assure Forgecon's continued success.

[Jared A. Sorensen]

I feel so loved!

I wanna go again. I wanna play some games and run something. I may be drunk right now...

...on power!

- J

[Luke]

Either date is doable for me. I'd prefer the earlier date, but if Jake can come, his schedule trumps mine.

I'd like more scheduled events.
I'd like to do a couple of roundtables.
I'd to start a "Get Vincent Out There" fund.

-L

[GreatWolf]

This is me, putting in a word for 20-22.  I know that I don't have the same pull as Jake, although a Dust Devils reunion would be cool.  (GenCon 2002...)

Also, I'm pretty dangerous at Jungle Speed, and I'd take Blue Moon challenges, too.  Ron, I'm looking at you...

[Blankshield]

I'm aiming to come down again, and have no weekend preference.

Planning to drag Harlequin down with me this time, and if flights permit, not leave frakking early on Sunday morning.

I would like some scheduled events, but not the whole thing.  A roundtable or two would be cool.

I'd also really like it (I know it's not something we can easily affect) if there was a place to eat that's non-smoking.  Man, that hit me like a brick last year.

James

[Iskander]

Thanks for organifying, Matt!

I care not a whit about the dates, but would much prefer to be somewhere connected by public transport to downtown.

Cost was phenomenally good last year.

I liked the (lack of) structure last year, but maybe we could get, like, a corkboard and some pins for posting "Hey, I feel like running XYZ, anyone wanna play at midnight tonight?" kind of things.

Also, If you don't bring the 9W, I will tear your liver out every day and feast on it.

Oh, and please, non-smoking. Dear god, yes. Send those plague-suckers outside. (I mean you, Senblowski.)

[Michael S. Miller]

As someone who most likely will not be able to attend no matter what the details, but who read a great deal of the post-con threads from last year, I just want to point out the benefits of having scheduled timeslots. They allow you to get into games with new people When you don't have timeslots, most people end up gaming with the same group all day. Why? Because games don't start and end at the same time. Sure, some people will wait around until that BW game is over so they can wheedle in to Luke's BE game, but without any official start/end times, they're just as likely to get bored, start Jungle Speed, and miss the start of the BE game anyway.

Structure: It's like vegetables and creative constraint. It's good for you.

[Clyde L. Rhoer]

Hey guys,

Correct me if I'm wrong but I could have swore there was attempted structure last year. I was signed up for two games ahead of time. Games were supposed to run like 8 to 11, 12 to 3, 3 to 6, or something like that. If I remember correctly folks decided to ignore the structure. Maybe we need whips?