[GenCon 2004]

[Ron Edwards]

Hello,

Now that we have the booth, the next issue that crops up is crash-pad space. It might seem premature, but as it happens, once you register, then you get the room-reservation privileges.

I've decided to be kind of harsh this year and only reserve one room. People are welcome to share it with me, and as many of you know, I kind of like the spring-break fill-the-room phenomenon for GenCon. So that means that, oh, five or six more people in there will be fine. I am not yet calling for volunteers, however.

I'm not getting a second room, unlike the last couple of years. That means that people should start looking seriously into hotel reservations now. Fortunately, Indianapolis is much, much better equipped for this purpose than Milwaukee.

The only really bad news is that people who are buying into the booth for $100 or $200 are not recognized as GenCon attendees by the GenCon bureaucracy, not until they actually arrive and get their badges. So you can't get any kind of GenCon hotel deal, whatever they might be this year. My recommendation is, once we start figuring out who these people are, y'all need to get in touch with one another and make any arrangements for shared hotel room space, if you want to.

Best,
Ron

[Dav]

One thing I will say is that last year I arrived with NO hotel room, badge, and what-have-you, but I managed to get myself situated in under an hour.  Indy has (and you can count, but I'm pretty sure I'm right) 6.24x10^23 hotel rooms available.  

Dav

[Lxndr]

As someone planning on going to GenCon, but unsure whether I want to just buy a badge, or go into the booth for $100 or $200, I'd like to ask for clarification on both (a) what is required of ME if I pay $100 or $200, and (b) what, specifically, it gets me.

Please help?!

[Luke]

Ok, I'm going to get a room for GenCon, too. Dro and I will be occupying one bed's worth of space, and I'd like to share the other bed's worth of space with two other worthies. Feel free to snap it up.

Before I book a room I wanted to know: Ron, where are you booked?

My friends have booked rooms in the Omni Severin. Has anyone stayed there? Would you recommend it?

I'd like to get a room like Gordon had last year -- a suite with a living room. Can anyone recommend which hotel had these available? Must provide afterhours gaming space!

Please let me know.
-Luke

[Matt Snyder]

A quick clarification, please:

We "jr." booth sponsors will pay $100 or $200 for booth presense. This DOES NOT include the exhibitor badge, correct?

My understanding is that it does not cover badge cost, but that Ron, et al, will get badges as needed for booth attendees.

I recall paying in the neighborhood of $60 for an exhibitor badge in the past. Is that in the ballpark for badges this year. Ron?

[Luke]

Hi folks,

I just wanted to let you know that I booked a room at the EMBASSY SUITES in downtown Indy. I deliberately sought out a room that would have gaming space in addition to crash space. I fully expect this to be afterhours game central. (plus crash pad deluxe).

I have bed slots and floor space open, PM me about sharing.

-Luke

[Lxndr]

How does not-having Exhibitor Badges work when, say, wanting to run games after-hours or, alternatively, when wanting to sign up for games before the last minute?  Or is that generally frowned upon when signing up on the $100 or $200 level?

[Mike Holmes]

I think that the idea Alex is that you get an Exhibitor's badge, but you pay for it separately. For example, if I do not have a product for sale at the Con, I'll request that Ron get me an exhibitor's badge, so that I can help out at the booth, etc. If I do have a product, then I'll get a badge, and pay the extra junior member cost to be able to display and sell it at the booth.

Do I have that right, o lords of the booth?

Mike

[Ron Edwards]

Mike's right.

If you get an Exhibitor badge, you pay for it. Or rather, you tell me, I pay for it, you reimburse me.

If you also want to sell a game at the booth, you pay $100 or $200 depending on what you want.

You cannot have a game sold at the booth without getting an Exhibitor badge, unless you are not attending the con. Even if that's the case, I suggest getting someone to be there and buying them a badge, because our support of the game will necessarily be hampered.

No, it is not allowed to get a GenCon badge on your own and pay only $100/$200, in order to utilize the booth.

Best,
Ron

[Gordon C. Landis]

Luke,

You figured it out - my room was at the Embassy Suites, and I think ALL their rooms have that bedroom + living area set-up.  It's just a BIT farther from the convention center than the other "core" hotels, but for those who want that after-hours gaming space - a big win, and not (as I recall) with a substantial additional expense.

Gordon

[Lxndr]

But...as a person buying into the booth (as I plan on doing, with Fastlane as my product), I won't GET an exhibitor's badge before I physically arrive at the convention, correct?  

So... that denies me the ability to sign up to run any scheduled GenCon games, and also makes me unable to play in any scheduled GenCon games save those that are so distasteful that you can still get into them with generic tickets.  

Right?

That's all I was attempting to confirm with my question (and haven't been able to yet, probably because I bungled the question).  If I go into the booth (which I do plan on doing, probably at the $100 level), I sacrifice my access to that portion of the convention (the listed pre-scheduled games, both running and playing thereof).  Is that true?

Am I making any sense in what I'm asking yet, or am I being completely incoherent again?

(Btw, I stayed at the Embassy Suites last year.  The walk from the convention center wasn't all that pleasant, especially Saturday night when White Wolf closed the walkways and I got ejected out into the street, only to wander aimlessly while getting my bearings again, but the rooms were wonderful.)

[Luke]

Lxndr,

I just want to note this publicly: I signed up to run games at GenCon without a badge or anything. I downloaded the spreadsheet, filled it out and then emailed it to the games-lady at GenCon. I even asked her if I was doing the right thing. Yup, she said.

After that, just go to the website and register for the website (not the convention).

You'll be fine. As for buying into games, I don't know what to tell you. But I can say that if you are serious about participating at the booth, you are not going to have much time to play in games. It's a full time job with little pay, but great benies -- we all get to sell our games and hang out afterwards. And I am certain there'll be plenty of after-hours gaming to slake your thirst. But from morning til about 8pm everyday you'll be living, breathing and eating booth. (It's a lot more fun than it sounds.)

-L

[Ron Edwards]

Hiya,

Luke, I'm tentatively planning to be at the Hyatt again (wasn't that it? the Hyatt? it's all a blur ...).

Alexander, don't let Luke scare you too much. He's merely a maniac. There's time to escape, never fear.

Best,
Ron

[Brian Leybourne]

I'm planning to be at the Con this year (as a representative of Driftwood) but wont know for sure until I get my work situation sorted out (I was made redundant; if I get a new job soon, I can ask for time off in August to fly to the States, but if I don't get a job for a few more months, I wont have been there long enough to get time off in August).

Given the precarious nature of my probable attendance, I don't want to book accommodation yet (in case I wont be there to use it) but also don't want to miss out on getting a room because I leave it too long while waiting for a job.

Any suggestions? :-)

Brian.

[Ron Edwards]

That's easy, Brian. Reserve some space with someone who's going for sure. If it doesn't work out, let him or her know in time, and that'll be that.

Best,
Ron