Hi folks,

This is a followup to GenCon 2005 - first laws. I hope everyone who's participating at the booth reads that one and this one carefully.

Here are some things that I've put some thought toward for this year.

1. Get some sleep. Don't pull all-nighters, don't play games that start at midnight, don't get high on staying up. You're here for business reasons, and lots of people are counting on you.

2. When it comes to dealing with GenCon as an institution, the only people at the booth to play any such role are the five primary sponsors: me, Luke, Vincent, Paul, and Greg. Absolutely no one else.

3. When it comes to managing stuff at the booth, of any sort, the bosses are Julie Stauffer, Juergen Mayer, Ralph Mazza, and Andy Kitkowski. And I mean bosses - if one of these folks nabs you for a demo, you play. If boxes need to be opened, books removed, and everything needs to be neatly replaced back under the table, and they ask you to do it, you do it. If you have a beef with your poster being crowded out of somewhere, you get one of them to handle it. Note that booth sponsors (listed in #2) are not a court of higher appeal for these things.

4. I have in mind a series of rather brutal and fun techniques for getting us all up to speed with one another's games. They'll primarily take place throughout Thursday.

5. If you can make it on Wednesday, please do. For one thing, the Diana Jones party is a great place to meet up. For another, bluntly, we need you. Wednesday is setup. It is really, really a pain to have someone show up with boxes, poster, luggage, some sort of badge crisis, and nervous exhaustion in the middle of Thursday morning. Especially if it's the fifth someone. I realize that not everyone will be able to make it on Wednesday ... but if you can't, and if you have some hassle when you arrive, don't expect to shoot to the top of anyone's fix-it list.

I'll probably think of some more things and post them soon.

Best,
Ron

Right behind all of the above, no worries.

As regards being there on Wednesday, I'll try my very best to be there, but as I'm flying in from Scotland and getting the bus down from Chicago, I might not be able to make it for the Wednesday night (airline delays and airport shennanigans being what they are). Do you possibly know when the exhibitors hall closes on Wednesday evening? I'd imagine it would be about 6 pm or something, but a rough time would be good so I can get the Greyhoud driver to go faster on the last leg of the journey.

Cheers
Malcolm

1 - 3.  Check. I just assume I am everyone's bitch anyway.

4. I have in mind a series of rather brutal and fun techniques for getting us all up to speed with one another's games. They'll primarily take place throughout Thursday.

Ooooh, I get the shudders when you talk like that ^_^

5. If you can make it on Wednesday, please do. For one thing, the Diana Jones party is a great place to meet up. For another, bluntly, we need you. Wednesday is setup. It is really, really a pain to have someone show up with boxes, poster, luggage, some sort of badge crisis, and nervous exhaustion in the middle of Thursday morning. Especially if it's the fifth someone. I realize that not everyone will be able to make it on Wednesday ... but if you can't, and if you have some hassle when you arrive, don't expect to shoot to the top of anyone's fix-it list.

I had not planned to, but I double checked the reservations I'm sharing and it turns out I may very well be able to arrive Wednesday, which I would be more than happy to do. A few questions:
1) When is a good time to arrive by in order to be useful?
2) If arriving early, whom does one contact and how, in order to be put to use?
3) Where can I learn more about the Diana Jones thing?

If other threads have addressed these things please slap my wrist and redirect me.

Looking forward to another great GenCon!

D.

Hiya,

Those are good questions, guys. I bet lots of people need the answers, so ...

Addenda

1. Don't break limbs in order to make it on Wednesday, especially if you've already made plans. If you're trapped in a Greyhound, we understand.

2. The exhibit hall opens relatively early on Wednesday. I tend to show up in Indianapolis around 12 or 1, driving from Chicago, and after checking in, to head over to the exhibit hall. The real reason is to check up on how the badge scene looks (the rules change every year, to date). We'll set up what we can as people show up - posters, tables, shelving, cash register, and so on.

Clearly, if you show up nice and early and none of the above specialty equipment is there, then we'll just be forced to talk to one another. Which is a good thing too.

I'll find out as much as possible about Wednesday's routines this year about letting people into the hall. You guys all have exhibitor badges, so if the badge booth is painless, then you should be able to pick'em up and walk in. But I'll check.

3. We will coordinate some cell phone usage and distribute the numbers by email, so at the very worst, you can call into the hall and let us know you're near, or are running out of gas somewhere in the Indy suburbs, or whatever.

4. The Diana Jones party usually takes place on Wednesday evening, so far at a given pub. I'll announce the details later on. I can guarantee that I and a lot of other folks here will be present there at 8 pm, so if you don't make it in time for helping set up, then just come on over to the party.

Best,
Ron

RON HAS 11,000+ POSTS. WTF, MAN?! GET SOME SLEEP!

In other news, Diana Jones Awards (and the sexy sexy Indie RPG Awards?) will probably be at Jyllian's again in that godawful room with the neon surf theme. If you're not there, well...I'm sure there will be other times to see Matt Forbeck without any pants. But you never know.

- J, party crasher

No problems with any of the above rules. We'll be arriving Wednesday afternoon/evening, hopefully in time to be useful.

Greg Porter
BTRC guy

Ron wrote:
4. I have in mind a series of rather brutal and fun techniques for getting us all up to speed with one another's games. They'll primarily take place throughout Thursday.

Hello,

No, "throughout" means during the day on Thursday, simultaneous with the booth operation.

Best,
Ron